Ex-President downplays insurrection, questions
why convicted rioters are ‘still being held’.
The Japanese American Citizens League today refuted statements made Oct. 18 by former President Donald Trump in a podcast interview in which he equated the treatment of convicted Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol rioters with the WWII incarceration of more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage.
In its statement, the JACL said it “vehemently decries the former president’s statement equating the treatment of the imprisoned January 6th rioters to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Japanese Americans were not afforded due process, were held for years without respect to their constitutional rights, and had their loyalty to the United States questioned purely on the basis of their race.
“Those arrested following January 6th were indicted and convicted for their committed crimes which serves as the reason for why they remain in prison.”
Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential race to former U.S. senator and vice president of the United States Joe Biden, questioned why the convicted rioters were “still being held” in an interview with the host of “The Dan Bongino Show.”
Contacted by the Washington Post about Trump’s statement, JACL Executive Director David Inoue said, “It’s flat-out offensive. It’s a night-and-day difference what happened. Japanese Americans’ whole families were incarcerated without any sort of trial — their only crime was they were of Japanese descent. For these January 6 people, they have had their day in court, they’ve either been indicted or convicted of crimes, and that is why they’re being incarcerated.”
In its response to Trump, the JACL added: “The remarks are especially offensive coming on the heels of former President Trump’s assertion that he will invoke the Alien Enemies Act to initiate his mass incarceration and deportation program, Operation Aurora. The Alien Enemies Act served as the legal basis for the incarceration of not only people of Japanese ancestry but also German and Italians during WWII.”
The complete JACL statement may be read here. The article by Associated Press may be read here.
