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Storming of the Washington Capitol on January 6th: According to the indictment, Trump's supporters followed his instructions
Photo: OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP
Prosecutors in the impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump argue that he has shown no remorse for attacking his supporters.
Therefore, renewed violence cannot be ruled out if he is not convicted.
Prosecutors also said that Trump's supporters clearly followed the instructions of the then US president in their attack on the Capitol.
The House of Representatives prosecution team presented statements in the Senate on Thursday from various participants in the violent protests, who said they had done what Trump had called them to do.
And they accused Trump of encouraging his supporters to use violence in the past.
On January 6, supporters of the elected president violently stormed the Capitol.
Congress met there to officially confirm the election victory of Trump's successor Joe Biden.
Five people were killed in the riots, including a police officer.
Trump had stirred up his supporters at a rally shortly before that the election victory had been stolen from him.
At that performance he said among other things: "If you don't fight like the devil, you will have no more land."
"Incitement to riot"
The Democrats accuse him of "inciting a riot" and have initiated impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.
This procedure is managed and decided in the Senate.
The Congress Chamber takes on the role of a court.
With the process, the Democrats want to hold Trump accountable even after leaving the White House and at the same time ensure that he is banned from future offices at the federal level.
The prerequisite for this would be that the Republican is convicted in the process.
The necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate is currently not foreseeable.
Prosecutors began setting out their allegations against Trump on Wednesday, including dramatic video footage and a meticulous retelling of the Capitol attack.
They accuse Trump of having prepared the ground for the attack with his election fraud allegations for months and ultimately having deliberately instigated and orchestrated the outbreak of violence.
Prosecutors argue that Trump actively summoned his followers on Twitter to the U.S. capital on January 6 to protest the certification of the election result.
He had openly called them to "fight" several times and initiated their march on the Capitol.
The prosecution team showed several videos on Thursday with statements by those involved in the riot.
A Trump supporter said, for example, “I did what he asked.” In another clip, a Trump supporter yelled during the protests at the Capitol: “We were invited here.
We were invited by the President of the United States. "
Prosecutor's MP Diana DeGette said Trump's defense lawyers alleged the rioters acted of their own accord.
"That's just not the case," she countered.
"They said they came because the President told them to." The lead prosecutor, Jamie Raskin, also said, "They did what he told them to."
The prosecutors also used tweets and video messages from Trump to trace how the then president reacted to the attack.
On January 6, Trump had called on his supporters to withdraw from the Capitol.
At the same time he said to her address: "We love you" and renewed his allegations of election fraud.
He later wrote on Twitter that such "things and incidents" just happened when an election victory was stolen.
It was only the day after, in the face of mounting pressure, that he condemned the violence.
The prosecutors accused Trump of showing no remorse and of later calling his statements at the January 6 rally "perfectly appropriate."
They warned that the threat from fanatical Trump supporters persisted.
The team also argued that Trump has previously encouraged his supporters to use violence.
Video recordings of earlier statements by Trump were shown, in which, for example, he called for violence against troublemakers during an election campaign and promised that he would pay the legal fees if someone got into trouble because of it.
After the prosecutors, it will be Trump's defense attorneys' turn to present their arguments on Friday.
They reject the accusations of the prosecutors and describe the proceedings against the ex-president as unconstitutional.
CNN reported, citing unspecified sources, that Trump's lawyers only wanted one day for their presentation.
It is expected that the procedure should be completed in a few days: depending on the course, at the earliest on the weekend or at the beginning of the coming week.
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svv / dpa