I will start by saying I believe the demonstration turned riot on Jan. 6 was something that in my personal opinion should be condemned by everyone no matter their political point of view. And I also have no desire to enter into debates on the sanity of holding the demonstration at that place and time or who was or was not responsible for what took place.
Having said that, I would also like to point out what many people seem to be either ignorant of or just ignoring: namely that this incident is hardly the first time the U.S. Capitol and Washington, D.C., including the White House, have been besieged/attacked by individuals and groups bent on committing violence up to and including shootings and even bombs. Granted, the incident on Jan. 6 involved a much larger group of people and an ex-president who was peripherally involved prior to the violence taking place, but their activities, as deplorable as they were, did not involve shootings, bombings or cars used as weapons resulting in deaths. Some Capitol Police were in fact assaulted on camera, so it’s hard to say it didn’t happen, but none of them were killed.
The only person killed on Jan. 6 was one of the rioters (yes, in my opinion she was rioting, not peacefully protesting) who was shot by a Capitol Police officer as she lunged through a glass window that rioters had just smashed open with battering rams.
But it would appear that some people are forgetting the incident not that long ago where a left-wing self-proclaimed Bernie Sanders supporter shot up a Republican baseball practice, wounding several people, including one Capital Police officer and sitting Rep. Steve Scalise, who came VERY close to dying.
The link below makes for interesting reading and clearly shows that idiotic and senseless violence by people is hardly limited to one political party or point of view: bit.ly/2WjSRBR.
Rick Barker
Valencia
