Politics

Murkowski: Capitol riot was ‘incited from the highest level’

A day after she and other members of Congress were forced to flee the U.S. Capitol ahead of a mob, Alaska’s senior U.S. Senator said the invasion was “incited from the highest level.”

In a three-minute video recorded on the Capitol steps, Murkowski did not say whether she would support the removal of President Donald Trump via impeachment or the process laid out in the 25th Amendment, as was being discussed on Thursday.

The Daily News requested a phone interview with Murkowski on Wednesday and Thursday; her press secretary said one may be possible on Friday.

Before Wednesday’s riot, Trump delivered a speech to supporters who had gathered in Washington, D.C. at his urging.

During that speech, he urged them to march on the Capitol.

Numerous members of the president’s administration have since resigned, citing the role he played in the riot. On Thursday, Trump acknowledged the upcoming transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden, whose inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 20.

Murkowski said that however the country proceeds, it must “go forward in a manner that will unify us in all that we do. We will have areas of disagreement on policy. That is understood. But we must remember at the heart of us, at the core of us, are our shared values of democracy.”

“As a nation, every four years we figure out a way through our election process — through this great democracy we have. We figure out how we peacefully transfer power from one administration to the next. Even when it is to an individual you did not support, that you would prefer not to be your president — we accept the validity of the process that we have embraced as Americans for centuries. Yesterday’s insurrection was incited, and it was incited from the highest level. It tore at the hearts of Americans. It tore at the heart of our very democracy.”

James Brooks

James Brooks was a Juneau-based reporter for the ADN from 2018 to May 2022.

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