Community leaders react to Capitol takeover.
After an angry mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol during certification of 2020 presidential election, community leaders in Greater Memphis on Thursday publicly expressed their grief and horror, as well as hope for the future.
At least four people died and more than 60 were arrested in Wednesday’s chaos in Washington, D.C., which followed the president’s weeks-long campaign to undermine faith in the election, even as courts quashed all but one of his 62 election lawsuits.
Here’s a sampling of the local statements.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a Democrat, released this statement on Twitter this morning:
“Yesterday’s riot at the US Capitol was the culmination of changes that have been occurring in our community and country, right in front of our eyes. We have seen rapid growth in distrust in government and media. The arrival of COVID has accelerated and expanded the panic. Yesterday was a low-point in a tough time, a time when we have repeated said, and honestly believed, that things can’t get any worse. I hope we climb out of this hole. I know it’ll take each of us, trying to be kinder, trying to be less cruel, and trying to move closer to one another.”
Shelby County GOP chairman Chris Tutor
This morning, Chris Tutor, chairman of the Republican Party of Shelby County, released this statement via Facebook:
Yesterday, rioters stormed the seat of our national legislature to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election. They were not protestors, but a seditious and terroristic mob. And, regardless of whom they claim to represent or support, they are not Republicans, and they are not conservatives. If the Republican Party means anything, if conservatism has any fundamental purpose, then it is respect for the God-ordained rule of law, defense of our democratic institutions and traditions, and reverence for our sacred Constitution, all of which the mob desecrated. Tragically, several even perished in the midst of the violence. As Republicans, we condemn yesterday’s crimes, and anyone who supports or encourages such crimes, in the strongest possible terms, and we demand that the lawbreakers be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Congress has now certified the results, and, simply put, the election is over. The President exercised his rights to challenge the results with lawsuits and recounts, but the legal process has come to an end, and Joe Biden will be inaugurated as President on January 20. That is not an opinion; it is a legal fact, regardless of how fervently we worked to win in November and how disappointing those results may be. Now, it is incumbent upon every American to accept that fact, and for us, as Republicans, in love and service to our neighbors and our nation, to unify, to begin anew to advocate for common sense, conservative public policy, to redouble our efforts to persuade our fellow Americans, and to pray with heartfelt prayers that God will guide Presidentelect Biden and our country.
150 years ago, after a bitter election, the greatest President in our nation’s history and our first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, said to America: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” These words resonate especially today, in the midst of this dark winter of disease, confusion, isolation, and civil violence. May God help us heed them.
National Civil Rights Museum statement
Here’s the statement from National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis:
Dr. [Martin Luther] King once said, “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.” Words matter. Leadership matters. The siege on Capitol Hill yesterday during the joint Congress’ ratification of the presidential election should be condemned, not coddled. What the world witnessed yesterday was not a protest, but a riotous mob and an insurrection. We need to call it what it is. The intent was to overthrow our democracy, the will of American voters and to undermine our constitutional process – not to secure an inalienable right.
It matters that, while we don’t always agree, we can be civil. We also must seek to be fair and equitable in our response to those who are true peaceful protestors.
The unpreparedness of law enforcement for an event that was both created and promoted to undermine democracy is curious at best. The peaceful protests that were interrupted last spring and summer by those who wanted to create chaos, were met with police in riot gear and, in DC, the military. We cannot deny the difference in the handling of those groups that were predominantly black and marching to protect the lives of black people, to the treatment yesterday’s rioters received.
The response yesterday poured salt on the gaping wounds of racism that persist in this country. We must not perpetuate this behavior and make excuses for it. Enough is enough! This needs to end!
Rhodes College President Marjorie Hass
Marjorie Hass, the president of Rhodes College in Memphis, released a statement, which you can read in its entirety on Rhodes’ website. Here’s an excerpt:
This is a moment in which we must visibly stand in the service of our country. Every lover of democracy, every American patriot, must affirm clearly what has been affirmed and re-affirmed by court after court in multiple jurisdictions, by Republicans and Democrats alike, by those in closest possession of the facts and the evidence: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won this election fairly. They won the popular vote decisively and with a record number of votes. They won the electoral college vote decisively as well. More Americans voted for them than for their opponents. Democracy demands the recognition of these facts and a peaceful transition of power. It demands as well that we remain engaged as citizens—advocating for the policies and candidates in which we believe, debating the path forward, and voting our conscience.