‘It just saddens me.’ Merced County officials respond to mob’s storming of U.S. Capitol
In the wake of unprecedented scenes in Washington D.C. where hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters mobbed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, many Merced County elected officials denounced the chaos.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle nationwide have condemned the violence, which resulted in multiple arrests and one woman being shot to death.
Still, reactions to the circumstances behind Wednesday’s riot are mixed — and Merced County in that regard is no different.
Local officials’ differing interpretations of the disturbing scenes are representative of the nation’s division, which came to a head with the disruption of the Electoral College vote count certifying President-elect Joe Biden.
“It really surprised me that there was violence,” said Merced County Supervisor Lloyd Pareira, a Republican. “It will take some time for the evidence to surface, and for us to learn what really happened.”
The Merced County supervisor echoed an assertion also made by California Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove, who claimed that members of left-wing movement Antifa may have been responsible for instigating the violence.
Thus far, however, there have not been any credible reports or evidence supporting that theory.
Pareira’s suspicions were sparked after watching “Antifa participate in mayhem across the country” without consequence, while Trump rallies have largely been peaceful, he said.
He also has doubts about the validity of Biden’s win over Trump, but believes the election process in Merced County was credible.
While Merced County’s leaders have the county’s best interests at heart, the national scene is a mess, Pareira said.
“It’s hard to put into words. I love America, I love California, I love Merced County,” Pareira said. “It just saddens me to see our country in the spot that it’s in today.”
Merced County Supervisor Scott Silveira, a Republican, also voiced uncertainty about presidential vote counting in other parts of the country. “In order for someone to perpetrate fraud in Merced County, it would take a massive conspiracy theory,” Silveira said. “I’m highly confident in our system, I’m not so confident in other systems.”
Regardless, Silveira said the destruction of the U.S. Capitol crossed a line, perverting the nation’s foundational right of free protest into thuggish looting. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, that’s the people’s house,” Silveira said.
Merced City Council member Fernando Echevarria, a Democrat and former college campus law enforcement officer, also decried Wednesday’s violence, but viewed the impetus differently.
Echevarria said that while Trump is not directly responsible for the mayhem, the president played a part in riling up his supporters.
“This is just another example of a pack mentality,” Echevarria said of the rioters, noting that he didn’t believe their actions were representative of the nation as a whole. “We just have to remain peaceful and accept the democratic process . . . the people of the United States have spoken, and we need to accept that.”
Echevarria said he’s confident in the election’s results and called the attempt to prevent vote validation “despicable.”
“I am totally against anything that involves the destroying of the American society, democracy and the system that it is based on,” he said.
The councilmember said Trump should face consequences to some degree but doesn’t support going as far as invoking the 25th Amendment, which can replace a sitting president.
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Merced, said he didn’t believe the will existed to remove Trump from office with the 25th Amendment just two weeks before his term ends.
Costa was in the gallery with other representatives when the mob swarmed the Capitol. He called the acts carried out Wednesday by the mob an act of treason.
“I can tell you, for a lot of my colleagues, there was a level of fear,” Costa said.
Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto also said the president had a role in charging-up emotions that sparked on Wednesday.
“You have politicians who appeal to passions and stir things up, and you have politicians who try to calm things down and make people act reasonably and rationally,” Serratto said. “I think the vast majority try to calm things down.”
Serratto called the disorder “sad and bizarre,” but also said the events following the November election have showcased the resilience of U.S. democracy.
The mayor said he has faith in the courts’ decisions concerning serious accusations of election fraud.
“Our institutions were under tremendous pressure,” Serratto said. “I think our institutions in a lot of ways came under a lot of tests over the last months and they all responded as they should.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 12:58 PM.
