14 | JANUARY 14 • 2021 

O

n Wednesday, Jan. 6, 
as Congress prepared 
to ratify the Electoral 
College vote confirming 
President-elect Joe Biden’s win, 
mobs of Trump supporters 
clashed with police and broke 
into the U.S. Capitol building. 
Five people have died as a result 
of the attempted insurrection. 
Michigan members of Congress 
were among the many politi-
cians sheltering in place. 
The riots began after 
President Trump hosted a rally 
where he repeated the false 
claims that the election was 
rigged and urged his supporters 
to march to the Capitol. Vice 
President Mike Pence, presid-
ing over the Senate, had also 
refused Trump’s requests to 
throw out the election results, 
though Pence was not constitu-
tionally allowed to do Trump’s 
bidding. 
In a tweet sent during the 
siege, Democratic Rep. Elissa 

Slotkin said she remained safe 
in her office with Rep. Andy 
Levin (D), whose office build-
ing was evacuated. 
“I have seen firsthand today 
the bravery of the Capitol 
Police, and I’m thankful for 
their professionalism and 
dedication,
” Slotkin tweeted. 
“Violence has absolutely no 
place in our politics. I implore 
protesters to remain peace-
ful in exercising their First 
Amendment rights, and I urge 
my colleagues to recognize 
where their actions have led us.
”
Two days later, the Anti-
Defamation League called for 
President Trump’s removal 
from office, either through 
impeachment, invoking the 
25th amendment or his own 
resignation. This is the first 
time in the ADL
’s 107-year his-
tory when they’ve called for the 
President of the United States to 
be removed from office.
Wednesday “will forever be 

remembered as one of the dark-
est days of American democra-
cy and it makes unambiguously 
clear: President Trump is unfit 
for office and needs to be 
removed,
” ADL CEO Jonathan 
Greenblatt said in a statement.
“
ADL is principled. We 
feel like we stay in our lane. 
But extremists are extremists; 
they’re not protesters, and this 
was an assault,
” ADL Michigan 
Regional Director Carolyn 
Normandin told the JN. “We 
felt as if our values obligated us 
to take a stand. These actions 
on Wednesday were a threat to 
democracy, and extraordinary 
actions call for extraordinary 
response.
”
The ADL joined many 
national groups and lawmak-
ers also calling for Trump’s 
removal, including Michigan 
U.S. Reps. Slotkin, Levin, Haley 
Stevens, Brenda Lawrence, 
Debbie Dingell, Rashida Tlaib 
and Dan Kildee, and Sen. 

Gary Peters, all Democrats. A 
House vote on impeachment 
was expected to take place this 
week.
In addition, newly sworn-
in Michigan GOP Rep. Peter 
Meijer, from Grand Rapids, 
penned a Detroit News op-ed 
calling on his party to “be 
honest with itself,
” acknowl-
edge the election results and 
stop encouraging or justifying 
extremist behavior.
Education Secretary Betsy 
DeVos, also from Grand 
Rapids, has resigned her 
Cabinet post.
The Michigan Democratic 
Jewish Caucus (MDJC) has also 
called for President Trump’s 
removal.
“Following (Wednesday’s) 
events, the President’s threat 
to the constitutional order has 
become imminent, and it is 
clear the country can no longer 
afford to wait until January 20th 
for a new commander-in-chief,
” 
MDJC’s statement said. 
Some of the most immediate 
action has come from social 
media. Twitter has permanent-
ly banned Trump from the 
service, while Facebook has 
banned him for the remainder 
of his term in office. 
Many other tech companies 
have taken steps to deplatform 
Trump. Apple and Amazon 
have also discontinued service 
to the social media site Parler, 
which has become a haven for 
Trump supporters and far-right 
activity, including antisemi-
tism.
ADL, along with the Stop 
Hate for Profit coalition, has 
been pushing the hashtag 
#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy.
Three Michigan GOP Reps. 
— Jack Bergman, Tim Walberg 
and Lisa McClain — were part 
of the 138 House Republicans 
who voted to deny certification 
of the Electoral College results 
in at least one state when the 
House reconvened after the 
riots.

Some insurrectionists had neo-Nazi ties; 
ADL, others call for Trump’s removal.

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER ANDREW LAPIN EDITOR

U.S. Capitol Stormed
in Disturbing Scene

Riot police push back a crowd of sup-

porters of U.S. President Donald Trump 

after they stormed the Capitol building 

in Washington, DC on Jan. 6. 

ROBERTO SCHMIDT AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES VIA JTA

IN 
THED
JEWS
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