League of Women Voters Condemns Use of Federal Force on Peaceful Protestors
LOS ANGELES, CA; WASHINGTON, DC — League of Women Voters of California Executive Director Helen Hutchison and League of Women Voters of the US CEO Celina Stewart issued the following joint statement in response to the deploying of National Guard troops against largely peaceful protestors in Los Angeles County.
“The President villainizing protestors is nothing but a performance to direct violence against the American people. By deploying the National Guard, against the wishes of state officials, the administration intends to cause fear and distract from their inhumane immigration raids.
“This administration is assaulting concerned Americans to silence voices of dissent. The President's overreach signals a larger crackdown on protests across the country meant to intimidate us from speaking out.
“The President declared the protests as rebellion against the United States, a characterization he uses as his basis for overstepping his presidential powers to subvert the First Amendment right to association and protest.
“A functioning democracy must ensure that we the people can hold our government accountable without fear of violence from the government.
“The League of Women Voters condemns these actions and calls on the Secretary of Defense to call back the National Guard. We will not be intimidated into silence.”
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“At the League of Women Voters, our goal is to ensure that every person can make their voices heard — in the streets and at the polls. We firmly believe that, like voting, peaceful protest is a constitutional right deeply rooted in American democracy. Both voting and protest are powerful tools for driving change.
LWVUS joined hundreds of organizations, including many of our partners, in requesting that the United Nations hold a special session on the escalation of police violence in the United States and repression of protestors.
Every ten years following the census, maps are redrawn so that voters have the opportunity to elect officials who will make decisions in their best interests. Ten years ago, Los Angeles City did not have an independent, fair, transparent, or accessible process. In order to strengthen democracy, the League of Women Voters believes the following three things to be more important: 1) Protecting people's right to vote, 2) Getting big money out of politics, 3) Ensuring fair redistricting practices. Join this Zoom presentation to learn why redistricting is so important and how you can be involved in making democracy work for all. To register, please email [email protected]. Visit the LWV of Los Angeles event page for additional information.
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