North Coast lawmakers call for Trump’s removal in wake of U.S. Capitol chaos

January 07, 2021

After a violent takeover at the U.S. Capitol, some North Coast Democratic lawmakers have called to impeach President Donald Trump or invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to remove him from office. An angry mob of Trump supporters looking to overturn the results of November’s election breached the Capitol building on Wednesday, and sent the House and Senate into lockdown.

North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman joined the call for impeachment via Twitter on Thursday afternoon. “Let’s be clear: impeachment must happen with or without 25th Amendment action,” he said.

“Yesterday’s failed coup attempt at the Capitol demands that we ask some difficult, uncomfortable questions,” Huffman said in a statement released Thursday morning. “Despite their overall bravery, loyalty to their mission, and plenty of heroism, were there elements within Capitol Police that sympathized with the insurrectionists and actually helped them? I’m not at all satisfied with the explanations we’ve heard thus far. I’ve seen Capitol Police respond more assertively to people in wheelchairs protesting the repeal of Obamacare than what we saw from some of them yesterday in response to a violent mob that everyone knew was trying to overturn our democracy.”

During the lockdown on Wednesday afternoon, Huffman expressed his gratitude to first responders via Twitter but also criticized law enforcement’s response.

“Grateful to all the first responders who are struggling to protect us from a violent coup. But also wondering why this mob of white nationalist terrorists seems to have been given the Kyle Rittenhouse treatment, at least initially,” Huffman wrote.

North Coast State Sen. Mike McGuire called the riot “a terrorist act.”

“Lives were lost, blood was shed and it was all stoked by a deranged president who can’t handle the fact that the American people voted him out of office,” McGuire told the Times-Standard via email. “All Americans should be horrified and angered by these seditious acts. This is not who we are as a nation and I firmly believe the 25th Amendment must be advanced. Violence has no place in our democracy and we must work together, regardless of party affiliation, to heal this nation.”

Reached by phone on Thursday afternoon, Michele Walford, vice-chair or Humboldt Progressive Democrats said she was “absolutely horrified” by the attempted coup. “But at the same time, I wasn’t surprised.”

“I think it’s time for us to take a real good look at what happened over the past four years and do everything we can to make sure that we do not get another person in power that has more ability than Trump who could do a lot more damage,” Walford said. “For as much damage as Trump did in four years, somebody else could do worse if they knew what they were doing.”

The president needs to be held “criminally liable,” Walford said.

“He’s the one that that incited the riot and the people that were involved are blind followers. They have no real dogma. They have no understanding of issues, they’re just following their leader wherever he goes,” Walford said. “I just hope other republicans take a look at this and start pedaling back to remember who they used to be because we can’t go forward like this, not with such separate ideologies going on.”

The Times-Standard contacted the Humboldt GOP office for comment on Thursday morning and was directed to Chair Doug Brower, who did not return multiple requests for comment ahead of print deadline.

On Wednesday, Eileen Amos, an attendee of the protest outside of the Humboldt County Courthouse told the Times-Standard, “We are peaceful protesters … we absolutely abhor what is happening in Washington, D.C., with them invading the U.S. Capitol and House of Representatives.”


By:  Isabella Vanderheiden
Source: Eureka Times-Standard