Northwest lawmakers reflect on second anniversary of Jan. 6 Capitol riot

WASHINGTON – When the House of Representatives convened at noon Friday, the ongoing struggle to elect a speaker wasn’t the only thing on the minds of those in the chamber.

Exactly two years earlier, lawmakers were barricaded in that same room as supporters of then-President Donald Trump breached the Capitol in a violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the daily prayer delivered when the House convened, House Chaplain Margaret Kibben acknowledged the solemn anniversary.

“On this day of profound remembrance, may we lean on the strength to be found only in You,” Kibben prayed. “Come alongside us and show Your mercy on the American people as they – and we – approach today with a host of feelings, the abiding emotional and spiritual unease stemming from the memory of inconceivable unrest in these chambers two years ago.”

Northwest lawmakers from both parties called Jan. 6, 2021, a bad day for America, although Democrats were quick to draw a line between the riot and the political chaos on display in the voting to pick a speaker, an idea Republicans shrugged off.

“I think the sense of the fragility of our democracy is something that didn’t exist before Jan. 6 – not in the same way,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle. “And I think that the sense that we all have of what’s at stake in serving with people who continue to push for the big lie, continue to be insurrectionists themselves, has been very, very challenging.”

“It undermines the whole institution of democracy and I think this is a part of that,” she added, gesturing toward the House chamber as a cheer erupted from Republicans when a GOP holdout flipped and voted for the first time for McCarthy.

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho Falls, said he didn’t see any connection between the mob that besieged the Capitol and the group of hard-right Republicans who have blocked McCarthy from the position he had long coveted.

“Obviously, it was a horrific day, a day that will be remembered for a long time,” he said. “I wish it hadn’t happened, and there’s still a lot to uncover about it, but it was horrific.”

The contested legacy of the Capitol riot also played out across the city on Friday. That afternoon, the mother of Ashli Babbitt, the rioter shot dead by police as she tried to climb through a broken door, was arrested for blocking traffic near the Capitol in a memorial for her daughter, who has become a martyr for some on the right.

At the same time, other demonstrators rallied outside the Capitol in memory of the three police officers who died in the wake of the attack, two by suicide and another from multiple strokes suffered after being attacked by rioters, which a medical examiner determined “played a role in his condition.” Later that afternoon at the White House, President Joe Biden awarded medals to some of the officers who were injured defending the Capitol.

“For most of the country, that was such an awful, terrible day,” said Rep. Kim Schrier, a Democrat whose district stretches from Wenatchee to the Seattle suburbs. “For me, it’s a reminder of how fragile our democracy is, and that we need to protect it and should never take it for granted. And I hope that is not a partisan way of thinking about that day.”

Over the past two years, one word used to describe the events of Jan. 6 has become uniquely partisan. Democrats often call it an insurrection, a word generally defined as a violent revolt against a government, but many Republicans say that word overstates the threat Trump supporters posed to the U.S. government that day.

Rep.-elect Ryan Zinke, a Republican newly elected to represent western Montana, said he saw coups and civil wars first-hand in his time as a Navy SEAL commander.

“I know what an insurrection is,” he said. “This was riotous. It was unlawful. It was shameful. It was criminal. There’s a lot of things that I think you can tag on it. Insurrection, I think, was a political note. You can’t really be serious when one of the leaders is wearing a Viking hat painted blue.”

“But it was a shameful day and I think we should recognize how fragile sometimes the institution is,” Zinke added. “Words have meaning, and I think we should be mindful of respect and civility.”

Rep. Russ Fulcher, a Republican whose district includes North Idaho, said the legacy of Jan. 6 would change with the GOP-controlled House poised to lead its own inquiries into the events of that day. Most Republicans have criticized the House select committee on the Jan. 6 attack, whose two GOP members made it clear they wanted to use their investigation to weaken Trump’s hold on their party.

“For the first time, we’re going to get an official look and some drilling down on both sides of this issue,” Fulcher said. “Last commission, they started with a verdict and worked for months to back it up. Now, we’ll get some sunshine on the other side of the issue.”

In a speech nominating GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker of the House for the 12th time, Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., thanked the Capitol Police for defending the building two years earlier, drawing a standing ovation from both parties. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., used the Democrats’ nominating speech to reflect on how the Capitol riot threatened the U.S. government itself.

“Exactly two years ago today, our resolve was tested when the violent mob of insurrectionists attacked our Capitol, threatened the integrity of this democracy and undermined our Constitution,” Clyburn said. “The greatness of this country and the resilience of our democracy were put at peril, but we survived.”

Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, said the Capitol riot has had far-reaching effects – from the 2022 elections, where many candidates who supported Trump’s claim that the previous election was rigged lost their races, to the trauma it inflicted on the police and their families, lawmakers, staffers, cafeteria workers and others who were at the Capitol that day.

“I think the legacy of Jan. 6 is still being written,” Larsen said, adding that part of that legacy is positive: “The building is still standing, democracy is still standing, the Constitution won again.”