Pasadena Congresswoman Chu and Other AAPI Leaders Blame Trump for Assault on Capitol

U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena) was among a number of Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders to condemn last week’s siege of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. while Congress was certifying Electoral College ballots cast in the Nov. 3 election.

Chu called the Jan. 6 assault “a domestic terror attack on the Capitol by violent supporters of the outgoing president, encouraged and egged on by Trump and his supporters in Congress.”

Others who spoke with the Los Angeles daily newspaper Rafu Shimpo included Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Executive Director David Inoue and Vice President of Public Affairs Sarah Baker.

“The assault of the Capitol was the direct result of a Republican Party that has been willing to indulge white supremacy and conspiracy theories throughout the Trump presidency,” said Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. 

“The repeated attempts to undermine confidence in our elections – even after yesterday’s siege ended – are irresponsible and reprehensible. It is beyond tragic that a life was lost yesterday, ending America’s proud history of bloodless transfers of power. This should have been avoided. Yet over half the House Republicans voted to reverse the outcome of this election and some are spreading lies about who was responsible,” Chu said.

Five people, including a police officer, died during the siege and dozens of people have been arrested by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

“The insurrection that occurred at the U.S. Capitol today as Congress was carrying out its constitutional duty was enabled and provoked by President Trump,” Takano said. “The president incited an attack on our democracy and our democratic process, and for that, he must be impeached immediately and be barred from holding federal elected office ever again.”

Matsui said the rioters viewed the president’s repeated claims of fraud as a mandate to act. Lies, misinformation, and demagoguery have consequences.

“That is why I called on the vice president to invoke the 25th Amendment and convene the Cabinet to remove the president from office. President Trump continues to put himself above the American people, and his reckless actions to undermine our democracy must be met with equal consequence,” Matsui told Rafu Shimpo.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said she voted to convict and remove Trump from office last year because she believed any commander-in-chief willing to abuse his power posed an unacceptable threat to our republic.

“Unfortunately, Duckworh said, “those fears were validated yesterday as Trump incited a violent mob that sought to block the American people’s elected representatives from fulfilling a critical constitutional responsibility.

“It’s clear Donald Trump is a threat to our nation and he should be removed from office as soon as possible. The Cabinet should immediately invoke the 25th Amendment, but if they fail to do so then Congress must immediately begin impeachment proceedings to safeguard our republic,” she said.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) also said the insurrectionists were domestic terrorists, “many armed and many associated with white nationalist groups. This was a planned and coordinated attack with an intent to overthrow a free and fair election, and included live bombs both on the Capitol grounds and outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters,” Jayapal said.

“These insurrectionists were called to action, incited, fueled, and assisted in their attack on our democracy and our Capitol by Donald J. Trump, the sitting president of the United States, who has used every opportunity to build his own following at the expense of our country and our Constitution and with the express intent to fuel and promote hate and violence as a political tool,” she said.

“(Trump) is a direct threat to our democracy, with complete control over the military, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies. It cannot be an accident that the federal government was not properly prepared for the threats associated with Wednesday’s assault, which were being publicly broadcast over social media,” Jayapal said.

“We know that peaceful Black and Brown protestors would never have been allowed even remotely close to the Capitol. And yet, there were no barricades and no law enforcement to stop the insurrectionists who overtook our Capitol — and even videos and pictures of those people being allowed in, barriers being opened up, and the insurrectionists posing for selfies with law enforcement inside the Capitol. This is the deep injustice and violence of our law enforcement agencies over the course of our history that have led to the powerful calls for justice in policing. No progress in America is possible unless we address the racism, white supremacy, and anti-blackness that has plagued our country for far too long,” Jayapal said.

In a joint statement Inoue and Baker called the incident “the epitome of white privilege.”

“Today we have seen the culmination of months of seditious rhetoric from the president and his supporters. For too long white supremacy and hate have gone unchecked in our nation; there can be no other word for what has happened today with the storming of the Capitol than treason. These heinous acts, encouraged and supported by our president, should not go unpunished — Congress must immediately begin the process of impeachment and removal of the president of the United States for acts of sedition,” they said.