Beyond Plastics’ Statement on the Events of January 6, 2021

There is no mistaking that what happened in the United States Capitol on January 6th was  intended to impose an extreme, anti-democratic ideology over the results of a legitimate democratic election. It was years in the making and it will take years of hard work to address.

Those elected officials who do not immediately condemn the actions of these rioters, and who continue to support conspiracy theories which underlie those actions, illustrate that they cannot be trusted to fulfill the tenets of democratic office.

Those officials who condone the paramilitary brutalization of peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors but use lenient words for the armed rioters who have terrorized Kenosha, Michigan, and now Washington, DC, send a message that white supremacy, domestic terrorism, and violence are acceptable. It is not.

Beyond Plastics believes that eliminating plastic pollution will take every member of democracy, because we are all affected by this pollution and the environmental injustice that it causes. What happened in the US Capitol was far beyond the dimensions of legitimate political discourse. Members of Congress and political actors who have chosen to participate in Black and Brown voter suppression and to perpetuate false claims of widespread voter fraud, are not a part of that democracy.

Beyond Plastics mission is based in policy and a non-violent movement that will achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to preserve our planet, for all living things.  A lawful, democratic process is the foundation for that transformation, and we believe the instigators of this attempted coup acted criminally and should be held accountable to justice and the American people by prosecution to the full extent of the law.