Trump is 'Domestic Terrorist', Ex-Deputy Secretary of State Armitage Claims

Last week, Trump's social media accounts were blocked and thousands of users were banned from Twitter for "inciting violence".

Ex-American Secretary of State Richard Armitage called US President Donald Trump a "domestic terrorist" after the riot on the Capitol.

"For me, it started in Charlottesville when he said there were good people on both sides of the issue," Armitage said. "And most recently when the President was firing up the crowd, and previously saying, 'it's going to be a wild day', then urging them to march on the Capitol... All those things led me to believe that he's a domestic terrorist."

The former official claimed that Trump was encouraging people who were like Timothy McVeigh - an infamous domestic terrorist who killed 168 people in the atrocious 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and who was killed by lethal injection in 2001.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. A pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, breaking windows and clashing with police officers.

© AFP 2023 / Jon Cherry

Mass protests against voter fraud hit Washington DC after Trump refused to concede and stated that votes had been stolen from him. In the wake of violent clashes on 6 January, a group of protesters besieged the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election victory.  They breached the perimeter, entering the building and prompting a mass evacuation of lawmakers.

President Trump called on the protesters to remain peaceful and go home, but the insurrection continued, resulting in at least five deaths. After the riot, Democrat lawmakers demanded Trump be removed from office, urging Vice-President Mike Pence to use the 25th Amendment to declare the president incapable of executing the duties.