WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s re-election crusade on Monday called on voters to reject violence as a viable option in this year’s campaign cycle, adding comments made through his Republican opponent and former President Donald Trump.
Former U. S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges and Biden-Harris Communications Director Michael Tyler said at a news conference that the Americans want to reject Trump’s campaign so far.
“I will begin by simply saying that political violence has no place in the United States of America. That’s never going to be acceptable,” Tyler said. It’s a verbal exchange that wouldn’t even be necessary. That, a decade ago, would have been unrecognizable in our political discourse. But that’s no longer the case.
Trump’s crusade is recycling many of the themes of his failed bid for the White House 4 years ago, which ultimately led to a violent attack on the U. S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump’s social media post over the weekend showing Biden “bound and gagged in the back of a pickup truck” is an example of how Trump chooses to “traffic in violence as he seeks to regain power,” Tyler said.
The Associated Press said in its report that the video showed “the symbol of President Joe Biden tied up, painted on the tailgate of a passing truck. “
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, said in a written statement that “Democrats and crazed lunatics have not only called for despicable violence against President Trump and his family, but are actually weaponizing the formula of justice against him. “
Trump faces 88 felony charges in four cases, in addition to his role in inciting violence on Jan. 6 on trumped-up allegations of election interference and in a separate case involving classified documents.
The news conference was held at the Democratic National Committee building in Washington, D. C. , just before Trump’s campaign in Michigan and Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Gonell criticized Trump for embracing those convicted of crimes for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, calling them “patriots” and “political prisoners. “
“His failure to speak out against the violence of January 6, 2021 is a slap in the face to all the police officers who risked their lives that day,” Gonell said. “He doesn’t give a fuck about us. “
Gonell said Trump has called any of the police officers injured in the attack in the three years since his supporters marched from a rally he held near the White House to the Capitol, before attacking police, storming construction and ending the country’s history. peaceful transitions of power.
“For Trump, violence is a weapon to get what he wants: power, revenge, retribution,” Gonell said. “
Republicans can’t be counted on to protect the U. S. Constitution and the rule of law because they’ve made excuses for Trump’s irrational behavior, he said.
“All Americans pay attention to what Trump says,” Gonell said. “He says he’s in a position to do it on Jan. 6. Scary. And he won’t be elected in November. “
Hodges criticized Trump for “continuing to inspire political violence” in the United States.
“My fellow officials and I experienced this type of violence by a mob of MAGA extremists on Jan. 6, all because they accepted Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was a robbery,” Hodges said.
Trump shouldn’t say he supports law enforcement when he also chooses to “inflame and inspire political violence in any and every aspect,” Hodges said.
“You can’t pretend to be on our side and then promise forgiveness to the violent insurgents who attacked me and my brave colleagues, and killed my fellow officers Brian Sicknick and Jeffrey Smith,” he said.
The District of Columbia Chief Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Sicknick died of herbal causes as a result of the attack on the Capitol. The USCP said in an April 2021 brief that it accepted the findings but that they “do not replace the fact that Officer Sicknick died in the line of duty, courageously protecting Congress and Capitol Hill. “
Smith took his own life days after being attacked by pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6. The Justice Department classified his death as occurring in the line of duty.
The D. C. Fire and Police Relief and Retirement Commissioncame to the same conclusion, writing in a letter that “Officer Smith suffered a physical injury on January 6, 2021, in the line of duty and that his injury is the sole and direct cause of his injury. “”Death,” according to NBC News.
At Monday’s news conference, Gonell rejected attempts by Trump and many of his supporters to rewrite or rewrite the events of Jan. 6 as nonviolent or simply a visit to the Capitol.
“We were under attack. We were crushed. Members of Congress rushed to go to some of those spaces to hide, take shelter or escape the building,” Gonell said. “If it wasn’t for what we did that day, I don’t think they would have made it. “
Some of its members, he said, have “the audacity to tell me that nothing happened and if it did, it wasn’t as bad as it used to be. “
“But they know on Jan. 6 who the culprit is,” he added. “They know how scared they were that day. And if it wasn’t for what we did, they’ve survived. “
by Jennifer Shutt, Florida Phoenix April 2, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s re-election crusade on Monday called on voters to reject violence as a viable option in this year’s campaign cycle, adding comments made through his Republican opponent and former President Donald Trump.
Former U. S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges and Biden-Harris communications director Michael Tyler said at a news conference that Americans want to push back against Trump’s campaign so far.
“I will begin by simply saying that political violence has no place in the United States of America. That’s never going to be acceptable,” Tyler said. It’s a verbal exchange that wouldn’t even be necessary. That, a decade ago, would have been unrecognizable in our political discourse. But that’s no longer the case.
Trump’s crusade is recycling many of the themes of his failed bid for the White House 4 years ago, which ultimately led to a violent attack on the U. S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump’s social media post over the weekend showing Biden “bound and gagged in the back of a pickup truck” is an example of how Trump chooses to “traffic in violence as he seeks to regain power,” Tyler said.
The Associated Press said in its report that the video showed “the symbol of President Joe Biden tied up, painted on the tailgate of a passing truck. “
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, said in a written statement that “Democrats and crazed lunatics have not only called for despicable violence against President Trump and his family, but are actually weaponizing the formula of justice against him. “
Trump faces 88 felony charges in four cases, in addition to his role in inciting violence on Jan. 6 on trumped-up allegations of election interference and in a separate case involving classified documents.
The news conference was held at the Democratic National Committee building in Washington, D. C. , just before Trump’s campaign in Michigan and Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Gonell criticized Trump for welcoming other people convicted of crimes for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, calling them “patriots” and “political prisoners. “
“His failure to speak out against the violence of January 6, 2021 is a slap in the face to all the police officers who risked their lives that day,” Gonell said. “He doesn’t give a fuck about us. “
Gonell said Trump has called any of the police officers injured in the attack in the three years since his supporters marched from a rally he held near the White House to the Capitol, before attacking police, storming construction and ending the country’s history. peaceful transitions of power.
“For Trump, violence is a weapon to get what he wants: power, revenge, retribution,” Gonell said. “
Republicans can’t be counted on to protect the U. S. Constitution and the rule of law because they’ve made excuses for Trump’s irrational behavior, he said.
“All Americans pay attention to what Trump says,” Gonell said. “He says he’s in a position to do it on Jan. 6. Scary. And he won’t be elected in November. “
Hodges criticized Trump for “continuing to inspire political violence” in the United States.
“My fellow officials and I experienced this type of violence by a mob of MAGA extremists on Jan. 6, all because they accepted Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was a robbery,” Hodges said.
Trump doesn’t say he supports law enforcement when he also chooses to “inflame and inspire political violence in each and every case,” Hodges said.
“You can’t pretend to be on our side and then promise forgiveness to the violent insurgents who attacked me and my brave colleagues, and killed my fellow officers Brian Sicknick and Jeffrey Smith,” he said.
The District of Columbia Chief Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Sicknick died of herbal causes as a result of the attack on the Capitol. The USCP said in an April 2021 brief that it accepted the findings but that they “do not replace the fact that Officer Sicknick died in the line of duty, courageously protecting Congress and Capitol Hill. “
Smith took his own life days after being attacked by pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6. The Justice Department classified his death as occurring in the line of duty.
The D. C. Fire and Police Relief and Retirement Commissioncame to the same conclusion, writing in a letter that “Officer Smith suffered a physical injury on January 6, 2021, in the line of duty and that his injury is the sole and direct cause of his injury. “”Death,” according to NBC News.
At Monday’s news conference, Gonell rejected attempts by Trump and many of his supporters to rewrite or rewrite the events of Jan. 6 as nonviolent or simply a visit to the Capitol.
“We were under attack. We were crushed. Members of Congress rushed to go to some of those spaces to hide, take shelter or escape the building,” Gonell said. “If it wasn’t for what we did that day, I don’t think they would have made it. “
Some of its members, he said, have “the audacity to tell me that nothing happened and if it did, it wasn’t as bad as it used to be. “
“But they know on Jan. 6 who the culprit is,” he added. “They know how scared they were that day. And if it wasn’t for what we did, they’ve survived. “
Florida Phoenix is a member of States Newsroom, a grant-funded, nonprofit news network and donor coalition as a 501c public charity(3). Florida Phoenix maintains its editorial independence. Please contact Editor Diane Rado if you have any questions: info@floridaphoenix. com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Their policy spaces come with congressional policies, political and legal challenges, with health care, unemployment, housing, and assistance to families.
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