A police officer whose harrowing screams have been recorded on video as he was crushed by a violent mob through the Jan. 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol was the primary witness to testify Monday at a Denver trial that may decide whether or not Donald Trump must be blocked from showing on the Republican presidential main poll in Colorado subsequent 12 months beneath the so-called rebellion clause within the U.S. Structure.
“It was a terrorist assault on the US of America, an assault on democracy and an try to forestall the peaceable switch of energy,” stated Daniel Hodges, a Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer.
Hodges was certainly one of two officers who, together with a congressman, testified Monday in a case that’s more likely to attain the U.S. Supreme Court docket. The case is a part of a nationwide try in a number of states to dam Trump from working for reelection in 2024.
The Denver bench trial, which is predicted to final all week, stems from a lawsuit filed in September on behalf of a gaggle of Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters, together with a former state lawmaker, by Residents for Accountability and Ethics, a liberal Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. The swimsuit argues that Trump’s position within the lethal Jan. 6, 2021, riot disqualifies him from working for president beneath the 14th Modification.
The Civil Conflict-era modification bars individuals who took an “oath … to assist the Structure of the US” after which “engaged in rebellion or rise up in opposition to the identical, or given help or consolation to the enemies thereof” from holding federal or state workplace.
The lawsuit was filed in opposition to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat and the state’s prime election official, who isn’t preventing the authorized motion.
In opening arguments Monday, Scott Gessler, who’s representing the Trump marketing campaign, stated the lawsuit “seems to extinguish the chance — extinguish it — for tens of millions of Coloradans, Colorado Republicans and unaffiliated voters, to have the ability to select and vote for the presidential candidate they need.”
“The petitioners ask this courtroom to be the primary state courtroom in American historical past to disqualify a presidential candidate,” stated Gessler, a Republican who beforehand served as Colorado’s secretary of state.
Gessler argued that even when Trump was the rationale for the Jan. 6 riot, he didn’t “have interaction” in it.
“He didn’t carry a pitchfork to the Capitol grounds,” Gessler stated. “He didn’t lead a cost. He didn’t get right into a fistfight with legislators. He didn’t goad President Biden (into) having a struggle. He gave a speech through which he requested individuals to peacefully and patriotically go to the Capitol to protest.”
Eric Olson, an lawyer representing the plaintiffs, argued that in a speech close to the Capitol earlier than the riot started, Trump clearly directed his supporters to “struggle” and “assembled a violent mob that attempted to forestall the constitutional switch — and did in truth cease that switch — of energy.”
“Our structure prevents individuals who betrayed their solemn oath, as Trump did right here, from serving in workplace once more,” Olson stated. “Colorado legislation provides these voters the correct to ensure their votes will rely by coming to this courtroom and making certain that solely eligible candidates seem on the poll.”
Officers and congressman recount what occurred on Jan. 6
Hodges, the officer injured within the Jan. 6 riot, testified that his fuel masks was ripped off by the gang and that one demonstrator tried to gouge out his eye.
“The group attacked me in quite a lot of methods,” stated Hodges, who has since left his policing job. “Punching, kicking, pushing. Chemical irritants, comparable to OC spray or pepper spray. I used to be overwhelmed within the head with blunt devices, together with my very own baton. I used to be pinned and crushed with a police protect. I can’t keep in mind all of the other ways.”
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Winston Pingeon testified {that a} rioter practically stabbed him within the head with a sharpened flagpole. He stated it got here inside 2 inches of his ear. He additionally stated that rioters have been carrying helmets, goggles and different military-style protecting gear.
“I had not seen that earlier than,” stated Pingeon, who has since left the Capitol Police pressure. “We don’t usually face individuals who seem to me to be ready for bodily altercations or violence.”
Trump’s legal professionals tried to distance the previous president from the rioters, asking the officers how they knew the demonstrators have been the identical individuals who attended Trump’s speech close to the White Home earlier within the day throughout which he urged supporters to march to the Capitol.
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, additionally testified on Monday, explaining what it was like for members of Congress through the riot. He stated he had no concept how you can use the fuel masks supplied to him and others when rioters approached the Home chamber. He relied on colleagues who have been veterans to assist.
Swalwell stated he and different members of Congress have been following Trump’s tweets as they hid from rioters.
“Within the weeks earlier than, the President had fired up his supporters with claims that the election was rigged,” Swalwell stated.
The plaintiffs within the case additionally offered photographs and video proof on Monday, together with of Trump’s remarks main as much as the riot and of the riot itself. The president’s social media posts on the day of the assault have been additionally highlighted in courtroom.
The primary a part of the trial is aimed toward figuring out whether or not the Jan. 6 riot constituted an rebellion and whether or not Trump performed a task in it. In a while, each side are anticipated to current proof across the that means of the Structure’s rebellion clause.
Denver decide denied recusal request
Earlier than testimony started Monday, legal professionals representing Trump within the lawsuit requested Denver District Court docket Choose Sarah B. Wallace to recuse herself as a result of she made a $100 donation in October 2022 to the Colorado Turnout Undertaking, a federal tremendous PAC that opposes Republican candidates.
Wallace, who was appointed to the bench in August 2022 by Gov. Jared Polis, denied the request, saying she didn’t keep in mind making the donation and “was not cognizant of this group or its mission” previous to Trump’s recusal movement being filed.
“I can guarantee all the litigants on this litigation that previous to the beginning of this litigation, and to at the present time, I’ve fashioned no opinion whether or not the occasions of Jan. 6 constituted an rebellion, or whether or not … Trump engaged in an rebellion,” Wallace stated.
Wallace, who warned that she wouldn’t let the proceedings “flip right into a circus,” will in the end rule on whether or not Trump ought to seem on Colorado’s poll. A jury shouldn’t be contemplating the case.
Background on the lawsuit
The plaintiffs within the lawsuit are:
- Krista Kafer, a Republican activist and political commentator
- Norma Anderson, a Republican who was previously the bulk chief within the Colorado Senate
- Michelle Priola, the spouse of state Sen. Kevin Priola, who switched his celebration affiliation to Democratic from Republican in 2022. Michelle Priola is registered as a Republican.
- Chris Castilian, chief of workers for then-Colorado Gov. Invoice Owens, a Republican. Castilian can be a former government director of Nice Open air Colorado. Castilian is registered as an unaffiliated voter
- Kathi Wright, a former Loveland metropolis councilwoman who’s registered as an unaffiliated voter
- Claudine Cmarada, a Republican voter who lives in Boulder and previously served as a congresswoman from Rhode Island. Her married identify is Claudine Schneider, however she is listed as Claudine Cmarada within the lawsuit.
Mario Nicolais, a Colorado Solar columnist, is without doubt one of the legal professionals representing the plaintiffs within the case. One other lawyer representing the plaintiffs is Martha Tierney, who typically represents the Colorado Democratic Occasion in marketing campaign issues.
The 14th Modification, ratified in 1868, helped guarantee civil rights for freed slaves — and ultimately for all individuals in the US. Nevertheless it additionally was used to forestall former Accomplice officers from changing into members of Congress after the Civil Conflict and taking up the federal government in opposition to which they’d simply rebelled.
The 14th Modification was used final 12 months to take away from workplace a New Mexico county commissioner who entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. That was the primary time it was utilized in 100 years. In 1919, Congress refused to seat a socialist, contending he gave help and luxury to the nation’s enemies throughout World Conflict I.
One other liberal group, Free Speech For Individuals, unsuccessfully tried to make use of the supply to forestall Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina from working for reelection final 12 months.
The decide overseeing Greene’s case dominated in her favor. Cawthorn’s case grew to become moot after he was defeated in his main.
Colorado’s presidential main can be held on March 5. The poll have to be licensed by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Workplace in January, that means the lawsuit must transfer rapidly for the plaintiffs to achieve success.
The Colorado case is certainly one of two lawsuits that would find yourself reaching the U.S. Supreme Court docket. On Thursday, the Minnesota Supreme Court docket will hear oral arguments in an identical case.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
