To the editor:

 

Sheriff Hodgson knows full well that the marauding rioters in Washington D.C. were enraged by the continuing lie that the presidential election was fraudulently stolen from Donald Trump.

 

No congratulations are due to Sheriff Hodgson or Donald Trump when they condemn the rioters for their criminal behavior when in fact Trump, his sycophantic supporters and Hodgson, continuously enraged them with unsupported statements that the election was rigged and that their rights were violated.

 

Just as Donald Trump’s post-event statements that appear critical of certain violent actions of his supporters are always diluted by a reiteration of the lies that prompted their outrageous behavior, Sheriff Hodgson performs in the same hypocritical fashion.

 

When Hodgson expresses “sadness at their disorderly and violent behavior” and then recommends “an election audit before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20th so both Democrats and Republicans can be assured they can continue to have faith in our elections,” he only re-ignites and justifies their anger.

 

The validity of this election was certified in fifty states, upheld by a multitude of court decisions, and then supported by Republican and Democratic officials who were adhering to their oath of office.

 

Despite all evidence to the contrary, these rioters were fed false and fantastical conspiracy theories that undermined any possibility of accepting the election outcome.

 

They assembled, marched and viciously attacked because of these lies.

 

And instead of acknowledging the true cause of their grieving rage, Trump, together with a host of elected officials, other accelerants and Sheriff Hodgson, again called for an unnecessary and unjustified investigation, “audit” or outright undoing of the legitimate votes of millions of Americans.

 

As always, Sheriff Hodgson’s comments were self serving and never without disingenuous and provocative rhetoric.

Betty Ussach