Capitol coup: Kansas officials share the blame for Wednesday’s violence | Editorial

What happened in the U.S. Capitol Wednesday was not a protest, and the people storming its halls were not patriots.

What happened was a calculated, premeditated, violent assault on democracy and our country’s commitment to the peaceful transfer of power.

And Kansas elected officials share the blame.

By supporting a plan to protest President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory and refusing to acknowledge the integrity of our elections, four Kansas congressmen stoked the flames of hatred and chaos.

Their names: Senator Roger Marshall, U.S. Rep. Ron Estes, U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann and U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner.

Remember them, Kansas voters.

Hold them accountable.

Demand that they stop their dangerous allegiance to President Trump and those among his supporters who are seditious.

Even in the midst of Wednesday’s violence, Trump repeated his baseless and unproven notion that November’s election was somehow stolen from him.

After the vice president was rushed out of the Senate amid gunfire and the complex put on lockdown, Trump told the rioters, “We love you. You’re very special.”

Marshall and Estes, meanwhile, tweeted half-hearted condemnations and refused to acknowledge their role in the madness.

“In America we can disagree without being disagreeable,” Estes tweeted. “Protesting a cause is appropriate, but violence of any kind is unacceptable.”

Disagreeable? Is that how you describe a domestic terrorist who smiles and waves as he steals property and gleefully carries it around the Capitol building?

In his statement Wednesday, Marshall said, “What happened at the U.S. Capitol today is unreasonable and unacceptable and I condemn it at the highest level. America needs to know we will not be deterred by violence.”

Marshall noted that “the freedom of speech and the freedom to protest are provided in our Constitution.”

He failed to mention that the Constitution also spells out the process by which presidents are elected — in free elections certified by the states through the Electoral College.

How can Kansas’ newest senator claim to support the Constitution while trying to overturn the election and throw out the votes of millions of Americans?

How can Marshall, Estes, Mann and LaTurner claim to support “law and order” while encouraging and emboldening the throngs of Trump supporters who descended on the Capitol?

Sen. Jerry Moran, the only Kansas Republican to oppose the effort to contest Biden’s victory, should be commended for doing the right thing — namely, his job — and putting the country’s welfare above political interests.

So should Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who accurately called Wednesday’s chaos an “insurrection” and laid the blame on President Trump.

On this dark day in America, we must remember that words matter. Actions matter. Votes matter.

Kansas’ elected officials — all of them — must admonish Wednesday’s violence, condemn the effort to overturn the election and acknowledge Biden as the next president.

Our very democracy depends on it.

This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 5:00 PM.