By breaking into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and disrupting the electoral vote count, every single person involved in the attack has committed a federal felony, seditious conspiracy, and faces up to 20 years in a federal prison.
The elements of this crime are simple: “If two or more persons ... conspire to ... by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States ... they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”
That is exactly what happened here. A large mob broke into the Capitol for the express purpose of delaying the execution of the Electoral Count Act, which would result in Donald Trump formally being declared the loser of the November election and the installation of Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.
Arrest and punish every attacker
There is a time for forgiveness, dialogue and understanding. This is not that time. These are not peaceful protesters. They are electoral terrorists. Every one of these people must be arrested and punished. The rule of law and our constitutional system of government cannot allow an open attack on our most basic and solemn institutions. There is no excuse for mob rule. It simply cannot be tolerated.
The people who are attacking the Capitol should go to prison for a very long time. But they are just pawns in a game being played by Trump and his enablers, who have spent the past two months whipping up their followers with outrageous, unfounded lies for the sole purpose of maintaining their own power.
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While those participating in this mob are legally responsible for what they have done, let us not forget who bears the moral responsibility for this. Every congressional Republican who has looked the other way while President Trump sowed hatred and distrust of our institutions over the past four years should be shaken to their core. America has finally reaped what you have sown with your cowardice and ambition.
Encouraging anarchy and violence
This is one of the darkest days in American history. It will be a long time before we can dig our way out of what has happened today. But the first step must be reaffirming our most basic principle, that this is a country based on the rule of law and that mob violence is always wrong, no matter how righteous the mob might believe itself to be.
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Trump has unleashed this on us. He brought the crowd to Washington. He encouraged them to "be wild.” He ordered them to march on the Capitol. His encouragement of violence and anarchy can’t be ignored. He has 14 more days in office. I was not in favor of impeaching Trump over his Georgia call. I am in favor of removing him over this.
Even his most devoted sycophants, both in Congress and in his Cabinet, must now realize that he is irrational, out of control and too dangerous to leave in office until Jan. 20. Impeach him. Invoke the 25th Amendment. Do whatever needs to be done. But remove Donald Trump from office today.
Chris Truax, an appellate lawyer in San Diego, is a legal adviser for Republicans for the Rule of Law and The Guardrails of Democracy Project, CEO of CertifiedVoter.com and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.
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