Letter: Byron York should be ashamed

Byron York should be ashamed

Thank you for re-running right-wing columnist Byron York’s column on June 30. The second reading has inspired me to write in protest of his unpatriotic drivel.

Once again, York takes the side of Trumpistas and downplays the riotous insurrection we all watched happen live on TV.

As the treasonous rioters looted the U.S. Capitol building, the brave Capitol police attempted to control the situation even though they were terribly outnumbered and probably outgunned.

In my opinion, York should be embarrassed to support insurrectionists who were attempting to overthrow a valid and legitimate election for president, thereby overthrowing our very Democracy.

York chooses to portray a rioter from Tennessee as just a peaceful tourist, visiting the Capitol. In York’s piece, he portrays the insurgent as simply walking around in the Capitol, taking selfies and observing what others were doing.

I suppose in York’s mind, he must think this “peaceful” insurgent never called out “hang Mike Pence,” never shouted ‘’kill Nancy Pelosi,” didn’t support the idea of hunting down the vice president to be hanged for refusing to do what the traitors wanted and help overthrow the Electoral College vote count, then keep Trump in office as president.

I guess this Tennessee intruder didn’t help inflate the number of rioters that battered the courageous police — he was just an “innocent bystander” as all the mayhem went on about him.

I feel confident that writer York is aware that most, if not all states have laws known as “felony murder” laws. Those laws say that if someone is an accomplice in a felony crime where someone dies, the accomplice can be charged with murder, even if the accomplice didn’t actually cause the death.

In other words, if someone is the getaway driver for someone else in a robbery, and during the robbery someone is killed, the getaway driver can be charged with “felony murder” even though they were not the trigger man. Someone else did the actual killing, but the driver of the getaway car was involved in committing the crime, so can be charged with murder.

This is very important because five people died because of the Jan. 6 riot, including two police officers. York and Republicans act as if they “love the blue,” but will not condemn the riot or support an investigation into the planning, financial support, logistics, etc. for the January 6 overthrow attempt.

Because five people died as a result of the riot, York’s Tennessee “peacenik” is lucky he is not being charged with felony murder. To downplay the riot as anything less than a seditious attempt to create a coup and overthrow our legitimate government is an embarrassment for the media that covered the whole sad affair. York should be ashamed.

Wallace Collins

Norman