U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote to Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) demanding they condemn the “Candle Light Vigil for Democracy” organized by antifa activists and to urge members in their caucuses to cancel their planned support of the event.
Several Democrats, including Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are reportedly speaking at the event tonight which was organized, in part, by Shut Down DC.
Senator Hawley wrote, “The organizers behind this event have a history of engaging in extremist tactics to interfere with workings of democracy. During a week where you have vociferously condemned those who tried to obstruct congressional proceedings last January 6th, you must also be similarly willing to call out leftist activists who have also engaged in criminal acts to interfere with democracy.”
He continued, “When it comes to political violence and criminal obstruction of government by the left, the silence by Democrats has been deafening. Democrats looked the other way when antifa rioters torched a federal courthouse in Portland. They did the same when left-wing rioters in Seattle seized power from a democratically elected government and tried to secede by creating a breakaway anarchist zone. And they did the same when hundreds unlawfully trespassed into the Senate to disrupt the nomination process of Justice Kavanaugh and then tried to breach the Supreme Court in an attempt to prevent Justice Kavanaugh from taking his oath.”
Shut Down DC has engaged in calculated, unlawful harassment campaigns against many government officials. Last year, Shut Down DC showed up at Senator Hawley’s house at night to harass his wife and newborn baby. They screamed threats through bullhorns, vandalized property, trespassed, and physically shoved a neighbor who asked them to stop. The group’s leader was charged with — and pled to — criminal trespass.
“If in fact you truly believe that attempts to interfere with democracy should be condemned, then you must break from your past silence and begin condemning those actions when they are committed by the left. It is imperative that you ask members of your caucus to shun groups like Shut Down DC and to cancel their plans to speak at their event,” Senator Hawley concluded.
Read the full letter here.