Valley leaders react to violent storming of nation’s Capitol

By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com

As chaos ensued in Washington D.C. Wednesday, local elected officials on both sides of the political aisle were quick to denounce the actions of rioters and supporters of President Donald Trump who stormed into the U.S. Capitol and forced the evacuation of the Senate as lawmakers counted electoral votes to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in November’s general election.
“Quite frankly, it’s a disgusting offense to the democratic values of what our country was founded on,” said state Rep. Austin Davis, D-McKeesport. “As a country, we need to do a better job of coming together.
“I just saw the president’s calls to protest, and the leaders who agreed with him. I lay this responsibility right at their feet. They clearly stoked the flames.”
The rioting came after Trump, who has claimed for weeks, without evidence, that he won his second presidential term, Tweeted and encouraged the protesters to storm the U.S. Capitol building.
“It backfired and they’re wrong,” Davis said. “They’ve been proven wrong time and time again in the courts. They lost the election.”
Republican leaders were also quick to condemn the violence at the nation’s Capitol.
“I’m deeply saddened by the events that occurred today in Washington D.C.,” said state Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Bullskin Township. “Part of what makes this country great is our ability to disagree while also being respectful of one another and following our rule of law. We are a nation of laws.
“I support and have always defended Americans’ right to protest peacefully; however, what is occurring at the U.S. Capitol is no longer peaceful. When the rule of law is not followed, chaos takes over. I welcome the debate for change, but what transpired today should never happen. I am praying for everyone’s safety and a peaceful end to the rioting.”
Former state representative Rick Saccone of Elizabeth Township was among the pro-Trump supporters at the Capitol in Washington D.C. Wednesday.
“It was a great event,” Saccone said. “There were hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters there.”
Saccone said some of the protesters on his side of the Capitol did breach the barriers in an attempt to get to the top of the steps to wave large American flags, but no one attempted to enter the building. Saccone said breaching the barricade was a symbolic act.
“I don’t know who those people were on the other side of the Capitol or what they did. We used metaphors. We ‘stormed the Capitol’ but it was just metaphors. People wanted to reach the top of the steps to wave their flags,” Saccone said. “There were a lot of people there who just wanted to exercise their First Amendment rights.”
Saccone said the group he was with from Pennsylvania was orderly, cleaned up their trash after the event and got back on their bus to come home.
“I don’t think anyone inside the building should have been afraid of anyone outside the building,” Saccone said. “I don’t condone violence, but I don’t think anyone should have been shot. The penalty for trespassing isn’t death.”
Saccone, 62, ran unsuccessfully for the congressional seat held by former U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned in 2017.
Saccone, who previously served in the state House, served in the Air Force as an intelligence officer. He had Trump stumping for him in the days leading up to his loss in the March 2018 special election to U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb.
Saccone then ran and lost again just two months later in the Republican primary for the newly created 14th Congressional District seat now held by U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler.
State Rep. Mike Puskaric, R-Finleyville, who now holds Saccone’s former seat, said Wednesday’s events at the Capitol will need to be closely examined.
“There’s going to be a lot to sift through. It does appear as if ANTIFA may have been involved in this and breaching the building,” Puskaric said.
Puskaric said state lawmakers could have taken action that may have thwarted what occurred Wednesday in Washington.
“It’s truly a shame we could not convince a majority of the legislators in Pennsylvania to decertify,” Puskaric said. “We have to look at the evidence presented to us and the big pockets of fraud were isolated to those battleground states.”
Puskaric said he doesn’t know what should be done to safeguard the U.S. government at this point.
“I truly don’t know. I don’t know who to trust at this point,” Puskaric said.
State Rep Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township, said what occurred Wednesday is not the answer.
“Violence and hatred never solves anything,” Cook said. “To close your ears, to close your eyes and to close your mind to a course of action is also not good.”
Cook said his office has received numerous emails and messages from citizens upset by the November election process and he has called for a full audit of the election in Pennsylvania, to no avail.
“There is so much emotion out there under the surface,” Cook said. “Until we do a full audit and figure out what went right and what went wrong with this election in Pennsylvania, if we don’t explore that jointly, faith in America is never going to be restored, no matter what side you’re on.”
In Washington County, commissioners said they were in meetings when the violence began.
“My day was packed with meetings and it was almost 4 p.m. until we found out it happened,” said Commissioner Chairperson Diana Irey Vaughan. “We support the right to demonstrate and support their opinions, but we pray they are peaceful demonstrations. I’m in disbelief that the demonstrations took a turn.”
Commissioner Larry Maggi, a former U.S. Marine and law enforcement officer, said the rioting was unlike anything he’s seen.
“I’m really sad and sorrowed to see what’s going on,” he said. “In my career, I’ve never seen anything like that. I’m very sad to see our country going through this. It’s like watching a funeral of a family member…it’s so sad.
“It was clear there were going to be demonstrations, and it was clear it could have gotten out of hand. It’s the whole rancor going on in our politics. Our politics are so divided and so ugly. I’ve never seen it this bad on both sides.”
State Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Carroll Township, said the violence was “beyond the pale.”
“To peacefully protest is one thing, and it’s the American way,” Bartolotta said. “But what happened today, I absolutely condemn 100%.
“To storm the House floor and the chambers of our government to breach the Capitol and take it over like it was the enemy’s hill nullifies any argument that should have been addressed a different way. It should never, ever happen. It’s appalling. I don’t care what party you’re with, I don’t care what side you fall on. It’s unacceptable. I denounced any form of destruction or violence months ago and it should not be tolerated from any group. It’s un-American. For anyone to think to storm the Capitol is OK is ludicrous and absolute lunacy.”
(Staff writer Christine Haines contributed to this story.)