HVALF Statement on the January 6th Attack of the US Capitol

The Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation joins with other American leaders of good conscience in its condemnation of the violent and senseless attacks on our Nation’s Capital on January 6, 2021.

Like most Americans, we were horrified and dismayed by the actions of the unruly mob, incited by misrepresentations about the recent Presidential election and words of encouragement by the sitting President to march on the Capital. As a result of his incendiary words, six Americans needlessly lost their lives, including a Capital Police officer, who was just trying to protect our Capital from the lawless group of extremists.

The attack on our Capital on January 6 th , represented the most basic of attacks on our democratic system of government as framed by our Founding Fathers in our Constitution. Since 1788, as proscribed in the Constitution, after a fair and free election, there has been a peaceful transfer of power from one Administration to another. This process had stood the test of time for the last two hundred and thirty-three years without incident until now.

On November 3, 2020, millions of Americans exercised their constitutional right to cast their ballots, either through mail or in person, for the person whom they choose to lead our country for the next four years. The election results were tabulated, and in many cases re-counted before being certified by the Secretary of State in each State; the election results then sustained numerous legal challenges in both State and Federal Courts, all of which were found to be meritless.

To quote from Presidential Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address, a “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”. Yet that was exactly what the marauding intruders at the Capital were trying to do by trying to overturn the election results as voted on by the “people”. Our Capital is the seat of democracy and the citadel of liberty. An attack upon our Capital, is an attack upon the very foundations of our country as our forefathers left their homes in Europe to escape tyranny and to form a more perfect union.

We must uphold the principles upon which our country was founded and make sure the those who perpetrated the atrocities that we saw on January 6 th are held accountable for their actions.