The United States relives this Wednesday the “worst attack” on the country after 9/11 with a speech by the attorney general in defense of democracy
“I will never forget the noise of the crowd entering the Chamber. But I didn’t feel any fear and I think it was because of Tommy. The worst thing that could have happened to me has already happened ». With these words, the Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin recalled on US television the assault on the Washington Capitol, which will mark the first anniversary tomorrow. Raskin, author of a book describing his experience of the worst “attack on democracy” in recent US history, only “comparable to the 9/11 attacks,” had buried his son Tommy the day before. died on New Year’s Day after taking his own life after a long struggle with mental illness.
The personal hell that the congressman went through in those hours is almost unimaginable. Like the terror of his benchmate Rubén Gallego, who set out to confront the mob of assailants armed with a simple pen in a desperate desire for survival. Or that of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the promising young politician of the party. “I thought I was going to die. I did not know if I would arrive alive at the end of the day, “she said on Instagram, aware that her popularity made her a clear target of the ultra-rightists who were destroying the Capitol a few meters from the basements where she found refuge.
“I could feel that I was drowning and I thought: ‘This is how I am going to die, defending this entrance,'” said Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, a member of the Congressional Police, in one of the most emotional testimonies heard by the parliamentary commission that investigate the riots. The assailants attacked him, beat him and sprayed him with chemical sprays until his skin burned while he saw some of his attackers wearing T-shirts in support of the ‘blue line’ (the Police).
Extremism
Most of the accused are fans convinced of the message of “electoral fraud” of the former president
A year after the riot that killed five people, the FBI and the rest of the state security forces have arrested 725 suspects, according to the ‘Washington Post’, of whom only 180 have admitted their guilt. Among them is the ‘shaman’ of QAnon, who became known for his costume with bison horns and who is serving 41 months in jail for obstructing the certification that day of Joe Biden as president, the ultimate goal of the hundreds of protesters who last January 6, they raided the House of Representatives. The ‘shaman’ is actually an actor who belonged to the armed forces years ago. Like him, almost a hundred of those arrested are veterans or were active members of the Police.
The rest of the suspects are divided between the followers of conspiracy and far-right groups such as the Proud Boys and a majority of citizens with no clear affiliation to organized movements; rioters and fanatics unable to metabolize the messages of the defeated president at the polls, Donald Trump, that Joe Biden’s victory constituted “electoral fraud” and that they suddenly mobilized to demolish the temple of American democracy. The FBI highlights, yes, its enormous doses of radicalism and violence. Many invaded the legislative headquarters shouting ‘hang Pence’, in reference to Republican Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to reject Biden’s certification act as Trump demanded with his nerves already totally out of control.
What did the White House do?
Ivanka Trump’s request to her father to intervene, key in the study of her performance
Accuse or report
The immediate future of all this police and political investigation now depends on three factors: how the processes against those accused of more serious crimes will be organized -although in each State from which they originate or in Washington, where the events occurred-, the possible responsibilities of the former Republican president and what will happen to the information collected by the congressional commission. Although its president, Bennie Thompson, is committed to taking the investigation to its last consequences and urging justice to issue charges, a substantial part of the congressmen prefer that the committee dedicate itself exclusively to its informative function. Essentially, to avoid aggravating the inflammatory tensions that have existed between Democrats and Republicans for a year, although the two parties are aware that taking a profile on this issue would lead to a deep discredit of the institution.
What to do with Trump is another problem according to the large group of congressmen who have in his favor. In recent weeks, questions have grown among public opinion about how the former president continues to roam at ease, even with a tour of speeches that many understand as preparatory to his new candidacy for 2024, without having yet been seriously touched by the research. References to him abound, but at the moment he is a shadow. Not so three of his former aides, who have been accused of contempt: his former adviser Steve Bannon, former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former assistant attorney general Jeffrey Clark.
- 6,000
these are, at least, the charges that the defendants face in the riot, from assault on the authorities to vandalism and obstruction of presidential certification. Most carry light penalties.
- 5
Deaths is the official balance of the attack on the Capitol, between policemen who died of heart attacks and a woman who was shot by an agent when she tried to enter a dependency along with hundreds of protesters
Almost a year later, it is now that the commission gets closer to the Republican leader through two different lines of work: the investigations into the phone calls that Trump made before the altercation and the recent testimony of a still anonymous witness who refers how his daughter, Ivanka Trump, unsuccessfully tried to get her father to intervene with a public statement to stop the “violence.” Thompson believes that, if it is proven that the former head of the White House acted late, he could be formally charged with a crime.
Tragic witness
“I could feel like I was drowning and I thought: ‘This is how I’m going to die,'” a police officer told the commission.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland will deliver a solemn speech Wednesday to underscore the “unwavering commitment of the department to defend Americans and democracy from violence and threats of violence.” It’s the moment. Millions of Americans consider in polls that democracy is still “in danger” today and federal authorities do not rule out that, after the precedent of a year ago, the Pandora’s box of ideological violence has been uncovered.
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