Jan. 6th Report Lists Weapons Seized at Trump’s Pre-Riot Rally

Charles P. Pierce, over at Esquire Magazine has been reading the January 6th Committee’s 150 page report, which he links to here and, in addition to some details of the Orangeutan’s comportment when told that, no, Mr. Resident, you cannot ride the insurrection train down to the Capitol, which I will get to later, included a listing of the hand weapons seized at the magnetometers set up at his pre-riot “Stop The Steal” rally, that the loathsome one had objected to lest his thugs and oaf keepers be turned away.

It is quite an impressive, or perhaps terrifying, list when one thinks of what further damage could have been done to the Capitol Police had drumpf had his way and the crowd not been partially, at least, disarmed:

“In addition to intelligence reports indicating potential violence at the Capitol, weapons and other prohibited items were being seized by police on the streets and by Secret Service at the magnetometers for the Ellipse speech. Secret Service confiscated a haul of weapons from the 28,000 spectators who did pass through the magnetometers: 242 canisters of pepper spray, 269 knives or blades, 18 brass knuckles, 18 tasers, 6 pieces of body armor, 3 gas masks, 30 batons or blunt instruments, and 17 miscellaneous items like scissors, needles, or screwdrivers. And thousands of others purposely remained outside the magnetometers, or left their packs outside. Others brought firearms. Three men in fatigues from Broward County, Florida brandished AR-15s in front of Metropolitan police officers on 14th Street and Independence Avenue on the morning of January 6th. MPD advised over the radio that one individual was possibly armed with a “Glock” at 14th and Constitution Avenue, and another was possibly armed with a “rifle” at 15th and Constitution Avenue around 11:23 a.m. The National Park Service detained an individual with a rifle between 12 and 1 p.m. Almost all of this was known before Donald Trump took the stage at the Ellipse.“

We know that a lot of injuries to the police resulted from liberal use of pepper or “Bear Spray” in the ensuing assault on the seat of Democracy, but how much more could have been afflicted if 242 more rioters had not been relieved of their canisters. And one could argue that many of the 269 “knives or blades” might have never been brandished, but what if only 5 or 6 had been pulled out in the hand to hand combat in the coming hours? Would there have been more widows grieving the loss of their husbands.

No, Trump, they were not there to hurt you, asshole, but many were ready to hurt somebody.

Charlie Pierce relies on his frequently sardonic prose to alleviate some of the horror of the possibilities:

“No wonder El Caudillo del Mar-A-Lago wanted the magnetometers removed from the mall so that his mass of “tourists” would come armed onto the mall to hear him talk about “walking to the Capitol.” In my experience, for example, almost every church group comes to D.C. with at least 242 canisters of pepper spray tucked away on the bus behind the soda. And what kind of a grandchild would send Meemaw to the seat of democracy without a blade?“

And what does the report tell us of drumpf’s desire to accompany his band of brigands on their March of infamy?

“After he exited the stage, President Trump entered the Presidential SUV and forcefully expressed his intention that Bobby Engel, the head of his Secret Service detail, direct the motorcade to the Capitol. The Committee has now obtained evidence from several sources about a “furious interaction” in the SUV. The vast majority of witnesses who have testified before the Select Committee about this topic, including multiple members of the Secret Service, a member of the Metropolitan police, and national security officials in the White House, described President Trump’s behavior as “irate,” “furious,” “insistent,” “profane” and “heated.” Hutchinson heard about the exchange second-hand and related what she heard in our June 28, 2022, hearing from [Tony] Ornato (as did another witness, a White House employee with national security responsibilities, who shared that Ornato also recounted to him President Trump’s “irate” behavior in the Presidential vehicle.) Other members of the White House staff and Secret Service also heard about the exchange after the fact.

As it became clear that Donald Trump desired to travel to the Capitol on January 6th, a White House Security Official in the White House complex became very concerned about his intentions: To be completely honest, we were all in a state of shock. . . . it just – one, I think the actual physical feasibility of doing it, and then also we all knew what that implicated and what that meant, that this was no longer a rally, that this was going to move to something else if he physically walked to the Capitol. I – I don’t know if you want to use the word “insurrection,” “coup,” whatever. We all knew that this would move from a normal, democratic, you know, public event into something else. President Trump continued to push to travel to the Capitol even after his return to the White House, despite knowing that a riot was underway. Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, spoke with President Trump about his desire to go to the Capitol after he returned to the White House from the Ellipse. “So to the best of my recollection, I recall him being – wanting to – saying that he wanted to physically walk and be a part of the march and then saying that he would ride the Beast if he needed to, ride in the Presidential limo.”

As Pierce notes – the mind boggles.

Thank whatever powers that be that cooler heads prevailed and, perhaps that Bobby Engel was in charge, rather than Trump’s hand picked man Tony Ornato.

What would police have done if Trump had been at the head of his mob?

Or if the magnetometers had not been in place?