
January 2021 | OAH Statement on the Assault on Democracy
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 will live in infamy as a day when democracy in the United States sustained a direct assault from domestic terrorists. The violent insurrection so many of us witnessed through media coverage of the event was directly incited by the President and by certain Senators and Representatives to overturn the Constitutional processes in place for a peaceful transition of power to a new presidential administration. On Friday, the Organization of American Historians signed on to a statement by the American Historical Association condemning the actions of those who stormed the United States Capitol which, as we know now, included the intention to kidnap or kill Vice President Pence, Speaker of the House Pelosi, and other elected legislators and their staff. The insurrection and assault on the Capitol did take the lives of five individuals, including a Capitol policeman defending the building and those inside. Those who were involved in and who incited the insurrection must be held to account for their actions and prosecuted. Read more.