Statement of the Center for International Environmental Law on today’s attack on the US Congress
Donald John Trump poses a clear and present danger to public safety, democracy, constitutional order, and the rule of law in the United States. His repeated incitements to violence and anti-democratic conduct led directly and inexorably to today’s unprecedented and clearly premeditated attack on the US Congress, state capitols, and the democratic process. His continued incitement in the wake of the attack is an ongoing abuse of the power of the Presidency, and it demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that he is unfit to remain in office and must be disabled from using his current position to retain power.
Congress should immediately institute impeachment proceedings to remove him from office and ensure he is permanently barred from holding any public office in the future... Donald Trump did not act alone in spurring today’s attacks. He has been aided and abetted by numerous officeholders at the federal and state levels who carried out a months-long campaign to interfere with the presidential election, disenfranchise millions of voters, and undermine the lawful outcome of the democratic process. By intent and effect, this conduct has disproportionately targeted and affected Black and Brown communities across the country; and it jeopardizes all of us, regardless of ethnicity or political party.
... The stark contrast between the muted police response to today’s attacks and the repeated official violence against peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors last summer lays bare the racist double-standard that bars true equality under the law and demonstrates the urgent need to transform policing in the United States.