The song – “Justice for All” (“Justice for all”) -, which is already an anthem among Trump supporters, was sung by a group of men convicted of participating in the attack on the Capitol.
Former US President Donald Trump has been trying to rewrite the history of the 2021 attack on the Capitol through a song sung by a group of those convicted of the insurrection, using it as an anthem on his campaign trail.
The song – “Justice for All” (“Justice for all”) -, which is already an anthem among Trump supporters, was sung by a group of men convicted of participating in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Recorded over a prison phone line, the song sounds more like a dirge than a celebration and even features Trump’s voice reciting the pledge of allegiance.
The song is simple and short, but that didn’t stop it from being adopted by former President Donald Trump and his allies in his presidential campaign.
At a recent rally in Waco, Texas, Trump performed “Justice for All” while footage of protesters on Capitol Hill was projected on a big screen behind the former Republican president.
The song, which costs $1.29 (1.17 euros), reached the top spot on iTunes, an audio player developed by Apple, last month, beating artists like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.
Experts on extremism and propaganda say the song is another example of how Trump and his more radical allies are trying to cover up an avalanche of evidence that the Capitol storming was anything but an act of patriotic resistance.
In this case, ironically, Trump and his allies rely on this supposedly patriotic song to try to cover up an insurrection that has contributed to five deaths and injured more than 120 police officers, experts said.
“It should not surprise us that this propaganda is effective, but it is shocking to see it in this country,” said Federico Finchelstein, chair of the history department at the New School for Social Research in New York, which specializes in authoritarian disinformation. .
“What they demand is that reality be set aside out of loyalty to the leader. And that leader, in this case, is Donald Trump,” he added.
Law enforcement officials who opposed the invaders called the song a cynical effort to mislead Americans about the truth of what happened during the January 2021 attack, following Trump’s electoral defeat and as Congress certified the victory for Democrat Joe Biden.
Polls show that Americans remain divided by ideology when it comes to the January 6 attack.
A poll conducted last year by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center found that about half of those polled believed that Trump’s involvement warranted criminal charges.
A second poll found that only four in 10 Republicans remember the attack as very violent or extremely violent.
Those doubts were fueled by far-right TV hosts and podcasters who spent two years espousing bizarre theories to assuage the horror of that deadly day.
The January 6 defendants, who offered apologies and remorse in court, now boast about their involvement or seek to profit from it.
Groups have sprung up to sell T-shirts with slogans such as “Free the January 6 Protesters” and other merchandise that seeks to portray the invaders as simply protesters. Many say they are trying to raise money for convicts and their families.
The producers of this song don’t say how much the song grossed, how the proceeds will be shared among the convicts, or even identify most of the 20 or so participants on the recording.
However, they are not shy about promoting the success of the song. “Goodbye Miley, Taylor, Rihanna and everyone else who spent millions trying to reach the coveted number 1,” wrote one of the song’s producers, Kash Patel, on Truth Social, the social network created by Trump, on March 21.
Claiming the top spot may allow producers to promote themselves, but claiming the top spot on iTunes is no longer the achievement it once was, as the number of people downloading music has dropped dramatically due to the popularity of streaming services. of music like Spotify.
Released in early March, the song is associated with “The Justice for All Project”, a non-profit organization registered in the same month based in Sarasota, Florida.
Ed Henry, a former personality on the conservative Fox News channel, is identified as a director of the organization and, along with Patel, as a producer of “Justice for All.”
Another director of the nonprofit organization is Tom Homan, Trump’s former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
He is also the executive director of The America Project, a Florida group that has spent millions of dollars in efforts to undermine confidence in US elections, including sponsoring conferences for election deniers.
The America Project was founded in 2021 by Michael Flynn, a former Army general who briefly served as Trump’s national security adviser, and Patrick Byrne, founder of online sales platform Overstock.
The 20 inmates chanting “Justice for All” represent a small fraction of the approximately 1,000 people who have been charged with federal riot-related crimes.
More than 600 have pleaded guilty or been convicted, and dozens have received prison sentences ranging from seven days to 10 years.
Only one member of the group has been identified: Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who is now serving four years in prison for his actions on January 6.
Before joining the crowd that stormed the US Capitol, Hale-Cusanelli was an Army reservist who sometimes sported his Adolf Hitler-esque mustache and alarmed his co-workers with his comments about women. and the Jews.
“My behavior that day was unacceptable, I disgraced my uniform and I dishonored the country,” Hale-Cusanelli told the judge before being sentenced to four years in federal prison.
Now, the convict has become something of an artist, with a song in which he seeks to portray himself as a patriot rather than a troublemaker.
Source: Observadora
