MID-HUDSON – Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D, NY-18) was among those lawmakers on the House Floor i9n the Capitol building when it was stormed by thousands of rioters on Wednesday, but they were safely evacuated to an undisclosed location.
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she and her staff were in lockdown when the rioting occurred. “The storming of the U.S. Capitol is a stain on American democracy. Make no mistake—this disgraceful violence will not stop the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20.”
“When we formed our nation two and a half centuries ago, we as a people committed to peaceful change, based on democratic principles and rule of law. In doing so, we changed the course of human history for the better,” former Congressman Chris Gibson told Mid-Hudson News. “The violence this afternoon in Washington, D.C. is completely antithetical to our nation’s most sacred values and must stop. Protestors should yield to law enforcement authorities and allow our democratic process to continue.” Gibson, a Republican who retired from politics after two terms, is president of Siena College.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day, a retired police commander, said what transpired was “disturbing to say the least.” Day said the U.S. is “a nation of laws, and we must all respect the electoral process which has been part of our history since the birth of this great country. As a nation it is time for us to come together and move forward to a peaceful transition of power.”
Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, who is a lieutenant in the Naval Reserves, said the riot blemished America’s image abroad.
“All three of the times I have been overseas for the military men and women around the world including the places that we are there to protect, in Korea and Iraq in particular, people talk about this aura of the golden, beautiful city on a hill, which is America and everything it stands for – freedom, opportunity, democracy – and what happened today in the halls of Congress and Senate really scars that image from the world,” he said.
State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, called the attack on the Capitol “deplorable.” He called it “domestic terrorism and it is an attempt to overthrow the elected will of the American people.”
“This mayhem must stop, and it must stop now. America doesn’t resort to chaos or violence, and we don’t encourage or invite it,” said Republican Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro.
“Peaceful protests are an American right and tradition. But once a protest crosses over into chaos or violence, it loses its credibility and reason for being. It’s time to accept the results of this presidential election and for Congress to embrace a new era of bipartisanship. And it’s time for we the people to allow our elected representatives to do their jobs,” Rob Doherty, chairman of the Sullivan County Legislature.
“We have a situation that represents today what is culmination of a number of years where we have broken down the proper barriers that protect us as a democracy. We have existed for over 250 years as a democracy, but no democracy has existed indefinitely. Totalitarianism always knocks. It’s always easier to rule completely if one man rules the whole nation, without a need for messy debate,” said Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
The rioting came on the day when Congress was to certify the results of the election and declared Joe Biden the next president.
