Home Christian News Conservative Activist Group Uses MLK Quote in Support of Capitol Riot

Conservative Activist Group Uses MLK Quote in Support of Capitol Riot

Republicans for National Renewal
Photo from Twitter.

On Monday, America celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As is a common practice for the occasion, many individuals and organizations published articles, blogs, and social media posts with their favorite MLK quotes and remarks about King’s legacy of fighting for the cause of racial justice through nonviolent resistance. 

One of those organizations was the Republicans for National Renewal (RNR), a conservative activist group with a populist vision for American politics. The quote that RNR selected to commemorate the day was one of King’s more controversial: “Riot is the language of the unheard.” 

What made the post unique from others is that RNR overlaid King’s quote on a photograph from the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021. In so doing, RNR facetiously implied that King’s explanation about why riots occur served as an endorsement of sorts for the violence that took place when a large mob of people forcibly entered the U.S. Capitol building in an effort to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

RNR tweeted the image with the simple caption, “Happy MLK Day.”

According to their website, RNR “is dedicated to working to promote a new conservative vision fit for 21st century America. In line with the spirit of the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign, RNR seeks to advance bold ideas with a foundation in American nationalism and populism.” RNR’s talking points include limiting immigration, regulating Big Tech, and implementing an “America First” philosophy of international trade and military intervention.

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On the one year anniversary of the Capitol riot, RNR tweeted several updates, one of which argued that the violence of that day was instigated by FBI plants and others that continued to question the integrity of the 2020 election results, despite the overwhelming lack of evidence that the election results were falsified.

Nevertheless, RNR leveraged the popular Martin Luther King Jr. quote as evidence that the violence of January 6 was justified. 

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