New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Associated Press / Seth Wenig
By Nelson A. King
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said
Wednesday night that, at the request
of United States National Guard officials,
he was deploying 1,000 members
of the New York National Guard
to Washington, D.C. for up to two
weeks to aid and facilitate the peaceful
transition of presidential power.
“This deployment will
not impact our state’s ongoing efforts
to contain and combat the COVID
virus,” said Cuomo in a statement.
“For 244 years, the cornerstone of
our democracy has been the peaceful
transfer of power, and New York
stands ready to help ensure the will
of the American people is carried
out, safely and decisively.
“God bless our brave men and
women in uniform, and God bless the
United States of America,” he added,
stating that “the cornerstone of our
democracy is the peaceful transfer
of power.
“We must call this what it actually
is: a failed attempt at a coup,” continued
Cuomo, referred to the violent
attack on the Capitol Building on
Wednesday. “This is the final chapter
of an incompetent, cruel and divisive
administration that has trampled on
the Constitution and the rule of law
at every turn, and we won’t let President
Trump, the members of Congress
who enable him, or the lawless
mob that stormed our nation’s Capitol
steal our democracy.
“The election results are clear, and
the will of the American people will
be carried out,” Cuomo affirmed.
Caribbean Life, JANUARY 8-14, 2021 3
Pro-Trump protesters clash with police as they rally to contest the certifi cation of the 2020 U.S. presidential election
results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., U.S. Jan. 6, 2021. REUTERS/Ahmed
Gaber
Clarke condemns violence on
US Capitol Building
By Nelson A. King
Caribbean American Democratic
Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke
Wednesday night strongly condemned
violence that erupted during an attack
on the Capital Building in Washington,
D.C. by pro-President Donald J. Trump
supporters.
As the United States Congress convened
to certify the results of the
November 2020 Presidential Elections
on Wednesday, white supremacists,
Proud Boys and MAGA pro-Trump rioters
mobbed the Capitol, forcing an
emergency recess in the proceedings.
The disruption came soon after some
Republican legislators made the first
of a planned series of highly unusual
objections, based on what has been
described as spurious allegations of
widespread voter fraud, to states’ election
results.
“Today, the Capitol was attached by
an insurgent group of domestic terrorists.
As a member of the House Committee
on Homeland Security, I am
concerned for the safety of not only my
fellow elected officials but also for the
safety of our democracy,” Clarke, the
daughter of Jamaican immigrants told
Caribbean Life exclusively.
“We are in the throes of a coup,
because President Trump refuses to
accept the will of the American people,”
added Clarke, representative for the
predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional
District in Brooklyn, disclosing
that she and her staff were “sheltering
in place.”
“President Trump encouraged this
day of abhorrent behavior, choosing to
issue dog whistles instead of the deliberate
condemnation that would’ve been
second nature to any of his predecessors,”
Clarke continued. “This trend of
negligence is his responsibility to protect
the American people is intolerable.
He must resign immediately. Democracy
will prevail.”
Both within the Capitol Building
and on the streets of Washington, D.C.
violent mobs roamed freely, terrorizing
members of the US Congress, staffers
and reporters.
The unrest came after Trump’s
repeated and baseless insistence that
Joseph R. Biden’s election was fraudulent.
A dozen Republican senators and
over a hundred Republican members
of the House of Representatives aided
Trump’s campaign in sowing doubt
about the US electoral process.
During the insurgency, New York
Attorney General Letitia James, a very
vocal critic of Trump, who hopes to
indict the president for corruption after
he leaves office, told Caribbean Life that
“the coup attempt initiated by outgoing
President Trump has been despicable.
“Today, it became violent,” she said.
“If blood is shed, it will be on his hands.
These actions, fueled by lies and wild
conspiracy theories espoused by President
Trump, must be unequivocally
condemned by every corner of our society.”
In response to the violent insurrection
in Washington, Murad Awawdeh
and Rovika Rajkishun, interim co-executive
directors of the New York Immigration
Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella
advocacy group representing hundreds
of Caribbean and other immigration
organizations, said, “what we are all
witnessing in is the predictable culmination
of years of a Republican war on
the basic democratic foundations of our
country.
“Again, and again, the GOP (Grand
Old Party) has twisted our Constitution
for partisan gain, winked at white
supremacists to win votes, and created
every burden imaginable to the ballot
box,” they said. “Now, as mobs swarm
Congress in a futile attempt to overturn
the majority of American voters’
will, the Republican Party must take
responsibility.
“But our democracy and the power of
our vote can’t be stopped by a tantrum
of a minority of extremists egged on by
Republican politicians, who are desperately
clinging to power no matter the
cost to our democracy,” Awawdeh and
Rajkishun added.
“In 14 days, President-elect Joe Biden
will be sworn in and become our president,
and we can begin rebuilding our
economy and our health,” they continued.
“The path won’t be easy, but we
won’t be cowed by bullies.”
Shortly after 3:00 am on Thursday,
after the US Congress voted to certify
Joe Biden as the next president of the
United States, Democratic Congressman
Hakeem Jeffries, whose 8th Congressional
District in New York comprises
a significant number of Caribbean
immigrants, told Caribbean Life
that “yesterday, our democracy experienced
a day of unprecedented insurrection,
sedition and treason.”
Cuomo
deploys
National
Guards to
D.C.