The rioters who ransacked the U.S. Capitol did so of their own accord and some actually opposed Donald Trump, the former presidents legal defense team claims in a brief presented this week as part of the Senate impeachment trial.

But thats not what the insurrectionists themselves say .

Trump lawyers Bruce Castor, David Schoen and Michael van der Veen argue that because some rioters planned their attack in advance, Trumps exhortations to fight like hell on Jan. 6 couldnt have inspired the attack on the Capitol.

The real truth is that the people who criminally breached the Capitol did so of their own accord and for their own reasons, and they are being criminally prosecuted, the brief says, specifying in a footnote (containing one of the briefs many typographical errors) that those reasons were Some anti-Trump, some ani-government.

The argument that Trumps statements that day didnt incite the attack ignores the larger picture: The president spent months lying that the election had been stolen, and that invited mayhem. Current and former law enforcement officials told HuffPost just days after the 2020 election that violence was an entirely predictable outcome of spreading lies about a stolen election. Many of the insurrectionists arrested for their actions at the Capitol said explicitly that this is why they were there.

Gina Bisignano, the Beverly Hills salon owner who stormed the Capitol in a Louis Vuitton sweater and gave the criminals attacking police officers instructions over a megaphone, told the FBI that she felt called upon by President Donald Trump to travel to D.C. to change the outcome of the election, which she believes was stolen.

Kyle Fitzsimons, charged with assault on a federal officer and other charges in connection with the attack, said at a town meeting that he believed Trump is a lion leading an army of lambs through lawfare.

Bruno Cua, an 18-year-old from Georgia, posted screenshots of Trumps posts and said in the lead-up to the attack that the president was calling us to FIGHT!

The examples go on and on. Scores of defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack have explicitly made clear via social media posts, interviews with federal agents and court filings why they were fighting for Trump: because they thought he wanted them to.