Essential Workers, Leaders of United for Respect Call for Trump’s Immediate Impeachment, Removal, and Prosecution — Expulsion of Enablers in Congress — and Accountability for Corporate Sponsors of Seditious Republican Politicians and Capitol Attack Organizers.

The horrific and desperate attack on our country on January 6th, 2021 demands immediate condemnation and forceful action by every Member of Congress, every member of the Cabinet, every CEO, and civic leader across America. Make no mistake: this attack was not spontaneous; it was a well-planned and deliberate assault on the American people and our cherished democratic values and it was the direct and logical outcome of Trump’s racist and anti-democratic ideology, campaign, and agitation towards violence. Five people are dead, Congressional offices were ransacked and robbed, while armed insurgents — loyal to a failed president — terrorized the Capitol with little resistance by the Capitol Police, who in at least one video appeared to open the gates to permit their entry. In the aftermath, the President told the attackers they were “special” and that he “loved” them. This attack on our democracy was undertaken openly, and with the support of so many who have defended, funded, or voted for this white supremacist, and his Congressional allies, including the political financing arms of both Walmart and Amazon.

Both Amazon and Walmart PACs bankrolled the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), which has supported Trump’s baseless and desperate lawsuits to overturn our election. RAGA received $140,000 from Walmart PAC, and $100,000 from Amazon PAC, in 2020. [1] The Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), a 501(c)(4) arm of RAGA, also helped organize the “rally” that precipitated Wednesday’s violent attack. These corporations must answer for their political support and financing of an organization connected to this terrible attack, and discontinue associations with RAGA immediately. 

Walmart PAC also made direct donations to the political campaigns of two of the Senators who voted to object the results of the 2020 Presidential Election and egged on the attackers: Senator Lummis of Wyoming [2] and Senator Marshall, of Kansas [3] as part of the $891,000 Walmart’s PAC donated directly to Republican candidates for the 2020 election.

Amazon PAC also contributed directly to Senator Marshall (Kansas), and provided Republican Candidates, Committees, and PACs $927,500 in the 2020 cycle. [4]

Meanwhile, the co-CEO of the private equity giant TH Lee, which destroyed midwest retailer ArtVan and left thousands of workers without severance or healthcare in the midst of the pandemic, directly supported the PAC of Seditious Senator Rick Scott (Florida) with a maximum contribution. [5]

We are calling on Walmart, Amazon, TH Lee, all business leaders, and all people to join our calls for the immediate impeachment and removal of Trump, and the expulsion of seditious members of the Senate and House of Representatives who enabled this attack. 

We also demand a full investigation into the security response by law enforcement and prosecution of all police misconduct.

This attack was the horrifying outgrowth of an ideology, and a nation, that has privileged the white and wealthy, and deliberately devalued the lives, livelihoods, votes, and voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Color for generations. The path through this terrible moment in our history requires all of us all to speak out, take action, and fight for our values to build a vibrant, multi-racial, and inclusive democracy here and now. 

As essential workers at the nation’s largest corporate employers, we put our lives at risk every day we go to work during this pandemic, a crisis which the Trump Administration has so badly mismanaged that 22.4 million Americans have contracted the virus and 361,000 have died. Black Americans are dying of Covid-19 at twice the rate of whites. We have known that this President was dangerous for us from day one, and yet the corporations we work for have supported his extreme and desperate efforts to overturn the will of the voters in this election, through their political financing arms.

Please join United for Respect as we continue the fight for big and bold policy change that improves the lives of people who work in retail, and advance our movement for a democracy that allows all Americans to live and work in dignity.

Signed:

Cynthia Murray, Walmart Associate
Courtenay Brown, Amazon Fresh worker
Melody Crawford, formerly retail worker at Art Van
Andrea Deldendorf, Co-Executive Director, United for Respect