The Wyoming Republican Party denounced violent protests and acts on Wednesday, two weeks after a mob of people stormed the U.S. Capitol.
The party, in a statement released Tuesday, vowed not to engage in violent activity anywhere, although the statement singled out Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
“We denounce violent protests and acts in the strongest of terms, just like conservatives did during the riots that we have been witness to since last summer,” the statement said. “Neither the Wyoming Republican Party nor any of its members have any plans to engage in violent activity. Not on January 20th, and not ever. Not in Washington, D.C., nor elsewhere.”
There have been some concerns about a second round of violent acts in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, due to Biden taking office.
On Jan. 6, thousands of supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building as Congress prepared to certify the Electoral College results. Five people died during the riot.
The party’s statement said conservatives have no interest in taking part in such actions.
“Our Party has never been about achieving goals through violence,” the Wyoming Republican Party said. “The conservatives we know are too busy doing their jobs, running their businesses, and raising their families, to plan and engage in violence.”
The group added that the Democratic Party and the media refused to denounce violence that occurred last summer during demonstrations held to protest killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a police officer who kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The Wyoming GOP also questioned whether or not the “violent conservative” narrative is being pushed forward by “leftist groups encouraging them to engage in pre-planned violent acts so that the Republican Party can be blamed.”
The Wyoming GOP has previously said that the media rushed in its judgment to identify the Capitol rioters as Trump supporters.
“The Wyoming Republican Party will continue to live under the banner that ‘the pen is mightier than the sword,'” the group said. “Rights given by God cannot be taken from us by government. We will stand on our God-given freedom to PEACEABLY exercise free speech, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution, and advocate for a better tomorrow. We will continue to speak, even when some deem our positions unpopular, twist our words, and attempt to shame or intimidate us into silence.”
