Outdoor Alliance Response to Yesterday’s Insurrection at the Capitol

As an advocacy organization, Outdoor Alliance believes in the power of American democracy. In particular, we believe in the power of the voting process as a way for Americans to make their voices heard and in the value of a peaceful transition of power.

The people have spoken, and the attempts to undermine the election results and incite violence against elected officials and their staff are unconscionable.

As a staff and a community, we have welcomed outdoor conservation leaders to D.C. over the years and spent many hours at the capitol with members of Congress and their staff, who work long hours in service of the country and its citizens. We are appalled that their lives were put at risk by the President himself and the failures of those in charge of law enforcement. The selective willingness to enforce the law, particularly contrasted with protests against systemic racism and policy brutality this summer, is soul crushing to witness. Yesterday’s events are in line with the 2016 occupations of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and Bunkerville, where far-right extremists threatened law enforcement and the public with impunity.

There must be consequences and accountability for those who have violated the law and the norms of our democracy and incited domestic terror, and for those who have stoked falsehoods about the election results or stood in the way of a peaceful transition of power.