Reaction: Arizona lawmakers respond to chaos.
“What happened today at the U.S. Capitol was despicable and wholly unacceptable. There is no excuse or justification for the violence and mayhem that occurred, and I unequivocally condemn those who engaged in it today.” Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz.
Earlier in the week, long before a mob of thousands supporting President Donald Trump broke into the nation’s Capitol and ground business to a halt, Rep. Debbie Lesko said she sensed a dangerous atmosphere earlier in the week and asked leadership on Tuesday to take safety precautions.
“I knew this was a powder keg ready to explode,” Lesko, R-Ariz., said. “It was a combination of people emailing me, calling me, messaging, Twitter with a lot of information out there. A lot of people really believed that what was going to happen today is that … Trump was going to stay in office.
“I told my staff we need to start educating my constituents on how this process works because there were so many theories of what was going to happen and many of them were inaccurate.”
The theories, incited by Trump, his associates, and people in power who have spent weeks spreading misinformation about the results of the November election, provoked a mob of rioters to descend on the Capitol and halt the process to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.
The mob broke into the building, stormed the Senate and House chambers, entered member offices, stood on the Senate dais, and brought Congress to a stunning halt.
A woman was fatally shot during a standoff later described by Biden as verging on sedition. The chaotic scene quickly overshadowed the already-historic challenge to certifying the electoral results of the November election and sent members of Congress fleeing for safety — and for gas masks.
It was, at least for some, a predictable disaster.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., the newest member of Arizona’s congressional delegation, decried the spectacle.
“In America, we have fair elections and peaceful transfers of power; democracy prevails over chaos; and those who commit violent acts are held accountable,” he said in a tweet. “That won’t change today. This unpatriotic attempt to overturn our election — and silence the voices of Arizonans — will fail.”
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and her spokeswoman did not immediately weigh in on the violence at the Capitol, other than to confirm she was safe.
Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., was supposed to be the next to speak on the House floor in defense of the state’s electors when security ordered the evacuation of the chamber, he told The Arizona Republic. After security rushed out leadership, he and his colleagues stayed in the chamber, unaware of how close the mob was.
Stanton heard protesters banging on doors. It became apparent the breach had reached the Capitol. They were “trying to jam their way in,” he said.
“They instructed us that we should probably get down on the ground and try to even get below our chairs if we if we can,” Stanton recalled. “They did instruct us to get out the gas masks because they were utilizing gas.”
He reached under a seat to get a mask.
“Your adrenaline is certainly is pumping, I’m looking around to make sure my people that I know are able to get out of there, as well,” he said. For hours, he talked with friends and family as he watched the events unfold on TV.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., is the dean of the state’s congressional delegation. He had given his five-minute remarks early in the debate about Arizona’s electors and stayed on the House floor to help close the debate that was supposed to last two hours.
That’s when authorities started to evacuate the chamber, an unprecedented sight in his 18 years in Congress.
“It just seemed like everything kind of went crazy on us. They were banging on the doors,” Grijalva said of the mob that entered the Capitol.
“They passed out the gas masks and rushed to get us out,” he said. Grijalva said he was among the last to leave. By that time, security was barricading the doors with furniture, he said.
“I was behind and the Capitol Police were kind enough to put me in one of those rolling chairs and push me down the hall as fast as ever,” he said.
Grijalva compared Wednesday’s chaos to the peaceful gathering of 60,000 protesters who showed up to march for comprehensive immigration reform in years past.
“Spurred on by the president of the United States, it was something else. I would hope that more Republicans and beginning with those from Arizona, would just withdraw the challenge and set a tone.
“I’m not blaming anybody for the violence and for the vandalism at the capital and the fear that it created in many, many people. I’m not saying, ‘(challenge-supporting Reps. Paul) Gosar, (Andy) Biggs, you’re responsible for this.’ But we do have a responsibility to end it.”
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said on Twitter those in the mob should be arrested and prosecuted. Even with protesters still gathered at the Capitol, he urged Congress to get back to work: “Democracy is getting hurt the longer we wait,” he wrote.
And Gallego told Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward “f--- you” on social media after she said the electors should be sent back to the state legislatures since Congress was in recess.
“F--- you we are,” he wrote. “Democracy will not die tonight.”
Ward, a Trump loyalist who promoted the unfounded idea that the election was stolen from Trump, spearheaded efforts in Arizona along with Gosar and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., to sow mistrust in the state’s electoral results.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., marked themselves as safe on social media.
Staff for Rep. Andy Biggs, a Republican, and Rep. Tom O’Halleran, a Democrat, said the congressmen were safe.
Schweikert called the entire ordeal “despicable.”
“What happened today at the U.S. Capitol was despicable and wholly unacceptable,” he said. “There is no excuse or justification for the violence and mayhem that occurred, and I unequivocally condemn those who engaged in it today.”
State Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, who chaired a pro-Trump meeting with other lawmakers and Trump’s attorney to press unfounded allegations of voting improprieties, doubled down. He posted a picture of the mob outside of the Capitol, writing, “What happens when the People feel they have been ignored, and Congress refuses to acknowledge rampant fraud. #stopthesteal”
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who took nearly three weeks to acknowledge Biden’s win long after the race was called, citing legal challenges, criticized the rioting.
“In America, we practice peaceful transitions of power,” he wrote. “We respect the law and law enforcement. The scene at the United States Capitol right now is wrong and has no place in our form of government. All should denounce, and it should end now.”
Cindy McCain, the widow of six-term Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who was the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, laid the blame for Wednesday’s mob at the feet of the president and Republicans who have sowed distrust in the electoral process.
“It exposes for all to see the reckless selfishness of President Trump and the cynicism of elected Republicans, who defended his unconstitutional effort to cling to power,” she wrote. “They have shamed our country, and delighted our enemies.”