Trump impeachment lawyer planning to show videos of Democrats talking about BLM rallies

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Donald Trump’s lawyer, Bruce Castor, who is going to lead his defence during the impeachment trial on Monday, has said that he is planning to show videos of Democrats allegedly cheering on protestors during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) rallies in 2020, to bolster his defence.

Mr Castor, who is the former acting attorney general of Pennsylvania, said: “there’s a lot of tape of cities burning and courthouses being attacked and federal agents being assaulted by rioters in the streets, cheered on by Democrats throughout the country.”

He emphasised that many of these (videos) shot in Washington are using really the most inflammatory rhetoric possible to use but there would be no suggestion that they did “anything to incite any of the actions,” reported Fox News.

“But here, when you have the president of the United States give a speech and says that you should peacefully make your thinking known to the people in Congress, he's all of a sudden a villain,” said Mr Castor while acknowledging that he may use such videos.

After the 6 January riots in the Capitol, the former president, who has repeatedly alleged election fraud, was accused of inciting his supporters who stormed the Capitol, leading to lawmakers rushing to safety.

Subsequently, he was impeached for a second time by the House of representatives. He is now all set to face an impeachment trial in the Senate from 8 February.

One of the main contentions of Mr Trump’s allies and supporters has been that he is a private citizen now.

“The primary issue is the issue of jurisdiction. Does the Senate have jurisdiction to remove from office a private citizen who does not hold office?” Mr Castor questioned.

He explained that by the logic of Democrats, “they can go back and impeach Abraham Lincoln” too.

Though founded in 2013, BLM spread across the US in 2020 after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer with a series of protests spreading out to many cities. Last month, it was also nominated for the Nobel peace prize.