A response to the actions today at the Capitol in DC on Jan 6th
Written by Co-Founder, Neil Mammen
By Neil Mammen
“It is also important to note that while there is no way to justify violence in any of the actions today, this does not mean that there is no place for insurrection or revolution.”
Is Violence always wrong?: A response to the actions today at the Capitol in DC on Jan 6th.
Members of the Bonus Army (WWI Veterans who were not paid for their service) camped out on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol building in 1932
As a frequent condemner of BLM and Antifa Violence, and as a frequent castigator of my liberal friends who did not condemn Antifa violence, and as a condemner of those mayors who did not deploy the troops to stop violence in Portland and San Jose or convict those agitators when they were caught; let me now speak about what we saw in DC today, Jan 6th, 2021.
I have always maintained the right of all people including BLM and Antifa to peacefully assemble, to peacefully protest, and to even peaceably protest with acts of Civil Disobedience. This is a tried and true and blessed tactic, it has been practiced by Indians led by Gandhi, Americans led by MLK, and Christians led by the early church fathers, but it must be done without any destruction of property or any violence towards people or property and without the violation of any moral laws.
In addition, those who engage in civil disobedience must be passive in their being arrested and seek to overwhelm those in authority by their masses, not by violence. So in as far as people were exercising Civil Disobedience without violence that is a permitted action.
However, we clearly condemn any act of violence that hurt individuals or destroyed property today.
Is Violence always wrong? It is also important to note that while there is no way to justify violence in any of the actions today, this does not mean that there is no place for insurrection or revolution. The fight by our founding fathers for Independence comes to mind. So the time may come when all normal channels for recourse have been thwarted or corrupted and a revolution is needed, but it must be preceded with a meeting of minds amongst the natural leaders of the people, a declaration of grievances, a declaration of independence followed by a gathering of the patriots in unity, an agreed-upon course of action, and finally if the reasonable demands are not met, then as a last recourse only, a declaration of war specifically for independence should be made- with non-combatants and non-politicians protected at all times.
But this is not that day and that time is not upon us yet.
Some discussion of the details of the events. As an interesting note and in line with the above, here are some of the salient facts and discussion regarding today’s events.
The Capitol has been stormed numerous times before. In 1932 by WWI Army Veterans. Code Pink has stormed the Capitol on a regular basis (though in smaller numbers). So, this is not new.
Most of the people at the Capitol were there peacefully and were praying and singing hymns and most dispersed peacefully. This is far different than BLM and Antifa this last summer.
Barriers were removed and the protestors bypassed the normal barriers and approached the building steps. This in itself can be considered an act of Civil Disobedience. However, if they were to then hit or attack any Capitol Police that would be considered a violent act. So, we would judge those acts as unacceptable. The right way to do this would be to walk up to the police state your intent to trespass and offer yourself up for arrest and then the next group offers themselves for arrest until the sheer mass of people forces the police to abandon the arresting. All the while the police can be assured verbally that they will not be harmed and that no one will be violent. At all times they would need to be compliant when being arrested and not resist arrest but continuing to attempt to enter the secure area. This was done by Gandhi as they executed a non-violent raid of the Dharasana Salt Works. Hundreds of non-violent Indians were beaten by British forces and British commandeered Indians until the presses of the world question the legitimacy of the British Rule in India. That was the day the tide turned. We’ve seen similar events with MLK marching in cities where he was prohibited from Marching. However, all these reactions and plans must be decided well in advance of the events.
A number of individuals in DC went further and entered the Capitol Building. As of this moment (from what I’ve seen and this is subject to change as I receive more information), it seems that most individuals who entered the Capitol building after the area was abandoned by the Capitol Police did so without violence, (noting that perhaps the initial handful did so by destroying things vs merely crossing barriers).
While I have to spend some time to confirm it, I have seen what claims to be previous photos of some individuals engaging in Antifa and BLM violence. Again time will tell if this is correct. If so, they are paid agitators but, in any case, violence is not acceptable and we condemn it whether done by their side or our side.
There may have been good individuals who were mistakenly influenced to storm the Capitol with violence due to the actions of others and their heightened frustration with the passivity of the courts. We hope they recovered their good sense and retreated. Again, while it is acceptable to stage a civil disobedience rally as we noted, destruction of property or violence to individuals is not acceptable.
Pallets of Bricks seem to have shown up in DC. I can assure you that none of our groups approve of that. We condemn whoever did that. I believe that very few if any of the Patriots would have used them.
Michelle Bachman noted that there are rumors that someone on the inside removed the barriers and let folks get in. Time will tell if this is true, however a tweet by Adrain Morrow seems to confirm this. He talked to Jake Angeli the guy with the Horns on his head who features prominently in many pictures of those inside the building (who is not typical of most of Trump supporters as he’s some sort of Shaman practitioner who works with Climate Change Activists.).
I spoke with Jake Angeli, the QAnon guy who got inside the Senate chamber. He said police eventually gave up trying to stop him and other Trump supporters, and let them in. After a while, he said police politely asked him to leave and let him go without arrest.
The folks who entered the Capitol from the videos I’ve seen did not seem to be destroying anything but looked rather like tourists who had no idea what to do next. This indicates that they had no real goal or plan.
Finally, as I hinted earlier one should also compare the fires that we saw as DC Burned last May as Antifa and BLM brought anarchy to the streets and compare it to the Millions who were there today.
All the above seem to indicate that as of this moment from what I’ve seen and read, the good Patriots of America who were in the Capitol today did not participate in violence and those few individuals who may have been influenced by others should repent of their acts and step away. And if they have destroyed any property, they must make a full recompense.
Protesters throw a US flag into a fire during a demonstration outside the White House. Photograph: Samuel Corum/AFP/Getty Images
It is important to note, if you did not condemn Antifa and BLM when they were burning down cities and occupying CHAZ then your comments condemning any of today’s actions, be they violent or peaceful are hypocritical and only reveal your own fatuous views. This includes Joe Biden and almost all the Democrats.
Neil Mammen Executive VP, Every Black Life Matters
OTHER LINKS
Washington DC in flames by Antifa and BLM May 31st, 2020 Compare this to the Crowds today.
Thank you so much for this enlightening statement on what did or may have gone on in the Capital!!
As you say it is too bad to criticize these and not others and in fact seem to encourage others.
Jesus’ politicians, his senators, his representatives and lawmakers, the Pharisees and Sadducees, passed a law saying it was illegal to heal on the Sabbath. And Jesus said, I will still heal on the Sabbath. And He did.
For the last 2000 years the Church has been driving force behind the changing 1000’s of laws. Laws that no non believer had even thought to change. We banned child prostitution, widow burning, stopped the superstitious killing of twins and temple prostitution, we banned gladiatorial combat, slavery and the abandonment of children and elders – the Church has long stepped in to be the conscience of government.
2 Replies
George Savages
January 7, 2021Thank you so much for this enlightening statement on what did or may have gone on in the Capital!!
As you say it is too bad to criticize these and not others and in fact seem to encourage others.
Falecia
January 7, 2021Good Patriots of America? I wish your views were more on right and wrong instead of their side our side.