Cheese Curds, 1/7: Sports take a back seat after violent afternoon in Washington

On this Thursday morning, life goes on. Football moves on, towards its newly expanded Wild Card Weekend that starts in just over 48 hours. But while we at Acme Packing Company will return to discussing football and the Green Bay Packers today, we do so in the shadow of one of the darkest moments in the history of the United States of America, and we cannot and will not simply ignore what happened in the last 24 hours.

On Wednesday, a mob of violent supporters of President Donald Trump laid siege to the U.S. Capitol building while Congress was counting the votes of the electoral college. Those votes, which were all duly certified by the 50 states, resulted in a 306-232 victory for Joe Biden. Attempts to question the validity of state elections have taken place in state and federal courts all across the country during the two months since election day, and the courts have ruled on each of those decisions, upholding and affirming the facts: that there was no evidence widespread voter fraud.

This violence was the act of an angry few, and now four people are dead. One of those individuals was shot and killed after breaking into the Capitol building, while three others reportedly suffered medical emergencies on the Capitol grounds. Police also discovered two pipe bombs in close proximity to the Capitol, both of which were safely eliminated.

There is no place for actions like these in any society. The counting of electoral votes is a ceremonial process, one that should be free of drama and that has no call for violence. And while yesterday’s abhorrent actions are now behind us, we must all learn from them while those responsible must face the consequences of their actions.

Here at APC, we will move forward with covering the Packers and their upcoming Divisional playoff game. Sports can help bring people together and heal divides between people, providing a place to find common ground.

But make no mistake: what happened on Wednesday is unacceptable. It is wrong. It was, by the very definition of the word in the United States code, terrorism. And before we at APC move back on to discussing trivial matters like football, we feel we must acknowledge what happened and condemn the violence and those who perpetrated it.

There will be no links in our Curds today. May your Thursday and all days thereafter be peaceful and free of incident.