It was a dark day for America when events began to unfold after a rally with President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Following his speech, “Pro-Trump” rioters stormed the capitol while congressmen and women certified President Joe Biden’s win in the November 2020 election. 

We, the staff of AGO News, feel that Republican and Democrat representatives should continue their best efforts to impeach the president and hold him accountable for the situation. In addition, people who were involved in the riot should be prosecuted and receive serious punishments.

During his rally President Trump said, “And we fight, we fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell you’re not gonna have a country anymore,” encouraging his followers to go protest at the capitol. By saying this, President Trump committed the act of “incitement”, which is a limit to free speech and not protected by the First Amendment. Incitement is the action of provoking unlawful behavior and is a crime. Trump most definitely displayed that during his speech on Jan. 6. 

There have been a total of five deaths including police officers, after Wednesday’s riot at the Capitol. Pro-Trump supporters were not there to peacefully protest that day; they were there to inflict harm. Evidence of the violent behavior of the rioters can be found on apps such as Parler, a Pro-Trump social network where Trump-supporters posted threats toward Mike Pence. Three explosives were later found around the Capitol. At this time, some rioters are being charged with  terrorism and sedition, which are both federal charges. From this, we can gather that these Trump supporters were not there for a peaceful protest.

This staff also believes that the response to the riot was extremely biased. If it had been black and brown people or members of a Black Lives Matter protest breaking down the doors of the Capitol, more than five people would’ve lost their lives. Cops would have been more than prepared to protect the center of our democracy. During protests that followed the murder of George Floyd, several restrictions were set in place, such as curfew, and police officers patrolled the streets at night. While on the other hand, one man was left alone to protect the Capitol by himself.

Supporters of the president could argue that Trump is protected under the First Amendment, however, that does not permit incitement. His speech later resulted in violent harm and death. Police officials had known such an event was highly probable and could have prevented this whole thing from the beginning. But because the people who trespassed the capitol were white and not brown or black, the outcome did not provide the justice that was deserved for this outrageous act.  

Not only did that day bring shame among Americans, but this will forever go down in history – and not in the good way. People lost their lives as a result of the riot that President Trump incited.

We call on those in higher power to be held responsible for the actions shown on that day and receive severe punishments. As a start, Trump should be impeached and those who participated should be and locked away like other criminals.