Capital Region leaders respond to riot at US Capitol

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The unrest in Washington, D.C. was followed by lots of tweets and statements from lawmakers and politicians. NEWS10 interviewed several of them Thursday morning via Zoom to hear and see their reactions.

“Yesterday was just so difficult to watch as an American, as somebody who has been to the U.S. Capitol, who has seen that building as the people’s house. It was really a horrifying thing to watch. Unthinkable," said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who said President Donald Trump should be removed from office.

“We have a violent demonstration by, who I’m now calling domestic terrorists. They desecrated our Capitol. I hope this is the culmination of four years of what this President has done to this country, and playing to the worst in people,” said Chairman Andrew Joyce of the Albany County Legislature, also calling for President Trump's impeachment.

“I feel very strongly that people have the right to protest, but it needs to be peaceful protest, and this seemed to spin a little bit out of control and obviously turned violent and tragic at the end, and I don’t think any Americans want to see that,” said Will Barclay, Leader of the New York State Assembly Republican Conference.

“There’s no excuse for smashing windows at the Capitol, but we need to know who’s behind this, because I’m hearing from a lot of peaceful protestors who said they saw folks with helmets and vests on, and communication devices," said Albany County Legislator Mark Grimm, "so, let’s find out, who are the ring leaders here?” Grimm added that violent protests should be condemned on both sides of the political aisle, saying "there needs to be strong rejection and swift prosecution of both storming the Capitol and of such events as a takeover of downtown Seattle for weeks." Grimm said there needs to be recognition that Joe Biden will be the president, and confidence must be built in the U.S. election process.

“I’m glad Congress came back in yesterday to show that this kind of extremism, these type of outrageous tactics, which are laid absolutely at the feet of our sitting president are unacceptable," said Assemblymember Patricia Fahy, "and he deserves to be removed from office."

“To see those scenes being played out in real time just reminded me of other times in our country, like 9/11, where you’re watching television, and it’s all unfolding in real time in front of you, and it’s just such an emotional thing. I just felt sick to my stomach about it,” said Assemblymember Mary Beth Walsh.