Expell the legislators who endorsed “Stop the Steal” Immidiately

Opinions on Debatable Issues #18

Those in the U.S. Congress who have endorsed Trump’s “Stop the Steal” agenda, leading to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, should be expelled immediately.

Retired firefighter accused of throwing extinguisher at police during Capitol riot is arrested — NBC News

Expulsion is the most serious form of disciplinary action that can be taken against a Member of Congress. Article I, Section 5, of the United States Constitution provides that “Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.” Since 1789, the Senate has expelled only fifteen of its entire membership.

Discipline & Punishment | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives — History, Art & Archives – House.gov

According to the Freedictionary, disorderly behavior is “any act of molesting, interrupting, hindering, agitating, or arousing from a state of repose or otherwise depriving inhabitants of the peace and quiet to which they are entitled”. The specifics crimes include breach of the peace, disorderly conduct, disturbance of the peace. The Congressmen that fueled the riot fit this description of “disorderly behaviors”.

According to interviews with six former prosecutors and public defenders, The criminal charges prosecutors could pursue against the political leaders who incited them, include the following: inciting to riot, conspiracy, seditious conspiracy, and insurrection. Those charges corroborate the disorderly behaviors of the Senators and representatives who endorsed Trump’s “Stop the Steal” agenda, justifying their expulsion. Now, I will provide some examples of the disorderly behaviors of the Republican officials that incited the mob.

According to Washington Post, right-wing activist Ali Alexander, who organized the “Stop the Steal” movement said three GOP lawmakers contributed to the event. They are Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, and Paul A. Gosar of Arizona, all hard-line Trump supporters. “We four schemed up of putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting,” said Alexander. They planned to “change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body, hearing our loud roar from outside.” Biggs said, “I knew there was going to be … a couple of rallies there that day, but I did not participate and didn’t organize and did not attend.” However, the organizer of the movement, Alexander, called Biggs the hero of the “Stop the Steal Movement”. Both Biggs and Gosar spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Phoenix according to Azcentrial, on December 19. Biggs spoke in an 80 seconds message that says “Andy Biggs here, I wish I could be with you. I’m in the D.C. swamp fighting on behalf of Arizona’s residents and freedom fighters all over the country… We are going to keep fighting, and I implore you to keep fighting, too.” Those remarks are very instigating and inciting. Some argue that the speeches of the Congressmen only express their or their constituent’s opinions, not directly causing the riots. However, they cannot deny that “I implore you to keep fighting” has no impact on the rioters.

Some GOP lawmakers' speeches helped set the tone for Capitol riot. Now that rhetoric is drawing blowback from colleagues. - CNNPolitics — CNN.com

Gosar has repeatedly used his Twitter account to point to Alexander or his efforts to thwart the election results. There were at least 23 times that their social media interacted since their meeting with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani about fraud in Arizona’s election. Furthermore, according to Politico, across the border in Maryland, a Republican state legislator helped organize buses to take people to the protest that preceded the riot. The conspiracy to create obstacles for the Biden administration is unquestionable and directly reveal the responsibility that those legislators bear for contributing to the riot.

A West Virginia lawmaker, Dereck Evans, went even further, filming himself storming the Capitol along with the other riots. According to the US Attorney’s office of the District of Columbia, he was charged with “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority… violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds.” Those charges confirm the disorderly behaviors of Dereck Evans and others who incited the riot directly or indirectly. Expelling them is honoring the law of the Congress and affirming the authority of the Congress. Letting men like him, who ignore the safety of the public, freely break the law, and impinge the power of the government, remain in office to create laws for the people will beget chaos and disunity.

Some argue that the First Amendment justifies the riots. However, the First Amendment protects the “right of the people peaceably to assemble…”. No reasonable human would categorize the riot that caused 5 deaths and more than 50 injuries as peaceful. So first amendment cannot be invoked here.

A visual timeline on how the attack on Capitol Hill unfolded - ABC News — ABC News

Other defenders of the lawmakers who endorsed the “Stop the Steal” agenda argue that when because that is what their constituents wanted. However, the founding fathers know that the citizens are not informed enough to make the right political decisions, so they created a Republic system were educated and informed politicians can moderate the fervent public opinion to prevent them from creating the riot we saw on January 6th. According to the Edmund Burke Model, representatives should think long-term even if their citizens do not agree with them initially. But the lawmakers who supported the agenda prioritized their partisanship and re-election over fulfilling their duty of keeping the people’s interest in finding. Therefore they are responsible for not stopping and even inciting the riot.

The House Explained | house.gov — House.gov

The speeches of the legislators to support Trump’s agenda are intended to disturb peace, threaten the safety of the Congress officials, and obstruct the inauguration of Joe Biden. Those in Congress who have enabled Trump and pushed the “Stop the Steal” agenda made their claims with no evidence but pure falsehood with the ill-will to prevent a peaceful and effective transition of power. They fail to perform their duty of serving the public good and must be expelled.

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