GOP Rep. Gonzalez joins Ohio Democrats in voting to impeach Trump
One Ohio Republican joined four Democrats in voting to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday as part of an effort to remove the president from office with a week remaining in his term.
U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Rocky River, was one of 10 House Republicans in voting yes to impeach the president. The final vote to impeach Trump was 232-197.
“When I consider the full scope of events leading up to January 6th including the President’s lack of response as the United States Capitol was under attack, I am compelled to support impeachment,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
Gonzalez blamed the president for having “helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution.” READ MORE
Ohio man joins raid on U.S. Capitol: ‘I shouldn’t have kicked in the window’
An Ohio man kicked in an enforced window shutter at the U.S. Capitol during a seditious mob raid on Congress last week, footage shows.
Troy Faulkner can be clearly seen on the exterior of the Capitol in a “Faulkner Painting” sweatshirt bearing the company phone number. Footage shows him successfully kicking the shutter in after the first insurrectionist failed. The crowd responded with jubilance.
Shortly thereafter, a woman uses a Donald Trump flag to clear what’s left of the pane.
“Traitors! Traitors get guillotine,” one man yelled, referring to a machine infamously used during the French Revolution for beheadings.
“We’re going in; We’re going in,” another says in the video.
The footage, later circulated in a “Showing Up for Racial Justice SE Ohio” Facebook page, underscores how ordinary people joined by the thousands for an extraordinary — and violent — uprising in protest to a free and fair democratic election. READ MORE
Ohio Board of Education member speaks on participation in ‘Stop the Steal’
An Ohio Board of Education member said she merely walked, prayed and waved her American flag on the trip she organized to U.S. Capitol the day it was breached by insurrectionists.
As previously reported by the OCJ, elected board member Kirsten Hill organized a bus trip for a “Stop the Steal” event as part of the TEA Party of Lorain County, which led to the insurrection that delayed Congress’ electoral college certification of the presidential election.
In an emailed statement, Hill confirmed that she traveled to Washington, D.C., on January 6, but said her participation in the event “consisted of listening to President Trump’s speech, walking to the Capitol, praying at a street corner along the National Mall and waving my American flag in support off our great country.” READ MORE
Hill said she went as a private citizen “with a group of like-minded people to express our concerns that there was significant voter fraud in the November 3rd presidential election,” a claim that has been presented without evidence and has been denied by election officials in Ohio and nationally with judges striking down lawsuits brought by the Trump team. READ MORE
Commentary: Republican politicians betrayed our country for Donald Trump
Before all hell broke out at the U.S. Capitol, I wondered if we the people could still summon outrage about anything. Surely, we had exhausted what was left of our fury quota last year. The human psyche can only sustain so much abuse, right? Safe to say we’re there. After being mercilessly pummeled with an unchecked deadly pandemic, on top of oppressive politics and social unrest, we’re toast. Sick and tired of chaos and conflict. Make it go away.
If only.
The new year opened with a dreaded emergency alarm. Stop everything. Urgent. Situation dire. Lives and liberty on the line. Hurry. Would we rush to the rescue with razor-focused resolve, or let the moment slide and not get involved because we’re burnt out on trauma? Could we still muster the passion to fight for something we believe in and love deeply that is flailing horribly under acute duress, or give the unthinkable a pass to do its worst?
We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we? Because the unthinkable arrived on Jan. 6, 2021. We watched it crash through the cradle of our American democracy in real time. Violent armed insurrection of the Capitol spurred on by a sitting president. Donald Trump incited overthrow of a democratically decide election. A weaponized mob in MAGA hats obliged. They targeted lawmakers and staff — gathered to affirm the duly certified outcome of that election — who feared for their lives as they dove for cover under their desks. It happened. In America. And the world wept. READ MORE
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