Recently, former president Donald Trump was impeached and acquitted for the second time. This impeachment occurred after and because of the capitol storm on January 6th. On that day, many Trump supporters holding not only Trump flags, but also Confederate flags, Gadsden flags, and American flags, broke into the Capitol building, forcing politicians and congress-people to leave in seek of safety. Many all over the United States watched this on the news, in shock, and claimed it was very un-American and a disrespect to this country. Many also thought that Trump was responsible for this Capitol storm, and there has been lots of evidence that he was. For example, Trump claimed that the November election was that of fraud, and summoned his people to gather in Washington on that day and storm the Capitol to fight for him. The House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats, did not let this go without punishment, and voted to have Trump impeached. This vote happened while he was still in office. The impeachment then moved to the Senate, where they would decide if he was guilty or not of the charge ‘incitement of insurrection’.

Senator Majority Leader at the time before Biden’s inauguration, Mitch McConnell, stated that the trial should wait until after Biden’s inauguration day, and so it did. The trial then began on February 9th, and not to the surprise of many, McConnell voted against Trump’s conviction while still blaming him for the actions on January 6th. He claimed that Trump was constitutionally ineligible for conviction since he was already out of office, and stated that Trump could be convicted in the future through the criminal justice system and civil courts.

To me, it is obvious that Mitch McConnell never wanted Trump to be convicted, even if he may have agreed it was his fault. McConnell might have even been pressured by Trump to vote for him to be acquitted. It was the perfect situation McConnell could’ve used to his advantage, saying that the trial needed to wait until after the inauguration to focus on ensuring a safe event after the attack, and then later saying Trump couldn’t be impeached because he was not in office anymore. It seemed to be easy for him to vote against Trump’s guilt while saving his reputation and making himself look good.

Going back to why Trump’s impeachment happened, which ended up with him getting acquitted with a 57-43 vote, 57 in favor of his conviction (but not the 2/3 they needed to convict him), I do believe he was guilty of the Capitol attack and should be held accountable for the actions of his supporters that he encouraged them to perform. Yes, there is free speech, but that part of the first amendment does not include speech that incites violence or riots.

Clearly, Trump is getting away with inciting a riot on Capitol grounds, as he gets away with many of his wrong doings, and I believe the government should find a way to hold him accountable for is actions. No one should be able to get away with this, especially since it was on Capitol grounds. I do agree it was a very un-American and agree with its comparisons to a terrorist attack. What shocks me the most is how easy it seemed to break into the Capitol building. I had also noticed the rioters, as they were walking around inside the building, acquired a sense of entitlement that I believe is a common trait in American society. This sense of entitlement could’ve also been a driving force into them thinking it was okay to break into the Capitol, and Trump thinking it was okay for him to incite such acts against the U.S. government.