It’s Time for the Department of Justice To Act

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirshner routinely makes some excellent points on his video series “Justice Matters.” Yesterday’s installment (see below) was particularly on point, IMO, in dealing with an issue I’ve discussed many times: the injustice of the prosecution of the insurrectionists.

To date, many hundreds of those who entered the Capitol on January 6th have been arrested, tried, convicted, and punished.  These are people, every single one, who believed Donald Trump when he told them the election was rigged, that he had, in fact, won, and that “if you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country any more.”

One thing struck me listening to the testimony in front of the Select Committee on July 12, 2022: At least some of these people are fairly typical Americans.  Yes, they are Trump supporters, which means that they have horrible values, but most of them had jobs; many were good husbands and fathers.  They all shared one tragic flaw, however: they were gullible enough to believe Trump’s lies.

I’m not saying they shouldn’t have been prosecuted for breaking various laws, whether that means illegally entering a federal building, interrupting an official proceeding, assault and battery, seditious conspiracy, etc.

What I am saying is that none of this would have happened were it not for Donald Trump filling their heads with what he knew to be complete bullshit, and inciting them, armed to the teeth, to attack the Capitol to “stop the steal.”

All of these people have had their lives permanently disfigured, and many of them are languishing in jail.  Meanwhile, Trump is playing golf and holding rallies, during which he is pouring more bullshit into more people’s heads.

This must cease.