An insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon dominated the national headlines and prompted a forceful rebuke from politicians, law enforcement officials and higher education leaders from coast to coast.
Several hundred Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, as legislators were going through the process of certifying the Electoral College votes ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
“We are deeply horrified and saddened by the assault on the U.S. Capitol, an attack on the very fabric of our democracy,” said Dr. Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education (ACE). “America is better than this.”
Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), denounced the violence.
“We are horrified, saddened, and angered by the events at the U.S. Capitol Building today. It is hard to fathom how this can happen in our country,” said McPherson. “I join many others in calling on President Trump to accept the legitimacy and finality of the November election and to convey that to the American people. It’s imperative that he stop spreading false information that incited today’s violence and has led many others to deny the true election outcome.”
By the end of the day, Mitchell and McPherson had joined a chorus of other leaders who took to social media to express their dismay over the bedlam that activated the National Guard and sent Congressional leaders into hiding.
College freshman Damian Patterson was assigned by his community college professor to watch the televised proceedings of the certification of the 2020 presidential vote but was startled when he saw Trump supporters breaking windows at the U.S. Capitol and violently pushing past police, in an effort to occupy the halls of Congress.
