The HAVI Condemns Racist Acts of Terror at the Capitol

JANUARY 12, 2021 — Last week, the nation watched in horror as throngs of violent, mostly white extremists stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to disrupt one of the most sacred processes of our democracy—the election of a new President by the people of this country. The HAVI condemns all acts of terror and asks that Congress act swiftly to hold the leaders who incited violence accountable. Additionally, swift and deliberate measures must be taken by leaders at all levels of government to break down the structures of racism and the rhetoric that feeds hate.

The overtly anti-Black and antisemitic images that emerged from the riots—a noose hanging alongside gallows outside the Capitol, rioters waving Confederate flags, a shirt emblazoned with “Camp Auschwitz”—were evidence of the racialized tone and motivation of the rioters. We later learned that five lives were lost in the mayhem.  

Equally appalling was the tepid response by law enforcement to the violence perpetrated by the predominantly white extremists, a stark contrast to their highly militarized, aggressive treatment of peaceful, mostly Black demonstrators who gathered last summer to protest the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black Americans.

Numerous media reports and opinion pieces have described the long history of law enforcement’s disparate treatment of white protestors and protestors of color. Individual acts of valor to protect the Capitol during the insurrection pale in comparison to the broad trends that have been observed throughout this country’s history. Seeing it play out, yet again, is a heartbreaking reminder of the pervasiveness of structural violence in America. The magnitude of this trauma not only presents itself today, but has burdened each generation since the founding of this nation. The pain of this repeated trauma is suffocating.

HAVI member programs do the hard work of healing and transforming communities impacted by violence from the ground up—we see in real time the impact of law enforcement and the criminal justice system on our clients. Enough is enough. 

Last Thursday, in his introduction to his nominee for Attorney General, President-Elect Biden reminded us that the Justice Department was created in the aftermath of the civil war to enforce the Civil Rights Amendment and fight the terror of the Klan. Let us take this opportunity to recommit ourselves to the hard work we do together to heal our communities and to ensure that we name and address structural violence in all its forms. We look forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to do just that.

The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (the HAVI) is a national network of hospital-based violence intervention programs that serve violently injured patients by addressing the social determinants of health. The HAVI has expanded health-based, trauma-informed care through innovative community-hospital partnerships and the cultivation of a powerful national alliance of violence intervention specialists, emergency room doctors, trauma surgeons, and researchers who work in communities affected by violence.