Faith leaders across Missouri are calling for the immediate resignation of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, for his support of those involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Missouri Faith Voices, a multi-faith coalition of 120 congregations across the state, said Hawley’s role in undermining the election poses a danger to the country’s democracy as long as he is in office.
Organization leaders said they are basing the non-partisan effort on moral duty, not political agendas.
“We stand against, and we challenge any persons or system that is a threat to justice, righteousness, and to human dignity. And certainly, Josh Hawley is a threat to all of the above,” said Rev. Rodney Williams, pastor of Swope Parkway United Christian Church.
Hawley was one of the first to call for challenging the certification of the Electoral College, despite no evidence of voter fraud.
Williams said Hawley’s actions leading up to the attack produced a “hate-driven agenda” and directly incited the insurrection that resulted in the five deaths and risked the lives of elected officials.
By refusing to denounce the actions of extremist protestors, Williams said he believes that Hawley is playing a role in upholding white supremacy and that more violence would have occurred if the majority of the protesters had been people of color.
“History has proven that if the protesters have been Black, identified as Muslims, as Jewish people, or members of the Black Lives Matter movement, rubber bullets, tear gas and tanks would have been deployed,” said Williams.
Hawley addressed claims that he was trying to overturn the election results in a radio interview Thursday with KCMO Talk Radio’s Pete Mundo.
He said that his aim wasn’t to change the election outcome but instead to start a discussion about “election integrity.”
“That was my stated intention the entire time, and this notion that Ted Cruz, or me or the 140 House Republicans were trying to overturn an election, that is a lie,” said Hawley.
“I'm not going to give an inch on this. There's nothing wrong with people coming to D.C. to make their views heard and to exercise their first amendment rights. And they should not be demonized for doing so,” said Hawley.
Local faith leaders said they would not be backing down. They are calling for the resignation of Hawley and other politicians who voted against certifying the Electoral College, including U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas.
They are also calling for more companies to withdraw their financial support of Hawley and Rogers like Hallmark did earlier this month.
“There's no middle ground here. You're either for our democracy and support our ongoing democratic experiment, or you support violent extremism and a would-be tin-pot dictator. And in this precarious and crucial moment in our history, it is time to pick a side,” said Rabbi Doug Alpert of Congregation Kol Ami in Kansas City.
The organization said that their mission to force Hawley to resign will not end with today’s “sharing of words” and that future projects are in the works.
