On the eve before the certification of the Electoral College votes by the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, an estimated 30,000 Trump supporters returned to the nation’s capital, demanding that lawmakers ignore the voters’ choice of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the new president and vice president of the U.S. They came to protest against the duty of the Congress members to declare the winner of the presidential election and present a threatening show of force in hopes of persuading Congress to ignore its Constitutional mandate.
Many of them came armed with weapons and knowingly ignored D.C.’s stringent gun laws. Others went with the mal intent to ignore public safety by aggressively attacking others and damaging public property.
They ignored warnings by the CDC to maintain social distancing. They continuously and consistently ignored calls by the nation’s top medical experts to keep social distancing and wear a mask.
With all they attempted to ignore during a national pandemic, they are responsible for promoting hate and violence while holding another superspreader event putting even more D.C. residents and the nation at risk of contracting the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Once again, we must commend Mayor Muriel Bowser for her steadfast attempts to keep D.C. residents safe by closing down venues that were continuing to serve despite the COVID-19 pandemic and by discouraging residents from going downtown for any reason on the day of the protest. She issued a warning to the protesters not to bring their guns into the District, and she confidently confirmed that D.C.’s well-trained MPD was well-equipped to handle the protesters and coordinate federal support if needed.
“We will not allow people to incite violence, intimidate our residents, or cause destruction in our city,” she warned. And, she stuck to her words.
Yet, thanks to Donald Trump, District residents and the nation were exposed to voices of hatred and hopelessness, spewing from the mouths of protesters who may have unknowingly spewed droplets containing COVID-19 into the air at another one of his superspreader events.
We welcome the day when superspreader events, and their host, are behind us.