For the sake of history, all of the relevant facts surrounding an event have to be laid on the table and examined carefully. That’s how we know what happened in the past and, more importantly, how we attempt to make certain we never repeat the mistakes of the past.
On Wednesday, we got more new facts regarding what transpired at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, when thousands of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building and defaced historical artifacts that date back to the founding of this nation.
As president at the time of the Capitol insurrection, Donald Trump had a responsibility to protect the building and those inside it, just as he swore to do when he took the oath of office. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited hours and even then reinforcements were sent by others, not by Trump.
That’s where what we learned during a Congressional hearing yesterday when former acting Secretary Christopher Miller testified and revealed that three days before the Capitol was attacked and five people died, Trump said that if the National Guard was called in, it should be to protect the insurrectionists.
Specifically, Miller was asked:
“What was the president’s response to you with regard to the requests made to you by Mayor [Muriel] Bowser?”
The former DOD chief replied:
“(Trump said) ‘do whatever is necessary to protect the demonstrators, ya, uh, and, uh, that were executing their constitutionally protected rights.'”
Protect the demonstrators. Protect the violent insurrectionists who were trying to overthrow the U.S. government so they could install their candidate despite the fact that he had lost.
History needs to record that when the nation was on the brink of a coup, the head of state sided with the criminals. For that alone, Donald Trump deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.
