Here we go again! Yet another Trump fan (Tom Nelson, Sept. 27 letter), invoking the wisdom of esteemed investigative reporter Tucker Carlson, suggested that the Jan. 6 riot (they don’t like the word “insurrection”) was not that big a deal. He used curious math and logic, stating that only 20 of the 50,000 assembled folks, or 0.0004% (it’s actually 0.04%, but let’s not quibble), were charged with sedition. It’s way more relevant that there were some 2,000 rioters who stormed the Capital building, and 1,100 arrests were made so far. That’s 55% of those who entered the building. The others were just tourists “peacefully and respectfully” enjoying some sightseeing, I suppose.
On Jan. 6, 140 officers were injured. No firearms were discharged by the rioters, though several were arrested for possessing loaded weapons in and around the building. To date, about 113 have been charged with assault with deadly weapons, including crutches, pepper spray, bear spray, stun guns, baseball bats, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, batons, hockey sticks, knives, rebar, skateboards and other makeshift weapons (ever been hit in the head with a baseball bat?). The Capitol building was vandalized and looted, resulting in about $1.5 million in damages.
Mr. Nelson reminded us that there were far more mail-in ballots than in previous elections (remember COVID?) and that must have resulted in “nonexistent” control of the tabulation process. But the many lawsuits challenging the election results and several huge ballot recounts demonstrated no evidence of voter fraud that might have changed the final outcome, which gave Biden a 7 million plurality.
Finally, and contrary to Mr. Nelson’s assertions, I don’t hate Donald Trump, and he beat Hillary fair and square (I guess, unless there was widespread voter fraud that nobody knows about — but that only happens when Republicans lose an election). But I don’t respect him because he’s a vulgar, dishonest, narcissistic crook who now faces four indictments and 91 criminal charges. And MAGA folks still want him to be their leader?!
Debra Owen
Woodland
