The mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was engaged in nothing less than a seditious insurrection. Everyone who participated in the violence and lawlessness acted disgracefully. Officials who set the tone for the sedition, especially President Trump, acted even more disgracefully, as they are expected to know better, indeed to lead.

Political violence is no joke. It destroys the rule of law. Trump should have been aware of the 1998 incident, in which two Capitol Police officers were killed by a gunman, and certainly of the more recent attempt to slaughter a good portion of the House Republican caucus on a baseball field. Political lies, including Trump’s lie of a rigged election, can have tragic consequences.