“As I was swarmed by a violent mob, they ripped off my badge, they grabbed and stripped me of my radio, they seized a munition that was secured to my body. They began to beat me with their fists and what felt like a hard metal object.” — Michael Fanone, Capitol Police Officer
“You hear guys shouting, ‘This f—ing n—-r voted for Biden.’” — Harry Dunn, Capitol Police Officer
These are just two of the comments made by four Capitol Police Officers at the U.S. House Select Committee’s investigation of the horrendous invasion of the U.S. Capitol by rabid Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.
Dunn went on to say, “You have heard four stories from Jan. 6. There are hundreds and hundreds of more stories that need to be told.”
Fanone concluded, “We have the same goal in mind and that is about accountability and justice and truth.”
True to form, Fox News bloviators dismissed the riveting testimony as “theatrics.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy claimed he hadn’t have time to watch the hearings.
Gladys Sicknick, grieving mother of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died as a result of the siege, hadn’t been able to find 10 Senate Republicans willing to do the right thing and vote for a Jan. 6 commission. Only 13 GOP Senators had even agreed to meet with her.
Donald Trump’s disinformation campaign, which laid the groundwork for the insurrection, was confirmed on Dec. 27, 2020 when he told the acting attorney general, “Say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me.”
Trump’s campaign, abetted by right-wing news outlets and GOP bottom feeders like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan, has worked. Three months after the insurrection, about half of Republicans believe that the siege was largely a nonviolent protest or was the handiwork of left-wing activists trying to make Trump look bad. Only three-in-10 Republicans believe that Trump bore some responsibility for the attack, despite clear evidence to the contrary.
GOP representatives such as Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who’ve dared to speak the truth and defend the Constitution, have been marginalized by the spineless Republican Party. Eager to please Trump and his base, Kevin McCarthy referred to these two patriot Americans as “Pelosi Republicans.”
Cheney has not been silenced by those who stand with the insurrectionists, stating that, “Failure to act on the Jan. 6 probe will remain a cancer on our Constitutional Republic.”
Adam Kinzinger said, “I want to know why the National Guard took five or six hours to get to Capitol Hill. Did the President make any calls? If he didn’t, why? If the President had picked up the phone, they would have been their immediately.”
Harvard Constitutional Law Professor Laurence Tribe argues that Trump should be brought to trial on charges of insurrection as a result of the Jan. 6 riot. “Trump certainly gave aid and comfort to the group. He said that he loved them. He cheered them on from his safe perch at the White House.”
So there you have it. The Republican party stands with Trump who stands with the insurrectionists.
The party that pretends to espouse Christian values stands with the mob that wanted to “hang Mike Pence,” the same man who helped ensure the white Christian evangelical vote for Trump in the first place. Pence had committed the cardinal sin of being unwilling to do Trump’s bidding and try to overturn the results of the election.
The party that wraps itself in the American flag and claims to support the police has no problem with rabid Trump supporters using the American flag to beat up the Capitol police.
The party that claims to stand up for the Constitution averts its eyes when Trump-crazed zealots use force to ignore the Constitutional process in their zest to follow their leader, Donald Trump.
It’s crystal clear that if those who led this insurrection — including the President and his enablers — aren’t brought to justice, our essential democracy may not survive.
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com.
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