Updated 2:31 p.m.
Democratic prosecutors in former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial say rioters believed they were acting on the “president’s orders” to storm the Capitol to undo Joe Biden's election victory.
The House's impeachment managers wrapped up their arguments on Thursday afternoon by saying the siege was part of Trump's pattern of violent rhetoric. Trump's legal team will take over the lecturn on Friday and Saturday for up to 16 hours to layout their defense.
Democrats warn Trump will continue to vex American politics unless he is convicted and barred from future office. Thursday's session follows the previous day's raw and visceral video of last month’s insurrection.
Senators in both parties were stoic, rapt and unmoving on the first day of arguments as they watched almost 90 minutes of terror unfold on large screens placed near their desks. If any senators had tried not to look at images of the siege, or to bury their memories after they fled a violent mob of Trump supporters that day, they were not able to do so any longer.
The raw and visceral video footage of January’s deadly insurrection at the Capitol is now a key exhibit in the impeachment trial. Lawmakers prosecuting the case aim to prove that Trump bears singular responsibility for the siege. Much of the footage had not been seen before. It included detailed security video of the break-in, distraught members of Congress receiving comfort, and rioters in hand-to-hand combat with police.
