Trump is legally liable for MAGA riots -- and his actions are a 'spectacular example of incitement': legal experts
Four experts on first amendment law say that former President Donald Trump is legally liable for the January 6th riots at the United States Capitol building, as they say he directly incited violence against lawmakers.
Law and Crime reports that top legal scholars Floyd Abrams, Erwin Chemerinsky, Laurence Tribe, and Martha Minow this week filed an amicus brief on behalf of a lawsuit against Trump filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) over the twice-impeached former president's role in inciting the deadly riots.
To put a fine point on it, the scholars call Trump's rhetoric before the riots "the most spectacular example of incitement and 'true threat' in American history," and they say he is legally liable for the destruction his supporters caused.
The scholars also brush aside Trump allies' claims that his rhetoric ahead of the riot -- in which he told his fans to "fight like hell" and march to the Capitol -- are simply political speech.
Additionally, the scholars say that Trump violated the Ku Klux Klan Act and other statutes by mounting what amounts to a political intimidation campaign against members of Congress to stop them from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.