Colorado lawmakers on Wednesday denounced the violence perpetrated by a mob of President Donald Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol during a joint session of Congress seeking to stop the certification of the election win by President-elect Joe Biden.
Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, as well as Gov. Jared Polis and Attorney General Phil Weiser, decried the mob violence both formally and informally as U.S. Capitol Police worked to regain control of the building.
“We respect the rule of law, and an assault on our democratic republic is an assault on all of us who believe in our constitution and what makes our country extraordinary,” wrote Polis and Rep. Ken Buck in a bipartisan joint statement. “We respect the peaceful transition of power.”
Although the rally-turned-riot was miles away in the nation’s capital, a more peaceful election protest was underway in Colorado as hundreds of Trump supporters held a rally of their own at the Colorado State Capitol to protest the presidential election results. Although Denver’s Mayor Michael Hancock ordered downtown city offices closed, the protest in Colorado remained peaceful.
The lawmakers to denounce violence in Washington included Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn, who recently made headlines as they joined other GOP members of Congress in an effort to object to the certification of Biden’s win.
Boebert posted online that her staff was safe and expressed support for the right to peacefully protest but denounced the violence that broke out. Lamborn echoed that sentiment and said on Twitter that he hoped Congress would resume its session Wednesday night to continue debate.
“The mob will not control our government,” Lamborn tweeted. “We have survived worse, and our Republic must continue.”
However, critics have placed the blame for Wednesday’s violence on those in Congress who have not acknowledged Biden’s victory and particularly on Trump, who has continued to push claims of voter fraud in a number of states despite several audits, recounts and failed lawsuits to support such claims.
It was shortly after Boebert spoke on the floor to express her objection to the certification of Arizona’s electoral votes that Congress had to evacuate.
Her objection, however, was not focused on voter fraud; she said she was objecting on the grounds that changes to Arizona’s voter registration laws that were enacted to respond to complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic were unconstitutional.
“If we allow state election laws as set forth by the state Legislature to be ignored and manipulated on the whims of partisan lawsuits, unelected bureaucrats, unlawful procedures and arbitrary rules, then our Constitutional Republic will cease to exist,” Boebert said in an impassioned floor speech, one of the first she has given in her freshman term representing Western Colorado.
After Boebert’s remarks and a rebuttal by fellow Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, the proceedings were halted. While Congress evacuated to various undisclosed locations, the horde of people pushed into the Capitol building, with some going as far as to break into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and others forcing their way into the Senate chamber where Congress had been meeting a few minutes before.
As the riot pushed through the Capitol building, one woman was shot and later died from her wounds.
The Capitol building was surrounded by a sea of Trump supporters, some carrying flags and pulling lawn chairs behind them, others wearing tactical vests and gas masks, some singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” and others chanting expletives against Biden.
The crowd extended all the way up the stairs to the building’s door, much closer to the building than a tourist could get on any normal day.
Eventually, the Capitol Police managed to remove the rioters from the building and Congress was able to resume the session, where it continued to hear comments about certifying various states’ electoral votes.
As proceedings continued, many lawmakers from Colorado and elsewhere expressed their conviction to certify the election, regardless of the day’s violence.
“Every member of Congress has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution. This moment, more than any in our time, we are called as lawmakers to fulfill that oath,” said Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet in a statement. “We should accept nothing less than an exercise in self-government animated by decency, integrity, truth and a sense of shared responsibility to the next generation.”
John Purcell is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C.