“The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.”
— President George Washington, farewell address, Sept. 19, 1796.
Sedition: Conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.
Insurrection: A violent uprising against an authority or government. (Oxford Language Dictionary)
On Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump held a “Save America” rally in Washington, D.C., telling his followers to “fight like hell.” Immediately after that speech, hundreds of Trump supporters attacked our Capitol.
Congress was in process of certifying the 2020 election results. The attackers’ goal was to stop this certification and overturn the presidential election. They were armed with a variety of weapons, including guns, knives, and baseball bats.
As they roamed the corridors of the Capitol, they screamed threatening words, such as “Hang Mike Pence,” referring to the vice president. This was after Trump tweeted that Pence had refused to violate the Constitution regarding the vote. Trump called that refusal weakness.
Trump never checked on Pence’s safety. When told that Pence and his family had been moved to a secure location, Trump’s response was, “So what?” (The Independent, Jan. 7)
Why were these insurrectionists there? They had been invited by Trump. It’s been reported many times how, at their trials, defendants have said they believed they were following Trump’s orders to be there and to fight.
This is illustrated by the man who was recorded on video, on the Capitol steps, with a bull horn, proclaiming, “We were invited here! We were invited by the president of the United States!” Another man confronted police officers with the words, “You’re outnumbered. There’s a ... million of us out there, and we are listening to Trump — your boss.” (Huffington Post, Jan 16, 2021)
On March 28, Trump attended the wake for NYPD Officer Johnathan Diller, who was killed during a traffic stop in Queens, New York. Trump proclaimed how much he supported law and order.
In response, the father of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died as a result of the Jan. 6 insurrection, said of Trump, “He makes sure he gets his face out there. The guy’s a criminal. He’s the reason my son is dead — because of the riot at the Capitol ...There’s nothing good about this man.” (Newsweek, March 30)
Trump supporters need to ask, how many funerals did Trump attend for those police officers who died as a result of the insurrection? The answer is “None.” Apparently law and order aren’t important when it’s Trump breaking the law.
Unsurprisingly, many Republicans who worked with Trump during his administration and who actually believe in our Constitution have denounced Trump. Pence has refused to endorse Trump, not surprising when Trump didn’t seem to care if Pence lived or died.
Others who have denounced Trump include his Attorney General William Barr, his Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, his National Security Advisor John Bolton, and his Chief of Staff John Kelly. In October, Kelly described Trump as “a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators” and “has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.”
Sarah Matthews, a former Trump aide, summed it up. “These are folks who saw him up close and personal and saw his leadership style. The American people should listen to what these folks are saying because it should be alarming that the people that Trump hired to work for him a first term are saying that he’s unfit to serve for a second term.” (Los Angeles Times, April 8)
Trump wants to claim all opposition to him is unjust persecution. But investigation is not vengeance. Law enforcement investigates crimes both to catch the perpetrators and stop their future crimes, and to deter other criminals from committing the same crimes.
People, including Trump, need to be held accountable for their actions. Refusing to investigate his crimes and hold him accountable would be like letting a criminal go free because the crime occurred in the past. We need to bring Trump to justice and also deter any future presidents who may think about repeating his crimes.
If we want future presidents to honor our Constitution and follow the law, we need to make sure Trump faces justice in trials before juries of his peers. He shouldn’t be allowed to be above the law by claiming “election interference.” As a citizen of our country, he owes us nothing less.
Jeanette Strong, whose column appears every other week, is a Nevada Press Foundation award-winning columnist. She may be reached at news@lahontanvalleynews.com.