Last year, hundreds of people stormed Congress on behalf of former President Donald Trump and his false claims of election fraud.
As the fallout from the Jan. 6 insurrection continues to impact the country one year later, the one-year anniversary presents an opportunity to recognize the police who fought insurrectionists on that day and the officers and politicians who have been pursuing justice ever since.
Officer Eugene Goodman was hailed a hero for protecting Congress during the insurrection.
One of the enduring images to emerge from the Capitol Hill insurrection was a video of a lone officer drawing attention to himself and getting a crowd of angry invaders to chase him, thus leading them away from members of Congress who would have otherwise been in harm’s way.
Additional video emerged of Goodman personally directing Senator Mitt Romney to turn back as he was unknowingly heading toward the insurrectionists; Romney personally thanked Goodman for protecting him.
Weeks after the insurrection, Goodman — who had been made a deputy Senate sergeant at arms — had the honor of escorting
Kamala Harris to her inauguration. Weeks later, Goodman was unanimously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the U.S. Senate. Goodman, who served in the U.S. Army before becoming a police officer, was also honored with the Distinguished Public Service Award from leaders of the U.S. Army. Recently, many people, including the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson, argued that Goodman should have been named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, a distinction that was given to billionaire Elon Musk.
Lt. Michael Byrd, the officer who shot Ashli Babbitt while defending Congress, shared his story.
For months, one of the most important figures from Jan. 6 remained unknown to the public. During the riot, Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed while climbing through a broken window, and she was backed by other insurrectionists who were attempting to storm an area of the building that led to where members of Congress were sheltered. For months, the identity of the officer who warned the angry crowd before firing the fatal shot was concealed for the officer’s safety.
In August, Lt. Michael Byrd revealed his identity in an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt. “I know that day I saved countless lives,” Byrd told Holt in the interview, adding that shooting Babbitt was the only time he has used his weapon in his 28 years on the police force. Pushing back against accusations that he had political motivations for shooting Babbitt, Byrd said, “I do my job for Republican, for Democrat, for white, for Black, red, blue, green. I don’t care about your affiliation.”
Five officers lost their lives after the insurrection — now others demand justice on their behalf.
More than 100 Capitol Hill police officers were injured fighting insurrectionists on Jan. 6; many of them have yet to recover from their physical and psychological wounds. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed and died hours after being attacked during the fight. After his death, Officer Sicknick was given the rare recognition of lying in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, where President Biden and various lawmakers came to pay their respects. Though his death was ruled to have resulted from natural causes, many believe that the assault he suffered, including being attacked with chemical spray, played a role in the strokes that led to his death.
Sandra Garza, Sicknick’s partner of 11 years, recently appeared on MSNBC and other media outlets to talk about her late partner and demand justice. Ironically, she noted that Sicknick was a Trump supporter, though she said she believes that, had he survived, he would have been appalled at what the former president has done. Garza ultimately blames Trump for her partner’s death: “Trump belongs in prison, period,” Garza told MSNBC’s Joy Reid.
"He instigated this entire event. He stood by for hours and watched what was going on at the Capitol during this insurrection, watching everything unfold like it was an action movie," Sandra Garza says about former President Trump. "Trump belongs in prison — period." pic.twitter.com/GIyhBPwwCc
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 4, 2022
In addition to Sicknick's death, four other police officers — Jeffrey Smith, Howard Liebengood, Gunther Hashida and Kyle deFreytag — died by suicide in the months after they fought the insurrectionists. They have been widely recognized as casualties of the attack, and Smith’s family has since filed a lawsuit against two men who are accused of beating the officer during the insurrection.
Officers who fought on Jan. 6 shared their stories and called for accountability.
In July, four law enforcement officials from the Jan. 6 battle testified publicly about their experiences in front of the U.S. House of Representatives select committee that has been created to investigate the insurrection. Appearing in front of some of the lawmakers they helped protect that day, Aquilino Gonell, Michael Fanone, Daniel Hodges and Harry Dunn gave compelling testimony of their experiences. These officers have made various other appearances and statements as well, hoping to shed light on the events of that day.
Among other things, their testimony has highlighted the racist dimension of the attacks. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who defended the west entrance of the Capitol, recounted the rioters calling him a “traitor” and “not even an American.” Gonell remains in therapy for his mental health after the attack, and he has yet to regain full use of his left arm.
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn recounted the racist abuse he endured last year, including the woman who yelled, "You hear that guys? This n***** voted for Joe Biden," during the attack. He also testified that other officers were called the N-word and threatened with violence. In addition to dealing with the insurrectionists and those who have downplayed the incident since then, Dunn has even faced pushback from fellow officers who have complained that his comments about the Jan. 6 events have made discussions of the event “all about race.”
Additionally, several lawsuits have been filed on behalf of police officers and the city of Washington, D.C. over Jan. 6. In December, D.C. District Attorney Karl Racine announced that the city was suing the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia for their roles in planning and carrying out the attack. The lawsuit, among other things, evokes the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, which was enacted after the Civil War to combat violent racist organizations like the KKK by allowing such groups to be sued for their actions. Earlier this month, Marcus Moore, as well as Bobby Tabron and DeDivine Carter — three police officers who were injured in the insurrection — cited the Ku Klux Klan Act in two separate lawsuits that they filed against Trump; other officers have also sued the former president and the right-wing militia over the insurrection.
Black lawmakers lead the charge to hold insurrectionists and Trump accountable.
In the aftermath of the Capitol Hill insurrection, several Democratic lawmakers have attempted not only to seek justice from the insurrectionists but also to hold Trump accountable for causing the attack in an attempt to overturn his election lost to President Joe Biden. After members of Congress returned to session on the evening of Jan. 6 to certify Biden’s election win, Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee closed the session at nearly 4 a.m. the next day. Rep. Lee, who spoke to Blavity later that day, reiterated that it was important for her and her colleagues to finish their task and to reassert control after the insurrectionists’ invasion; “This building didn’t belong to them,” she said.
On Jan. 6, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar was the first member of Congress to draft new articles of impeachment against Trump. Though her draft differed from the final version, Trump was impeached for the insurrection, becoming the only U.S. president to be impeached twice. Even though the Senate did not convict him, Congress continues to investigate his role and the roles played by others in the insurrection. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi is leading a select committee in the House of Representatives that is investigating the actions taken by Trump, other White House officials, Republican members of Congress and others in planning, executing and failing to curtail the insurrection. Despite resistance from Trump, the committee is pursuing evidence of potential criminal wrongdoing by the former president and others.
With hundreds of insurrectionists being pursued by law enforcement or tried in courts, and with the underlying lie of election fraud motivating voter suppression and anger from conservative Trump supporters, the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021, will linger for some time. While the country continues to come to grips with this unprecedented assault against the government and democracy, honoring those who fought and continue to fight against the insurrection is important to prevent this type of attack, or something worse, from happening in the future.
