‘Benedict Boebert’ rallies call for Colorado Republican’s expulsion

Two days after Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert took to the floor of the U.S. House and tried to block legitimate electoral votes from being counted moments before pro-Trump extremists with the same goal staged a deadly insurrection at the Capitol, Coloradans gathered to call for Boebert to be expelled from Congress.

Called “Benedict Boebert: Stop the Sedition,” a set of rallies was planned to take place at noon Friday in three cities — Pueblo, Durango and Grand Junction — in Boebert’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District.

“Lauren Boebert has betrayed the American people and is a conspirator in the insurrection that occurred at Capitol Hill on January 6th,” said an announcement of the event, organized by the group Rural Colorado United. “As the citizens she represents in Congress, we cannot recall her and we cannot impeach her, but we do not accept that she is fit to represent the people of Colorado District 3 in Congress.”

About 40 people attended the rally at Fifth and Main streets in Pueblo, according to photojournalist Mike Sweeney, who attended. The event included speakers, such as organizer George Autobee. Autobee noted that Boebert on the morning of the insurrection tweeted, “Today is 1776,” which he contrasted with a tweet from Boebert on Friday morning that referred to “unity,” Sweeney said.

Later in the day, Boebert posted a video in which she addressed “the recent turmoil in Washington, D.C.” “I want you all to know how proud I am to have taken a stand on the Electoral College certification. The onslaught that we have seen on our Electoral College from the Democrats was what got me involved with this to begin with.” Since he lost the election on Nov. 3, Trump and his supporters, including Boebert, have baselessly claimed that President-elect Joe Biden’s win was fraudulent.

We are the United States of America. Freedom will find a way to persevere. God bless each and every one of you. You are all in my prayers. pic.twitter.com/EoOAbJVeMa

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 8, 2021

State Rep. Bri Buentello also spoke at the Pueblo rally.

“I know better than most what the job of representative entails, and she’s not doing her job,” Buentello said of Boebert in an interview with Newsline.

Buentello said Boebert should face consequences for “just turning up the temperature over and over and over again with these allegations of voter fraud, and the fact is that it didn’t happen. And people died.”

A pro-Trump extremist was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer Wednesday, and several other people died during the insurrection, including a police officer.

Boebert, whose campaign last year emphasized loyalty to Trump and gun rights, on Friday blocked Buentello on Twitter.

“Funny that someone who pretends to care so much about the Second Amendment clearly knows nothing about the First,” Buentello said.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, said she is introducing legislation that would seek to sanction or expel members of Congress who, like Boebert and another Colorado Republican, Rep. Doug Lamborn, tried in Congress to overturn election results.