By Carol Mowdy Bond
Contributing Writer
Two Piedmont High School alums, Lisa Cummings and her good friend of many years Teresa Phillips, traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the Save American Rally on Wednesday, January 6. Cummings now lives in Yukon, and Phillips lives in Oklahoma City.
The Save America Rally, in support of President Donald Trump and fair elections, was held outside the U.S. Capitol Building. The certification by Congress of the electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election occurred the same day. The events were marred by acts of violence and destruction.
Phillips and Cummings said on January 6 they joined thousands from across the nation, walking through D.C. toward the rally, and singing the national anthem. They said people of all demographic groups participated, and there were families with children and even babies in strollers. Phillips said, “The event was attended by so many people embracing patriotism that you could not see the end of the massive crowd. President Trump was greeted with roaring applause and support when he took the stage.” After Trump spoke, there were several events scheduled, and Trump encouraged all of his supporters to head to those locations. Phillips said, “It was a calm, orderly flow of fellow Americans using our freedom of speech, chanting support of our nation, and expressing our desire and hope to impact those we put in office to do the right thing.”
Cummings said, “We didn’t go to D.C. to cause havoc and disruption or injuries or death.
We just wanted Congress to hear our chants with all of us assembled outside the Congress building. There were people of all different nationalities. We were there to let our voices be heard through our presence and our voices to support our president and our nation peacefully. We were up front at the capitol building. It was not violent. I saw a couple of people walk back from the front who had been sprayed with mace. I saw some smoke bombs go off but no violence.”
But as part of the thousands calling themselves Patriots, Cummings and Phillips believe that non-Patriots infiltrated their numbers to cause problems. On January 6, Dist. 41 Rep.
Denise Crosswhite-Hader, R-Yukon, said, “Today I listened to the certification of the ballots for the electoral college. Just as U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, began to speak regarding his concerns, he was cut off. The U.S. Senate abruptly recessed during his comments. I knew that was not standard and something was wrong. I changed to C-SPAN for the U.S. House. They were also in recess. So many citizens feel they have lost their voice in our elections.”
As well, Dist. 1 Canadian County Commissioner Marc Hader said he attended a rally on January 6 at the Oklahoma Capitol Building “in support of President Trump, truth regarding the facts of widespread fraud and irregularities in the November 3 election, hope for action by Congress and/or Vice President Mike Pence, the rule of law, justice and the preservation of our great American republic.” Hader said he and others were “frustrated with Pence’s statement that he would not use his constitutional authority in Section 12 of the Constitution.”
A few days prior, on January 2, Sen. Lankford’s office issued a press release saying he would join a group of senators to propose an election commission to review the November 3, 2020, election process. They modeled their proposed commission on the commission formed in 1877, to resolve the electoral issues of the election of 1876 when three states had reports of voter fraud. Lankford said, “Millions of Americans, including thousands of Oklahomans, still have significant questions about the November 3 election process. For the sake of the nation’s unity, these questions should not be ignored.” The proposed commission would be required to meet and complete their audit in 10 days, before the January 20 inauguration.
Speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate on January 6, Lankford said we have a “true constitutional crisis in our country in that millions of Americans are being told to sit down and shut up. Their opinions matter.” In the middle of his speech, violence broke out in the U.S. Capitol Building, and the senate immediately recessed.
Later in the day on January 6, Lankford’s office issued a statement that said, “Sen. Lankford today spoke during debate on certification of the electoral votes to condemn the acts of violence and destruction at the capitol complex today as a mob of protestors stormed the capitol building. Lankford also issued a joint statement this evening with Sen. Steve Daines, R-MT, on the election certification process and the need for attention to address concerns of voter fraud in the 2020 president election from Oklahomans and around the nation.”
Lankford said, “Why in God’s name would someone think attacking law enforcement and occupying the United States Capitol is the best way to show you’re right? While we disagree on things – and disagree strongly at times – we do not encourage what happened today. Ever.”
