Legal expert: New evidence shows Capitol rioters 'carefully coordinating and organizing' the Jan. 6 attack

On Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat," former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade discussed the implications of a newly released video showing Capitol rioters planning in an underground parking structure the day before the attack.

Specifically, she argued that the video reveals the extent of organization and scheming that went into the assault.

"I think this debunks the arguments we have been hearing this was ordinary tourists, or a crowd that got out of hand or overly enthusiastic in their plans that day," said McQuade. "At least some of these people were carefully coordinating and organizing, and I think that rings true in the Oath Keepers and now Proud Boys indictment for seditious conspiracy. The next level is whether or not there was someone organizing above them to provide funding and other things. That's what's important about these things, getting to the bottom of those organized efforts."

The topic then turned to former President Donald Trump's role in the attack.

"Barbara, does it matter the then-president told the group we just saw there, to stand by, if he lost the election?" said anchor Ari Melber.

"I think that there is certainly an argument to be made that that was a call to action," said McQuade. "I don't know that that alone is enough to implicate him criminally. I think he would say, I was just exercising my First Amendment rights, but I also think it's something that terrorism experts refer to as stochastic terrorism, which is I'm going to say something out the public domain and hope somebody picks up on it and acts on it. It's the same way ISIS radicalizers get people to take up arms in America against westerners who are not part of the ISIS ideal. It's the same principle. But tying him criminally on that alone is probably not enough. I think you'd want to see more evidence that he was involved in a cleaner organization of this."

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Barbara McQuade on new Capitol rioter planning videowww.youtube.com