Provoked. Orchestrated. Induced. Incited

     "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people."

               Mitch McConnell, on the Senate Floor

     "Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable."

               Former Attorney General Bill Barr, to the Associated Press



We have the words for this: Persuade. Talk into. Pressure. Motivate. Persuade. Gin up. Coax. Entice.

Courts have set parameters to clarify that fuzzy line between legal efforts to inform and illegal efforts to incite. Donald Trump's defenders say he was just doing a good all-American political speech, and people who heard him and marched at his suggestion to the Capitol to seek out Mike Pence and other officeholders acted on their own when they did illegal things. After all, who could have anticipated they would enter the Capitol, seek out officeholders, ransack it, and cause the deaths of five people?

Others say Trump was the brains, energy, and master salesman who aimed the loaded-gun-mob and put it in motion. The crowd was there because Trump told them to gather. He told the Proud Boys to "stand by." He told the crowd a great crime needed to be stopped right then and told them to march to the Capitol.

Today's post is primarily a video link. The real impact of Trump's behavior on January 6 is best understood in the context of his saying for months that he would not accept the results of an election if he were to lose. His long speech on January 6 was a call to action: Go to the Capitol. Do something!

We have good records of what Trump said. What did the crowd hear?  

The video is a mix of Trump's words and the words of people on their way to the Capitol and inside it.  We hear people responding to Trump in the moment: "Storm the Capitol." "Invade the Capitol." Even days afterward, on reflection, a Florida businesswoman who was arrested says:

I felt like I was doing my patriotic duty. . . . I thought I was following my president. I thought I was following what we were called to do.

Now that they have had time to consult with attorneys people who were arrested have strong reason to cite the "Trump-told-me-to" defense. More credible is what they said in the moment, when they were full of excitement at the thought they were going to overthrow an election and "take back America," as Trump put it. They were making unguarded, spontaneous descriptions of their motives. 

The video is ten minutes, more time than this blog normally asks of people. Take the time to watch. The question of whether Trump was just a politician making a speech--Lincoln at Gettysburg--or whether he inappropriately encouraged, induced, incited a mob that then invaded the Capitol. This question will be in the center of the public debate for the next month. 

Click:   https://vimeo.com/504444733

"We're going to have to fight much harder. And Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us."