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| ▲ The Associated Press captures statements from former president Donald Trump supporters who caused the US Capitol intrusion. | |
| Ⓒ AP |
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Former President Donald Trump, who is on the verge of impeachment, is facing a headwind, claiming that protesters who invaded the US Capitol have followed the president’s orders.
According to the Associated Press, President Trump’s supporters, who were arrested for intruding into the Capitol on the 23rd (local time), stated that they acted in accordance with the president’s orders at the time.
On the 6th, the US Senate and House of Representatives broke into the Capitol to interfere with the certification of victory in the presidential election by Joe Biden, causing violence, killing six people, including the congressional police. Former President Trump is about to be judged for impeachment on charges of “inciting civil war” that he has encouraged them.
In a speech that President Trump gave to his supporters at the time, he said, “We have won the presidential election. If we don’t fight fiercely, we will no longer have a country. We must show our strength. Go to Congress.”
A former firefighter, accused of breaking into the Capitol and throwing fire extinguishers at three police officers, stated in an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that “I followed the president’s orders.”
Another protester claimed that “I marched to the Capitol just because President Trump told me to do that”, “I basically followed the President, and President Trump asked us to go to the Capitol.”
In particular, protest leader Jacob Anthony Chansley, who is called the shaman of the far-right conspiracy group’Curenan’, stated that “I went to Washington DC at the time with other patriots at the request of President Trump.”
Chansley’s attorney also insisted that “Chansley felt like he was responding to President Trump’s request.” Chancery’s side even asked President Trump to pardon when it was on the verge of being punished for intrusion into the Capitol.
“Supporters Statement, Trump Will Bully”
The Associated Press said, “Unlike criminal trials where evidence is strictly considered, the Senate’s impeachment judgment can be considered anything. It would be even more powerful if we could prove that former President Trump’s remarks had a real impact on the behavior of supporters. “I said.
“The statements of supporters accused of participating in the Capitol riots will harass former President Trump at the impeachment trial,” he explained.
Senate leader Mitch McConnell of the Republican Party also acknowledged the charges of inciting former President Trump, saying, “The mob invading the Capitol was agitated by the president and others in power.”
In his speech before his retirement, however, Trump denied the charges, saying, “I have been criticizing the violence at the time.”
The U.S. Senate decided to begin the impeachment proceedings against former President Trump on the 8th of next month. Meanwhile, former President Trump’s impeachment advocate rejected the Associated Press’s request for comment.