A year after the violent domestic terrorist attack on the United States Capitol Building, in which Donald Trump’s most rabid supporters attacked and beat Capitol Police officers, illegally stormed the building, erected a gallows pole while chanting “hang Mike Pence,” stalked the halls banging on barricaded doors behind which staffers hid in fear, and wiped feces on the walls and furniture, the committee tasked with investigating the roots of the attack described the trove of evidence they’ve amassed.
The attack itself was horrifying and more than 700 Trump supporters have been charged with a number of crimes. What is more terrifying, however, is the vast number of elected officials in the House and Senate who have been revealed to have been involved in the attack. Democracy in the United States, the country known as the great democratic experiment, balanced on a knife’s edge and was nearly destroyed.
On the anniversary of January 6, 2021, Republican lawmakers continued a campaign of diminishing the attack, quibbling over what to call it (it was a terrorist attack), and refused to come to the Capitol even to honor the Capitol Police officers who put their lives on the line to protect the lives of senators and representatives who were evacuated for their own safety. Minutes after the last elected official was secreted out of the room, terrorists stormed the floors of Congress, taking papers and laptops and even the Speaker’s podium.
Americans are frustrated over the amount of time it has taken to fully investigate the attack and hold lawmakers who were involved accountable. Others trust that the process will play out the way it should. Read some of their comments below:
