A “Protect Democracy” rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
Alan Chin for Insider
- Jan 6, 2022 marked one year since rioters stormed the Capitol.
It was hard to know what to expect for the first anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Candlelight vigils had been planned at a DC jail, and at others across the country, to call for the release of those detained and charged in the riot’s aftermath. A counter-demonstration was planned on the steps of the Capitol.
A year ago, I had come to town as a photojournalist prepared to document the “Stop the Steal” rally, and then photographed it as it descended into violence and chaos as throngs of people forced their way into the Capitol. (You can read more about that here.) I watched as the crowd overwhelmed the police with bear mace, metal pipes, and other weapons, forcing their way through windows and past police lines.
Afterwards, starting with Joe Biden’s subdued Inauguration scarcely two weeks later, and again at the sparsely attended “Justice for J6” rally in September, I returned to find Washington seemingly back to its pre-Trump era sense of normalcy.
So, this Jan. 6 filled me with both mild cynicism – boredom, even – and a gnawing trepidation nonetheless.
Arriving at the Capitol, I was relieved to see that the fence line had been pulled back to the very steps, opening most of the grounds to the public. It was colder than it had been last year, and the ground was either covered with snow or mud where the snow had melted. I wonder if the powers-that-be had decided to keep defenses discrete and relatively light, as if to double down on that reassertion of quotidian life. The few visible police officers rode about on mountain bikes across an almost completely deserted area.
A smattering of earnest protesters – some saying they had come to defend democracy; others defending the former president and those who forced their way into the Capitol in his name – once again dominated the visual landscape:
“On the 6th of January I was here and I was mobbed and they tore my sign to pieces,” said Nicky Sundt, a climate change consultant. “So I made another one. I live right on the Hill.”
Alan Chin for Insider
Identifying himself as “an anonymous Democrat from the Midwest,” this man said he had traveled to Washington to display his sign on the Jan. 6 anniversary. “I’ve been thinking about speaking out for a long time,” he said. “Last night, I was so restless I couldn’t sleep because if our democracy is going to survive, I’ve got to do something,” he said.
Alan Chin for Insider
“I had supported Trump from the day he came down the escalator. I liked that he was anti-establishment. I went to more Stop The Steal rallies than anyone,” said Keith Scott, who wrote a book called “Election Fraud Cult: How I Survived President Trump’s Stop The Steal Cult.” “But then I had to see if I was in a cult. I hadn’t slept in a bed for months, I was in shock. Luckily I didn’t become one of the QAnon people. I had to unplug. For my own sanity, I had to. I can’t handle being mad at people I don’t even know. And I say that after I got spit on by BLM, and a shotgun pulled on me by Antifa. But…a lot of people got lost…lost.”
Alan Chin for Insider
“Who would think we would have to have a democratic revolution in the United States?” Carol Jackson asked. A retired career foreign service officer who had worked on democratization initiatives abroad, she added, “I even brought my Color Revolution scarf from Ukraine,” referring to the orange scarf she was wearing, from the Orange Revolution of 2004-2005.
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“When this horrible thing happened a year ago, I committed that I would come here every Jan. 6 to expand the vote,” said retired teacher Lori Farnsworth.
Alan Chin for Insider
Bill Wood, an IT professor from Maryland, was carrying a 3-D sign made by an artist friend of his and that he’s carried to 17 protests since Trump’s 2016 election. “Trump is a person with a lazy mind. Very narcissistic, and he’s only looking to make money. Amoral, and a bad businessman…He brags about breaking the law,” he said. “Now, voting is my superpower. It’ll be back to normal if people vote, but right now it’s not, because they’re trying to nullify voters. It’s the wild west again.”
Alan Chin for Insider
Danton Whitley performed with his Baltimore Urban Inspirational Choir at a sunset candlelit vigil attended by several hundred people commemorating the first anniversary of the January 6 insurrection, including members of Congress and staffers recounting their experiences. “My heart is partially grieving. But our voices and music communicate the feeling of unity,” he said.
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Edgar Woznica with his wife Alice and their baby Hazel. “We brought flowers and a thank you card for the Capitol police officers so they know they have the support of the community,” Edgar Woznica said. “It’s been a really sad and difficult year. Friends and family who don’t live here don’t really understand. We live here. It’s our backyard.”
Alan Chin for Insider
The view from Florida
By Andrew Lichtenstein
About 1000 miles south of DC, a very different scene was underway in Clearwater, Florida.
A candlelight vigil in Clearwater, Florida.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
Here, approximately 130 Trump supporters gathered along the side of the Pinellas County Jail to demand the release of all “political prisoners” being held on charges of storming the US Capital one year ago.
Specifically, the crowd demanded the release of Jeremy Brown, a local special forces veteran who claims the FBI solicited him to spy on the Oath Keepers, and who is being held at the jail. Brown called in from the maximum security wing of the jail and spoke to the crowd for about twenty minutes, in which he announced that he will be running for a Republican seat in the Florida state legislature
A man holds up a sign of the name of “political prisoners” arrested on charges stemming from the January 6 rally in Washington D.C. for passing motorists on 49th Street in Clearwater to see. “About nine out of ten people, they honk to show their support” he said. “But then we always get that one that gives us the finger.”
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
A man in a popular “Lets Go Brandon” hat waves to motorists passing by the Pinellas County Jail.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
A Trump supporter shows off his hat signed by Ted Nugent.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
A woman scrams to free Jeremy Brown and other January 6th “political prisoners.”
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
A family waves the American flag to passing motorists along 49th Street.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
A crowd gathered to demand the releasing of prisoner Jeremy Brown prays before the rally begins.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
A woman attending the rally listens to the National Anthem.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
The crowd Pledges the Allegiance to the Flag. This was the third time Trump supporters had gathered outside the county jail to demand the release of local veteran Jeremy Brown.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
A woman cries during the Pledge of Allegiance at the rally. “I just get so emotional” she said.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
The crowd listens to a broadcast live call from Jeremy Brown, calling from the maximum security wing of the Pinellas County jail, just across the parking lot. He thanked them for their support, urged them to continue to fight for the Constitution, and announced his own candidacy for the Florida state legislature.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
An elderly couple attending the rally stand in front of a Trump van, and the man wears a blinking neon hat demanding to free all of the people arrested on charges stemming from the January 6th rally in DC a year ago.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider
State Representative Anthony Sebantini, who is running for Congress, attacked local RINOs, saying they were the real enemy.
Andrew Lichtenstein for Insider.
A candlelight vigil in Washington DC
By Eman Mohamad
As night fell in Washington, a small crowd of people – and a large crowd of journalists – gathered outside the Central Detention Facility on D Street to support incarcerated detainees from the Capitol Insurrection. The protesters held candles while singing “patriot songs” and chanting slogans demanding the release of the arrested.
Pro-Trump supporters gathered outside the Central Detention Facility on D Street in Washington.
Eman Mohammed for Insider
Michelle Witthoeft, Ashli Babbit’s mother, holding a candle at a vigil outside the Central Detention Facility.
Eman Mohammed for Insider
Flowers left on the east front of the Capitol.
Alan Chin for Insider
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