Donald Trump & His Allies Are Allegedly ‘Being Reviewed’ For ‘Inciting Violence’ Charges
During an appearance on MSNBC’s Velshi on Sunday, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine claimed Donald Trump and the speakers at the rally he held before the storming of the U.S. Capitol are under consideration for charges of “inciting violence,” Breitbart reported.
“The office of attorney general has jurisdiction over a number of potential offenses, including weapons, ammunition, curfew violations, and the one that’s gotten the most attention, of course, is the inciting violence charge,” he said. “We’ve brought that charge before. It is law in D.C. since 2011.”
The lawyer noted the law makes it illegal to cajole, encourage, and otherwise motivate people to commit violence.
“We’re gonna balance the First Amendment rights, of course, of speakers versus this law and will be judicious in deciding whether to charge and who to charge, but every single person at that rally is being reviewed.”
According to Racine, the charges will be determined by looking at the “dynamics” and “energy” of the “environment” at the time of the statements made before the riots.
“When folks are talking about fighting, fighting, fighting, I think it gets closer to that line,” he said.
As The Inquisitr reported, District of Columbia Council member Robert White allegedly called Racine this week to discuss charges against Trump. Notably, D.C. law deems willfully inciting or urging others to riot as punishable by up to six months in prison.
CNN legal analyst and former prosecutor Elie Honig previously noted that incitement of violence is not an easy charge to make, but ultimately suggested Trump’s words could provide enough evidence for criminal charges.
Still, Ken Kohl, a senior prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, claimed the Department of Justice is not looking to press incitement charges on Trump or others who spoke at the rally. These remarks conflicted with comments recently made by U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. According to Sherwin, the DOJ is looking into the possibility of charges for everyone linked to the Capitol riots, including Trump and his allies.
According to former FBI Director James Comey — a frequent target for the president’s vitriol throughout his time in office — Trump should not face charges for inciting a riot. Per NBC News, Comey claimed America would be better off by denying Trump the public platform that prosecution would provide him in the coming years.
“Instead, turn off the camera lights,” he said.
