Understand that Willard Hotel war room participant Boris Epshteyn *didn’t* tweet—97 minutes after the January 6 insurrectionists first breached the USCP perimeter—that rioters should leave the Capitol. He merely said they should stay *peaceful*.
Team Trump needed them to *stay*.
Team Trump needed them to *stay*.
PROOF research confirms it was widely understood that Stop the Steal intended to occupy the Capitol—and that it was this occupation that Trump needed. He didn’t need violence; he was indifferent to that. He needed an *occupation*. Next time @AriMelber will get the question right.
The key is to never ask any of the coup plotters about violence. It is not legally required for them to be charged and they will indignantly claim to have known nothing about it in advance. That may or may not be true, but it is beside the point. They knew about the *occupation*.
When you ask a coup plotter about violence, you’re wasting airtime. It may be shown that Ali Alexander knew what his Arizona Proud Boys were going to do, but proving he communicated it to the White House may be hard. Proving that everyone knew of a planned occupation is not hard.
The best way to understand the violence on January 6 is that it was intended to metaphorically and literally open the doors to a several-day Capitol occupation. Those who started the violence were working with Alexander—Arizona Proud Boys—but the occupation remains the key issue.
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