There is only one reason for Donald Trump to schedule his first major campaign rally in Waco, Texas. He wants to intimidate state, local and federal prosecutors who are in the late stages of brining criminal charges against him. Trump expects to be arrested on Tuesday by the Manhattan district attorney on charges stemming from the 2016 Stormy Daniels hush money payments, although that appears to be more of a personal prediction than anything he has been officially told. His arrest does seem imminent, however, most likely within a week’s time. Charges out of Fulton County, Georgia, related to his effort to steal the 2020 presidential election, also seem likely to arrive before too long. And then there’s the federal case, led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, covering both the coup attempt and the illegal possession of classified material, which is looming and apparently loaded for bear.
Waco, of course, is best known for the 1993 standoff between the federal government and the Branch Davidian apocalyptic religious cult led by David Koresh. It began with a search warrant that went horribly wrong.
On February 28, 1993, at 4:20 am, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms attempted to execute a search warrant relating to alleged sexual abuse charges and illegal weapons violations. The ATF attempted to breach the compound for approximately two hours until their ammunition ran low. Four ATF agents (Steve Willis, Robert Williams, Todd McKeehan, and Conway Charles LeBleu) were killed and another 16 agents were wounded during the raid. The five Branch Davidians killed in the 9:45 am raid were Winston Blake (British), Peter Gent (Australian), Peter Hipsman, Perry Jones, and Jaydean Wendell; two were killed by the Branch Davidians.
This led to a much greater loss of life. The Branch Davidian compound caught fire while the Feds were trying to force their surrender and 76 people perished. Irrespective of the intent of the government, this sparked widespread outrage and it was to avenge the tragedy at Waco that Timothy McVeigh set off a massive truck bomb at the Oklahoma City federal building in April 1995.
Trump is essentially taking McVeigh’s side. He’s inviting his followers to attack the government in the same way that McVeigh attacked.
And if this isn’t entirely clear to you, look at what Trump had to say on Saturday about his impending arrest:
With a Manhattan grand jury indictment likely but its timing unclear, Donald J. Trump sought to rally supporters to his side, declaring that he would be arrested on Tuesday and calling for protests.
Mr. Trump made the declaration on his site, Truth Social, at 7:26 a.m. on Saturday in a post that ended with, “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
The last time he asked his supporters to mobilize, it resulted in the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol building. This time, however, Trump’s motivation is not to stay in the Oval Office. He knows that protests won’t put or keep him in power. He’s hoping that prosecutors will grow weak in their resolve in the face of major threats to national security.
The man is a menace, and capable of far worse than most can even imagine. He’s needs to be locked up as soon as possible.
“Locked up” is the least of it. I’m generally not in favor of capital punishment, but a rabid dog is a rabid dog.
I think he should be locked up as well and put away for a long time, when all the cases have been heard, perhaps for life. I have also wondered from time to time that what he did was treason, and that he should be receive capital punishment for his crimes.. But then I’ve been told that is wrong headed. So ok. But– like it or not — leave this guy around long enough. and he will win, and you will not like what you lose. There is a time limit on him for our own sakes. Lock.him.up.