Insurrection – yes or no?
January 6, 2021 was supposedly an insurrection. Many have been arrested and some are now serving time in prison, but none of them were charged with insurrection. In fact, no one (including President Trump) has been charged with insurrection. The reason? Their actions do not fit the legal definition of insurrection. Here’s what the US code says:
§2383. Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution has five sections. The section we’ve heard the most about since January 6, 2021 is section 3 which says, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
Interesting that the last phrase of Section 1 of that amendment says, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
One must ask about the treatment of some of those who have been arrested and remain in jail without ever facing a judge in the past three years. Seems like the Sixth Amendment says something about “the right of a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury”. One must also ask about all those who rioted and destroyed property during the summer of 2020. How many were arrested? How many faced charges? How many spent any time in jail or paid fines?
The 14th Amendment was adopted on July 9, 1868 as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Section 1 has several clauses: the Citizenship clause which made former slaves citizens of the United States – thus overturning the 1857 7-2 Dred Scott Decision which said slaves were not and could never be citizens of the US. The Privileges or Immunities Clause, which since the 1873 Slaughter-House Cases has largely been ignored. The Due Process Clause forces state and local governments to use due process when attempting to deprive persons of life, liberty or property. We hear a lot about the Equal Protection Clause and it has been used to push some radical ideas such as “same-sex marriage.” Section One has been used in many landmark US Supreme Court cases such as Brown vs. Board of Education (racial segregation), Roe v Wade (abortion), Obergefell v Hodges (same-sex “marriage”), and Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard (overturn affirmative action in college admissions).
One hardly ever hears of the second, third and fourth sections of the 14th Amendment, so that leads us to Section 3 which states:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
According to Britannica.com an insurrection is an organized and usually violent act of revolt or rebellion against an established government or governing authority of a nation-state or other political entity by a group of its citizens or subjects.
Legal experts say insurrection is nearly impossible to prove in court. Perhaps that is why no one from the riot on January 6, 2021 has been charged with insurrection! Yet, the mainstream media and leftist politicians continue using that word. Let’s face it: the only reason they are using that word is it places fear in the hearts and minds of Americans and they are using it to get President Trump disqualified from running for the presidency in 2024. PA Congressman Scott Perry has been the latest victim of such an attempt, simply because he questioned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. The word ‘insurrection’ sounds much scarier than the word ‘riot’. Although those who participated in the riots of the summer of 2020 did much more damage than the January 6th crowd did!
Section 3 was specifically drafted after former Confederate states began sending US Senators and Congressmen who still espoused Confederate ideology to Washington. One of those individuals was the Confederacy’s former vice president Alexander Stephens!!
Rioters maybe, but insurrectionists no! As more of the January 6, 2021 tapes are analyzed, more of what really happened that day is exposed. In fact, during a January 6, 2024 interview with Tucker Carlson Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) said, “We believe that there were easily 200 FBI undercover assets operating in the crowd, outside the Capitol, embedded into groups that entered the Capitol or provoked entry of the Capitol.”
Who was it who said, “Never let a crisis go to waste”?
