Call to Arms

Former President Donald Trump will appear before a Miami court today, having been accused of various crimes related to efforts to cover up his possession of countless documents classified as secrets of the state and critical to national security, which he should never have had. This is the first formal accusation brought against a former president of the United States. The attention of the country and a large part of the world is focused on what might happen as a result of this unprecedented judicial action, which, in any case, even if he is found guilty, is unlikely to affect his chances of becoming a presidential candidate.

Commentators fear there is a high risk of a bigger and more violent repeat of the attack on the Capitol incited by Trump himself on Jan. 6, 2021, with the intent to force members of Congress and senators to ignore the result of the election that he lost to Joe Biden. Over the weekend there was political activity in Georgia as the Republican Party convention in that state took place and, of course, the topic of the accusation took center stage amid calls for the use of force to “protect Trump” from what he himself has described as a witch hunt.

Former Republican nominee for governor of Arizona, Kari Lake, made a speech in which she alarmingly expressed what constitutes a call to arms and another insurrection. She said, “If you want to get to President Trump, you’re going to have to go through me, and you’re going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me. And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA.” That is to say, members of the National Rifle Association, which advocates for the right to bear arms and which, in fact, numbers around 5 million members.

The ghost of Jan. 6 noticeably still lingers, however, and though many of the participants in this attempt to overthrow the state have been convicted, the already recognizable fanaticism of Trump’s followers could cause serious problems, with some commentators going so far as to warn of civil war. In fact, Republican members of Congress have even attempted to justify Trump’s intention to cover up his possession of classified documents, claiming that, as a former president, he was authorized to “declassify this material,” which indicates that the content of the law is unimportant to them and shows an intent to overturn the legal action with force.

The incitement to armed rebellion, expressed so clearly by Lake, must be given the proper attention it deserves because it is an explicit and undeniable call to arms and makes the reality that will be faced in the coming months extremely concerning.