It’s been one year since the insurrection at the United States Capitol. The events of January 6, 2021, are still widely disputed between the political parties - was it a protest or an attempted coup? You can read the answer to that in the article I wrote last year right after it happened. This article will describe the aftermath and the current atmosphere at the Capitol.
Many representatives and senators that work in the Capitol are still astounded that Congress itself was under siege. The last time the United States Capitol was breached was more than 200 years ago, attacked by the invading British, not its own countrymen. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, told NPR, “[m]ore and more it becomes surreal. You become a combination of angry as well as shocked,” and the representative is one among many who feel this way.
The democratic and republican members of the House and Senate have never been more disconnected. Members said there has been deep tensions between the parties for a long time, but the events of January 6 fueled the fire. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. barely speak to one another, and when they do, it usually ends in derisive and disparaging comments.
The tensions between Pelosi and McCarthy do not help the anxiety of the Democratic caucus. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. told NPR that members are nervous just sitting next to Republicans who supported the objections to the electoral count. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. works with some of them, and said, “I will always remember who the people were who didn’t support the results of the democracy,” as many will. The aforementioned senator, however, recognized that “...you still have to acknowledge that there were a number of Republicans who voted to uphold the Electoral College. And I think that's very important for our country, and that's why they were there on the inaugural stage.”
Several Republicans, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. admitted that President Trump’s actions were inappropriate. On January 13 of last year, McCarthy said, “[the President] should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.” Rep. Liz Cheney, R-WY, is one of the few Republicans who has held her stance on the denouncement of Trump. Pelosi tapped only two GOP members to investigate the events of
January 6, and Cheney was one of them. However, the criticism within the party against the former President has faded. A year later and the Democratic leaders are getting hammered by the majority of the GOP for the security failures, instead of calling out Trump for inciting the mob.
The anxiety of the representatives and senators is very understandable. The day of the riot, nine people were killed in relation to the event, and over 140 policemen were injured. In the last year, 9,600 threats against members have been tracked by the U.S. Capitol Police Force, according to Chief Tom Manger. The number of threats against members of congress is more than double the number in 2020.
In an article by The Atlantic, Tim Alberta interviewed Rep. Peter Meijer, R-MI, about his experience on January 6. At the time, Meijer had only been in office for three days. Meijer
looked forward to certifying the election results - it would be his first real act as a federal lawmaker and believed it to be his duty to the American democracy. He was very surprised to see that the majority of his fellow House Republicans refused to certify the results. Meijer saw this as an incursion against the legitimacy of American democracy.
Many felt this way. The GOP hadn’t communicated with its members about the assault on the Capitol, nor did they communicate after, during the impeachment of President Trump. Many Republicans in the House were in the dark.
Since the insurrection at the Capitol, many investigations were conducted, and more than 725 people have been arrested. Total, at least 165 people have pleaded guilty, 145 to misdemeanors and the rest to felonies. About 70 have been sentenced - 30 received jail time and the rest are on probation. However, as I mentioned earlier, approximately 2,500 people entered the Capitol building that day, so the authorities still have a long way to go.
*Disclaimer: this article does not in any way reflect the views of Greenwood High School or the Paw Print journalism club.*
Linked below are the sources for this article, as well as additional information should you like to read more about the aftermath of January 6, 2021.