FILE - Violent protesters stand outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Prosecutors say former Rocky Mount Police Sgt. Thomas Robertson used his law enforcement training to block police officers who were trying to protect the Capitol from the mob’s attack. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
SALT LAKE CITY — On the eve of the first anniversary of the riot on the US Capitol, Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, joined Inside Sources host Boyd Matheson to look back on what transpired that day and the scar that may take a while to heal.
On Jan. 6, 2021, a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. They sought to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election[29] by disrupting the joint session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes that would formalize then President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. . . Rioters assaulted law enforcement officers, vandalized property and occupied the building for several hours. . . . Many people were injured, including 138 police officers.*
“Let’s start with the with the events of January 6. What do you think are the crucial things that need to happen? Or even some of the things that maybe have happened that haven’t been disclosed yet that we need to be focused on?” Boyd asked.
“I think looking forward, we still don’t know enough about what happened that day and who bears responsibility,” Curtis said. “And I think that’s unfortunate a year later.”
Boyd mentioned ongoing investigations by the Department of Justice, CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, Capitol Police and a [House] committee.
“How do you see that playing out? Are they each doing their roles? Are we doing a lot of duplicative work? There are some being just more politics than substance?” Boyd asked.
“Well, of course, we don’t have a lot of insight, even as members of Congress into most of those resources that you just listed. The commission is very public and political, and it’s attracting a lot of attention. And, unfortunately, I think most Americans are left without a good source for where to get their information and to learn exactly what happened,” Curtis said.
Boyd said what stood out for him on that day was Vice President Mike Pence gaveling a joint session of Congress back into session certifying the vote to give Biden the election victory after the rioters had cleared out.
Vice President Pence gavels in the joint session
“It was a very proud moment for me, that we went back to work, that we were not going to let this distract us from our constitutional duty. And I think sometimes that gets lost in all the events of the day,” Curtis said.
“As you look at that healing process, what do you think some of those keys are as we try to move forward one year later?” Boyd asked.
Curtis said both sides of the political divide need to turn down the rhetorical heat. He also said there’s another scar that has yet to heal.
“The other thing, which I think your listeners probably don’t see that I get to see, is the deep scar left on many of my colleagues, particularly on the Democratic side. Many of them thought they would die that day. They’ve not forgiven many of the Republican colleagues for what happened that day. They won’t sponsored deals with them. They won’t socialized with them. It’s really a bigger scar than people realize.”
*This passage was sourced from Wikipedia, which according to the free online encyclopedia, has an internal policy which states that articles must be written from a neutral point of view, which means representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all of the significant points of view that have been verifiably published by reliable sources on a topic.
—————————————————————————————————————————-
Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson can be heard weekdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app.