(Milwaukee, WI) – Voces de la Frontera, The Wisconsin African American Roundtable, the Milwaukee NAACP, Justice Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, and the Milwaukee Hmong American Women’s Association issue the following statement in response to Trump’s act of domestic terrorism at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021:
“We condemn Trump and his Republican enablers for instigating an act of domestic terrorism by white nationalists at the nation’s Capitol in an effort to disrupt and intimidate US Congressional representatives from affirming the rightful election of President Elect Joe Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris.
We call for Trump’s immediate removal from office, whether through resignation, impeachment or the 25th amendment. Trump must go. The immense power he holds must be removed given his narcissistic desperation to hold that position at any cost and to shield himself from pending criminal charges.
We condemn and call for the resignation of US Senator Ron Johnson, Congressman Scott Fitzgerald and Congressman Tom Tiffany who, as part of the “Sedition Caucus” supported Trump’s lies and provocation to violence in order to subvert the will of the American people. They share responsibility for the violent actions of white supremacist followers who took up arms and participated in what was an attempted coup by a want-to-be dictator. They share responsibility for the deaths, injuries, trauma, and vandalism at the US capitol and the assault on the nation’s democracy and the will of the people.
In Wisconsin, we witnessed the stark racial double standard by the police in DC that has been at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The passiveness and apparent complicity of the police and other security forces in the face of the white mob at the US capitol is in sharp contrast to the injustice we have seen when it comes to the excessive use of police force against anti-racism protestors and Black and Latinx victims of police brutality.
A few days ago, Kenosha County officials announced that Rusten Sheskey, the white police officer who shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back in August 2020, will not be charged. Meanwhile, an armed white mob is not viewed as a threat in our nation’s capital.
Recently, Voces de la Frontera members who participated in a peaceful anti-racist protest in Milwaukee faced tear gas and were hit by battons and rubber bullets. Peaceful acts of civil disobedience for the rights of the poor and marginalized at the US capitol are quickly and efficiently arrested. Where is the justice?
We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement in demanding justice for Jacob Blake and all other victims of racist police brutality, and we will continue to organize to enact policy changes so that these incidents cease to exist.
Yet the shocking escalation of events in DC also represents a shift in power that has left Trump even more isolated, in the wake of historic elections in the United States, and in swing states like Wisconsin and Georgia, in which Latinxs and people of color turned out at historic high levels of participation to defeat Trump and elect a majority of Democrats in the House and Senate to the 117th Congress. This paves the way for major reforms to stop deportations and pass immigration reform; provide meaningful and inclusive pandemic relief for all; and pass racial justice and police accountability reforms.
The political pathway to comprehensive immigration reform and criminal justice reform is viable, but it will never come into fruition if we sit back and expect our elected officials to do the work for us. We need more active grassroots participation and we need to hold both Democrats and Republicans accountable. People who share values of equality and justice need to step up now, because this is about more than party politics. Together, we can heal this nation as we follow in the footsteps of all those that have come before us in the fight to realize the ideals of this nation. ¡Adelante, sí se puede!”
Signed by:
Voces de la Frontera, The Wisconsin African American Roundtable, the Milwaukee NAACP, Justice Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, and the Milwaukee Hmong American Women’s Association
