Community leaders speak on reuniting the Country after Capitol Hill Violence

Community Leaders in both South Bend and Elkhart agreed the violence in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday proved the United States is in a deeply divided political climate. President-elect Joe Biden's campaign focused heavily on unifying the country, saying he would be a "president for all Americans." Local leaders said Wednesday's violence proved such unity will be a tall order.

"These are things you see in third-world countries: Belarus, overseas, those types of things, not in the most powerful country in the world," Elkhart County Democratic Chairman Chad Crabtree said of the violence. "It was sad."

Crabtree said the rioters storming the Capitol Building left him stunned.

Seeing protestors in those hallowed chambers of the US House and the Senate Chamber was very sad because you don't see someone rifling through the (British) queen's throne room or the Pope's room," Crabtree said.

With Congress affirming the Electoral College results after the rioting subsided Wednesday night, Joe Biden is set to take the office as President of the United States on January 20th. Crabtree said Biden should focus on inclusion and going by facts.

"Come to the table," Crabtree said. "Realize science is fact. Let the evidence show where it's at. Two plus two will always be four."

Others like Elkhart Trump supporter Carol McDowell said Joe Biden is not the man for the job.

"I don't believe Joe Biden will be able to reunite the country," McDowell said. "I know from the polls if you can believe the polls that a large percentage of the folks in the United States don't believe he was legitimately elected. I don't believe he was legitimately elected."

Elkhart County Republican Chairman Dan Holtz was at the protests in Washington on Wednesday. He said from what he saw the protests were mostly peaceful and that "more than one million people" were there to peacefully protest the election results. He said those who did turn violent were not true supporters of the Republican Party.

"I don't know how many hooligans were in the Capitol," Holtz said. "I suggest that they are not in line with the Republican Party in Elkhart County or the Republican Party that I know. I, like most Republicans and most politicians, disavow destructive conduct of that type, don't condone it at all."

Holtz agreed with McDowell saying Joe Biden would not be able to unite the country.

"Don't ask me how we're supposed to come together," Holtz said. "After people have spent four years attacking you and then prevail through fraud, their request of 'coming together' is hugely disingenuous and highly unlikely to succeed."

South Bend Second District Councilman Henry Davis, Jr. said accountability will be the key for Joe Biden to unite the country.

"Joe Biden has to hold people accountable," Davis said. "I think a lot of the divisiveness that we've been seeing has been awarded only as an accountability measure to one segment of the population versus the other."

McDowell said no unification can happen until the voter fraud allegations are adequately investigated and dealt with. So far, election officials nationwide have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.