January 6: judge hints Trump wanted supporters to 'do more' than protest

[marmar]

(Guardian UK) Donald Trump may have been telling his supporters he wanted them “to do something more” than simply protest against his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race when he told a mob of them to “fight like hell” on the day of the Capitol attack, according to findings from a federal judge on Wednesday.

The opinion from Judge John Bates came in the form of a ruling barring one man charged with having a hand in staging the Capitol assault on January 6 2021 – Alexander Sheppard – from arguing that Trump, as president at the time, had authorized his actions.

Bates’s judgment recounted how Trump’s speech near the White House on the day that Congress certified his loss to Biden urged his supporters to march to the Capitol without saying that it was illegal to enter the area where lawmakers would be voting.

“These words only encourage those at the rally to march to the Capitol … and do not address legality at all,” wrote Bates, who was appointed to Washington DC’s federal courthouse bench by former president George W Bush. “But, although his express words only mention walking down … to the Capitol, one might conclude that the context implies that he was urging protesters to do something more – perhaps to enter the Capitol building and stop the certification.” .............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/29/donald-trump-judge-hints-supporters-more-than-protest-jan-6

[SoCalDavidS]

1. File This One Under "No Shit" nt