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GOP Cynically Recast Progressive State House Protests as 'Insurrection'
"It's as if they learned a word on January 6th for the first time and never figured out what it meant," quipped one critic.
Progressives are pushing back this week against Republicans' conflation of peaceful protests by Democratic state lawmakers defending their constituents' rights with the deadly insurrection effort on January 6, 2021 by supporters of then-President Donald Trump in service of subverting a presidential election.
After seven protesters were arrested Monday in the Montana legislature following Republican lawmakers' silencing of state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D-100) over her impassioned defense of transgender and nonbinary children, a group of GOP legislators accused her of "encouraging an insurrection."
"Peaceful protest is not insurrection."
Although the demonstration was entirely peaceful, the Republicans—members of the Montana Freedom Caucus—blasted what they falsely called "the violent protesters" and urged "immediate disciplinary action" against Zephyr, who is transgender.
"They want to ring alarm bells and they want to compare this to January 6," Andy Nelson, the Democratic Party chair in Missoula County, Montana—which includes Zephyr's district—told the Associated Press. "There's absolutely no way you can compare what happened on Monday with the January 6 insurrection. Violence occurred that day. No violence occurred in the gallery of the Montana House."
\u201cA violent attack on the Capitol to overturn an election was an insurrection. Peaceful protests by legislators in Tennessee and Montana were not insurrection. Efforts to conflate them are cynical, wrong, and dangerous to democracy.\u201d— Noah Bookbinder (@Noah Bookbinder) 1682627952
It's not just Montana. Republican state lawmakers in Tennessee called it an "insurrection" and a "riot" when Democratic Reps. Justin Jones (D-52), Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson (D-90) took to the well of the legislative chamber to support thousands of Nashville-area students rallying outside for gun control measures following the March 27 Covenant School massacre. Republicans voted to expel Jones and Pearson from the legislature over the protests, though they were swiftly reinstated by municipal councils.
Republicans "are trying to dismiss the integrity and sincerity of what all these people are calling for," Tennessee Democratic Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-55) told the AP. "They're dismissing what it is just to avoid the debate on this issue."
"My colleagues across the aisle have spent so much time trying to silence the minority party that anyone speaking up and amplifying their voice probably strikes them as insurrectionist, even though it doesn't resemble anything like it," he added.
\u201c@bozchron The republicans' misuse of words makes you think they need dictionaries until you realize they are intentionally conflating the definitions of words to further their agendas.\u201d— Bozeman Daily Chronicle (@Bozeman Daily Chronicle) 1682661303
Donald Trump Jr. and other Republicans also described a peaceful February protest at the Oklahoma State Capitol against a ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth as an "insurrection."
"Tennessee. Oklahoma. Montana. The GOP seems to want to redefine the word 'insurrection' to include literally any peaceful protest they don't like," tweeted independent journalist and transgender rights activist Erin Reed, who is also Zephyr's partner. "It's as if they learned a word on January 6th for the first time and never figured out what it meant."
Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), asserted that "peaceful protest is not insurrection," and that such conflation "waters down the seriousness of the real insurrection we saw on Jan. 6, 2021."
Attorney and voting rights activist James Slattery tweeted, "I can't help but compare the recent Republican efforts to silence legislators in various states who are acting in good faith to advocate for their constituents—while at the national level the Republicans have done nothing to expel members of Congress who incited an insurrection."
\u201cBc if everything is an insurrection, nothing is, not even J6. Cynical af; false equivalence to both-sides attempted violent overthrow of government, essentially. Republicans are nihilists daring the rest of us to rescue America from them. Maybe they always were. Idk.\u201d— ProTip (@ProTip) 1682689851
According to a July 2022 Monmouth University poll, just 13% of Republican voters considered the January 6 attack an "insurrection"—down from 33% a year earlier. More than 6 in 10 respondents described the effort by Trump supporters to stop certification of President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory as an act of "legitimate protest."
Legal experts say "insurrection" has a very specific definition.
"Disrupting things is a far cry from insurrection," University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt told the AP. "It's just a protest, and protesters are not insurrectionists."
Progressives Mourn Karen Hobert Flynn—Among Democracy's 'Fiercest Defenders'
"Her tireless work on behalf of women, workers, and marginalized communities will have a lasting impact," said End Citizens United.
Progressive groups and activists showed an outpouring of love and admiration for Karen Hobert Flynn, the president of Common Cause, after her death from an undisclosed cause was reported by the pro-democracy group on Friday.
Hobert Flynn, who joined Common Cause in 1985 as an organizer and program director, was named president of the watchdog in 2016 after serving as executive director and chair of the group's Connecticut branch.
"Today, democracy lost one of its fiercest defenders: Karen Hobert Flynn," Common Cause board chair Martha Tierney said in a statement.
"A trailblazer and powerful advocate, Karen dedicated her career to reforming our government so it served everyone," Tierney noted. "Under her leadership of Common Cause in Connecticut, she secured landmark reforms—including winning Connecticut's groundbreaking full public finance system, numerous ethics laws, and disclosure laws."
\u201cToday, democracy lost one of its fiercest defenders: Karen Hobert Flynn. \n\nMay her memory give us strength as we carry forward her legacy.\u201d— Common Cause (@Common Cause) 1677870914
Tierney continued:
During turbulent times for our country and our organization, she led Common Cause with tenacity and grace, never backing down from holding the White House accountable and never losing sight of the non-partisan vision for a more inclusive and representative democracy...
In her last year of life, she led a national coalition in the fight to protect and strengthen the right to vote for all and oversaw the largest national non-partisan election protection program for the 2022 midterms. Within Common Cause, she started the 50-year-old organization's process to become a more equitable workplace and doubled down on the commitment to secure an inclusive democracy for all.
"May her memory give us strength as together we carry forward her legacy of fighting for a government that lives up to the ideals of its people," Tierney added.
Other progressives also remembered Hobert Flynn's life and work.
"Such devastating news today with the loss of Common Cause's Karen Hobert Flynn," wrote Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington president Noah Bookbinder. "A great person and a fierce leader in the fight for democracy. Heartbreaking."
\u201cDeeply saddened to hear the news of Karen Hobert Flynn\u2019s passing. Karen was a democracy champion and leaves a legacy that we aspire to match. She will be so very missed.\u201d— American Constitution Society (@American Constitution Society) 1677877920
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights tweeted that "we're so deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Karen Hobert Flynn—a brilliant leader, dedicated advocate, and fierce defender of our democracy."
The National Disability Rights Network hailed Hobert Flynn as "a fierce civic advocate" who "will be missed by friends, family, and all who fight to make our democracy stronger."
End Citizens United remembered a "remarkable individual who touched the lives of so many in the fight to protect democracy."
"Her tireless work on behalf of women, workers, and marginalized communities will have a lasting impact," the group added.