The US House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack Tuesday presented evidence that extremist groups showed up in Washington DC with violent intentions in response a to tweet from Former US President Donald Trump. The hearing also unveiled radical proposals from Trump allies, discussed hours before the tweet was posted, and showed that the riot was more pre-meditated than previously thought.

The tweet, spotlighted in the hearing, read, “Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”

Video montages played at the hearing showed Trump supporters with large internet followings rallying their followers shortly after the tweet was published. Many used violent language.

In the video, far-right conspiracy theory website founder Alex Jones said, “President Trump … tweeted that he wants the American people to march on Washington DC on January 6th, 2021. … The time for games is over. The time for action is now.” Pro-Trump YouTuber Salty Cracker said, “There’s gonna be a red wedding going down January 6th. … There’re gonna be a million plus geeked up armed Americans,” referencing a violent massacre in pop culture.

A participant in the riot gave testimony that he and others participated in the Capitol storm not because of the tweet, but from Trump’s instructions during the rally. Additionally, a former member of the Oath Keepers, a group including members who have been charged with seditious conspiracy in relation to the Capitol attack, testified that the Oath Keepers are a “dangerous militia” that spreads “lies and rhetoric and propaganda.”

The hearing also elucidated the measures that Trump and his allies took to try to win the election after the results were called and the lawsuits to overturn them were lost, including the planning of the Capitol storm.

Evidence showed that a few hours before Trump posted the Tweet, a group including Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn, Rudy Giulani, Pat Cipollone and Eric Herschmann had an unplanned meeting in the oval office that became heated and “unhinged,” according to the committee.

In the meeting Flynn and Powell urged Trump to sign an executive order to appoint Powell as special counsel and to use the military to seize voting machines, while other officials present objected over lack of evidence of fraud. The executive order was not signed for unclear reasons.

Rather than being a spontaneous action as it had previously seemed, Trump and allies had extensive plans for the Capitol march. The committee displayed an original draft tweet obtained from the National Archives, which explicitly said, “March to the Capitol after. Stop the Steal!!” The posted tweet did not mention the march.

Correspondence from a rally organizer showed that the plan was for Trump to call the march “unexpectedly” to avoid counter-protests and “be[ing] in trouble with the National Park Service and all the agencies.” The plans were not widely known within the administration.

This is the seventh January 6 Committee hearing, after the sixth on June 28.  The next will focus on Trump’s behavior during the riot.