Letter to the editor: When casting your vote, don't forget about Jan. 6

There are some who would like to forget Jan. 6, 2021, a day when Americans claiming patriotism violated democracy. Thugs kicked down barriers, climbed up walls, broke windows and fought the Capitol police while Congress was doing the work of certifying the presidential election of 2020.

To minimize the terror of Jan. 6, it has been lied about by some conservative members of Congress as a demonstration of freedom of speech and even called a normal citizen visitation day at the Capitol.

Jan. 6, 2021, violated the constitutional rights of every American. It was criminal. It was an effort to thwart the peaceful transfer of power, negate our right to a free election and take away our vote. Many Americans watched it play out on television with complete astonishment waiting for law enforcement to end the violence demonstrated against public officials and the institutions of law. The former president watched it play out on his television in the White House and did nothing to stop it.

Our democratic republic has always been challenged, but now the challenge comes from within. In November, vote for leaders who will not blur the facts, leaders who will protect our rights, not try to take them away. How can it be imaginable as Americans to vote for a president who tried to over throw the United States government that so many died to defend?

Joyce Abram

Murrysville