Politics & Elections

RI Congressmen Amo, Magazine, Reed, Whitehouse Release Bizarre Statements on Trump Shooting

Statements appear to ignore US’s devastating political violence campaign in Gaza and scores of domestic incidents over the years.

Rhode Island News: RI Congressmen Amo, Magazine, Reed, Whitehouse Release Bizarre Statements on Trump Shooting

July 15, 2024, 12:47 pm

By Uprise RI Staff

Shortly after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, Rhode Island’s congressional delegation released statements on political violence that appeared remarkably tone-deaf of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, America’s history as the premier perpetrator of political violence in the world, and the many newsworthy incidents that have occurred domestically.

Below are their statements posted to the social network X (Twitter):

The statements from Whitehouse (“in a democracy”) and Magaziner (“in America”) were careful to imply that political violence was more or less OK outside of these exceptions. However, all four statements professed remarkable hypocrisy – that a man they have collectively considered a threat to democracy, should remain unharmed and such forms of political violence have no place, while apparently being unaware or failing to recall the US’s worldwide reputation for aiding and committing political violence on a perpetual basis going back to its inception. Some of our nation’s more recent hits:

  • 2023-present: US fully funds nearly all weaponry and logistics for the state of Israel in an attempt to erase Gaza’s entire government, led by Hamas, from existence. At present, an estimated 200,000 civilians have been murdered and Gaza’s government continues to be led by Hamas.
  • 2012–2017: US provides training, weapons, and money to Syrian rebels in an attempt to oust Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad. This CIA operation was ended by Donald Trump.
  • 2011: In Libya, US and British naval forces fire over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles and a coalition of 27 states from Europe and the Middle East join a NATO-led intervention to remove President Muammar Gaddafi. The Gaddafi government collapses in August. Gaddafi is captured and killed in October and NATO action ends.
  • 2006–2007: The US is displeased with the Palestinian government formed by Hamas, which won 56 percent of the seats in the Palestinian legislative election of 2006. The US pressures the Fatah faction of the Palestinian National Authority (Hamas’ chief political rival) to topple the Hamas government, and provides funding including a secret training and armaments program that received tens of millions of dollars in congressional funding.
  • 2004: In February, the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is forced to resign after the rebel group National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation and Reconstruction of Haiti, trained by U.S. Special Forces, lays siege to the capital of Port-au-Prince in the week leading up to Aristide’s resignation.
  • 2003–2021: After the 9/11 attacks, US claims that Iraq’s ruler at the time, Saddam Hussein, has connections to Al-Qaeda and is supporting terrorism. Claims are also made that Hussein is covertly continuing production of weapons of mass destruction. The Iraq War begins in March 2003 when a United States-led military coalition invades the country and overthrows the Iraqi government. The U.S. captures and helps prosecute Hussein, who is later hanged.

This list could continue for 50 more pages but listing just incidents from 2003 to present should suffice to confidently make the point that despite claims to the contrary, our RI congressional delegation has repeatedly condoned political violence and actually voted to fund it.

Ironically, Representative Magaziner seems to have a big problem with other countries doing it to the United States, though:

Not to be outdone, Senator Whitehouse also seems to hold other countries, like Russia, to much higher standards than his own:

The irony of Whitehouse’s hysteria is that Russia caused no political violence at all in 2016, while the examples we listed earlier in this piece were all incidents where the US caused actual political violence in other countries, surely a far more egregious offense if we were to take the senator’s cries seriously.

While Rep. Gabe Amo was not in office representing Rhode Island during the 2016 election, Senator Jack Reed was. He is also on the record as seemingly ignoring the US’s long history of violent political interference while finger pointing at other countries who do far less:

Returning to the issue at hand, one does not need to leave the states to bare witness to the long, long history of political violence here at home:

This list could also extend 50+ pages, but it is clear that political violence is as American as apple pie, both here and abroad. For our Congressional representatives to make public statements implying that the attempted assassination of Donald Trump occurred in a vacuum or that their ongoing hysteria does not contribute to it is both disingenuous and dangerous. Such rhetoric ignores the long-standing tradition of political violence in American history and fails to acknowledge the role that inflammatory language plays in fueling these incidents.

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