Del. Stacey Plaskett's stellar prosecution of Trump is drawing kudos

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Thursday February 11, 2021 · 4:17 AM PST

2021/02/11 · 04:17

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 10: Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) speaks on the second day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 10, 2021 in Washington, DC. House impeachment managers will make the case that Trump was â€œsingularly responsibleâ€ for the January 6th attack at the U.S. Capitol and he should be convicted and barred from ever holding public office again. (Photo by congress.gov via Getty Images)

Watching Stacey Plaskett, the Democrat delegate representing the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) in the House, prosecute the case against Donald Trump as one of nine impeachment managers had me cheering. When I saw her name trending on Twitter, I cheered louder. A Brooklyn cheer, because this Brooklyn native has finally stepped into the national spotlight.

What was even more interesting were the tweets I was reading, many of which pondered who she was even as they applauded her.

Since I regularly follow all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for the Daily Kos community Black Kos, her prosecutorial skills came as no surprise. Plaskett, who started off her career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx, and who worked as senior counsel in Department of Justice, is no neophyte.

Seeing a strong Black woman, anathema to all the Trumpremacists currently supporting sedition, meticulously, clearly, and forcefully state the case against the disgraceful ex-president was a personal point of pride for me as a Black woman.

Plaskett knew she did well Wednesday, as this post-hearing tweet shows.

#VIStrong pic.twitter.com/teTCwcXooJ
— Rep. Stacey Plaskett (@StaceyPlaskett) February 10, 2021

There are quite a few articles about her, like this one from Vogue’s Stuart Emmrich, which calls her a “breakout star” of the trial.

As she began her presentation, Plaskett, 54, who was born in Brooklyn to parents from the Virgin Islands, spoke of the journey that had brought her to this historic day. “I’ve learned throughout my life that preparation and truth can carry you far, can allow you to speak truth to power,” she said. “I’ve learned that as a young Black girl growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, a housing community on St. Croix, sent to the most unlikeliest of settings and now as an adult woman representing an island territory speaking to the U.S. Senate.”

Plaskett graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in history and diplomacy and from American University’s Washington College of Law. Later, she worked as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx, as counsel to the House ethics committee, and as a political appointee at the Justice Department under President George W. Bush.

In 2014, having moved to the Virgin Islands a few years earlier, Plaskett was elected to represent the U.S. territory in Congress as a non-voting member.

She can’t vote because the USVI is a territory, but she sure is doing a damned good job of representing the democratic principles of this republic.

Here are a few tweets about Plaskett in the wake of her presentation.

Stacey Plaskett, a House delegate who couldn’t vote to impeach Trump, is using her prosecutorial background to try to convict him https://t.co/04JC0H1diN
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 11, 2021

LISTEN: Del. Stacey Plaskett shares never-before-heard police radio communications from Jan. 6:

"They're throwing metal poles at us."

"We need some reinforcements up here now."

"This is now effectively a riot."https://t.co/wvm3FRfN8W pic.twitter.com/Uax3L28Zz9
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) February 10, 2021

“This was not a coincidence. None of this was. Donald Trump, over many months, cultivated violence.” - @StaceyPlaskett Listen ⬇️

pic.twitter.com/FzmrJvxCIJ
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) February 10, 2021

Del. Stacey Plaskett says threat against Speaker Nancy Pelosi was "so dangerous that they evacuated her entirely from the Capitol complex."

"We know from the rioters themselves that if they had found Speaker Pelosi, they would have killed her."https://t.co/OKAzzhvIne pic.twitter.com/yrxX3xcQKM
— ABC News (@ABC) February 10, 2021

Can we just talk for a moment about @StaceyPlaskett coming to the Senate chamber in full 👏🏿 caped 👏🏿regalia to share VIDEO RECEIPTS that will live in this nation’s history forever and mark Donald Trump with a scarlet “I” forever, and leave any acquitting Senators fatally shamed?
— Joy WE VOTED!! WEAR A MASK!! Reid 😷) (@JoyAnnReid) February 10, 2021

Some folks might have forgotten Plaskett’s participation in last year’s impeachment, but the visuals became a Black Twitter meme.

Remember during last year’s Trump impeachment hearing when @StaceyPlaskett turned and gave Jim Jordan that “grown folks are talking look?”

We should have know right then and there she would make Impeachment Manager perfection🔥#ImpeachmentTrial pic.twitter.com/pmDPAQG1BA
— Christopher 🇺🇸 Proud Dem (@cwebbonline) February 11, 2021

In case you missed it, here’s the footage, courtesy of PBS Newshour.

YouTube Video

All I have to say after that is “Right on, Sister!”

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Del. Stacey Plaskett's stellar prosecution of Trump is drawing kudos

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