When a mob stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, Western and Central New York Members of Congress all reacted by condemning the violence.
Congressman Joe Morelle of Rochester Tweeted that he was “sheltering in place” and was safe. He added “there is no place in our democracy for this violence. It must stop.” Morelle said he was in his office, not on the House Floor because of coronavirus restrictions when the attack took place.
Southern Tier Congressman Tom Reed issued a statement saying “Violence such as what we are seeing at the Capitol is absolutely unacceptable. We must de-escalate the situation immediately. We are Americans and do not do this.”
Here’s the rest of Reed’s statement:
“My heart breaks for our nation right now. Our country and its beautiful democracy is better than this. Our Constitution calls for the civil transition of power and though we may not agree with the election results, we must agree to always act with honor and civility towards all. We believe in the right to peacefully protest, but we must emphatically reject these horrible instances of physical attacks on our governing institutions and let democracy proceed.”
Reed later joined in a statement as part of the “Problem Solvers” Caucus, condemning the mob violence.
Central New York Congressman John Katko was locked down in the Capitol Building during the storming and said he was safe. He didn’t announce his exact location. He told Syracuse.com that what happened was “pure insanity,” but said he’s been through worse with death threats as a federal prosecutor.