Joaquin Castro: ‘President Donald John Trump incited this violence’

UPDATE: Part 2 of Congressman Castro’s opening arguments.

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – A congressman from San Antonio has a major role in the Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump.

During opening arguments Wednesday, House impeachment manager Joaquin Castro showed video of the mob at the Capitol attacking police last month.   The Democratic U.S. Representative accused Trump of dereliction of duty as commander in chief for failing to send help to the officers who were trying to hold off the rioters.

“They were completely and violently overwhelmed by a mob and needed help, and our Commander in Chief President Trump refused to send it,” said Castro. “On Jan. 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead.”

Castro also aired video of the crowd blasting former Vice President Mike Pence and calling him a traitor after Trump attacked his own vice president  on twitter for refusing to block the certification of Joe Biden as President.

Castro noted that some of the attackers were heard saying that they hoped to find Vice President Mike Pence and hang him.  The congressman showed a photo of a gallows with a noose on the Capitol grounds.

“It harkens back to our nation’s worst history of lynching,”Castro said.

While saying he and Pence don’t agree on many political issues, Castro came to his defense.

“Mike  Pence is not a traitor to this country.  He’s a patriot,”Castro said.  He and his family, who was with him that day, didn’t deserve this–didn’t deserve the president unleashing a mob on them.”

As he presented a timeline of of the riot during which fellow Republicans publicly urged Trump to call off the attack, Castro questioned why the former president  didn’t tell the mob to leave to leave immediately. He also blasted the President for refusing to call out the National Guard.

“The truth is, he didn’t want it to stop.  He wanted them to stay and stop the certification,” said Castro.

After new graphic video was presented on day 2 of the impeachment trial, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told CNN the presentation was “powerful and emotional,” but he doesn’t think it proves that Trump committed high crimes or misdemeanors.  Cruz said the house managers  spent a lot of time focusing on the “horrific acts of violence that were played out by the criminals, but the language from the president doesn’t come close to meeting the legal standard for incitement.”

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SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) – A congressman from San Antonio claims the riot at the U.S.  Capitol last month didn’t emanate from one speech by former President Donald Trump, but from a series of tweets and rallies that started months before the November election in which he claimed that if he lost it was because the election was rigged.

“He didn’t care if the claims were true.  He wanted to make sure that his supporters were angry,” U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro said at the Senate impeachment trial Tuesday.

He’s one of several House managers presenting their case for Trump’s impeachment Wednesday.

“The most combustible thing you can do in a democracy is convince people that an election doesn’t count, especially if what you’re saying are lies,” Castro told Senators.

His presentation included video of Trump in July saying that the November election would be the most inaccurate and fraudulent in history.

“I’m a Texas Democrat,” Castro told the Senate Wednesday.  We’ve lost a few elections over the years. But can you imagine telling your supporters that the only way you could possibly lose is if an American election was rigged and stolen from you?”

Castro also showed  footage of Trump supporters, some of them armed,  in Maricopa County, Arizona.  They were demanding that election officials stop counting votes.  The congressman called it a blatant act of intimidation.

He told the Senate that Trump then grew more desperate as the certification of votes got closer.

“He gave them specific instructions on how, where and when to fight to stop the steal. He told them to show up on January 6 and march to the U.S. Capitol to stop the certification of the election results and he told them to come here and fight like hell,” said Castro.

In his arguments, he said when the attack was all over the news, then-President Trump didn’t stop them.

“You will see clearly that this violent mob that showed up on Jan. 6 didn’t come out of thin air,” said Castro. “President Donald John Trump incited this violence, and that’s the truth.”