Violence and insurrection in the heart of democracy

The world was in shock last week when domestic terrorists, incited by the dangerous lies and overt encouragement of President Donald Trump, violently stormed the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC, killing a U.S. Capitol Police Officer and threatening the life of Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump’s role in the assault led congressional leaders to introduce a new Article of Impeachment, which house members will vote on this week. The horrifying attack unfolded live on television, as the eyes of the nation were already on the proceedings taking place during a joint session of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives convened to formalize the electoral victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next President and Vice President of the United States.

Democrats and Republicans alike were outraged that the president, repeating his lies that the election had been “stolen” from the American people, urged an already angry mob rallying outside the White House to march on the Capitol. Later, when the terrorists had already forced their way into and laid siege to the Capitol, Trump issued a video telling the attackers they were “special” and that he “loved” them.

Trump is not the only elected official being accused of setting the stage for the insurrection. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford, Oklahoma Representatives Kevin Hern, Markwayne Mullin, and the other three members of the Sooner state’s congressional delegation all perpetuated the lies of widespread election fraud, starting on November 5th of last year and continuing up to, during, and after the unprecedented attack on the world’s most iconic symbol of democracy. Lankford was in process of objecting to certifying Biden as the president elect when the terrorists breached the Capitol, and although he withdrew his objections when the joint session reconvened hours later, he only did so because he knew that pursuing the doomed path would only further delay the proceedings.

Neither Lankford nor any of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation has expressed regret for statements or actions that fomented the violent insurrection.

For Democrats, as well as some prominent Republicans, the president’s actions were a bridge too far, and Trump stands poised to become the first president in US history to be impeached twice. Conviction in a senate trial is far less certain, but Trump’s legacy will nevertheless bear the stain of his shameful and dangerous behavior.

Consequences for those who physically took part in the assault will be doled out in the criminal courts, and some may face murder charges for the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who according to some reports was beaten in the head with a fire extinguisher.

A petition has circulated demanding that Hern, Mullin and the 119 other House members who used their narrow right to object in order to spread their defeated president’s lies be expelled from congress, but there is virtually no chance that effort will succeed.

Closer to home, Lankford is being pressured to step down from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission because of his baseless attacks on the election, which many see as a thinly veiled effort to further disenfranchise minority voters.

Although last week’s insurrection was put down, social media posts indicate more trouble and violence to come. Security for members of congress and other elected officials has been ramped up, and next week’s inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be a very different scene from what Americans have witnessed in the past. (La Semana)