By Rep. DAVID MEUSE, D-Portsmouth
January 6, 2021 will go down as one of the worst days in our history.

At the national level, we saw armed insurrectionists, cheered on by the President of the United States, trash our Capitol Building and drive our elected representatives into underground tunnels and inside barricaded and locked offices. Four people died in a building where blood was last spilled in the 1998 murders of two Capitol policemen.

As news broke of rioters taking over the halls of Congress, I was sitting in my car in a UNH parking lot voting for a new Speaker of the House and a series of proposed rule changes and resolutions.

We were meeting in our cars instead of meeting virtually because a hardline faction of House Republicans who oppose mask-wearing and the governor’s coronavirus restrictions have pressured their leaders to require in-person meetings.

In a session where technical difficulties led to long delays, many legislators were on their phones and most quickly learned on the events unfolding in Washington.

Minority Leader Renny Cushing and new GOP Majority Leader Jason Osborne proposed a suspension of the rules to vote on a resolution condemning the violent takeover of the US Capitol Building by pro-Trump rioters.

Not surprising in a state with a constitution that includes “the right to revolution,” 35 legislators decided to vote against suspending the rules to take up the resolution. But while they lost that battle, they won an important victory.

When the resolution was put before the House for a vote, supporters of the Washington rioters were allowed to remain anonymous by newly-elected Speaker Sherman Packard.  Claiming not to have heard a request for a roll call vote, which would have identified legislators voting for or against the measure, Packard called on legislators to “honk your horns or flash your lights” to indicate their approval.

After a cacophony of horn-blowing and light flashing, he declared the vote unanimous. 
It was a feel-good moment that should have felt much better.

Over the course of a troubling afternoon, we continued to read online news reports of the events unfolding in Washington while at the same time participating in several additional votes and defeated rules changes that will only serve to encourage New Hampshire’s own home-grown revolutionaries.

Voted down was an attempt to refer the cases of six GOP legislators who filed a petition with the House Clerk advocating “termination of the state” to the Legislative Administration Committee for potential removal from office.

These legislators are among a large contingent of N.H. GOP state representatives who never fail to miss a chance to point to the section of the N.H. State Constitution that sets forth a “right to revolution” while failing to note that sedition is still a crime and that the N.H. State Constitution bans privately-organized militia groups from arming themselves.  

At about the same time we were legislating in a parking lot and rioters were vandalizing the Capitol Building, the Concord Monitor reported that 15 protesters gathered on the steps of our State House to show their support for the rioters in Washington whose behavior not only resulted in the tragic loss of lives—but also the loss of face for a country once revered as a beacon of freedom that is now regarded by many as the world’s largest lunatic asylum.

While the Concord protest was peaceful, New Hampshire residents should keep in mind that extremist members of their state legislature have mimicked the same incendiary claims as President Trump and have adopted the same incendiary rhetoric as the Capitol Building rioters.

On Wednesday, N.H. House leadership under the new GOP majority had multiple chances to take steps to reduce the risk of a similar catastrophe occurring here—and refused to take them.

Upcoming legislation for 2021 also raises red flags. One of the new bills filed is a proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent the legislature from making any law that restricts the right to own, carry, or use firearms or firearm accessories. The result would be more people carrying more guns in even more places with no opportunity to change our laws to reduce the risk of violence and suicide. Is that what New Hampshire wants?

The bottom line is that the barn door is open In New Hampshire to a similar event happening here. 
It is up to all of us to try to keep it from opening any wider. 
Rep. David Meuse, Portsmouth