From the Loudoun County Democratic Committee:
Two years on and the mere mention of “January 6th” is still enough to stir the vast majority of Americans to the same sense of outrage as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Assassination of JFK and the 9/11 terrorist assaults: each one a day that shall live in infamy.
Thousands of armed insurrectionists staged an assault upon our democracy unseen since the Civil War, wounding hundreds of law enforcement officers in an attempt to stop the peaceful transition of Presidential power that is at the core of our American democracy.
As has been outlined in brilliant detail by the January 6th Committee, those who stormed the Capital were whipped into a frenzy through weeks and months of countless Republican elected officials attending “Stop the Steal” rallies touting the “Big Lie” that the presidential election had been stolen.
On November 8, 2020, one of the nation’s earliest “Stop the Steal” rallies took place in Loudoun County, in Purcellville, with Del. Dave LaRock, a far right-wing, Republican extremist, being joined at the podium by Elmer “Stewart” Rhodes, head of the anti-government Oath Keepers militia. Rhodes has been convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in organizing the January 6 insurrection. While LaRock attended Trump’s January 6th warmup rally, he apparently lacked the courage of his convictions and didn’t march into the Capitol.
Another headliner at the Nov. 8th rally: Geary Higgins, currently a Republican candidate for Virginia’s 31st State Senate District.
One week later, Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman, a Republican, joined the second Stop the Steal rally in Purcellville.
Multiple prominent Loudoun County Republicans were at the forefront of promoting the “Big Lie” and advocating extreme efforts to stop the peaceful transfer of power. Many of these Republicans will be on the ballot in 2023, running for state and county offices. As the campaigns take shape, we will keep track and let you know who among them played a role when our democracy was in peril in 2020 -2021.
We Democrats must not forget January 6th. We must embrace our sense of revulsion at those who sought to destroy our precious and delicate constitutional democracy. And we must honor all of those – law enforcement officers, members of Congress and all the public servants who risked their life that day to defend our democracy – who are devoted to doing the right things.
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