February 11, 2021

Attack on Michigan Capitol Was a “Preview” of January 6, Impeachment Prosecutors Argue

Lead Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) speaks on the third day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 11, 2021.Congress.gov/Getty

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Democrats argued Thursday that former President Donald Trump knew his supporters were willing to commit violence at his urging, a power he previewed for the country last spring when his supporters stormed the Michigan state capitol and he praised them as “very good people.”

“The siege of the Michigan Statehouse was effectively a state-level dress rehearsal for the siege of the U.S. Capitol,” argued lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md).

After the attack on the Michigan capitol, the FBI stopped a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom Trump had demonized for months over her response to the coronavirus pandemic. Even long after it was broken up, Raskin points out that Trump could not bring himself to condemn the violent plan. 

“Trump knew exactly what he was doing in inciting the January 6th mob,” Raskin said. The violence in Michigan showed “the clear foreseeability of the violent harm that he unleashed” on January 6. “This was his state of mind… his M.O.” Raskin then showed a Trump tweet in which he praised his supporters as “most loyal supporters that we have seen in our countries [sic] history.” 

If Trump gets back into office and again incites such violence, Raskin warned in closing, “we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.”

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