I want to be careful in how I say this because obviously you can't just break into the Capitol and desecrate offices and hit police officers with pipes. People should be arrested. But I don't think they should be our focus.
These people were lied to, over and over, by officials at the highest levels of the American government, people with power and, presumably, knowledge. They trusted the President, and Republican members of Congress, to tell them the truth, and they believed what they were told.
And what they were told was that a crime of astonishing proportions had been committed. Power over the US government itself had been stolen, in broad daylight. And the thieves were just going to get away with it. Electoral politics had failed.
They were told this by the President. By the House minority leader. By more than a dozen senators. By more than a hundred US representative. By anchors on Fox News. By nationally syndicated radio hosts.
And then the President asked them to show up and fight for their country.
And then the President asked them to show up and fight for their country.
I'm not here to release anyone from personal accountability for their actions. But the real villains here are the people in power who lied to those who trusted them, putting them and the country in danger, for personal and political gain.
The worst consequences should be for them — and all who enabled them — not for their marks. If we're going to hold those who invaded the Capitol accountable, and we should, then we need to hold those who convinced them to invade the Capitol accountable.
My fear is that the opposite will play out. We will hold the weak accountable, because we can, but the strong will get away with it. The weak are subject to laws, the strong protected by politics. That's not good enough. I'm not saying I have the answer here. But we need one.
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