Rev. Dr. J. Hebert Nelson signs an open letter calling on U.S. officials to remove the President.

 

National Council of Churches letter says president’s actions and words incited a ‘seditious mob attack’ on the U.S. Capitol

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II is one of two dozen faith leaders to sign a National Council of Churches open letter dated Friday calling on U.S. officials to remove President Donald J. Trump from office.

Nelson is the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The letter is addressed to Vice President Mike Pence, Members of Congress and the remaining members of the president’s cabinet. It follows Wednesday’s events at the U.S. Capitol, in which a mob stormed the building, postponing the ceremonial counting of electoral votes that later certified the election of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president.

To date five people have died following the attack.

“President Donald J. Trump’s actions and words have endangered the security of the country and its institutions of government by inciting a violent, deadly, seditious mob attack at the U.S. Capitol,” the letter states. “His words and actions have placed the lives of people he is supposed to serve in grave danger to advance his own interests.”

“Further, he not only failed to stop or condemn the attack after the Capitol had been stormed,” the letter states, “but instead encouraged the mob by calling them patriots.”

The “domestic terrorist attack” resulted in at least five deaths, the letter notes, including a Capitol Police officer. More than a dozen police officers were injured. “The desecration of the Capitol building was also disgraceful and reprehensible,” the letter states.

“For the good of the nation, so that we might end the current horror and prepare the way for binding up the nation’s wounds,” the letter goes on, “we, as leaders of the member communions of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, believe the time has come for the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, to resign his position immediately. If he is unwilling to resign, we urge you to exercise the options provided by our democratic system.”

In addition to impeaching the president for a second time, one such option is the 25thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution, which in Section 4 spells out the method by which the vice president and cabinet members inform leaders of both houses of Congress that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office. At that time, the vice president becomes the acting president.

“In addition,” the letter states, “we recognize the need to hold responsible not only those who invaded the Capitol, but also those who supported and/or promoted the President’s false claims about the election or made their own false accusations.”

“We grieve for our country at this difficult time,” the letter concludes, “and continue to pray for the safety and security, and ultimately the healing of our nation. Holding those who have abused their power and participated in these immoral and tragic actions accountable, in particular the President of the United States, is one step toward healing.”

Read the full text of the letter here.

Link to original article at PMA

Why Donald Trump needs to be removed from office

On January 6, 2021 we witnessed an unprecedented attack on our nations capitol.  Unlike any other political demonstrations in our history, a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol Building in Washington DC, attempting to prevent a joint session of Congress from counting the electoral votes and formalizing the victory of then President Elect, Joe Biden. The mob attacked while congress was in the process of certifying a fair and free election in which Joe Biden won. It happened in the context of Donald Trump's continued lie, that the election had been stolen.  The election has not been stolen.  

That is why this issue is about more than just an unequivocal condemnation of the mob that sacked the capitol, it is more than just about prosecuting those involved.  It is about identifying that this was an act of sedition. Before the election had taken place, Trump was already laying the ground work for what he truly intended, saying that the election would be a fraud if he didn't win.  His actions and words surrounding the so called fraud and stolen election demonstrates that Trump attempted to overthrow a democratic election and all those that continue to support the lie of a stolen election will keep stoking the flames of insurrection, sedition and criminality. The reason trump needs to be impeached and banned from ever holding office again is because he has acted seditiously. 

Donald Trump had every right to contest the election and he did use every opportunity to do that.  So after every legal avenue had been exhausted, and after his own administration and state election officials confirmed that there was no election fraud at the level to overturn the results, Trump should have conceded and continued the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power.  His actions and inactions on January 6 are inexcusable.  

From Charlottesville, to the threat to kidnap the Michigan governor, to the sacking of the capitol we have seen a continued escalation by white supremacists.  Over thirty members of anti-government and white supremacist groups like Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Presenters were involved in the riot.  When the President re-tweets messages like “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat”, and then we see the kind of thing that happened at the capitol, we can reasonably conclude that Trump is intentionally stoking a violent and seditious response to keep himself in power.  The threat of further violence of this magnitude in the future is real.  Chris Kreb former director of Cyber security has warned:  

“There is going to be violence in the run-up to the inauguration. This is not over. There will be more...The president has to declare that this was a free and fair election. He lost. He still has time to do what’s right. It has to happen. There will be more bloodshed.” (Chris Kreb former director of cyber security)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former actor and Republican governor of California, noted this weekend that in Austria, he was aware of Kristallnacht, or the “Night of the Broken Glass”, when the Nazi's, the equivalent of the Proud Boys, rioted against the Jews in 1939, “Wednesday was the day of broken glass right here in the United States...but the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol. They shattered the ideas we took for granted.”   This is why Trump must be banned from forever holding office in any capacity, this is why Trumpism has to be condemned, and this is why leaders need to speak out.

This is not a partisan post, all members of law abiding parties be it on the right or left, Republicans or Democrats, should recognize the lawlessness of January 6 and Trump's involvement and responsibility for both the continued support of the lie that he won the election and his attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and hold on to power and should condemn his actions and those of his followers. 

(Quote from former Gov. Schwarzenegger from article by CNN Dakin Andone, video widely available on numerous news outlets)

(Numerous news outlets have reported the video Trump re-tweeted, while the speaker claims that he is not speaking literally, the events at the capitol demonstrate that many people may indeed have taken these comments literally)