Bucks Commissioners Condemn 'Disgusting' Capitol Violence

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County's three-member commission on Thursday condemned the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that happened Wednesday — a year to the day after they took their oaths of office.

"Never before has our nation seen such a disgusting and un-American display as what we witnessed in Washington D.C.," the commissioners said. "And we are conscious that the world was watching as well."

The Bucks County Board of Commissioners is made up of two Democrats — Chairwoman Diane Ellis Marseglia and Vice Chairman Bob Harvie — and one Republican, Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo.

In a written statement, the three decried the false claims made by President Donald Trump and his supporters in the wake of the Nov. 3 election, which he lost to President-elect Joe Biden.

On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of people took part in pro-Trump demonstrations, which turned violent after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building. As of Thursday afternoon, four deaths — including a Pennsylvania man — have been reported and more than a dozen law enforcement officers were injured, the New York Times reported. Washington DC police have made 69 arrests related to the unrest.

"Perhaps most disappointing is that residents of our county traveled to Washington to enable the president, who recklessly perpetuates the lies about the election that he lost," Bucks commissioners said.

Two chartered buses carrying about 100 people left The Trump Store in Bensalem for the Trump rally, at which the president repeated his false claims about the election, then urged supporters to march to the capitol, where lawmakers were officially certifying the electoral college results.

Several more left from Newtown, chartered by Newtown Athletic Club owner Jim Worthington and his People 4 Trump political action committee.

After the election, Trump's campaign filed dozens of lawsuits in battleground states, including Pennsylvania, claiming voter fraud. Those suits, including at least one specifically targeting voting in Bucks County, were tossed out, with judges saying they provided no real evidence of fraud.

"We are forced to raise this point because elected officials in Washington have pointed to Pennsylvania as a state where the election was 'stolen,' " the commissioners wrote. "They are lying, and we will not let the lie go unanswered."

They called the storming of the capitol "the natural result of dishonesty and disrespect. It was an assault on our democracy."