Since our last communication on Thursday, we have learned of the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, and we have learned that Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood died off duty. We mourn the loss of life of these brave men whose duty and responsibility were to guard the Capitol building and those who work inside. Last Wednesday’s events at the doors of and inside the Capitol left us shocked, outraged, and saddened. Anyone who broke the law to enter the Capitol, cause the destruction of property, or the loss of Officer Sicknick’s life must be arrested and held accountable.

We revere our Constitution precisely because it created a framework that allows for the resolution of political conflict in a peaceful manner. What we saw Wednesday at the door and inside of the Capitol was a violation of that framework. That is not who any of you are, and not what our organization is about. We condemn the unlawful actions is the strongest terms.

Many are asking what is next? What should we do? How do we continue to stand for our values? Many are frustrated at the hypocrisy from the media and the radical left. You may be wondering what difference does any of it make if our vote does not count.

After talking to our local leaders on Sunday night and reading emails from you, here is what we recommend for the next steps in the immediate future.

Remember
Restraint
Regroup, reassess, reply
Realize

Remember our values and remember why we do what we do.

Remember we stand for personal freedom, economic freedom, and a debt free future. Remember, also, we appreciate and voted for Donald Trump because he puts America and Americans first. That is why we worked as hard as we did to ensure that every legal vote was counted, and every illegal vote was rejected. Re-read the Constitution. It is precisely in times like these that we need to work within the framework of the Constitution and use the guardrails it provides to maintain a civil society.

Pause and exercise restraint.

While the First Amendment guarantees our God-given right to peaceably assemble, to speak freely, and to petition our government for redress of our grievances, it does not command us to engage in such activity all the time. To anyone who is thinking of showing up at a protest around the country in the next two weeks, please stay home. Now is the time for cooler heads to prevail.

This request might not make sense to you, or might even anger you. We are an activist organization, after all. Why would we be counseling against activity? We understand your frustration, anger, fear for the future, and sense of hopelessness. Those emotions continue to roll through us, too. Like you, we know there is a time and a place for everything. Right now is not the time to up the ante. Calmer heads must prevail. We have a dozen years of showing how to make our voices heard peacefully. Over the years, there have been times to protest, times to melt the phone lines, times to get out the vote, and times when we reserve our energy because we see the writing on the wall. Now is such a time to reserve energy.

Here is why: There are people outside our organization who want to instigate crowds for one nefarious reason or another. Those individuals’ actions result in chaos and create situations that can be used to excuse powerful government overreach to control our lives. Neither you nor I want to or will take their bait.

We cannot look to others to be the ones to lead our country at the moment. The leaders we need to set examples for when and how to peacefully protest and stand for liberty are in your mirrors. Lead by example, and show others we not only know how but also when to engage.

Regroup, reassess, and reply.

Use the next two weeks to reflect on how Tea Party Patriots Action can better reach our goals, how you would suggest we approach election integrity, how can we better stand against the unconstitutional, un-American legislation that is sure to come out of Congress in the next 100+ days.

We are not giving up, and we are not giving in. We see how the radical left is trying to take advantage of the current unstable environment to press their agenda forward. We oppose their efforts to impeach President Trump. We oppose their efforts to silence and remove Members of Congress who used the Constitution and the law to make known their concerns over election integrity. We oppose Big Tech’s determination to silence conservative voices.

There are still things we can do peacefully within the system. We are working on an action plan for the next two years. These plans will include work to ensure the integrity of future elections, training future leaders so we can be wiser and more effective, and educating Americans on the harms of socialism and the radical left’s socialist agenda. Before finalizing such a plan, we want to hear from you.

Reply to this email to share ideas or suggestions for how to you would like to see us regroup, what lessons we can learn to improve, and what ideas you have for how we can continue to work within the Constitutional and legal framework to achieve our goals.

Realize we will be victorious.

We can have confidence in this because the left is overplaying its hand, and ultimately the American people will reject this.

We can have confidence in our victory because history shows that in America, liberty prevails. Our nation is going through a difficult time. America has weathered similar social and political unrest in the past, and we are confident we will get through our current troubles as well. And why wouldn’t we? We are Americans. We are the heirs to the Founding Fathers, whose gift to us – the Constitution of the United States – is the greatest framework for self-governance ever devised.

As Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense.” Hold fast to our honorable convictions, and exercise good sense in the coming days.

We appreciate all you do, and all you have done, and – perhaps most importantly – all you will do, to help us stand for the Constitution. We are grateful that we have such committed supporters, and we pledge to you once again that we will continue to do all we can to promote the principles of individual liberty and Constitutionally limited government.

In liberty,

Jenny Beth Martin and the Tea Party Patriots Action Support Team