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CHICAGO (WLS) — This Tuesday marks the fifth anniversary of the significant events that unfolded on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.
Democrats organized a hearing on Capitol Hill to commemorate the day, while simultaneously, groups in Washington D.C. gathered to express their own interpretations of that eventful day.
Reflecting on this pivotal moment in American history, leaders and historians from Illinois shared their thoughts.
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The events of January 6 continue to spark debate as intensely today as they did five years ago. Democrats argue that the day remains an open wound in the nation’s history, accusing Republicans of attempting to downplay its significance, whereas Republicans assert the matter has been concluded.
Former President Donald Trump has characterized the violent incident as merely a peaceful demonstration.
“The entire day felt surreal, and it was difficult to grasp the reality of what was occurring,” remarked U.S. Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL). “We were unaware of just how perilously close we were to a serious threat.”
Representing Illinois’ 10th District, Congressman Schneider was there that day, attempting to certify the election results. He was famously photographed on the floor of the House gallery as rioters attempted to break into the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol.
“I had helped a number of other people, some of my colleagues, get down low behind the little wall that was there,” Rep. Schneider said. “I was in the second row and just watching what was happening. I vividly remember a gunshot.”
Congressman Schneider says it was the shot that killed protester Ashli Babbitt, as people were breaking through a door, not a hundred feet from where he says he and his colleagues were taking cover.
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On Tuesday, the White House’s official website mischaracterized some of the day’s events, alleging that Babbitt, was quote “murdered in cold blood” and posed “no threat” trying to climb through a barricaded door.
“One of the things that is most distressing to me, as someone who was here on January 6, five years ago, someone who serves representing the people of Illinois 10th district, working to defend the Constitution and advance the advance the interest of all the American people is that too many, including the president united states, are trying to, at best, whitewash what happened on January 6, and at worst, rewrite history,” Schneider said.
Former leader of the Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy and one of more than 1500 people who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted by the Trump administration. Tarrio was at the Capitol Tuesday after calling for a peaceful march in memory of Babbitt.
“A year ago, many of us were sitting in a jail cell, trying to figure out if we were going to get pardoned or not,” Tarrio said. “We did trust the president. But when you’re in there you have to think about it.”
House Democrats held unofficial hearings Tuesday that they say “sets the record straight,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul was among the elected officials testifying.
“This is an extraordinary moment in American history,” Raoul said.
And while many Democrats continue to push for accountability, Kevin Schultz, the Department of History Chair at the University of Illinois Chicago, believes the political environment is too fraught for a true resolution to January 6.
“I think it’s going to be left to the historians to tell a truthful and honest retelling of what happened on January 6, and then it will just become another one of these forlorn chapters of American elites getting away with trampling on democratic institutions,” Schultz said.
ABC7 Chicago reached out to Republican Representatives Darin LaHood and Mary Miller, as well as the Illinois Republican Party for comment for this report and did not hear back. However, there was a House GOP retreat Tuesday that tied up a lot of Republican leaders.
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