East Hampton Anti-Bias Task Force Seeks Healing After DC Violence

EAST HAMPTON, NY — As President Joe Biden was inaugurated Wednesday, the East Hampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force put out a call for unity.

The group sent out its response to the rioting and violence that left five dead at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

"The East Hampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force unequivocally condemns the violence committed at the U.S. Capitol on 1/6/2021 and the ongoing lies that inspired it. Further, we as residents of the Town of East Hampton reject in the strongest terms possible the despicable symbols of hate on display that day including nooses, Confederate flags, and neo-Nazi slogans," they wrote in a statement.

History has shown that the "inherent cruelty" in those images and the ideology they symbolize
"must never be allowed to take root in our nation and in our communities again," the group wrote. "We dishonor the memory of the hundreds of thousands of American lives lost in the Civil War, World War II, and the struggle for civil and voting rights if we stay silent in the face of intolerance. Our children are watching and they look to us now for guidance and reassurance in a time of unrest."

And, as a new administration took the helm, the ABTF asked the community to join with them in renewing their "commitment to promoting diversity, unity, and understanding as we do the work of healing together."