All but one of Haverhill’s nine city councilors joined Mayor James J. Fiorentini last night in condemning last Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol in Washington.
The mayor read a resolution denouncing the action, calling it “a clear attempt to take away our rights and freedom as free people to choose our own elected leaders through free and fair elections.”
“We the elected leaders of the City of Haverhill do hereby join with millions of Americans in condemning in the strongest possible terms the attack on our Capitol building and this assault on our democracy. We call upon our elected leaders in Washington, D.C., to launch a full and fair investigation on how this occurred and how it can be prevented from ever happening again in the future,” said the mayor, reading from the resolution.
The mayor went on to lay the blame for the mob’s actions on President Trump.
Councilor Michael S. McGonagle, said while he agrees with much of the resolution and does condemn violence, he argued the statement’s language is “inflammatory.”
“I believe that 99 percent of the folks that went there to listen to the president that day were there to show that they supported the president and they had concerns about the election process,” he said.
McGonagle attributed the violence to a group of “bad actors.”
The remaining councilors supported the resolution. One of them, Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan, said must find ways to prevent such actions from happening here.
“I signed on to the resolution today. I respectfully disagree with the initial comments made by Councilor McGonagle. We have an important mission right here in Haverhill to prevent anything like this from ever happening here and the point is to keep our people safe,” Sullivan said.
Echoing the sentiment, Councilor Joseph J. Bevilacqua proposed the city organize a celebration of unity.
“Because my concern is that this could trickle down into Haverhill, I thought that we should have some type of unity celebration in our city,” he suggested.
The councilor said he envisioned the event involving various facets of the community, schools, churches and others, showing respect for each other and pledging not to let anything tear our city down.
The Council passed his proposal unanimously.
Full Text
UNIFIED STATEMENT FROM MAYOR JAMES J. FIORENTINI AND THE HAVERHILL CITY COUNCIL CONDEMNING THE ACTIONS OF WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021
Whereas, Wednesday, January 6th, 2021 marked a day in our history that must never be forgotten and;
Whereas, on January 6, a mob clearly encouraged by the President of the United States, stormed the capital building in Washington DC, our seat of government, and attempted to disrupt the process of certifying an election. This was a clear attempt to take away our rights and freedom as a free people to choose our own elected leaders through free and fair elections, and;
Whereas, we as the elected leaders of the City of Haverhill join with other mayors, city councils and other elected leaders throughout the country in condemning these actions in the strongest way possible;
Whereas, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America establishes a sacred right to free speech and peaceful assembly and peaceful protest. Those who stormed the capital building and those who incited them went far beyond anything that is protected by the First Amendment, and;
Whereas, it is the duty of honorable people of all elected officials to speak out and condemn this outrage and to show that those who invaded our capital building and those who encouraged them do not represent America. America is represented by millions of free people throughout our land who continue to cherish our land, our freedoms and our right to choose our own leaders;
Now, therefore, we the elected leaders of the City of Haverhill do hereby join with millions of Americans in condemning in the strongest possible terms the attack on our capital building and this assault on our democracy. We call upon our elected leaders in Washington DC to launch a full and fair investigation on how this could occur and how it can be prevented from ever happening again in the future.
Witness our hands and seals on this date:
James J. Fiorentini, Mayor