LANSING, Mich. (Jan. 6, 2022) — Sen. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) today issued the following statement acknowledging the one-year anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, an event precipitated by the false and disproven allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 general election — the most secure election in American history:

“On January 6, 2021, hundreds of the former president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was seeking to certify the Electoral College results of the November election. The scene was eerily like what happened at the Michigan State Capitol on April 30, 2020, when armed militants attempted to influence and terrorize my colleagues and I. Both events, however, did not happen in a vacuum. They took place because those who believe in the Big Lie, here in Michigan and across our country, have spent much of our recent history peddling such lies and vitriol to further divide Americans and erode opportunities for us to work together.

“Our democracy is made better when we recognize that there’s only one chance for us to get this right. All of us have a solemn responsibility to protect and defend the values of a free and fair society every single day. We must stand for a better America, and we make our own history. Our choices with how we respond to the insurrection of Jan. 6th will define our destiny and I, for one, believe that moving forward with upholding our democratic values is the only way. Anything less is failure and on us. The generations behind us deserve so much better and if we can come together, we can succeed.”

###