Trump’s Insurrection

Where Was Mike Garcia?

Republican Congressman skips a ceremony by his fellow representatives to acknowledge the sacrifice of law enforcement on January 6th.

“I heard get his gun. Kill him with his own gun. I was electrocuted, again and again and again with a taser.”

- Officer Michael Fanone

The members of law enforcement paid a high price for their patriotism in defending the Capitol from violent insurrectionists on January 6, 2021. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died the following day after being sprayed with a chemical agent during the attack. Four police officers died by suicide after their service on that day.

On the second anniversary of the Trump supporters’ attack on our democratic institutions, a bipartisan group of elected representatives held a ceremony on the steps of the Capitol to honor those that had fallen. California Congressman Mike Garcia was not one of them.

Garcia’s campaign website claims that the Congressman is “proud to have [the] backs” of law enforcement officers, whom he describes as “true heroes”. When taking a swipe at the “Defund the Police” movement, he claimed that criminal justice reform devalues these officers that “too often go unnoticed or are taken for granted” as they “stand up and protect our families, children and neighborhoods from lawlessness and chaos.” Yet he skipped the opportunity to take a few minutes out of his day to acknowledge the sacrifice of those who protected him when Donald Trump unleashed a mob on his workplace. It sounds like “having their backs” was nothing more than empty words from a politician who only cares about keeping himself in power.

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.