Statement from IRU Leadership on the Violent Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol
Ismailis Rise Up leadership released the following statement today on the violent insurrection that transpired in the nation’s capital on January 6, 2021:
January 7, 2021
“There is no mistaking who bears responsibility for yesterday’s acts of violence against our nation’s capital. Hours before insurrectionists assaulted the U.S. Capitol, Donald Trump rallied with extremists on the National Mall to double-down on a conspiracy theory championed by conservatives generally and some Republican members of congress specifically– that the election results we worked so hard to secure could be overturned.
Let us be crystal clear — no act of violence, from right-wing extremists or anyone else, can change the election results that we earned with every door knocked and every conversation had.
Further, it is not lost on us that the same American law enforcement systems that have spent decades criminalizing Muslims looked the other way when violent insurrectionists attempted to overtake the nation’s capital. They are the same law enforcement systems that were founded for the very purpose of enforcing the race and class divide in America that categorically oppresses Black Americans. The same systems that authorized the separation of migrant children from their parents at the southwest border under the guise of national security. Yesterday, these same systems failed to protect our voice through our vote, and instead protected and upheld long-standing systems of violence and oppression.
Despite this fracture, Black and brown communities have continued to fight for what is right, including showing up to the polls and on the streets to hold our country accountable for its ongoing violence towards these very communities. These communities are largely responsible for the progress that we have seen in the United States and will continue to hold elected officials, on both sides of the aisle, accountable. Leaders from every sector — including technology corporations and platforms––who have facilitated such violence should also be held to account. This state-sanctioned bigotry is why Ismailis Rise Up will continue to organize our community around solutions for true justice for all people — this first and foremost must include unpacking our own biases and privileges within the communities we all live in.”
