By Madeleine Aitken
Massachusetts Rep. Bill Keating announced he will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month.
Keating said he made his decision “out of respect” for the Capitol Police who were attacked on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I cannot condone his Inauguration Day promise to pardon those who committed crimes at the Capitol,” Keating wrote in a statement Wednesday.
Keating, who said he comes from a “family of police officers” and spent over a decade as a district attorney, cited the 452 people the Department of Justice charged with crimes against police, including 123 of whom were charged with using a deadly weapon against a police officer.
“140 officers were assaulted on January 6, and five officers died in the days and weeks that followed,” Keating said.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who represents Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District, made a similar announcement earlier this week. A member of “The Squad,” she said she would spend Inauguration Day, which is also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this year, in her district at community events.
Keating represents the 9th Congressional District, which includes all of Barnstable County, Dukes County, and Nantucket, plus parts of Bristol County, Norfolk County, and Plymouth County. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and sits on the House Armed Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Regardless of my attendance at the inauguration, I remain committed to delivering for the people of Southeastern Massachusetts and will work across the aisle with my colleagues and with the incoming administration whenever possible,” Keating said.
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