Donald Trump Urged January 6 Rioters 'To Do Something More' Than Protest: Judge

Though former President Donald Trump may have riled rioters ahead of the January 6 Capitol Attack, advising protesters to “fight like hell,” a judge recently ruled the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. government building in 2021 are still legally responsible for their actions as they likely knew they were breaking the law.

On Wednesday, December 28, U.S. District Judge John Bates shot down alleged insurrectionist Alexander Sheppard’s attempt to tap the “public authority" defense on his charges, voiding his claims that the then-POTUS’s comments authorized him and the army of more than 2,000 rioters to overtake the Capitol.

"President Trump neither stated nor implied that entering the restricted area of the Capitol grounds and the Capitol building or impeding the certification of the electoral vote was lawful,” Bates wrote, later adding that Trump’s comments sent a "signal to protesters that entering the Capitol and stopping the certification would be unlawful."

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"These words only encourage those at the rally to march to the Capitol — nothing more — and do not address legality at all,” he continued, noting that the ex-Commander-in-Chief may have actually pushed his followers to break the law.

“Although his express words only mention walking down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, one might conclude that the context implies that he was urging protestors to do something more — perhaps to enter the Capitol building and stop the certification,” Bates said.

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As such, the Judge concluded, “even if protesters believed they were following orders, they were not misled about the legality of their actions and thus fall outside the scope of any public authority defense,” a finding he says “is consistent with” the January 6 Committee’s recent report.

Earlier this month, the House committee referred Trump to the Justice Department on four criminal charges related to the incident, which left five dead: obstructing an official proceeding, making knowingly and willfully materially false statements to the federal government, inciting or assisting an insurrection, and conspiracy to defraud the government.

It is unclear whether the Justice Department will pursue Trump for any of these crimes.

NBC News previously reported on Bates’ ruling.