President Donald Trump's own words are coming back to haunt him as a judge argued in an appeal case Friday that "a convicted scholar’s speech in a terrorism case and Trump’s remarks sound 'the same.'"
Judge Stephanie Thacker, who sits on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, pointed to Trump's statements during the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol to draw a "provocative example" in a case examining First Amendment-protected speech and aiding and abetting a crime, a punishable act, Politico reports.
“What if a large group of people, angry at Congress, gathered on the Washington Mall, some of whom have firearms, and are known to have firearms, and a leader stood in front of them, here, right in front of them, not in another country, and said, ‘Go down the street and fight like hell. I’ll be there with you,’” Thacker said, responding to federal prosecutor Gordon Kromberg.
Last fall, a judge overturned some of the convictions for Ali Al-Timimi, a Muslim scholar and cancer researcher who was convicted in 2005 for encouraging more than a dozen young men to prepare to defend the Taliban against an expected U.S. attack after Sept. 11, 2001, and encouraging them to travel to Pakistan.
Kromberg disagreed, saying that Al-Timimi made the statements in a secret meeting.
“I take no position on what happens when a public speaker speaks on television to the world, as opposed to someone who knows that he’s doing something illegal, because he says, ‘Turn off the phones, close the shades,’” Kromberg said.
Thacker argued that under the government's same theory, Trump's comments also appeared to cross a line.
“To me, it sounds the same. So, if what you’re advocating is a crime, then what I just said is a crime — may be a crime,” Thacker said.
Following the Jan. 6 attack, Trump's statements were included in special counsel Jack Smith's case. Trump was charged with involvement in a criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case was later dismissed after Trump won the 2024 presidential race.