Harrisburg, PA – January 6, 2021 – The PA Senate Democrats released the following statement on the violent protest today in the nation’s Capitol:

The First Amendment is one of our most sacred. It is not political and it is not partisan. The rights to free speech, assembly and petition are what allow this country to flourish. However, those rights do not permit the violence we are seeing today in the nation’s Capitol building and in state capitols across this country. 

We held an election in November, and now – like every four years – we must have a peaceful transition of power. Our form of government cannot survive without it.

Without qualification or equivocation, we condemn the actions at the US Capitol Building today. We are asking protestors to stand down and leave peacefully.