This is the letter I sent to my Representative and Senators regarding the Capitol insurrection on January 6. Feel free to use any or all portions with which you concur in reaching out to your own elected officials.
January 10, 2020
Dear Senators Markey and Warren,
Dear Representative Clark,
What we allow, we enable.
We allowed domestic terrorists to storm our Capitol. We allowed them to disrupt a peaceful government process. We allowed them to enter, deface, and ransack out nation’s most prominent public symbol.
It is only dumb luck for us that they were so disorganized. They had no real plan. The next time we allow such a breach, the terrorists may not be so aimless. Insurrection could result in actual coup.
Therefore, we must act now so we never enable them again. We must make clear—this week, before any subsequent events (already advertised for January 17) take place—that every person and organization involved in this terrorism will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law:
1. Remove Donald Trump from office. He committed treason by inciting this violence. Voluntary resignation, the 25th Amendment, impeachment: whatever method is required.
2. Identify, arrest, and try to the fullest extent of law every person who forcibly entered the Capitol.
3. Identify every person from the Executive branch, member of Congress, elected official, self-appointed leader, financial supporter, and media influencer who championed this insurrection. Make public their involvement. Arrest and try to the fullest extent of law.
4. Formally censure all members of the House of Representatives and Senate who voted to sustain objections against the electoral college results, even after the insurrection was over and government resumed. They misused their power of this valid Constitutional check. Their ongoing insistence of unproven claims of election irregularity fuel further lawlessness. They are complicit in what happened, and will be complicit in any further illegal behavior.
5. Investigate why law enforcement branches frequently utilized to check large protests were ‘called off’ from this one. The scale and intent of this demonstration, turned insurrection, was well-advertised in advance, yet the law enforcement response was tepid. Any complaisance between an arm of law enforcement and these terrorists should be investigated, made public, and tried to the full extent of the law.
6. With regards to the Capitol Police, I suggest a different tact. Here we have an opportunity to move beyond public shaming and convicting insurgents. Here we have an opportunity to redefine policing that is strong yet just. Since the Capitol Police are part of the Federal Government, I suggest that Congress develop a model policing program, formulated to include the full range police tools with an emphasis on non-violent response, applied equitably across all citizens. I suggest that all current members of the Capitol Police be terminated, then given the option of reapply to the force, along with other citizens who demonstrate capacity to practice equitable policing. The reconstituted Capitol Police should be trained to protect our Capitol in a manner applied equally to all citizens, regardless of race, gender, economic strata, or political persuasion. It is important that citizens can convene at our Capitol, make their concerns known, and protest. It is equally important that no one be allowed to breach the Capitol and disrupt government process. The Capitol Police need to ensure and accommodate peaceful protest for all citizens, yet stand fast against anyone who attempts to invade. Recreating the Capitol Police is a perfectly scaled ‘pilot’ for overdue police reform throughout the nation. It could offer one positive result of January 6th’s seditious violence.
What we allow, we enable.
We must act now to make clear the violence of January 6 will not be tolerated. And then use the horror of that day to move from our current divisions toward our Founders’ vision: a more perfect union.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your action on each of these six points.
Sincerely,
Paul E. Fallon
The Awkward Pose 