Trump indicted for ‘inciting’ riot on Capitol Hill

The US House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump for “inciting insurgency” during the riot on Capitol Hill last week.

Ten Republicans sided with the Democrats to impeach the president by 232-197.

But his Senate trial will not take place until after Joe Biden, a Democrat, is inaugurated as the new US president next week.

Mr. Trump, a Republican, is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.

The Democratic-controlled House voted on Wednesday after two hours of heated debate as armed National Guard troops kept watch inside and outside the Capitol.

The FBI has warned of possible armed protests planned in Washington DC and all 50 U.S. state capitals ahead of Mr. Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

In a video posted after the vote in Congress, Mr. Trump called on his supporters to remain peaceful, without discussing his impeachment. “Violence and vandalism have no place in our country… None of my true supporters would ever approve of political violence,” he said, striking darkly and conciliatingly.

What has Trump been accused of?

Impeachment charges are political, not criminal. The president was accused by Congress of instigating an assault on Capitol Hill with a speech on Jan.6 at a rally outside the White House.

He urged his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” make their voices heard, but also to “fight like hell” against an election he falsely told them had been stolen.

Following Mr Trump’s remarks, his supporters stormed onto Capitol Hill, forcing lawmakers to suspend certification of election results and take cover. The building was locked down and five people died in the melee.

The impeachment article stated that Mr. Trump “had repeatedly made false statements claiming that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted.”

He says he then repeated those claims and “deliberately made statements to the crowd which encouraged and presumably resulted in lawless action on Capitol Hill,” leading to violence and loss of life.

“President Trump has seriously endangered the security of the United States and its government institutions, threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and jeopardized a co-equal branch of government.

Last week, 139 Republicans voted against accepting the 2020 election result and defeating Mr. Trump.

What did lawmakers say during the debate?

Members of Congress made statements for and against the vote in the same room where they hid under chairs and donned gas masks as rioters tried to force their way inside last week.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, told the House: “The President of the United States has instigated this insurgency, this armed rebellion against our common country.

“He has to go. He represents a clear and present danger to the nation we all love.

Democratic Congressman Julian Castro called Mr. Trump “the most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office.”

Most Republicans have not sought to defend Mr. Trump’s rhetoric, instead arguing that impeachment bypassed usual hearings and calling on Democrats to abandon it for the sake of national unity.

“To indict the president in such a short period of time would be a mistake,” said Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican.

“This does not mean that the president is free from fault. The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters.

Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, accused Democrats of recklessly dividing the country for a political vendetta.

“It’s about getting the President of the United States,” Mr. Jordan said. “It was always about getting the president, no matter what. It’s an obsession.

Among the presidential party members who voted to impeach him was Third House Republican Liz Cheney.

The representative for Wyoming, who is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, said of the Capitol Riot that “there has never been a greater betrayal by a president “.