Trump supporters recall siege on Capitol Hill

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Washington (AFP) – They have descended on Washington in their thousands, rallying to protest the outcome of a presidential election they still claim to be “rigged.”

The United States Capitol was attacked, leaving the country wounded.

A year after January 6, 2021, three participants recall the events of a day that shocked the world.

‘Euphoria’

“January 6 has been amazing,” said Samson Racioppi, a 40-year-old Republican Party loyalist who hired several buses to bring people to Washington from his home state of Massachusetts.

The day began with outgoing Republican President Donald Trump addressing a sea of ​​supporters waving “Trump 2020” flags in the bitter cold near the White House.

Samson Racioppi, 40, flies an American flag at his father’s house in Salisbury, Massachusetts Joseph Prezioso AFP

Trump ignited the crowd with a provocative speech, repeating his false claims that he won the November election against Democrat Joe Biden.

“I remember the real feeling of that euphoric day,” said Jim Wood, from New Hampshire to Washington. “See everyone.”

Before Trump finished speaking, Wood, who is in his sixties, walked to Capitol Hill, where Congress was certifying Biden’s electoral victory.

Thousands more followed suit and a huge crowd quickly gathered around the shiny white dome of the Capitol.

‘Let’s go!’

“Then all of a sudden you heard, I guess from my recollection, screams of, you know, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go,'” said Glen Montfalcone, who is also came from Massachusetts to Washington.

“And then a kind of anarchy started to happen,” Montfalcone added.

“People were pushing, pushing, pushing. ‘Come on, come on, come on,'” he said. “And that’s what we all did, we all walked on and just started walking into the area and then going up the stairs.”

The three men insist that they did not enter the Capitol itself. They could risk jail if they admitted to doing so.

Hundreds of people, however, stormed the building, including a half-naked tattooed man wearing horns and a fur hat.


Glen Montfalcone, (C in the red hat) in front of the Capitol on January 6, 2021
Glen Montfalcone, (C in the red hat) in front of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 Joseph Prezioso AFP / File

A protester was shot dead by the police.

The world watched in horror live the assault on the citadel of American democracy.

Wood said the television footage he saw broadcast the next day at breakfast was “demonizing” and that the vast majority of the protesters remained outside the Capitol.

Over the next few months, two competing narratives would emerge.

Trump supporters say it was a peaceful protest against a “stolen” election.

Police officers who fought with the mob, Democratic lawmakers, and even some Republicans called it “terrorism.”

FBI at the door

In the aftermath of January 6, law enforcement launched a nationwide sweep for participants in the assault on Capitol Hill.

Montfalcone called FBI agents to his door. Several friends were arrested.

In his law school, students tried unsuccessfully to have Racioppi expelled.

In Washington, a House of Representatives committee is investigating what has been described as an insurgency or attempted coup.

The January 6 participants reject this characterization of the day.

On the contrary, Racioppi proudly says: “This is something that I will tell my grandchildren”.


Glen Montfalcone holds a photo of himself outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021 - he is in the center with the red hat
Glen Montfalcone holds a photo of himself outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021 – he is in the center with the red hat Joseph Prezioso AFP

He remains convinced, like many Republicans, that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump, despite the absence of any credible evidence that it happened.

The law student said January 6 was just a skirmish in an ongoing conflict.

“We look at it like it’s a war, don’t we?” Said Racioppi. “And the war is the November elections.

“And before this war, we are going to create a series of battles,” he said.

“We are going to do as much political damage to the left and to the people who support tyranny as possible.”

Would he do it again?

“Of course I would do it again,” he said.

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