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No, Donald Trump Did Not Incite An Insurrection
the federalist ^ | January 12, 2021 | David Marcus

Posted on 01/12/2021 8:18:50 AM PST by Kaslin

Democrats and their media allies are milking a tragic riot for all it's worth.


The Democrats and their media allies are trying to convince the American people that President Donald Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection last week. In both legal terms and in terms of the plain meaning of the English language, their claim is absurd on its face. There are two fundamental reasons for this: Trump did not incite the riots at the Capitol, and the riots were not an insurrection.

The Standard for Incitement

Legally speaking, incitement has an incredibly high bar that none of Trump’s actions since the election come close to meeting. These standards were set by the Supreme Court in its landmark Brandenburg v. Ohio case. Among other things, the decision held that in order to constitute incitement to violence, speech must include intent and specific, not abstract, instructions to act. It also required that the speech in question would likely produce “imminent lawless action,” which went a step further than the previous legal tests for incitement. According to the ruling:

[T]he constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.

So as a legal matter, this seems pretty clear. But what about more generally? In Salon, Amanda Marcotte attempts to make a case that Trump incited an insurrection. She starts with a big claim: “There is no doubt Donald Trump incited the insurrection on January 6. It happened largely in public and is recorded for posterity. Let’s review the record.” But only a paragraph later she writes, “[T]he people who stormed the U.S. Capitol armed with guns, pipe bombs and flex cuffs to take members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence hostage understood Trump’s wink-and-nudge style loud and clear.”

One cannot incite with a wink and a nudge — not unless those gestures have already been specified to mean a call to violence. In this case, nothing Trump said at his speech before the violence broke out was a specific call for violence, much less insurrection. Part of how we know this is that the vast, vast majority of those who attended his speech (where he called literally for a peaceful protest at the Capitol) did not engage in any violence whatsoever.

What Trump asked his backers to do was to make their voices heard in support of the members of Congress who were working to ensure that the election was a fair one. What happened next was a chaotic mess caused by a small number of violent agitators, a complete and total breakdown of security at the Capitol, and a poor response once things began to get out of hand. Some of that poor response was owing to the fact that the events were surprising. If it was so bloody obvious that Trump was telling people to storm the Capitol, why were we all so shocked and caught off guard when some people did?

This Was No Insurrection

So much for incitement. As to insurrection, at no point was the overthrow of the government of the United States even a remotely possible outcome, not even close. Those cosplaying idiots taking selfies in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and parading around with podiums had no intentions of forming a new government. This was an expression of anger, not a realistic, organized coup attempt. Anyone among the rioters who believed their actions would result in the overthrow of the government, if there were any, were delusional to the point of insanity.

So if it wasn’t incitement and it wasn’t insurrection, why do the Democrats, the corporate media, and the big tech tyrants want you to believe it was? That is quite simple, actually. The purpose is to create an atmosphere of crisis and emergency that gives cover to extreme and illiberal actions to punish and silence those with whom they disagree politically.

And that has worked. Trump is banned from Twitter, as are thousands of his supporters, and big tech has colluded to destroy its competitor, Parler. Democrats are moving forward with an absurd and pointless impeachment, Simon & Schuster has canceled Sen. Josh Hawley’s book that criticizes big tech, and people who merely attended the rally and never stormed the Capitol are being fired and abused.

None of the above actions are just. None of them can be justified. This is not some existential threat to the Republic, and it never was. This is now all about power, about those on the left milking a tragedy for all it’s worth in an attempt to destroy their political rivals. But Americans are a clear-eyed people with a healthy dose of skepticism about those in power. They see what’s going on here. They will not allow the bad actions of a tiny few to fundamentally change forever the country and its freedoms they love.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: amandamarcotte; bigtech; capitolriots; donaldtrump; salon

1 posted on 01/12/2021 8:18:50 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Your FACTS are irrelevant....the narrative determined TRUTH today.


2 posted on 01/12/2021 8:20:32 AM PST by Erik Latranyi (The Democratic Party is communism)
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To: Kaslin
From Mychal Massie (WND)

Remember in 2011 when tens of thousands of Democrats surged on the Wisconsin Capitol building in Madison and physically occupied it for more than two weeks? We were told, "This is what democracy looks like."

Remember in 2016 when Obama was president and hundreds of BLM blocked interstate highways and violently accosted police (even killing several)? We were told, "To assign the actions of one person to an entire movement is dangerous and irresponsible."

Remember in 2018 during the Kavanaugh hearings when a mob of Democrats stormed the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., and pounded their fists in rage on the door. We were told, "It's understandable."

Remember this summer's riots in major cities across the country when groups of Democrats marched in the streets, set buildings on fire, looted businesses, assaulted and even killed bystanders and police? We were told, "These are mostly peaceful protests."

Remember when Democrats seized several blocks of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in downtown Seattle, declaring it an autonomous zone? Remember the guns and deaths and utter destruction? We were told, "It's a block party atmosphere."

Remember when a crazed mob gathered after the Republican National Convention and attacked Rand Paul, a sitting U.S. senator? We were told, "No justice, no peace." Remember how police were told to stand down, governors refused to call in the National Guard and Democrats paid bail for violent protesters who were arrested? We were told, "This is the only way oppressed people can be heard."

I have condemned violent protests and lawlessness every single time they've been reported. I condemn the actions of those who stormed the Capitol yesterday. But I refuse to condemn hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters because a handful (52 arrested) chose to be lawless and to defy everything the vast majority of the crowd stood for. Conservatives are defenders of the Constitution, the police and the rule of law. Because a relative few people decided to do something stupid doesn't nullify the concerns of the many."

3 posted on 01/12/2021 8:22:22 AM PST by high info voter
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To: Kaslin
But Kamala Harris did!



“They’re not going to stop. They’re not going to stop,” she told him. “This is a movement, I’m telling you. They’re not gonna stop. And everyone beware because they’re not gonna stop. They’re not gonna stop before Election Day and they’re not going to stop after Election Day. And everyone should take note of that. They’re not gonna let up and they should not.”
4 posted on 01/12/2021 8:24:57 AM PST by eyeamok
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To: eyeamok

Organizing in the meme is spelled the British way........

I have no clue why I wanted to point that out, but here ya go. LOL


5 posted on 01/12/2021 8:27:41 AM PST by David Chase
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To: high info voter

Won’t matter to the left, they support group guilt for conservatives, whites, gun owners, white males, Christians etc. They only oppose it for their constituents and supporters (when in fact such stereotyping often has a firmer foundation in fact).


6 posted on 01/12/2021 8:28:13 AM PST by mrsmel (I won’t be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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To: Kaslin; All

How Antifa Infiltrated MAGA at the US Capitol. Please share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bIeKj7fZ8U&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=CrossroadswithJOSHUAPHILIPP


7 posted on 01/12/2021 8:29:10 AM PST by laplata (The Left/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Kaslin
Remember in 2011 when tens of thousands of Democrats surged on the Wisconsin Capitol building in Madison and physically occupied it for more than two weeks? We were told, "This is what democracy looks like."

EXACTLY!!!

8 posted on 01/12/2021 8:34:02 AM PST by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: Kaslin

But he should have.


9 posted on 01/12/2021 8:37:31 AM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (White Privilege does NOT begin with Being White but when you ACT "WHITE"! So, -- ACT "WHITE"!)
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To: Erik Latranyi

Exactly. When has the truth been a “Progressive” virtue?
As Joe quoted Goebbels, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”


10 posted on 01/12/2021 8:40:13 AM PST by griswold3 (Democratic Socialism is Slavery by Mob Rule)
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To: laplata

You do know Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, denounced the fact that Antifa was involved.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on a conference call with members Monday that there is “undisputedly” no evidence that people linked to Antifa participated in last week’s deadly siege on the Capitol.
Your eyes are deceiving you if you spot a familiar Antifa face in the crowd. Never mind the posts that they planned to instigate trouble in DC that day.
Last August the People in Englewood, IL (Chicago suburb) recognized the trouble makers and sent them home. They knew the destruction they wanted to cause to their neighborhood.


11 posted on 01/12/2021 8:44:39 AM PST by griswold3 (Democratic Socialism is Slavery by Mob Rule)
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To: Kaslin

Anyway this is a fake , MADE UP , “debate” !
Another HOAX like demonictrash like to make as often as they need


12 posted on 01/12/2021 8:49:03 AM PST by Ulysse
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To: griswold3

Great post and right on.


13 posted on 01/12/2021 8:58:19 AM PST by laplata (The Left/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Kaslin

No, Donald Trump Did Not Incite An Insurrection.

True but if you lie long enough they believe it and we so many simpletons who do they are to weak minded to think for them self.


14 posted on 01/12/2021 9:02:01 AM PST by Vaduz (women and children to be impacIQ of chimpsted the most.)
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To: Kaslin

Actually, our MSM, social media, big data and DNC are inciting insurrection — an insurrection of Christians, conservatives. constitutionalists and patriots against our MSM, social media, big data and DNC.


15 posted on 01/12/2021 10:17:51 AM PST by polymuser (A socialist is a communist without the power to take everything from their citizens...yet.)
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To: Kaslin
No, Donald Trump Did Not Incite An Insurrection...tell it to the Associated Propagandists, which is flatly referring to those who marched on the Capitol to "let their voices be heard" as "insurrectionists" in its "news" stories today - disgusting......
16 posted on 01/12/2021 12:57:56 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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