Members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol have warned America for three years to take former President Donald Trump at his word.

Now, as Trump is poised to win the Republican presidential nomination, his criminal trials face delays that could stall them past Election Day, and his rhetoric grows increasingly authoritarian, some of those lawmakers find themselves following their own advice.

In mid-March, Trump said on social media that the committee members should be jailed. In December he vowed to be a dictator on “day one.” In August, he said he would “have no choice” but to lock up his political opponents.

“If he intends to eliminate our constitutional system and start arresting his political enemies, I guess I would be on that list,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose). “One thing I did learn on the committee is to pay attention and listen to what Trump says, because he means it.”

Lofgren added that she doesn’t yet have a plan in place to thwart potential retribution by Trump. But Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), who has long been a burr in Trump’s side, said he’s having “real-time conversations” with his staff about how to make sure he stays safe if Trump follows through on his threats.

“We’re taking this seriously, because we have to,” Schiff said. “We’ve seen this movie before … and how perilous it is to ignore what someone is saying when they say they want to be a dictator.”

  • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    30
    ·
    7 months ago

    How many people were arrested and convicted for jan 6th vs all of the George Floyd riots?

        • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          17
          ·
          7 months ago

          They are obviously different but they are an illustrations of two different ideologies and how one was much more severely prosecuted. But I agree, lets do apples to apples, how many people were arrested and convicted on the May 29th attack on the capital by the leftists?

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            12
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            Moving the goalposts much?

            That event was way different that Jan 6. On Jan 6, we had armed people in the Capitol building threatening to hang the VP. On May 29, we had some people cross a barricade. They’re not comparable at all.

            • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              13
              ·
              7 months ago

              So you are going with the “BUT INSURRECTION!!!” argument. It was not a insurrection, and you have yet to compare the quantities of people arrested and convicted with the different events.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                6
                ·
                7 months ago

                If you want to compare quantities, go ahead, but that’s not on me to do. I did that already with your other stated comparison, and I’m not going to keep doing that with your whataboutism.

                And I do believe it was an insurrection. They were literally demanding the election be overturned, and the charges and confessions were consistent with that.

                If it wasn’t an insurrection, what exactly was it? The burden of proof lies with you.

                • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  arrow-down
                  7
                  ·
                  7 months ago

                  It was obviously a riot, and I am sad that you can see through some of the narrative but then get caught up on this one. How is it possible that you do not recognize this as a targeted prosecution for political reasons?

                  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    7 months ago

                    Because of how Trump responded in both scenarios. On Jan 6, he provided no additional support to capitol police, despite being urged to do so, but on May 29, the Secret Service pepper sprayed protesters, various policing units were brought in, and troops and National Guard were deployed.

                    The response was so different between the two events that it’s clear Trump was okay with Jan 6 (they were trying to keep him in power) but not okay with May 29 (they were opposing inaction on police reform). On Jan 6, multiple people died, and many more were hospitalized. On May 29, the were a few hospitalizations among police, but nothing life threatening. If Trump responded similarly to both, I’d be more sympathetic, but his active lack of action doesn’t instill trust.

                    I’d like to see the various lawsuits resolved quickly, because it’s getting to be a very political issue. Ideally, he would’ve resolved everything years ago, but he continually delayed and now we’re in a massive mess. That said, I don’t see him as a victim here, this is exactly the expected result for his actions. Whether he’s guilty should be determined by the courts though, not public opinion.

    • Holyginz@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      7 months ago

      Ahh there’s the whataboutism and strawman arguments magats use when they are expected to use a brain and come up empty lol.

    • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      7 months ago

      Not anyone’s responsibility to imbibe your low-quality research.

      Intent is equally important in deciding the morality of an event; action to stop targeted harassment because of skin color, vs action to stop a democratic process of voting in spite of well documented, battle tested voting processes.

      Truly unfortunate that such a simple comparison seems difficult for you.

      • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        7 months ago

        Are you saying its okay to break laws if there might be good intent behind your crimes?

          • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            7 months ago

            And then you get the society you want which is one where laws dont matter and people stop following them. Look at places like SF and you will get your leopard ate their face city.

            • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              7 months ago

              Oh I love San Francisco.

              Most people were very nice, bought some coffee for a couple of homeless people I got to chatting with, the food scene was great and the mass transit was super fast and up to date, even late at night.

              Continue enjoying the taste of your conservative shitwater 😂.

              • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                7 months ago

                You can like it if you wish, but I dont because I hate what is happening to the poor people there. Its letting people rot in the street, but hey its got great food and coffee!!!

                • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  7 months ago

                  Lol… Why do you avoid asking why there are so many homeless people in cities like SF & NYC, but not in conservative states? Why do cities like Houston bus all their homeless to LA?

                  We’re the only ones who care enough to try to feed and rehabilitate them, and additionally are the only cities wealthy enough to even support the effort. Morons in conservative cities are a drain, and generally don’t make new things that are profitable.

                  Unless you’re genuinely dumb, you’ll eventually see that the wealthy enjoy using the homeless as pawns, both as a reminder to us all what will happen on the 6th of the month if rent isn’t paid, and as examples of “why progressives are bad”.

                  Just sit, read and look. You’ll eventually see the architecture of this horrible system quietly running in the background. And it may not even be that way on purpose.

                  • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    7 months ago

                    I dont avoid asking anything, its obviously because they are allowed to do whatever they want and no one will stop them, just let them rot away and die. I am from Portland, I know how this works.