As I watched the breaching of the Capitol Building on January 6th, my first impression was that a pro-Trump demonstration had gotten out of control -- a grassroots effort that had gone too far thanks to the passion of the demonstrators. I no longer think that.
One of the first clues was when the media played Trump's speech to the protesters. It was obvious that he incited them, and them directed them to march on Congress. That was bad, but the argument could still be made that he did not intend for the protesters to enter the halls of Congress.
But more information is now coming out. We now know that the demonstration was not organized at a grassroots level. It was organized by a Trump campaign official, and it was funded by a Trump campaign donor.
Once I learned that, it became clear that this was an effort by Trump himself -- because he is a micro-manager, and nothing happens in his organization unless he knows about it and approves it.That is now known to be true. The New York Times is reporting that Trump had a direct hand in organizing the protest.
He not only tweeted to his followers about the protest, but had an actually hand in how it was going to happen. Trump picked all of the speakers that addressed the protesters, and even picked the music that would be played. He also planned the protest to end with a march on Congress.
So, we know Trump planned and organized the protest, incited the crowd, and send them to attack Congress. Did he mean for them to breach the halls of Congress and try to track down members of Congress? He must have, because he watched the whole thing on TV for 6 hours and did nothing to stop it. He didn't ask the protesters to stand down and he didn't call in the National Guard to stop the insurrection. What was he waiting for?
I believe he wanted the protesters to invade the Capitol Building, and was hoping the would find some members of Congress -- taking them hostage and maybe even killing some. That would then justify (in his mind at least) declaring martial law and bringing in the military. He probably would have at least tried to suspend Congress -- giving himself total power (the power of a dictator)!
Fortunately, even though Trump wouldn't do it, the National Guard was called in (by Pence?) and the insurrection was quelled before it reached the stage Trump wanted.
It was a coup (an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government) that was planned and directed by Donald Trump. It failed, and our fragile democracy was saved. But that doesn't lesson Trump's guilt in trying to stage a coup. He deserved the impeachment, and he should be convicted by the Senate. That's the only way to keep someone else from trying it in the future (someone smarter and more competent than Trump).
