U.S. Virgin Islands delegate Stacey Plaskett highlighted previous acts by Trump supporters who traveled to Washington on Jan. 6, arguing that the former president was aware of the violence he incited with his rhetoric about elections.
“The truth and the facts are overwhelming that our president, the president of the United States, incited a crowd to storm the Capitol, in an attempt to stop the certification of the presidential election,” Plaskett said.
Like other previous managers, Plaskett stated that the violence perpetrated by Trump was predictable given the former president’s conduct in the months, weeks and days before the assault and previous incidents of violence by groups that witnessed the riots. .
“The violence that took place on January 6, like the attack itself, did not show up,” he said.
Plaskett noted at the time of the Jan. 6 assault, Mr. Trump “had every reason to know that they were armed, that they were violent, and that they would actually fight. He knew who to call and the violence they were capable of doing. “
He also stressed that, instead of summoning his supporters, Trump “aired the flame of violence and it worked.”
Focusing on the Proud Boys, a far-right group, Plaskett highlighted the history of violence by its members and reproduced images from the Sept. 29 presidential debate, during which Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand up. back and stand by “when asked to condemn them. The Proud Boys then sold merchandise with the phrase.
He also recalled an incident in Texas in which a caravan of Trump supporters surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus full of staff and volunteers in an attempt to flee the road. Mr. Trump shared a video of the incident on Twitter that said “I LOVE TEXAS!”
“For anyone who says Donald Trump didn’t know the violence he was inciting, I ask you to consider that his supporters tried to drive a bus down the road in the middle of the day to intimidate workers in his opponent’s campaign,” he said. say Plaskett, adding he called “patriots” those supporters who participated in the caravan.
Plaskett said the caravan organizer in Texas took part in the Jan. 6 rally near the White House and was among those who broke into the Capitol, heading to the Roundabout before urging the crowd to enter.
“These are the people who cultivated President Trump, who was on the side,” he said.
Plaskett said those who participated in previous Trump campaign events were returned to help them plan the Jan. 6 rally, and Mr. Trump himself played a role.
“Donald Trump, for many months, cultivated violence, praised it, and then, when he saw the violence that his supporters were capable of, he channeled it into its great wild and historic event,” he said. “He organized on January 6 with the same people who had just organized a rally resulting in substantial violence and he was absolutely assured that this time these violent attendees at the rally would not stay in place. He ensured that those violent people they marched literally right here., to our steps, from the Ellipse to the Capitol, to stop the robbery. Their cavalry. That was deliberate. “
Plaskett said Trump and his team oversaw public forums where sites alluded to violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and showed photos of Proud Boys members inside the building that wore ear pieces and used walkie-talkies to better coordinate with each other.
“What exactly happened on Jan. 6 was their goal. And they said it out loud in places that the Trump administration was actively overseeing,” he said.
He also cited a Washington Post article about an FBI report warning of “war” on the Capitol, as well as a warning from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser for residents to move away from the area and arrests performed before the riots.
“Everything is in plain sight. Everything,” Plaskett said. “The truth is often seen and rarely heard. The truth is the truth, whether it is denied or not, and the truth is that President Trump had been calling his followers for a march on a particular day for an hour. “specific sites to stop certification. And before the event, there were hundreds, hundreds of online posts showing that his supporters were taking this as a call to arms to attack the Capitol.”
Plaskett added that instead of trying to suppress violence in the face of these warnings, Mr. Trump appeared before his supporters and urged them to “fight like hell or you will no longer have a country.”
“And that’s why this is different,” he said. “And for that he must be convicted and disqualified.”