NEW YORK — In his first comments since President Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building in protest of the 2020 election this past Wednesday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, condemned the president for instigating the behavior.
“It all seemed to be exacerbated by the fact that the man who should be a voice of reason and encouraging us to law and order and civility and unity, namely the president, seemed to be the one who was stoking these flames,” Dolan said in a video posted to his Twitter account Sunday.
According to the video, Dolan had just gotten back from a retreat where he was “secluded from the tumultuous events of this last week.”
Dolan, towards the end of the video, also condemned the voices driving the country apart.
“We’ve got a lot of voices in the country today and a lot of them are less than helpful. A lot of them are know-it-alls who are screaming and yelling and telling us what we need to do and I’m afraid they’re pouring Kerosene on the fire of violence and fracture, ominous clouds we’ve got in our beloved country,” Dolan said. “Maybe there’s too many voices out there and maybe we need to listen to God the Father.”
As a new week gets underway, fallout from the protest-turned-riot continues.
In a letter to Democratic colleagues that made its way around the internet Sunday night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi outlines the effort that will take place this week to remove Trump from office with nine days left of his term.
According to the letter, Vice President Mike Pence will be called on to evoke the 25th Amendment, which would declare the president incapable of executing his duties and remove him from office. Pence would then takeover for the remainder of the term.
If that doesn’t happen, Pelosi and House Democrats will bring impeachment legislation to the floor – a move many House Republicans have publicly stated they fear will only worsen the divisions in the country with so little time left in Trump’s presidency.
Law enforcement officials also continue the search for people that took part in storming the Capitol. So far, the man pictured at Nancy Pelosi’s desk; and the shirtless man wearing a fur hat with horns and face paint are among the more than 80 arrested.
On Sunday, police officers lined up along a Washington D.C. street during the procession for fallen Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries sustained during the riots.
He was one of five that died at the Capitol on Wednesday. Ashli Babbitt, of Huntington, Maryland died of a gunshot wound. The Washington D.C. Police Department attributed the other three deaths to medical emergencies: Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Ga.; Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens, Ala.; and Benjamin Phillips, 50, of Ringtown, Penn.
Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth on Sunday condemned the violence.
“Any questions concerning ballot integrity in an electoral process must be resolved in a lawful and peaceful manner with due process, and transparency must not be ignored. Rioting is not the way to resolve these concerns,” Olson said.
“This is true today after the outrageous violence at the Capitol on January 6 and it was true last summer during the violent and destructive riots throughout many cities in our country,” he continued.
“It is required of us to live by rightful authority for the sake of justice and love. We also have the obligation to hold those entrusted with this rightful authority to be accountable in accord with justice and love. The law is required for the just and loving treatment of my neighbor, especially my neighbor who is the weakest and most vulnerable,” the bishop said.
Follow John Lavenburg on Twitter: @johnlavenburg
