Within the first major assignment were challenged to create an opinion editorial on an event we find important and must be discussed. My op-ed focused on the role former president Donald Trump played in the desecration of our nation’s capital. And goes on to explain why he should be held accountable for his actions. Through the use of integrating evidence, analyzing/paraphrasing various texts to aid in the development of my stance.

On January 6th, 2021 the United States Capitol was attacked by a mass of enraged Trump supporters. After hearing the breaking news I remember being in absolute disbelief ​​​​​​that such a thing could occur in the 21st century. My biggest issue is the role president trump played in the desecration of the capital by extending wild trump supporters an invitation to practice deplorable acts. His inability to condemn white supremacy speaks volumes about his character as a person. The fact that our government allowed this chaos to commence, and allowed invaders to successfully infiltrate and attack the capital is Ludacris. The violation of our democracy was a result of President Trump’s action and he should be held accountable.

The president of the united states is the commander in chief for the state’s army, navy, seals, and all other militias there to protect the country. Therefore leaving the president sole authority to deploy the national guard when needed. On January 6th the rioters posed an intimate threat to lawmakers, police officers, former vice president mike pence, and all individuals inside the capitol. It was Donald Trump’s duty to quickly deploy a national guard to fight against the mob of violent rioters and protect the lives of those within the capital. However, according to (Giella, 2021) “ The deployment of the National Guard was anything but immediate. multiple reports show that the Pentagon refused authorization of additional National Guard support after rioters broke into the Capitol.” This evidence shows how the president’s decision to neglect to request the national guard during the midst of an attack of the capitol makes him responsible for the capital insurrection that claimed the lives of 5 individuals.

Before the insurrection even took place former president Donald trump tweeted out to all his millions of followers at 8:17 in the morning of January 6th, 2021 that the election had been “stolen” from him and the democratic party committed voter fraud causing him to lose the election. However, the 2020 campaign has gone through many re-count states by the state only revealing more missed votes for Biden making his lead higher than the first count. The president only tweets about voter fraud to ignite tension throughout the nation, which eventually kept building up and led to the insurrection we all witnessed unfold at the nationals capital. Although Donald Trump’s tweets seem like such a small detail they played a big role in encouraging people to retaliate against the nation’s capital as a form of “peaceful protest to exercise their rights”.

At about 12:53 the president delivered a speech at one of his rallies, telling his supporters to “never concede when there’s theft involved”. By delivering this type of message trump is continuously pushing the false notion that the election was stolen and he wants his supporters to fight for what they believe was taken from them. Therefore motivating the pro-trump mob that was currently at the capitol to start shouting “ Fight for trump” and that exactly what they did when they stormed the capital of the united states. Some of his supporters even go as far to mention that “ the president of the united state invited them there” to desecrate and vandalize our nation’s capital. Which can clearly be heard throughout the audio in the video of the link provided below.

After the incident that occured at the capital was finally over, former president trump takes to twitter and releases a tweet which he refers to the invaders as “ great patriots’ ‘ and over congratulating the attackers for their actions. But neglecting the true nature of their actions and the impact it had on the official fearing for their lives within the capital and the lives lost and the families that they left behind due to the violent mob trump created and praises. Which is why Trump should be held accountable for his actions and face a great penalty for his crimes against our great nation!