But if you do engage in an action intended to overthrow the government, the ineptitude of your plan does not shield you from culpability. After all, is is only failure of such attempts that allows enforcement of such a law. Because successfully overthrowing the government is known as revolution.
Well nobody is saying you have to succeed to be liable. It just has to be something of a viable plan.
Even for example a large group declaring it's own state or nation like OWS and the other leftwing groups did and continue to do can't be found guilty of sedition because they are not actually attacking the Gov't of the United States, even when attacking federal property.
This is why sedition is one of the most rarely charged offenses in federal courts.
You actually have to be using force in an attempt to unseat/defeat the lawful gov't.
The courts found themselves in a serious quandary both during and after the civil war over sedition and treason which is why all the southern states had to be readmitted to the Union after the war and none of the confederates were charged as such for their actions during the war.
The same goes with the trouble they are running into screaming "Insurrection" over Janary 6th when it doesn't meet the legal definition.
The attempts to charge a few of them with sedition is an attempt to set the stage for making examples of a few under the charges of Insurrection.
It was a huge legitimate protest with a handful of really bad actors most of whom it seems were working at the direction of or or with full knowledge of undercover federal agents organizing them.
It's going to be a very long, drawn out fight trying to hang these folks for anything other than relatively minor crimes other than those who assaulted cops and actually broke into the Capitol.
The video evidence actually shows some pretty egregious actions by federal agents/police inciting the crowd which then led to the final breaking and entry.
I want everyone involved who acted illegally that day punished appropriately and for most that's nothing more than a civil trespass violation for refusing to leave after having been invited in by Capitol Cops.
Then we need to get to the questions of why the one person with overall responsibility for Capitol Security refused to have the DC guard activated and DC Riot Police in place before it even began.
That person was Nancy Pelosi who apparently feared the Guard might be coopted by Trump to prevent Biden's nomination.
They had full knowledge apparently that it was going to go beyond a simple legal protest and federal agents/police most definitely at some point were completely overwhelmed and ordered to essential stand down and invite them all in.
This whole damned thing is a mess and they are seriously violating the rights of those being held, many without charge or bail and prevented from contact with Congressional Reps, Lawyers, family etc and no legal means by which to challenge their charges.
This will still be plaguing us going into the next presidential election if not beyond.
www.newyorker.com
