Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has urged President Donald Trump to act against potential violence from the Proud Boys and Boogaloo Bois ahead of Congress certifying the 2020 presidential election results on Wednesday.
Lee, a Democrat representing Texas’ 18th district, voiced her concerns about upcoming protests in Washington, D.C. on Twitter late Monday. The president was in Georgia on Monday, rallying support for Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
“The President of the United States needs to return to Washington D.C. and demand that the Proud Boys and Boogaloo Boys cease the violence they are promoting this week in the nation’s capital, the seat of democracy,” Lee tweeted.
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“One of the Proud Boys has already been arrested for vandalizing a place of worship, Ashbury United Methodist Church, just because they exercised their freedom and displayed the sign Black Lives Matter. Obviously, he did not come for peace,” she said, linking to an NBC News story.
Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, a leader of the Proud Boys, was arrested in Washington on Monday, according to the AP. The arrest warrant cited destruction of property. Police found him with two high-capacity firearm magazines.
1/5 The President of the United States needs to return to Washington D.C. and demand that the Proud Boys and Boogaloo Boys cease the violence they are promoting this week in the nation’s capital, the seat of democracy.
— Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) January 5, 2021
Tarrio was in Washington in advance of protests planned by supporters of the president. Congress will meet to formally certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win on Wednesday and the mayor of D.C., Muriel Bowser, has asked that the National Guard be deployed.
The Boogaloo Bois are a loosely-affiliated movement viewed as part of an antigovernment subculture with its roots in online message boards. The Proud Boys are considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“This President and only this President has the power to stop this potential unwarranted violence heading towards Washington D.C. on the premise of false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election,” Lee went on.
“Mr. President, instead of asking a Georgia Republican official to commit an alleged illegal act, you should instead make it right by calling for peace and to disband the throngs of those coming to Washington to undermine democracy over the masquerade that there were not honest elections in 2020.”
Lee was referring to a recent tape of Trump speaking to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about the need to “find” enough votes for him to flip the state from Biden.
“You alone can help maintain democracy amongst your followers. Please put our country above all other interests now,” Lee concluded.
Trump has so far refused to concede the election to Biden and continued to maintain he won at a rally in Georgia on Monday. While some Republicans have joined an effort to object to a Biden win, it is highly unlikely to succeed.
The Trump campaign has been contacted for comment.
House Homeland Security Committee member Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX) questions witnesses during a hearing on ‘worldwide threats to the homeland’ in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill September 17, 2020 in Washington, DC. Lee has called on President Trump to discourage potential violence by some of his supporters.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Supporters of President Trump are planning protests on Wednesday as Congress finalizes the 2020 election.
