Sunday, January 10, 2021

Ny congresswoman & ny const

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Protesters gathered in front of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ office on Richmond Avenue in Bulls Head on Saturday demanded that the congresswoman resign -- less than week after she took the oath of office.

The calls for Malliotakis to step aside follow Wednesday’s events at the U.S. Capitol, when protesters stormed the building after a rally where President Donald Trump maintained that voter fraud led to his defeat by President-elect Joe Biden.

Following the deadly violence that interrupted the certification process, Malliotakis voted with a group of fellow congressional Republicans who objected to the certification of electoral college votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania, two key states in Biden’s victory.

Malliotakis has been “trying to pit others against the immigrant communities,” said protestor Yesenia Mata of La Colmena, an immigrant advocacy group. 

“We are doing this protest because we have seen exactly what transpired directly from the Capitol and it was due to hatred, it was due to the messaging that was completely happening directly from the White House and from here, from Nicole Malliotakis, our new congresswoman,” Mata said.

“Her message had a lot to do with what happened at the Capitol. Staten Island is changing and we’re not going to be accepting that rhetoric anymore. We’re asking her to resign.”

“We are here to protect democracy, we are here to exercise our constitutional rights,” said Cesar Vargas, an immigration attorney with Sustainable Staten Island, a coalition of advocacy groups seeking equality for all people. “We’re going to demonstrate what true democracy is all about.”

He led protesters in chants, including, “This is what democracy looks like.”

People rallied for the resignation of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

The executive board of Young Democrats of Richmond County has called for the immediate resignation of Malliotokis, according to K.C. Hankins, president. He stressed that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris won both in the Electoral College and by some seven million popular votes, “yet on Wednesday, terrorists stormed our nation’s Capitol, violently attacking the halls of Congress, our representatives and their staff.”

“We can’t pretend that none of this happened,” said Teresa Caliari of Sustainable Staten Island, about the storming of the Capitol, which she believes is directly connected to Malliotakis’ vote against certification of the electoral college votes.

“We can’t pretend that Wednesday was a fluke,” Caliari said. “There must be consequences or this won’t be the last time we see objection to the outcome of democratically cast votes.

“There is already chatter on social media to disrupt the transfer of power on January 20th, so our republic is in great danger and it’s imperiled further if we don’t do and take swift action.”

“I’m going to speak as a Black man here in America,” said said Bobby Digi, a North Shore activist and partner in O’Henry’s Publick House, describing how he reacted to the riot at the Capitol.

“I was triggered by what I saw and I’ll tell you the kind of memories that came up for me. I thought about all the injustices that I as a Black man in America, in Staten Island and in New York City, witnessed as a kid.”

“I support every American’s right to peaceful protest and thank them as well as the countless constituents who have reached out to thank me for upholding my oath and taking a strong stand for election integrity,” Malliotakis said in a statement to the Advance/SILive.com.

At a joint press conference Friday, Assemblyman Charles Fall and State Sen. Diane Savino -- both Democrats -- condemned the attack on the Capitol and called for accountability from elected officials they say played a part in “inciting the riot,” demanding an explanation and an apology from Malliotakis.

“I will not turn a blind eye to the irregularities and alleged fraud that took place in Arizona and Pennsylvania or the fact that election rules were changed in violation of their state Constitution and the U.S. Constitution,” Malliotakis said in response to Fall and Savino’s comments. “I will always uphold my oath of office and work to improve the integrity of our electoral system to restore Americans’ faith in free and fair elections.”

The lawmakers were joined by several community and religious leaders who also denounced Wednesday’s violence.

People rallied for the resignation of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Maura Grunlund)

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