From the recent ruling where a federal judge found that Trump did participate in insurrection, but should not be removed from the ballot:
TRUMP’S HISTORY WITH POLITICAL EXTREMISTS
61. As noted above, Petitioners called an expert in political extremism,
Professor Peter Simi. Professor Simi has a Ph.D. in Sociology, teaches at Chapman
University, and has spent his 27-year career focused on political violence and
extremism. 10/31/23 Tr. 11:15–12:12. He has written two books on political violence and
extremism—American Swastika and Out of Hiding—and published over sixty peerreviewed articles or book chapters on different facets of political violence and
extremism. 10/31/23 Tr. 21:15–23:2. He has provided training on political extremism
and violence to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security,
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the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, and several state and local law
enforcement agencies across the country. 10/31/23 Tr. 23:20–24:6.
62. Professor Simi reviewed Trump’s relationship with his supporters over the
years, identified a pattern of calls for violence that his supporters responded to, and
explained how that long experience allowed Trump to know how his supporters
responded to his calls for violence using a shared language that allowed him to maintain
plausible deniability with the wider public. 10/31/23 Tr. 56:23–59:17, 200:22–203:12.
63. Trump himself agrees that his supporters “listen to [him] like no one else.”
Ex. 134. Amy Kremer also testified that Trump’s supporters are “very reactive” to his
words. 11/02/2023 Tr. 49:4–6.
64. Professor Simi testified about the following examples of patterns of calland-response that Trump developed and used to incite violence by his supporters.
65. At an October 23, 2015 rally, Trump said to his supporters in response to
protestors disrupting the rally, “See, the first group, I was nice . . . The second group, I
was pretty nice. The third group, I’ll be a little more violent. And the fourth group I’ll
say, ‘Get the hell outta here!’” Ex. 127.
66. The next month, Trump used this very language, telling his supporters to
“get [a protester] the hell out of here” and the protester was then assaulted. When asked
about the attack the next day, Trump said “maybe [the protester] should have been
roughed up.” Ex. 50; 10/31/2023 Tr. 70:1–4, 71:13-72:1, 235:3–10.
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67. At a February 2016 rally, Trump told his supporters to “knock the crap out
of” any protesters who threw tomatoes and promised to pay the legal fees of anyone
carrying out the assault. Ex. 51; 10/31/2023 Tr. 213:14–25.
68. At another February 2016 rally, Trump told his supporters that, in the “old
days” a protester would be “carried out on a stretcher,” and that he would like to “punch
him in the face.” Ex. 52; 10/31/2023 Tr. 214:6–25.
69. When asked about his supporters’ violent acts in March 2016, Trump said
the violence was “very, very appropriate” and that “we need a little bit more of” it. Ex.
53; 10/31/2023 Tr. 67:6–25.
70. At an August 2016 rally, Trump noted “Second Amendment people” might
be able to prevent Hillary Clinton (if elected President) and judges appointed by her
from interpreting the Constitution in unfavorable ways. Ex. 159.
71. In August 2017, when asked about the white supremacist Unite the Right
rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a counter-protester was murdered, Trump stated
there “was blame on both sides . . . some very fine people on both sides.” Ex. 56;
10/31/2023 Tr. 68:12–20.
72. Far-right extremists, including David Duke, Richard Spencer, and Andrew
Anglin, thanked Trump for his comments and took them as an endorsement,
notwithstanding Trump’s condemnation of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the
same speech. Professor Simi testified that the latter statement would be understood as
plausible deniability. 10/31/2023 Tr. 68:21–69:16, 74:18–75:9, 166:9–20, 226:11–
227:7.
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73. At an October 2018 rally, Trump referred to a candidate who body
slammed a reporter as “my kind of guy.” Ex. 57; 10/31/2023 Tr. 215:22–216:5.
74. At a May 2019 rally, when one of his supporters suggested shooting
migrants, Trump stated: “That’s only in the panhandle you can get away with that
statement.” The crowd cheered. Ex. 58.
75. In a May 2020 tweet referring to an armed occupation of the Michigan
State Capitol by anti-government extremists, Trump tweeted that the attackers were
“very good people,” and that the Michigan Governor should respond by appeasing them.
Ex. 148, p. 3.
76. On May 29, 2020, President Trump threatened to deploy “the Military” to
Minneapolis to shoot “looters” amid protests over the police killing of George Floyd,
tweeting “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” Ex. 148, p. 5.
77. During a presidential debate on September 29, 2020, Trump refused to
denounce white supremacists and violent extremists and instead told the Proud Boys to
“stand back and stand by,” later adding that “somebody’s got to do something about
Antifa and the left.” Ex. 1064. 13
78. Trump’s words “stand back and stand by” were well received and
considered an endorsement. In fact, the Proud Boys turned the phrase into a mantra
13 The Court acknowledges that the statement occurred during a debate, when the moderator
had asked Trump to ask white nationalists and militias to “stand down,” and further that
President Biden called on Trump to disavow the Proud Boys, specifically. Nevertheless, Trump’s
conduct is consistent with the pattern identified by Professor Simi in that an apparent disavowal
(though the Court notes that “stand back and stand by” does not carry the same meaning as
“stand down”) was immediately qualified by an apparent endorsement (i.e. that somebody has
“got to do something.”).
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and put it on merchandise. 10/31/2023 Tr. 77:13–21. The Proud Boys and other
extremists understood this as a directive to be prepared for future violence. 10/31/2023
Tr. 78:21–23.
79. Trump also regularly endorsed and cultivated relationships with
incendiary figures connected with far-right extremists, including Alex Jones, Steve
Bannon, and Roger Stone. 10/31/2023 Tr. 57:8-10, 199:23-200:4, 222:21-225:2.
Katrina Pierson, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign who helped to organize the
Ellipse rally, testified that Trump “likes the crazies” (referring to individuals like
Alexander and Jones, whose speeches are often “incendiary” and “inflammatory”) “who
viciously defend him in public.” 11/01/23 Tr. 287:2–12, 299:4–16; see also 11/02/23 Tr.
57:15–58:3 (Amy Kremer calling Jones and Alexander “flamethrowers” and “agitators”
who “want to get everybody riled up”).
80. Trump retained Bannon and Stone as advisers, two individuals with very
close relationships with far-right extremists. 10/31/2023 Tr. 199:23–200:8, 222:21–23,
224:2–13. Though Trump did fire Bannon, he would eventually issue a presidential
pardon to him. 10/31/2023 Tr. 223:1–3. Regardless, the Court finds that Trump had
courted these fringe figures for many years through activities such as endorsing far-right
conspiracy theories like birtherism. 10/31/2023 Tr. 56:23–57:15.
81. On October 30, 2020, a convoy of Trump supporters driving dozens of
trucks (calling themselves a “Trump Train”) surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus
on a Texas highway. On October 31st, Trump tweeted a stylized video of the Trump
Train confrontation and stated, “I LOVE TEXAS!” Exs. 71; 148, p. 8.
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82. On November 1, 2020, in response to news that the FBI was investigating
the incident, Trump tweeted, “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong” and
indicated they should not be investigated. Ex. 148, p. 9. Later that day at a rally in
Michigan, Trump again celebrated the incident boasting “they had hundreds of cars,
Trump, Trump. Trump and the American flag.” Ex. 67.
83. At no point did Trump ever credibly condemn violence by his supporters
but rather confirmed his supporters’ violent interpretations of his directives. Professor
Simi testified that through these repeated interactions, Trump developed and employed
a coded language based in doublespeak that was understood between himself and farright extremists, while maintaining a claim to ambiguity among a wider audience.
10/31/2023 Tr. 53:2–54:12, 65:20–66:20, 76:9–23, 211:13–218:24.
84. For example, violent far-right extremists understood that Trump’s calls to
“fight,” which most politicians would mean only symbolically, were, when spoken by
Trump, literal calls to violence by these groups, while Trump’s statements negating that
sentiment were insincere and existed to obfuscate and create plausible deniability.
10/31/2023 Tr. 49:14–21, 59:7–17, 101:20–102:6.
85. The Court finds that Trump knew his violent supporters understood his
statements this way, and Trump knew he could influence his supporters to act violently
on his behalf. 10/31/2023 Tr. 126:11–19, 221:10–21.
86. The Court notes that Trump did not put forth any credible evidence or
expert testimony to rebut Professor Simi’s conclusions or to rebut the argument that
Trump intended to incite violence.
https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/02nd_Judicial_District/Denver_District_Court/11_17_2023%20Final%20Order.pdf(page 26 on)
