Tension was high, security was weak and a bitter handover of power was under way when violent intruders forced the people’s representatives to stop their debate and cower on the floor.
Future generations of Americans will identify this as a description of events at the Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January 2021. For Spaniards, however, it fits an earlier moment in history – an assault on Madrid’s parliament, the Congreso de los Diputados, on 23 February 1981.
Spain’s attackers – reactionary followers of the dictator General Francisco Franco, who had died six years earlier – were also led by men in silly hats, although Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero was sporting the patent leather tricorn of Spain’s civil guard paramilitary police force rather than a pair of buffalo horns.
Comparisons mostly end there. Tejero was waving a real weapon. Some of the 200 soldiers and civil guards with him peppered the debating chamber ceiling with machine-gun fire.
This was a proper coup attempt, not a shambolic human tidal wave containing costumed followers of an egomaniacal conspiracy theorist.
We can only hope.
Is it a biography of Don Jr’s GF? “The Best is Yet To Come: The Kim Gilfoyle Story”.
How do you throw the book at someone when the cops opened the doors for the mob to come into the Capitol? How do you charge some rube with Domestic Terrorism when all he/she did was follow the crowd into the building with a Trump flag? Go after the nutters that wanted to kill Pelosi and Pence, yes absolutely. But the cops literally opened the doors. Any lawyer would point that out.
It’s a very common presecutorial strategy to overcharge and work back from that in the plea process. They seem to be doing the opposite here.
Also with common law felony murder it would be very easy to prove the elements for every person inside. Has anyone clarified if there is an actual Federal felony murder statute or not?
This is a good point, but there is a ton of value in massively over charging now before the inauguration.
I get that but we talking thousands of people. This isn’t some low level criminal with dirt on Tony Soprano.
Are you saying the system can’t handle that many cases? Because most federal dockets are pretty empty from my experience.
Well let’s say there were 1,000 people. They are already scattered across the country and went back home. Is law enforcement gonna spend the time and manpower to track everyone down? Especially if they were told to open the doors and stand by?
I’m basing all this on the fact that they were told not interfere. I think prosecutors have a tight line to walk because it’s obvious the cops let them in. They were taking selfies for crissakes. I think any lawyer is just gonna point that out.
True, but their own stated goal was to “stop the steal” and they knew Congress was in session to verify Biden’s election once and for all. They were trying to violently interfere with government business regardless of whether the cops opened the door for them or not.
I mean, yes? This is already one of the most egregious fucking crimes in US history. It was a fucking armed rebellion to overthrow the US government and install a dictator. So, yeah, I think they can get approved for the fucking overtime.
That is a big part of the reason why I think most will get away with it and a good point. I just think in a situation like this throwing the book at all involved has such a societal benefit as a deterrent I would do it whatever the cost.
Why? Like, you need a new law when there’s some newly possible or newly practiced action or behaviour that’s either not criminal or not sufficiently punishable, and which needs to be. How does one, as of now, engage in domestic terrorism without being exposed to punishments verging on the maximal?
Right. What needs to be made illegal that isn’t already illegal?
People are very excited right now, I guess. Someone upthread mentioned McVeigh in this context like McVeigh wasn’t literally executed.
She was no angel.