ARREST THEM ALL!

Photo Source: Houston Chronicle

By Carole Copeland Thomas

The presidential election results had resulted in explosive consequences for the entire country. I was frantic for an endless amount of time. The minutes turned into hours, and the waiting period produced anxiety and a constant stream of prayer. News reports were sketchy at first, and then the images seared on my brain. The presidential election results angered some citizens who revolted and escalated their violence. And with each passing news report, I became more anxious. When would it end? How many would be injured? How many would be killed?

Finally, I heard from him after much anxiety. He was fine. His mother was safe. One of his sisters had been moved out of the country for safety. 

During this awful time, the young man I was concerned about was my adopted Kenyan son, Naftal Mwangi Kiambo of Mombasa, Kenya. Sandra Jackson Jenkins and I had “adopted” him and paid for his high school fees following our 2005 trip to Kenya with eight other black women. Kenya’s contentious presidential elections of 2007 resulted in a rash of violent attacks on opposing political sides that killed over 1300 people. And even though Naftal and his family were unharmed, many people bore the brunt of the angry mobs who took their rage out on the innocent.  

That incident is what I thought about when I called my niece on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 and told her to turn on her television set to the news channel and stay inside her home in Washington DC. She didn’t know what I was talking about because she was working at home and didn’t realize the angry mob was ascending the steps of the US Capitol. 

A LinkedIn colleague of mine told me that her Washington, DC niece had to be evacuated from her home because of a bomb threat. I then posted on my social media pages that my friends and colleagues needed to check with relatives and friends in Washington, DC, urging them to stay home and not to venture near the US Capitol. 

The attempted American coup had begun. In the most evil manner, sedition was activated when Donald J. Trump instructed THOUSANDS of white supremacists, Proud Boys, anti-government thugs, and the rest of the hardcore Trump supporters to march on the Capitol in defiance of the presidential election results.  

This was NO different from 2007 Kenya. Just different circumstances, different candidates, and a lower death count. Five people dead this week, including one Capitol police officer hit over the head by one of the anarchists with either a fire extinguisher or a lead pipe. One Trump supporter with a military background can be seen on the window panes of  the congressional chamber trying to break in. Police shot and killed her. 

I have watched the replays of this destruction and carnage for the past two days in anger and horror. I guess trying to kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer last October wasn’t big enough. The same thugs decided to bring their Trump-inspired hatred to Washington, denounce the election results, and threaten to kill Vice President Pence, who refused to go along with their lies. 

And it was all Trump-inspired. I watched his speech on Wednesday morning. It was filled with lies and filled with hate. And Trump’s message included instructions to march to the Capitol to show their strength, not their weakness. 

To all of this in the aftermath of the invasion of the Capitol building while Congress was in session certifying the Electoral College votes… I say,

ARREST THEM ALL!! 

No hesitation. No debate. No dismissal. No diminishing their crimes.  

ARREST everyone who breached security, broke the windows, climbed the walls, and stormed into the Nation’s Capitol Building. And ARREST Donald J. Trump for inciting violence and criminal behavior.  

I realize that Trump is within days of ending his presidency. However, his actions, encouragement, and pack of lies about who won the election confirm his lunacy. I also understand that the House of Representatives will bring up a new Impeachment charge on Monday, and the 25th Amendment is also being explored.

We will know the outcome of those actions by January 20th when civility returns to the Executive Branch of government during the Inauguration.  

For now, I just want all of the anarchists ARRESTED and TRIED for their CRIMES.

It will take ten more commentaries to express my outrage about the lack of security during Wednesday’s invasion versus the over intensity of security at Washington’s Lafayette Square last June when rubber bullets, tear gas and night sticks thrashed about Black Lives Matter PEACEFUL protestors. The double standards are now evident and irrefutable. When you’re black, brown, or George Floyd, you’re automatically pounced on by multiple police officers. 

When you're a Proud Boy, you’re SUPPORTED by rogue Congresspersons and escorted into the Capitol Building by Trump-supporting police.

Had that been Black Lives Matter supporters storming the Capitol Building, the dead bodies would have been stacked up by the dozens!!!!

ALL IN AMERICA!!  

Wednesday’s historical invasion of the US Capitol had not happened since August 1814 when the British stormed and set fire to the building.  The ease that the anarchists had in entering the Capitol on Wednesday suggests that SOME of the police MAY have been complicit or sympathizers of Trump’s wild lies about a stolen election. The Capitol police leadership has already resigned. More heads will roll in the days ahead. Congressional officials like Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Josh Hawley never flinched in supporting Trump’s lies, even after the invasion and after the Electoral College count resumed. They do NOT represent the integrity of the American people. They should be defeated in their next elections. 

This has EVERYTHING to do with diversity, equity, inclusion, and multiculturalism. That’s why I am using strong language and NOT mincing words. Donald Trump impacted my business last Fall when he issued the Executive Ban preventing Diversity Training for federal agencies and federal contractors. I was bitterly upset about that ban and openly denounced it.  

I am denouncing Donald J. Trump once again for being the primary orchestrator of the January 6th Capitol invasion. Arrests must be made, and investigations must continue.

Kenya healed from their nightmare post-election days of 2007-2008. We must do so also as we face the double standards of a fractured America. 

May God protect the United States during these last few days of the Trump Administration. And may we be healed and restored under the Biden-Harris Presidency.