Former Vice President Mike Pence downplayed concerns about potential protests this week backed by former President Donald Trump, which has fueled a 2021 attack on the US Capitol, saying people have a “right to peacefully assemble.”
“The American people have a constitutional right to peaceably assemble,” he said in an interview with ABC News on Saturday.
Anyone who wants to protest Trump’s self-proclaimed indictment for allegedly covering up cash payments during the 2016 presidential campaign will know they need to do so peacefully and legally, Pence said.
“The violence that happened on January 6, the violence that happened in cities across this country in the summer of 2020, is a disgrace,” he said, referring to the Capitol attack and unrelated protests over the killing of George Floyd by police. “The American people will not tolerate it and those who commit such violence must be prosecuted.”
Pence further denied the integrity of any charges brought against Trump, calling it a “politically motivated impeachment.” He accused the Manhattan district attorney of making Trump his “top priority” and said it “just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left.”
Earlier on Saturday, Trump called on his supporters, in a series of social media posts, to “PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST” and “TAKE BACK OUR NATION” as he announced the arrest he wanted on Tuesday amid a criminal investigation into $130,000 in alleged money laundering. . who paid for adult actor Stormy Daniels.
His message, which states that “BAD & SINISTER PEOPLE” are “MANAGING” the military and the country, is similar to the call to action he made when he pushed for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol after losing his re-election bid in 2020. A violent crowd stormed the Capitol , causing several deaths.
Pence, in a speech earlier this month, immediately blamed Trump’s “reckless” words for fueling the uprising.
“President Trump is wrong. I don’t have the right to cancel the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone in the Capitol that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable,” he told politicians and journalists at the annual Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington.
Law enforcement officials in New York City are planning extra security measures ahead of a potential Trump indictment, several officials told The Associated Press on Friday. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg also told employees in an email Saturday to refrain from intimidation or threats following Trump’s call to protest.