THE OFFSPRING Guitarist Says TRUMP And Allies ‘Must Be Held Accountable’ For Insurrection

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

THE OFFSPRING guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman has blasted supporters of former President Donald Trump who participated in the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol last year, saying that "anyone who aided and abetted Trump's attempt to overturn the election is a criminal and a traitor." Writing on Twitter on the anniversary of that riot, Noodles said the former president and his followers "were not planning on a peaceful protest" and "must be held accountable." The 58-year-old rocker said: "A year ago today hundreds of criminal traitors tried to subvert the will of the American people & overturn a free & fair election by staging the stupidest insurrection ever. The fact that they failed doesn't make it any less criminal or dangerous. Some were fools caught up in the furor of the moment, but there were also those who knew exactly what their mission was -to delay the certification of the Presidential election long enough for a select group of congressmen & senators to subvert democracy. "Of the more than 700 rioters arrested, not one is Antifa, BLM, or any other type of lefty instigator," he continued. "They have all been Trump supporters who claim to be doing what former President Trump asked them to do. He told them a big lie & sent them to battle. They brought guns, knives, clubs, tasers, spears, mace, & zip ties to the Capital. They were not planning on a peaceful protest. They were planning on violence. They were planning on shutting Congress down. That is the definition of insurrection. "So far only the foot soldiers of this attempt to overthrow our government have been held accountable. By not holding the leaders of this traitorous mob accountable we are saying, 'Oh well. Better luck next time.' There will be a next time. They're learning. "Anyone who aided & abetted Trump's attempt to overturn the election & and subvert the will of the American people, whether in government or media, is a criminal & a traitor," Noodles added. "Every one of must be held accountable, or next time they might succeed." More than 725 individuals have been charged with various crimes in connection with the deadly insurrection. Of those, 225 people were charged with assault or resisting arrest while more than 75 were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon against police officers. 640 people were charged with entering a restricted federal building or its grounds and another 75 were charged with entering a restricted area with a deadly weapon. As result of the insurrection, Congress was forced to temporarily halt its counting of the 2020 Electoral College votes, a process that ultimately certified the election of President Joe Biden. Among the popular conspiracy theories which have emerged in the year since the insurrection are unfounded claims that the rioters were members of Antifa, that FBI operatives were to blame for the riot, and that the rioters were peaceful and were framed for crimes that never happened. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who was sprayed with a chemical substance during the riot, later collapsed and died. Many top political figures have accused Trump of personally inciting the attack by repeatedly intimating that his followers should take action in order to demand legislators address his baseless claims of voter fraud. At a rally preceding the riot, Trump gave an inflammatory speech, urging the crowd to go to the Capitol, "show strength" and "fight much harder." In the wake of the attack, Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account, citing "the risk of further incitement of violence." FBI director Christopher Wray has called the riot an act of "domestic terrorism."