When I started blogging the electoral college last week, I was mainly wanting to record comments of the historical event because of the controversy surrounding the vote. I never dreamed a riot would occur and our capitol would become under attack. Four people died that day.
Benjamin Phillips, 50, from PA had a stroke. His family members have not received any confirmation from anyone about where he was when he died or any contributing factors. He often went to Trump rallies and sold stuffed Trump kangaroos.
Ashli Babbitt, 35, from CA died of a gun shot wound received that she received from Capitol Police while jumping through the window of a door into the house chambers that protestors had just busted out. An Air force veteran, she had multiple videos on social media sites full of rants about Trump and immigrants.
Roseanne Boyland, 34, from GA. According to friends and family with her, she was trampled to death during the clash between protestors and police inside the Capitol. A former drug addict, she was hoping to become a social worker.
Brian Sicknick, 42. A former member of the Air National Guard who served our country overseas after 9/11, he joined the Capitol Police in 2008. According to fellow officers, he was beaten in the head with a fire extinguishers by protestors. After arriving back at the station he collapsed, and later died in the hospital.
Kevin Greeson, 55, of Alabama was outside the Capitol when he died. He was on the phone with his wife when he suffered a heart attack. This photo is from an Alabama newspaper, which they found on his Parler account. He posted it in December with a post about everyone bringing their guns to the Capitol and declaring war. His wife claims he was non-violent and would never have advocated what happened, but his social media posts say otherwise.
Many media are trying to link the death of another officer to the riots, but he was off duty on that day, and died by suicide.
Today the House has impeached the President. There's a lot of division on whether or not that was the proper thing to do with him only having one week left in office. Debate on the House floor was very heated, very contentious, at times ugly, and heart-breaking to hear.
Personally, I'm not sure if impeachment or criminal charges is the answer. I do think the President is held accountable to the law, even more than the average citizen. I don't think he should get a pass on this because his term is almost over.
But I do see extreme hypocrisy in the House members who brought the charges. Their contempt and rhetoric and behavior of the last four years have equaled that of the President's. The only difference is there's have not incited a coup against the government.
I am more concerned with the number of social media sites who are banning people and companies. I recognize it is not a government violation of free speech because these are private companies, but there is clearly two large segments of people who are being prohibited from expressing their thoughts. Granted, one of these two segments of society, like Mr. Greeson above, advocate some very disturbing things. My father always told me as a child that "Your freedom ends where your sister's nose begins." and I do think that the responsibilities that go with freedom mean there has to be a limit to what we can do or say. But the idea of limiting speech is a scary one. Not everyone agrees on where that line should be drawn, and once we start drawing lines it becomes very easy to redraw them or cut and paste them into another position. It's a slippery slope.
Also on today our Capitol has the national guard sleeping in its halls as they prepare and get ready for the inauguration next week. Our nation has not quartered troops in DC since the Civil War, and the rhetoric I heard today and the deep divisions I'm seeing online sadly remind me of many diaries and sentiments of the time a few years before the Civil War. I pray for healing of our nation. I pray for unity. I fear like my ancestors of four generations ago that there may come a time I have to choose a side and I will have family on both sides. Wake up, America. It doesn't have to be this way.
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