Rep. Young “Appalled” at Violence and Destruction on January 6
Republican Alaska Representative Don Young said today that what transpired at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 was criminal and un-American and that the events of that day could not be considered a legitimate protest.
Rep. Young previously voted against establishing a January 6 Commission or Committee.
The US Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, after former president Donald Trump urged them to "fight like hell" in support of overturning Biden's election win. Seven people died in the attack and more than 100 police officers were hurt. Eleven members of the far-right Oath Keeper militia, including its leader, face charges of seditious conspiracy.
Young's statement came a day after the Republican party officially said Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat and the deadly attack on the US Capitol were “legitimate political discourse.” The resolution passed on a voice vote as 168 members of the RNC gathered for their winter meeting.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) took the action on Friday as part of the formal censure of Wyoming's Liz Cheney and Illinois' Adam Kinzinger, the only Republicans on the January 6 panel.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who is being challenged this year by far-right election fraud conspiracy theorist Kelly Tshibaka, said on social media earlier this morning that what happened on January 6, 2021, was an effort to overturn a lawful election resulting in violence and destruction at the Capitol.
"As Americans we must acknowledge those tragic events, and we cannot allow a false narrative to be created. We cannot deny the truth—to suggest it was “legitimate political discourse” is just wrong," Murkowski wrote.
Trump sycophant US Senator Dan Sullivan has remained silent on the Republican party’s censure of Cheney and Kinzinger.
