LETTER: Implying all Republicans back insurrectionists is ‘heinous’

To Ozaukee Press:

In his letter to the editor in the June 10 issue of Ozaukee Press Dennis Gasper, chairman of the Sheboygan County Republican Party, attempted to muddy the water surrounding the violence in Washington, D. C., during the congressional certification of the electoral vote for U.S. president on Jan. 6. He implied that the term “insurrectionist” is being applied to everyone who supported former President Trump at the polls in 2020. This isn’t true.

What is true is that thousands of self-acknowledged supporters of Mr. Trump broke into the Capitol building in an effort to stop the presidential election certification. They were armed, murdered a Capitol Police officer and senators and representatives had to be evacuated from the building, along with the vice president, amid chants of “Hang Mike Pence!”             These people occupied and vandalized the Capitol building for several hours. Since insurrection is defined in the dictionary as “an act or incident of revolting against a civil authority or government” it seems to fit the actions of these individuals who tried to stop the certification of the election victory of Joe Biden.

But if Mr. Gasper finds the FBI’s term of “domestic terrorists” more palatable, that’s fine with us. Either way, the term doesn’t apply to all of Mr. Trump’s supporters, and Mr. Gasper knows it. He’s just trying, like many Republican officials, to divert attention from what actually happened Jan. 6.

The threat from insurrectionists is real. Trying to divert attention from the threat by implying all Republican voters agree with them, as Mr. Gasper does, is heinous. It’s a self-serving attempt to further fan the flames of partisanship at a time when unity is greatly needed.

Elizabeth O’Connell
and Thomas Hudson
Port Washington