The Capitol Rioters Are Being Rounded Up. But Will They Face Real Charges?
Trump’s executive order on protecting federal monuments spelled out harsh sentences for Black Lives Matter protesters. Prosecutors could use it on the mob that stormed the Capitol.
A torn "Save America" sign outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 7.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
Federal authorities made some of their first public statements on Tuesday regarding the far-right rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol last week in an effort to overturn the presidential election. First up was President Donald Trump, who, in his first comments to reporters since the Jan. 6 attack on Congress that he and his allies encouraged, blamed Black Lives Matter.
“If you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places, that was a real problem,” Trump said, answering questions from reporters on Tuesday. The president described the incendiary speech he delivered to his followers on Jan. 6, in which he urged them to march on the Capitol — using the word “fight” or “fighting” more than 20 times — as “totally appropriate.”