Hey federal judges: we told you so

Lawyers and clients in Nwanguma v. Trump. I’m the bald guy. (Photo by Jacob Ryan, courtesy of Louisville Public Media)

It’s been almost five years since my colleagues and I sued then-candidate Trump for inciting violence at his campaign rallies on behalf of three protesters who were beaten up by an angry mob of white supremacists. We lost. This post is addressed to the federal judges who tossed out our case without holding the President accountable when you had the chance.

We told you so.

Let’s take a moment to remember what the political landscape in 2016 was like. Back then, American democracy was chronically ill, but not quite looking for a hospice bed to die in. And yet, anyone paying attention knew that an unprecedented brand of American political violence was in the works on Trump’s campaign trail.

• On August 11, 2015, in reaction to a protester seizing a microphone from another candidate, Trump said, “That will never happen with me . . . I don’t know if I’ll do the fighting myself, or if other people will.”
• At a Trump rally held on November 21, 2015, in Birmingham, Alabama, Trump said of a protester who was attacked that “maybe he should have been roughed up.” On November 22, Trump said of protesters, “The third group, I’ll be a little more violent. And the fourth group, I’ll say get the hell out of here!”
• On February 1, 2016, at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Trump instructed those in the…