Rep. Keating may even skip Trump's inauguration

policy

Massachusetts Rep. Bill Keating announced he is not going to 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 January 6, 2021.

“I cannot condone his promise on Inauguration Day to pardon those who committed crimes at the Capitol,” Keating wrote in a press release Wednesday.

Keating, who said he comes from a “family of police officers” and served as a district attorney for greater than a decade, cited the 452 people the Justice Department has charged with crimes against police, including 123 who were accused of using a deadly weapon a police officer.

“On January 6, 140 officers were attacked, and in the days and weeks that followed, five officers died,” Keating said.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who represents Massachusetts' seventh Congressional District, made an identical announcement earlier this week. As a member of “The Squad,” she said she is going to spend Inauguration Day, which this yr can be Martin Luther King Jr. Day, attending community events in her district.

Keating represents the ninth Congressional District, which incorporates all of Barnstable County, Dukes County and Nantucket, in addition to parts of Bristol County, Norfolk County and Plymouth County. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2010 and serves on the Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Regardless of my attendance at the inauguration, I remain committed to making a difference for the people of Southeast Massachusetts and will work with my colleagues and the new administration whenever possible,” Keating said.