Wednesday was a day many in Washington, D.C. will never forget when a protest at the U.S. Capitol turned to chaos, leaving four people dead.
“Never in my lifetime did I think I would see this sort of lawlessness, storming the steps of the Capitol building, somebody sitting in the speaker's chair,” said Democratic Party of McLennan County Chair Mary Duty.
Some protesters were peaceful, but then rioters carrying pro-Trump flags broke into the Capitol building, shattering windows and doors, vandalizing what they could while lawmakers rushed to safety.
“This is not what Republicans stands for,” said Republican Party of McLennan County Chair Brad Holland. “This is not what the GOP stands for. It is not patriotism in any way to disrupt the normal process of government.”
Local McLennan County party leaders condemned what they saw Wednesday. Holland says Republican lawmakers planned to object the certification of Electoral College votes, but the actions of the protesters took it way too far.
“It’s important to object to some of those processes. I’m glad they [Republican lawmakers] did that. I think that’s important. That’s our last Democratic constitutionally way to object. That was right to do, but not to overturn the election. I believe it was just a point out some irregularities,” said Holland.
Duty says what happened Wednesday is why both sides should come together.
“We need to hold ourselves accountable in our own community for how we handle government,” said Duty.
“We’re gonna have to find some center ground and how we actually hold our country together. We cannot let the extremes test us in this way,” said Holland.
