Donald Trump says the rioters who assaulted police officers in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot are “warriors.” That’s not just wrong; it’s dangerous.
On Jan. 6, 2021, more than 2,000 supporters of then-President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, hoping to stop the certification of President Biden’s election. Many came armed with pistols, knives, baseball bats, metal pipes, stun guns, or bear spray, and used them to attack police. Some 140 officers were assaulted.
In the ensuing three years, prosecutors have charged more than 1,400 of the rioters. More than 100 have been charged with causing serious injury to an officer or using a dangerous weapon. Several dozen are in jail awaiting trial.
Daniel Rodriguez of Fontana pleaded guilty to stunning a police officer in the neck with a taser. A federal judge sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
Peter Schwartz of Owensboro, Ky., attacked police officers with pepper spray and a folding chair. He got 14 years, largely because he had 38 prior criminal convictions.
Christopher Quaglin of North Brunswick, N.J., tackled a police officer and choked him. A judge appointed by Trump called him “a menace to our society” and sentenced him to 12 years.
For months, Trump has called defendants like them “hostages” and “political prisoners,” as if they were being held unfairly by a repressive regime — a grotesque lie meant to attack the judicial system Trump wants to destroy.
But recently he gave the Jan. 6 attackers a more heroic title.
“Those J6 warriors — they were warriors,” the former president said at a rally in Las Vegas. “But they were really, more than anything else, they’re victims of what happened. All they were doing is protesting a rigged election.”
That’s quite a promotion. “Warriors” is a word Americans generally apply to members of the armed forces, not militants who attack police officers with bear spray…
Source: Trump calls Jan. 6 rioters ‘warriors.’ Can the dog whistle be any louder? – Los Angeles Times




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