Events need separate investigations

Yes, a special commission should be to set up to probe what happened before and during the Jan. 6 attempt by rioters supporting former President Donald Trump to usurp the proper functioning of the U.S. Congress.

Yes, a special commission should be appointed to determine whether federal crimes were committed before or during the riots that have occurred in major U.S. cities in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and other African Americans at the hands of police.

But not the same panel and not at the same time.

The incidents are not related. Only one represents a threat to democratic governance.

Riots over the course of a year in response to a spate of police killings of African Americans do not pose a threat to democratic governance.

Violence has occurred and neighborhoods have been heavily damaged, but, contrary to the belief of many who are unfamiliar with big cities, whole cities aren’t threatened.

You can still visit major cities and find that most neighborhoods went about normal routines during and after the riots, except for the routines disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, however, was an attempt at sedition, if not treason. The rioters’ goal was to use violent threats to halt lawful decision-making processes in both houses of Congress, and perhaps to inflict harm or even to lynch some members of Congress.

That is a direct threat to democratic governance.

In addition, the commission would examine Trump’s role in inciting the invasion of the Capitol while Congress was conducting proper business. Did he intend to incite violence? What did he know about the planning of the Capitol invasion and when did he know it?

I don’t know the answer to either question, but I’d sure like to find out.

A year of repeated rioting in many major cities, especially Portland, Oregon, also should be investigated thoroughly.

Such an investigation, however, should be bipartisan. Assumptions that Black Lives Matter and a mythical antifa organization (It would have surfaced by now.) were behind the destruction should be jettisoned.

The investigation should begin free of bias but should focus on ferreting out people and organizations that might have been driven to instigate violence, especially if they did travel from city to city to ensure violence would erupt in the wake of peaceful protests.

To start either investigation off on the right foot, Congressional Republicans must shake off the autocrat Trump, freeing themselves to act on the memory that they, too, were intended victims of the Capitol mob on Jan. 6, the event that deserves more urgent attention.

They could then help their Democratic colleagues and the rest of us get to the bottom of how and why a dangerous mob almost succeeded in disrupting a democracy, and then they could help us advance the prevention of mob action driven by whim, lie and social media echo chamber.

And the prevention measures could be applied to help keep lawful protests from spawning riots, as well.

Steve Hansen writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

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