Dear John,

Yesterday's call to violence by Trump and insurrection by Trump supporters was nothing less than a failed coup d’etat. There must be immediate consequences or we will face further escalation into violence and efforts to subvert our government and democratic institutions will continue to strengthen.

We’ve already seen this escalate over the past several years in Oregon from the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, continuing through to the repeated Republican walkouts which have badly damaged our state’s ability to function. This will not stop until it is treated as what it is: an effort to delegitimize any authority but their own, enforced by white nationalists.  

Those who stormed our nation’s Capitol must be prosecuted. Trump’s enablers and those who support subverting the will of America’s voters should be expelled from Congress. And whether through the 25th amendment or by impeachment, Trump must be immediately removed from office.

There must also be a reckoning on the clear and distinct difference in treatment and attitude by the police toward the insurrectionists and Black Lives Matter (and other) protests. It could not be more stark: yesterday's white insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, vandalized our place of government, and were escorted out. Meanwhile, countless peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors have been teargassed, beaten, and arrested. It is racist. It is wrong. And it must end.

That's why OLCV has joined the Western States Center and other groups in calling on elected officials to publicly condemn the attack on the U.S. Capitol and all assaults on democratic institutions. You can read the full statement by the Western States Center here.

Doug Moore
Executive Director, OLCV