Trump told Facebook board his supporters were ‘law-abiding’ on Jan. 6

Former President Trump defended his supporters as “law-abiding” the day of the Capitol insurrection, while insisting his social media posts making false claims about the election did nothing to incite violence Jan. 6, when an angry mob breached the Capitol to stop the count of President Biden’s Electoral College victory.

The defense by Trump was made to the Facebook Oversight Board, which was reviewing whether his account on the social media platform should be restored.

In comments submitted on the former president’s behalf, Trump said his supporters were “law-abiding” when they stormed into the building and that nothing he posted on Jan. 6 could “reasonably be interpreted as a threat to public safety.”

Portions of the comments submitted by the the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative Christian group, and “a page administrator” were made public in the oversight board’s decision to uphold Trump’s suspension from Facebook.

Trump was initially suspended indefinitely over two posts on the day of the riot, one a video where he repeated the false claim that the election had been stolen from him and a text post where he told rioters to “remember this day forever!”

The comments submitted to the oversight board claimed that that it was “stunningly clear that in his speech there was no call to insurrection, no incitement to violence, and no threat to public safety in any manner” and that there is a “total absence of any serious linkage between the Trump speech and the Capitol building incursion.”

Those arguments did not convince the board containing academics and former politicians, which ruled that keeping Trump on Facebook would have “created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible.”

Several of the individuals who participated in the storming of the Capitol, which led to five deaths, have said they were acting on Trump’s behalf, according to prosecutors.