Former Congressman Says He Will Literally Engage in Armed Rebellion if Trump Loses

By Ian Millhiser, ThinkProgress

27 October 16

He�s suggesting actual treason.

oe Walsh, who was a United States congressman from 2011 until 2013, declared on Wednesday afternoon that he will take up arms if Donald Trump is not elected to the presidency.

Walsh, a man who at one point had the power to help write the laws of the United States, has a history of making violent threats against his political enemies. Last July, for example, Walsh tweeted?�?and then promptly deleted?�?a declaration of war against �black lives matter punks.�

For the record, Walsh�s apparent plan to form a band of individuals to take up arms against the lawfully elected leader of the United States most likely meets the legal definition of treason. Under federal law, �whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason.�

Though treason prosecutions are unusual, previous federal cases have allowed such prosecutions to move forward when armed individuals join together against the United States.