DeWine, Whaley condemn violence in US Capitol: ‘This is an embarrassment to our country.’

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who spent years working in the U.S. Capitol, called for an immediate halt to the lawless demonstrations.

“This is an embarrassment to our country. This must stop immediately. The president should call for the demonstrators to leave our Capitol Building. The final step in the constitutional process of electing our president has been disrupted. The stopping of the count of the Electoral College votes has occurred because the security of the U.S. Capitol has been breached by a violent mob. As a nation of laws, this is simply not acceptable. Lawlessness is not acceptable. This is an affront to our Constitution and everything we hold dear. Those who breached the Capitol breached the Constitution. Peaceful demonstrations outside the Capitol are an exercise of the demonstrators’ First Amendment rights. Stopping the constitutional process by which we elect the president is not.”

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said in a Tweet: “What’s going on inside the U.S. Capitol looks like what we would see in a third-world nation. It does not look like America. It is not patriotic. The constitutional peaceful transfer of power is what makes America special. What’s happening right now is a sad day for America.”

DeWine and Husted both supported Republican Donald Trump’s re-election bid in 2020.

This is a shameful moment in our nation's history. Every elected official - including, unfortunately, many in Ohio - who fanned the flames of President Trump's lies or failed to condemn them shares responsibility.
— Nan Whaley (@nanwhaley) January 6, 2021

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat, said on Twitter that elected officials who failed to speak out against Trump share in the responsibility for the unrest.

“Every elected official — including, unfortunately, many in Ohio — who fanned the flames of President Trump’s lies or failed to condemn them shares responsibility,” she wrote. “History will not look kindly on those who enabled this attack on our democracy by refusing to have the moral courage to stand up to the soon to be former president.”

The Ohio Democratic Party Chairwoman Rhine McLin, a former Dayton mayor, said in a written statement: “For too long, this president’s words have fanned the flames of hatred, chaos and racism, and for four years, Ohio Republicans have cheered him on or shrugged their shoulders and pretended to be ‘late for lunch.’ We join President-elect Biden in calling on the president to go on national TV immediately, condemn the violence and demand that his supporters end their seditious attack on the U.S. Capitol. ”

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, in a written statement called for prosecution of those who stormed the Capitol. “Let all of us in Ohio remain peaceful. Do not let a sense of injustice produce more injustice.”

At the Ohio Statehouse grounds on Wednesday, members of the Proud Boys clashed with counter protesters, according to media reports. State troopers and Columbus police officers worked to stop fist fights and other violence.

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About the Author

Laura A. Bischoff

Laura Bischoff is our Columbus bureau reporter and covers politics and state government. She keeps a close eye on elected leaders, public employees and taxpayer money. Bischoff tries to write stories that inform voters, hold leaders accountable and strengthen democracy.