At Rainforest Action Network, we firmly believe that protests and peaceful civil disobedience are some of the great levers of positive social change in this country. Yesterday was not a protest: it was a violent insurrection. It was an attempted coup and domestic terrorism. What we witnessed on January 6 was white supremacists, openly incited by the president, attacking the foundations of our democracy.
We are calling for the extraordinary yet completely justified immediate removal of Donald Trump from the office of the presidency via impeachment and the invocation of the 25th Amendment. Due to his proven inability to discharge the duties of his office, the threat he poses to our fundamental rights, and the very real and fatal harm he continues to inflict upon this country and planet, it is critically important that Trump not only be held accountable for his actions but also that he be legally prevented from ever holding office again. The outgoing president very clearly and directly inspired his supporters to violence in an attempt to retain power.
The lies of Donald Trump have been as constant as they have been well-documented. These lies have been the foundation of his administration and have inflicted real harm on all our lives over the past four years. They have resulted in distrust in science, distrust in the media, distrust in our elections, and distrust in demonstrable truths. And they have resulted in chaos, in corruption, and in death.
For months, he has been laying the groundwork for a sustained assault on the truth in anticipation of losing the presidential election. On January 6, he lied again and again, inciting a riot of his white supremacist supporters and sending continued messages of support to them throughout the day.
The selectively passive law enforcement response to the organized and well publicized assault on the joint houses of Congress during the peaceful transfer of power stands in stark and shameful contrast to the tear gas, rubber bullets, baton-swinging violent police responses to Black Lives Matter protestors, Indigenous water defenders, disability rights activists or those conducting a peaceful sit-in protesting family separations at the border.
We will continue to defend our right to protest and call to invest in communities instead of more police. We will continue to fight for people and planet. We will continue to join together with committed activists and frontline communities across the globe against systemic injustice.