Whatcom’s House delegation tweets from a Capitol under siege, call for Trump’s removal
Both U.S. House members who represent Whatcom County called for President Trump to be removed from office under provisions of the 25th Amendment, which allows for the president to be removed by the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet.
U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene were unharmed in the violence that erupted Wednesday, Jan. 6, as a mob of Trump supporters, some of them carrying racist banners, laid siege to the U.S. Capitol and were removed by force.
One person was killed and three other people died of medical emergencies during the riot, according to media reports.
“Yesterday was one of the darkest days in American history,” DelBene said in a statement Thursday, Jan. 7. “The President of the United States encouraged a violent mob to attack members of Congress to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He failed to repudiate the violence he started and refused to activate security forces to protect the U.S. Capitol. Consequently, he violated his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
DelBene, a Kirkland Democrat, represents Washington state’s 1st Congressional District covering parts of Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish and King counties.
Whatcom County’s other House member, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, also called on Vice President Mike Pence to sanction Trump.
“Now calling for VP to invoke 25th Amendment. Trump has lost it,” the Everett Democrat tweeted Wednesday night.
Larsen represents Washington’s 2nd Congressional District, covering part of Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties and all of Island and San Juan counties.
DelBene and Larsen were unharmed and “sheltering in place” at their offices from the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol, according to their social media and phone conversations with The Bellingham Herald on Wednesday.
“The congresswoman has been secured,” said Nick Martin, a DelBene aide.
“It’s really pretty scary, from the personal threats,” he told The Herald.
Martin was working from home because of COVID-19 restrictions, but he said he had spoken to the representative and she was in her office at the Rayburn House Office Building across Independence Avenue when rioters stormed the Capitol.
“Everyone’s really on edge,” Martin said. “It’s sad that we got to this point.”
DelBene also used Twitter to accuse President Trump of inciting the violence.
“(Trump) needs to call them off,” DelBene tweeted Wednesday.
Larsen also has offices in the Rayburn Building, which was not under attack from the mob.
He “was never in any danger. He’s safe. We are safe,” said his aide Joseph Tutino.
“Thank you to the Capitol Police for helping to safeguard democracy today,” Larsen tweeted. “I am sorry that people are treating you with such disrespect.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 2:34 PM.
