Dear Editor:

            Although I now reside in Knoxville, I was raised in Smithville. My parents lived there all of their lives. I have many family members and friends who continue to reside in DeKalb County.

             Since I still consider it home, I was outraged to read that your representative, Terri Lynn Weaver, was a participant in the rally and subsequent riot in D.C. on January 6, 2021. She informed the Tennessean that she was “in the thick of it,” and of course, she claimed to be a “patriot.” It was noted by many early in the Trump administration that irony was dead. If there was every any doubt as to the truth of this utterance, surely that doubt was removed when all of these “patriots” stormed D.C.

 I have no idea whether Weaver was a part of the mob that ransacked the Capitol, resulting in the death of a policeman. Whether or not she participated in the riot, she was “in the thick” of an insurrection. She participated in the effort to overthrow the results of the presidential election. There are legal means of contesting elections, and that is through the courts. The Trump bunch filed at least 61 suits and lost all of them with a single exception of one, which ruled in Trump’s favor on a technical issue. This technical issue had no effect on the outcome of the election.

               If Weaver was actually dumb enough to believe that the election was stolen, then her lack of intelligence is another reason to be ashamed that she is representing you.

                                                                                                Sincerely yours,

                                                                                             Dudley W. Taylor