‘Insurrection’

While noting that America “will find its way”, Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield yesterday described a breach of the United States Capitol by supporters of US President Donald Trump as an “insurrection”.

The Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building which is located in Washington, DC, as Congress held a joint session to count the Electoral College votes that would clear the path to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in two weeks.

The vote was halted as the building went into lockdown and the demonstrators clashed with law enforcement.

When called for a comment, Henfield told The Nassau Guardian, “America is a seasoned democratic republic that is going through a tough time at the moment and will find its way. Things will settle down and become normal.”

He added, “Any kind of a domestic insurrection or insurrection on the whole is bad. It’s not good, but they’re going through a very publicly contested election. Clearly, the people have spoken.”

Henfield said the United States is “exemplary in their democratic practices”.

“So, what’s going on is unusual,” he said.

Henfield added, “The only concern I had was that of Bahamians becoming involved in something that is clearly domestic and does not concern us. The [Bahamian] embassy sent out a blast instructing or just saying to Bahamians in the area to just shelter in place at home and we’ll continue to monitor the situation from where we are.

“We say to Bahamians who may be traveling in the area to stay away from potential ruckus and harm and just stay away and stay safe.”

Bahamas Ambassador to the United States Sidney Collie said all members of the embassy’s staff were safe.

He described yesterday’s breach as “unprecedented”. 

“In my lifetime, I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.

“I’ve seen demonstrations — political demonstrations, social demonstrations and demonstrations against law enforcement. But I’ve never seen the Capitol building in downtown DC breached, so it’s something that I’m watching. I’m really surprised.”

The events that played out in DC yesterday resulted in at least one person being shot and some police officers being injured.

US Vice President Mike Pence and other lawmakers were evacuated as the demonstrators stormed the building shortly before 3 p.m.

Photos circulated of a standoff at the door of the House of Representatives as police officers had their guns drawn.

Thousands of demonstrators surrounded the United States Capitol.

Shortly after 4 p.m., Trump asked them to leave.

“I know your pain,” he said in a video posted to his Twitter page.

“I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it especially the other side, but you have to go home. We have to have peace.

“We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt.”

Concerned

Andrew Russell, 37, a Bahamian who has lived in DC since 2016, recalled hearing “a lot” of police sirens heading toward the Capitol around 4:30 p.m.

He said he was “definitely concerned” about the events.

“At first, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s just another Trump rally,’” he said.

“But then I saw the news of folks storming the Capitol. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. This thing is serious.’ I was in the middle of a staff meeting and my phone started going off because of the emergency system that they have here in DC and the mayor says we’re under a 6 p.m. curfew and not to leave our houses. My phone has been ringing off the hook just from the DC government saying to stay home.”

Russell said there is “definitely tension in the city”.

“You feel it,” he said.

“People are tense. We’re staying home. We’re watching the news. Even when I go outside, you don’t see anybody. It’s more of a wait and see.

“What’s sad is when Trump lost, when they declared that Biden is the winner (of the 2020 US general election), there was a protest, the insidious part of the protest happened in the evening.

“So my concern is more about the evening. I hope that nothing really happens because typically, from what I’ve seen with these protests, the peaceful people leave and when night falls, that’s when the action happens.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/insurrection/