Capitol Stormer: I Feel No Remorse

This woman, a real estate agent in Northern Texas, has a story to tell that has all kinds of interesting legal, philosophical, and political implications.  A three-minute video from local news:

OK, she stormed the Capitol because the President of the United States told her (and the others) to do that.  She feels no remorse; in fact, she feels she did what any patriotic American would have done, i.e., protesting as directed by the man holding the highest office in the land so as to force Congress to give back a stolen election.  Now, to her shock and horror, she faces jail time.

She expects a presidential pardon, and believes that Trump should issue one to everyone connected with the incident.  She also fears for the viability of her career going forward.

Needless to say, all this is unprecedented in U.S. history.  It’s reminiscent of Nixon’s remark, “If the President does it, it’s not illegal.”   The analogous statement here would be, “If the President tells you to do it, it’s not illegal.”

Assuming she doesn’t get the pardon, and she’s tried on the criminal charges she’s now under, how well she’s going to do in court is anyone’s guess.  The most obvious thing to consider here is that committing a crime is not excusable merely because one was ordered to do it.  Nuremburg taught us that.

What happens with her career is a function of the sensibilities of the local community, and obviously I know nothing about them.   In Santa Barbara she’d be filling out applications, hoping to be hired as a shift manager at a Jack-in-the-Box or Burger King.