The President of the United States of America ran on a message of law and order. In fact, he stated on multiple occasions that if Biden and Harris were elected the Democrats would, “Unleash lawlessness and mob violence upon sacred spaces and institutions in our country.” Today, the allies and enemies of this nation watched as a mob, incited by the President of the United States, committed domestic terrorism with the approval of the nation’s leader. Countries have issued warning telling their citizen’s who were visiting Washington, D.C. to stay far away from the U.S. Capital. For the past 5 years, through the 2020 election, including the disfranchising of voters who are African America, Hispanic American, and native American, the refusal to accept the election results, and the inciting the mob mentality today, President Trump has left embarrassing and dark chapter in American history.
The reckless behavior of elected officials from the White House, the Senate, and the House to local officials across this nation is to blame, and all who have been complicit should be held directly responsible for the attack on democracy today. Because of the unchallenged actions of the President, who betrayed his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, a Trump mob of rioters descended on the cradle of democracy. Words matter. They always have. When members of Congress speak in support of Trump, they encouraged the behavior we viewed today. The failure of leadership resulted in lawlessness and illegal behavior that the President continues to defend.
Trump’s rioters removed fencing, used chemical irritants on police, broke windows, illegally breached the Capitol, resulting in a woman being shot and killed, as Capitol police drew guns within those hallowed halls. No one can turn a blind eye, or deaf ear, or consider it an exaggeration to state that the future of our democracy has been called into question. When you woke up today, was there an inkling in your mind that images of people scaling the walls of the Capitol building would be broadcast around the world? Could you imagine elected officials crouching on the floor as a mob broke into the halls of justice?
As all of this happened, the President has encouraged his mob by reciting unfounded claims about the election. Nobody has called this what it is, Domestic Terrorism. No Republican leaders have spoken the language that is used when describing protesters of color, such as ‘A Violent Rioters,’ ‘Terrorists,’ ‘hoodlums,’ ‘enemies of the state,” and of course, ‘Thugs.” The 6:00 P.M. curfew has come and gone, and the remaining protesters have not been arrested, even after a pipe bomb was found earlier today at the Republican national headquarters. In the President’s video statement, there was no criticism of the behavior the world witnessed today. In fact, there was even more rhetoric and false claims.
The 100 Black Men of America, Inc. has a simple and concise statement. Do not ignore racist, illegal, unfair treatment of human beings. Do not support leaders who break the law and incite racist, illegal, unfair treatment of human beings. Hold those accountable who commit domestic terrorism and who attack U.S. democracy. Always speak truth to power. Allowing hate groups and conspiracy organizations to thrive and ignoring the pain and lack of marginalized people, while simultaneously violating their civil rights, sustains the condition for violations of the rule of law. When that happens, you’ve given a green light for the actions we viewed today. Far too any have marched, sacrificed, fought, bled, and died for justice. Therefore, we cannot remain silent. We will never stop speaking truth to power.
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