BACKGROUND:
Following the National Election of November 3, 2020, President Donald J. Trump has claimed, without evidence, that he won the election by a landslide. President Trump and his representatives have filed more than 60 lawsuits to this effect, all but one of which have failed and none of which have presented evidence of alleged widespread voter fraud of the kind that would change the results of the election. President Trump has gone so far as to pressure Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, by telling him: “I just want to find 11,780 votes.” Secretary of State Raffensperger, who has overseen three recounts, has found no evidence of fraud. On November 12, 2020, officials from two Department of Homeland Security committees - The Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council overseeing cybersecurity - released a joint statement saying, “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.”
Despite these facts, President Trump has continued to tell his supporters that the election was “rigged,” and that the election was “stolen” from him, prompting chants of “Stop the Steal.” In a tweet, he urged his supporters to join him for rally in D.C. on January 6, 2021, tweeting: “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, it will be wild!”
On January 6, 2021, Vice-President Mike Pence and the United States Legislature met at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. for a Joint Session of Congress to certify the lawful election of Joseph R. Biden as President of the United States. At the same time, President Donald J. Trump spoke at the planned rally in front of the White House to claim he had won the election. Also, at the January 6, 2021 rally, President Trump called on Vice-President Pence to overturn the election, saying, “I hope Mike [Pence] is going to do the right thing…because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election.” He then encouraged the crowd to go to the Capitol Building to let the Joint Session of Congress know their feelings and to try to take back the country.
President Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol building. The violent insurgents damaged the Capitol building, vandalized its halls and offices, stole government property, menaced members of Congress and their staffs, and occupied the United States Senate Chambers, thus delaying, for several hours, the Joint Session of Congress from performing its duty to count the Electoral College vote. Tragically, five people lost their lives, including Capitol Police Officer, Brian Sicknick, who was beaten to death by the insurrectionists.
In the days that followed, it has become clear the toll of this attack on the United States Capitol could have been much worse: Two functional explosive devices were found at nearby buildings. Insurgents were equipped to take hostages and were overheard calling for the execution of Vice President Mike Pence and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The insurgents went so far as to construct a gallows for execution by hanging.
Resolutely and courageously, a few hours later, the United States Legislature and Vice President Mike Pence continued their constitutional responsibility to count and accept the Electoral College votes as presented by the 50 States.
As a consequence of the actions described above, the City of Long Beach condemns the violence and desecration on the United States Capitol that took place on January 6, 2021, and the City of Long Beach condemns the actions and inactions of President Donald J. Trump that led to the lawlessness in the United States Capitol.
FISCAL IMPACT/ STATEMENT OF URGENCY
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.