The Pan African Congress, North American Delegation today stands with progressive forces within the United States and around the world in condemning the insurrection that occurred in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021. This violent intervention followed the playbook of the white supremacists forces in the USA. The PAC, North America supports the second impeachment of the 45th President of the United States for the incitement of violence against the United States government and its people on January 6 at the US Congress in Washington, D.C..
The lie that the election was stolen had been propagated by the Trump Presidency along with the extremist organizations. These forces had mobilized for months with elements declaring for open warfare and calling for the execution of some members of Congress. On January 6, 2021, the day when the votes from the states for the electoral college were to be certified by the two houses of Congress, the “Stop the steal’ organizers had been exhorted by the President to storm the Capitol to stop the certification. The insurrectionists marched from a rally where the President spoke to the capitol chanting slogans calling for the death of the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the Vice President of the USA, Mike Pence. Against all evidence to the contrary, the former President consistently refused to accept the results of the 2020 Presidential Election. While a unique and stark departure from all previous norms with respect the exercise of First Amendment rights, unfortunately there is a logical line of overt racism from the early promotion of the Birther movement with respect to former President Barack Obama, to the failure to acknowledge the growth and legitimacy of domestic terrorism, to the use of the US military against African decent citizens and our allies.
We agree that the impeachment is an appropriate tool, even with the indicted out of office as the U.S. Congress needs to be definitive in what is acceptable political behavior and what is not. Black Lives Matter demonstrations have been supported by communities throughout the country over the last five years and yet these activities have been consistently treated as direct threats to the government and the use of force against them was consistent regardless of the state or city. And yet when forces on the right were apprehended in the midst of campaigns to abduct a Midwestern governor or storm the statehouses, the federal response was to dismiss any immediate threat of danger.
We acknowledge that police brutality and the militarization of police departments was evident in the attempted insurrection on the Capitol. Despite prior knowledge of inflammatory language, online organizing and solicitation of funds and material for the armed attack, the federal government at the highest levels failed to develop as would normally occur, a security plan with the assistance of multiple sources, to respond to requests prior to January 6 for human and physical resources, failed to respond during the day in a timely manner for similar requests and have yet to provide an analysis of their role in leaving the US Congress open to these destructive forces.
We share with others the recognition that the United States at all levels of government have responded disproportionately with respect to actions of the Black Lives Matter Movement versus domestic terrorists. This was visibly clear to all who watched and continue to review the tapes of the day. This is especially of concern as even with a successful impeachment, men and women throughout the government, with responsibilities for many aspects of our lives, will continue to inject White Supremacist ideologies and fascism into the body politic without impunity. This is our reality for years to come.
We are convinced, and recent events have shown, that the armed insurrection that instigated, promoted by and cheered on by the 45th President was led, organized and financed by right-wing professional agitators at a level that has been unseen with respect to any other recent demonstrations. While we acknowledge that there were participants who were there to exercise their First Amendment rights, once the boundaries of the US Congress had been breached, all participants must bear responsibility for the resultant loss of life, property and trauma.
We all, African descendants, white, brown, man and women, gay, straight, or trans, have a collective obligation to be clear on our support for the impeachment process even after January 20. Our Representatives in the House have spoken. There now needs to be a Senate trial for clarity on all roles and responsibilities, deterrence for future presidents and disqualification for any future office for the disgraced former president.
