Newly sworn in Colorado Dist. 60 State Representative Ron Hanks has made a list of state legislators on which he may or may not be proud to be included: the GOP Hall of Shame, described by the site as “GOP enemies of Democracy.” While he initially claimed no involvement, his story has continued to change. But one thing remains the same: he continues to blame everyone but those that evidence shows assaulted the seat of our democracy.
Police officers stand guard as supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Leah Millis
A website reportedly assembled to call out those Republican state lawmakers who aided the Jan. 6 Trump-incited insurrection at the United States Capitol (https://www.republicaninsurrectionists.com/ ) has included Hanks on a list of at least 16 Republican state legislators or legislators election-termed “the worst of the worst”, who physically attended the Jan. 6 events in Washington which resulted in a violent mob overrunning the United States Capitol in an attempt to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Attempts to reach Hanks for comment have been unsuccessful because his phone voice mailbox has been full for days.
The Associated Press reported on Jan. 12 via the Colorado Sun that representative-elect, Ron Hanks, who had earlier said he wasn’t in the Capitol mob, had changed his tune. He told Heart of the Rockies Radio in Salida that he arrived at Trump’s rally at the Ellipse outside the White House early that Wednesday morning of the violence. The president used the occasion to urge supporters to “fight like hell.”
The Washington Post reported this past weekend that the FBI has positive evidence of coordination of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, beginning days before Jan. 6, as the groups assembled. As sample of the gatherings just prior to the event included; the “Cowboys” in Louisville on the morning of Jan. 5. Hundreds of miles away in Columbia, S.C., a mall was the designated rally point of “Rebels”. Another group of Trump supporters gathered to caravan to Washington — dubbed “Minuteman”.
Ron Hanks images of his attendance at the Jan. 6 events in Washington D.C. Image from his Jan. 19 public eblast message written in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
Hanks, who originally claimed he wasn’t at the Capitol, changed his tune by the time he sent a Jan. 19 e-blast message; admitting he was ahead of 90 percent of the crowd of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people who arrived at the Capitol. But, says Hanks, they were joined by other armed younger men that according to Hanks couldn’t possibly have been part of the Trump supporters and it was they who stormed the Capitol.
Really?
In his radio interview, Hanks said that upon arriving at the U.S. Capitol, “I was a little surprised to see people already on the scaffolding, with the Trump flag, and so forth … from the standpoint of the violence, two of us went around to the back of building, which is where the next meeting was supposed to form up,” he said, “and by that time people had already entered the building.”
What ‘next meeting’? By the back of the building — does he mean the east side of the Capitol? That would seem to imply planning, and coordination, since the National Mall approaches from the west.
The list of at least 508 state legislators is reported to include all those Republican state officials “who aided and abetted a movement to overthrow our democracy and hand Donald Trump another four years in the White House.” At least one of them, Amanda Chase of Virginia, is a state senator who also happens to be running for governor. For Hanks to make the ‘worst of the worst’ of this list is quite an accomplishment for a man who was sworn into office only a few weeks ago.
This long list of Republican lawmakers are listed as “seditious signatories.”According to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, while they may not all have directly participated in the rioting on Capitol Hill, all signed onto resolutions and letters calling to overturn the results of the election — in effect helping to fan the flames of the violent insurrection. By enforcing a fantasy that the election was rigged (For the record, no one lied, no one cheated and no one stole the election). In fact, the lead election security official Christopher Krebs, called it the safest election in history). These elected officials engaged in mass deception, which undermines the foundations of our democracy.
Ron Hanks performing final duties as the volunteer Secretary of the Fremont County Republican Party. Image courtesy of hanksforcolorado.com
Even before being sworn in, calls for Hanks’ resignation had been heard. He created a disturbance on the floor of the Colorado General Assembly while not yet in office, causing term-limited Dist. 60 Representative Jim Wilson (who he was replacing) to issue a statement about the standards of civility with which public service must be conducted.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which backs Democratic candidates for state legislatures across the country, has called for his resignation. The New York Times reported yesterday that along with at least 16 other Republican state legislators or legislators-elect, that hundreds of county commissioners, sheriffs and police and fire department staff didn’t just attend the Jan. 6 Trump rally. They followed Trump’s incitement to violently storm the Capitol to stop the electoral college counting of the results of a free and fair election.
Like dozens of other state GOP officials called to Washington on Jan. 6 by Trump, Hanks claims to have attended the rally, but at first denied going near the Capitol building, and said he was with “some very nice refined people,” before admitting that yup – he was there.
Several other state legislators have declined to disclose anything about their involvement. By being part of what has been described as a domestic terrorist situation, he, like New Mexico’s Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, the founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump, could be viewed as “leaping right into sedition.”
Of the 17 legislators listed in the “Sedition Edition” of the GOP Hall of Shame list (which includes Hanks), compiled by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, two are outgoing, Representative Anthony Kern of Arizona, and Vernon Jones of Georgia and a third, Derrick Evans of West Virginia, has resigned.
According to Colorado Pols Hanks went on to say that in his opinion the mobs inside the capitol on Jan. 6 weren’t part of his group, suggesting they must be Antifa dressed up to look like Trump supporters. (Really? Why would that make any sense?).
The stories about Rep.-elect Hanks’ presence in the crowd outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 have failed to report Hanks’ outrageous denial of what was actually happening–and most importantly, which side is to blame. Of everything he has had to say since, that might be the most important.
That site includes a tip line, to report information about legislator’s involvement in the violent activities to overturn the results of the 2020 election: accountabilitiy@dlcc.org
I wish the author had included Mr. Hank’s 19 Jan fundraising letter suggesting that foreign intelligence from our allies could prove the results of the 2020 presidential election were fraudulent. This is a pretty desperate train of thought for an elected official to pursue.
It’s pretty funny how the party that elects Qanon morons to congress, and that attempted a violent overthrow of the US Government, still feels entitled to call Democrats “radical”. Talk about cognitive disfunction. As far as Hanks and his claims, well…the Republican Party is the party of lies at this point, so I don’t put much stock in anything Hanks says.
Even though it has been nearly a month since the insurrection, I still continue to enjoy the daily drip of stories about rioters who are losing their jobs and their freedom, and probably eventually losing their right to own a gun, because they’ll be convicted felons who are not allowed to own a gun.
Womp womp, Patriots.