On January 6th, Americans watched in horror, anger, and fear as a group of far right Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building. Their purpose? To stop Congress from finalizing President elect Biden's path to the White House.
Why did this happen? Simple. Donald Trump has not only refused to concede, he has insisted that the election was stolen from him. And yet, no such proof has been found of this claim. Every single lawsuit Trump has filed has been dismissed.
Yet, he and other elected officials on the Republican side of things, refuse to accept the fact that no fraud has occurred. This refusal, vocally stated on social media and various news outlets, led to public outrage and further emboldened people who are already dangerous and unstable to take very violent measures. Those measures are what we saw yesterday.
So, where do we go from here? Representative Mondaire Jones, a newly elected congressman who became one of the first openly gay black men to take office, has an answer to this question.
"I think there must be accountability at all levels. Obviously the president of the United States needs to be impeached again. That’s why I’ve co-sponsored articles of impeachment. The reason yesterday happened, in part at least, is because this president knows that there are never any consequences for his criminal conduct, both legally and politically," Jones said in an interview.
"And I also want to signal to the other “Donald Trumps” in the Republican Party who want to run for president or any other office that there will be consequences for their conduct if they, too, decide to incite violence. I’m also co-sponsoring Representative Cori Bush’s resolution to investigate and expel any of my Republican colleagues in the House and Senate who were co-conspirators in the incitement of yesterday’s violent insurrection."
As of now, it is unclear if Impeachment will occur or if Trump will be removed by invoking the 25th amendment. The 25th amendment removes a president from office when he, she, or they are "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." Calls for both have been made.
Jones had this to say on how he was feeling as he watched this unfold: "as a young Black man experiencing yesterday’s event, I am acutely aware of the fact that I would not have been under siege by a mob of domestic terrorists had they been Black because they would have been gunned down before they made it within spitting distance of the Capitol."
"We see the way Black protesters for racial justice are treated, who demonstrate peacefully, and contrast that with images of Capitol police officers taking selfies with MAGA supporters who have breached Capitol security and also letting mobs through metal barricades so that they are able to get closer to the Capitol, which is reflected in some of the footage I saw in social media as well."
Do you think Trump will be impeached or removed using the 25th amendment? What do you think of Twitter only suspending his account for 12 hours? Gaye fam we know y'all aren't shy about speaking your minds so sound off in the comments!