Donald Trump Must Be Blamed For Capitol Attack, Says Jan 6 Rally Organizer

The organizer of the rally which preceded the January 6 attack on the Capitol has said Donald Trump must ultimately be blamed for the riot.

Dustin Stockton, who was subpoenaed along with his wife Jennifer Lawrence by the House committee investigating the January 6 attack, spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper shortly after testified to the panel on Tuesday.

When asked by Cooper who should be blamed for the attack on the Capitol, Stockton said the "buck's gotta stop" at the former president.

"I always like to point out that the people who committed violence, the people who attack police officers, or defaced the Capitol, are responsible for their own actions first and foremost," Stockton said. "But the buck's gotta stop at President Trump.

"He knew better. And there's no excuse for him sending people down into that situation without having the logistics, the security, the stage and sound systems to control the crowd," Stockton added.

"That stuff could have been in place and should have been in place before he ever sent people down there. And the fact that he delayed for so long responding, I think really speaks ill of what his intentions were and what he was doing."

Trump became the first president in history to be impeached twice after he was accused of inciting the riot at the Capitol, telling a crowd of his supporters at the January 6 rally: "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."

Elsewhere during the interview, Stockton discussed the "stunning revelations" from the House committee that a number of Fox News personalities and Donald Trump Jr. had texted Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows during the attack to express their concerns about the violence and attempt to get the president to stop it.

Fox News' Sean Hannity messaged Meadows: "Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol" as the disorder continued. Laura Ingraham texted Meadows that Trump "needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy."

The former president's eldest son also urged Meadows to get his father "to condemn this [s**t] ASAP" amid the violence.

"They were doing the right thing as things happen, and yet they've continued to mischaracterize it afterwards," Stockton said.

"Those text messages make it clear that they knew the violence was unacceptable, that it needed to be condemned in the most serious possible way. And yet they continue to downplay it and underplay it."

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the congressional committee investigating the riot, said the texts to Meadows show there is "no doubt [that] the White House knew exactly what was happening" at the Capitol on January 6 and that Trump "refused to act when action by our president was required" for more than three hours.

Trump has been contacted for further comment.