Qasim Rashid, Esq.Dec 3, 2022

On Dec 2, 1859, Abolitionist John Brown was the first American ever executed for treason. The second ever executed for treason was Aaron Dwight Stevens (March 15, 1831 – March 16, 1860).

Their crimes? Attempting to free the enslaved. The first Americans executed for treason was for the crime of freeing the enslaved.

Legality is not always a measure of justice & morality, but a measure of power. This was only two life spans ago.

May we learn from these atrocities & uphold justice forever.

Show threadJessica CravenDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid I thought treason had to involve a declared war with a foreign power? How did they get them both under treason laws?
Show threadQasim Rashid, Esq.Dec 3, 2022
@jesscraven101 Their raid on Harper’s Ferry to free the enslaved was viewed waging war against the United States.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 3, 2022
@QasimRashid got it. Just interesting in light of the fact that Trump, for example, supposedly *can’t* be charged for treason since no war has been declared.
Show threadMacCruiskeenDec 3, 2022
@jesscraven101 @QasimRashid treason doesn’t require a war, only an enemy. And John Brown was executed by the state of Virginia, not on federal charges.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 4, 2022
@maccruiskeen then why hasn’t T been charged for it? I’m genuinely trying to understand the legal niceties.
Show threadMacCruiskeenDec 4, 2022
@jesscraven101 they’d have to prove in court that he was working against US interests in order to advance Putin’s. It seems obvious from the outside, but as a legal case you need more than appearances, and there’s nineteen other more concrete investigations that are more likely to succeed.
Show threadJessica CravenDec 4, 2022
@maccruiskeen yeah I get it. Just hard to fathom John Brown getting nailed for it and Trump not. But 🤷🏼‍♀️
Show threadJuliaaaaaaaaaaa

@jesscraven101 @maccruiskeen

John Brown wasn't even a Virginia citizen, he was from Lawrence Kansas, how can someone not even a citizen of a state commit treason against that state. The whole trial and execution was an attempt to intimidate abolitionists and instead they turned John Brown into an enduring symbol of the abolitionist movement and of leftist resistance.

Dec 4, 2022 at 4:53pmWeb
Show threadMacCruiskeenDec 4, 2022
@dataJewel @jesscraven101 that was actually part of his defense argument. And yeah, he was tried in VA court rather than federal court so that it would be less friendly to his argument.