West Michigan reacts to US Capitol insurrection

People around the world watched in horror as thousands of right-wing militants stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.

Locally, elected leaders and public officials criticized the actions as seditious and denounced President Donald Trump for his role in fomenting rebellion.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andrew Birge tweeted that people with information on the attackers should contact the FBI.

“Those who threaten our duly elected leaders and institutions of government should be held accountable,” he wrote.

Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, and Representative Fred Upton were all present at the capitol when the attacks began. All three were quick to identify Trump as the inspiration for the insurrection.

Peters called for Trump to be removed from office while Stabenow thanked law enforcement officers for keeping them safe.

Upton, a Republican from St. Joseph, has rarely openly praised or criticized the president. But he told WMUK that Trump was to blame for what happened.

“I felt that he did inspire the crowd to charge the Capitol,” he said. “From the get-go, the president was looking, I think, to see something like this happen.”

Kalamazoo Mayor David Anderson was more forceful in his response.

“The disturbing, frightening and sickening events we all witnessed in our nation’s capital yesterday are the culmination of years of race baiting, name calling and division right from the top in this country,” he wrote on Facebook.