State House Democrats rebuke downstate GOP rep.
Miller condemned for bumper sticker, role in Jan. 6 riot
Democrats in the Illinois House voted Thursday to approve a resolution condemning Republican state Rep. Chris Miller for his role in the Jan. 6 rally in Washington that led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters.
The resolution, approved on a 57-36 party-line vote, didn’t receive support from a majority of the 118-member chamber and holds no weight of law. The move amounts to a public rebuke of Miller, a secondterm conservative legislator from Oakland in southern Illinois and the husband of freshman U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, by the supermajority Democrats.
The House could vote to expel Miller, but it would require a two-thirds majority. Lawmakers and the Democratic County Chairs’ Association have asked the state legislative inspector general to investigate Miller’s conduct.
The resolution says the representative “has violated his oath to the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Illinois and, through his continued actions and instigations, has created an environment that potentially threatens not only the sanctity of the Illinois General Assembly but also the safety of the members and their staff.”
In a Facebook post from the site of Trump’s speech at the Jan. 6 rally, Miller posted a video in which he said the country is engaged in a “great cultural war” between free-market capitalism “or whether they will put us in the tyranny of socialism, communism and the dangerous Democrat terrorists that are trying to destroy our country.”
Video later surfaced of Miller’s pickup, bearing Illinois legislative license plates and a window decal of the far-right Three Percenters ideology, parked in a restricted area outside the Capitol. The Anti-Defamation League describes the Three Percenters as “anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement.”
Miller previously issued a statement in which he said the decal was given to his son by a “family friend who said it represented patriotism and love of country” and denied knowing what the Three Percenters were or subscribing to the ideology.
During House debate on the resolution Thursday, Miller said he went to his wife’s congressional office after the rally on Jan. 6 and remained there throughout the lockdown that occurred when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
“I had no part in the violent events at the Capitol that day, and I condemn any and all violence,” Miller said. “I can assure you that my dedication to the safety and security of our state and our country’s citizens is second to none.”
Many Democrats continued to be unswayed by Miller’s explanations.
“How many times do we have to hear Rep. Miller call Democrats ‘terrorists’ or ‘the enemy’ before we can start taking his words seriously?” state Rep. Daniel Didech of Buffalo Grove said. “How many times does Rep. Miller have to ‘accidentally’ find himself supporting the overthrow
of the United States government before we can stop pretending we don’t see what’s going on here?”
By law, Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope is prohibited from commenting on ongoing investigations. If she finds that Miller committed wrongdoing, it would be up to the eight-member Legislative Ethics Commission to decide whether to release her report.
The four House members who serve on the commission, two Democrats and two Republicans, abstained from voting on Thursday’s resolution.