Why an Important Congress Session Caused the Attack on the Capitol

On Wednesday, January 6th history occurred. Most people would have never guessed they would see a storming of the Capitol building in their lifetime. However, 2021 seems to be already following the footsteps of 2020 with the number of unprecedented events. Many have probably already seen the news that a mob of angry and upset Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and actually got in, but, what many individuals do not know is why it happened and what the significance was of the Capitol building being their target.

The 2020 election, back in November, was the cause of many arguments and discussions. Democratic candidate Joseph Biden won the election with 306 electoral college votes to Trump’s 232, making Biden the President-elect. Due to the significantly increased mail-in ballot voting in the 2020 election and other irregularities, Trump and his supporters believe the election to be fraudulent, claiming that Trump is the true winner of the election. In a poll taken right after the election, 52% of Republicans said that Trump “rightfully won,” according to an article by Reuters.com. Since then there have been multiple recounts and votes to overturn the election, but they all have proved Biden won. Senior Sophia DiPrima says, “I still can’t believe this has been going on for this long.” 

Last Wednesday, Congress met for a joint session to formally recount the votes of the Electoral College. This session was basically just a formality that occurs every year. At 1:00 in the afternoon, lawmakers from the House and Senate assembled in their respective chambers to take part in the civic duties. Performing his duty as president of the Senate, Vice President Pence presided over the session with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presiding over the House debate. Before the session took place, many were expecting Republican House and Senate members to object to the ballots from the states. 

These objections have occurred before. As recently as 2005, two Democrats believed there were irregularities in Ohio’s election ballots and objected to that state’s electors. This objection was rejected by the House and the Senate, and therefore the session continued on. This rejection was expected to occur if Republicans objected. According to npr.org, “It would seem all but certain any attempted challenges to any of the states' electors will fail, simply because Democrats hold the House majority and would not vote to overturn any of Democrat Biden's electors.” The Congress joint session was expected to certify Biden’s win. 

What Congress was not expecting was the spectacle that happened less than half an hour later after the session began. At 11:00 a.m., crowds of Trump supporters attended Trump’s rally where he encouraged his supporters to march down to the Capitol building to cheer on Republican congressmen and women. However, the event became much more concerning as the crowd started to break into the building. Around 1:30, the Capitol police ordered the evacuation of the building, effectively halting the session. 

The mob of rioters, who some have classified as terrorists, were upset over the election loss. The culmination of this sentiment over the past few months had reached its boiling point which led to the attack on the Capitol building. It was a last-ditch effort as the Congress session was certifying Biden’s win. Senior Colette Albertson says, “I had no idea that the reason the crowds rioted at the Capitol on Wednesday was because Congress was supposed to vote that afternoon.” Rioters were climbing the walls and eventually broke in leading to the destruction of the House floor. 

Pictures from the event show rioters sitting on desks, breaking windows, and stealing microphone stands. There is even an image showing someone waving a Confederate flag inside of the building, which is utterly heartbreaking. Police were completely overpowered by the mob, using flash grenades and pepper spray, but all attempts at stopping the siege looked futile. At some points, it looked as though the Police were letting the crowd in, with some even taking selfies with the rioters. Senior Isabelle Mule says, “It was a truly infuriating and upsetting scene to watch!”    

The aftermath proved deadly as 5 people were reportedly killed, one woman being shot. Two pipe bombs were also recovered by law enforcement after they were able to get rioters out of the building. So far, 68 people have been arrested, whether or not they will be charged and prosecuted will be found out later.

Senators and members of Congress were forced to take shelter in a bunker for their own safety, hoping for the violent attack to end and to continue the important Congress session. Finally, they were able to reconvene at around 8 p.m. to resume counting ballots. Many took the stand to persuade others to either vote against the election or not. However, this time Republicans and Democrats alike both used their platforms to start off by denouncing the violence that occurred and how it wouldn’t stop them from performing their constitutional duty.  

The session didn’t end until the early hours of Thursday morning, finally coming to an end after the last attempt to object to the election was rejected by Congress. The last vote was on Pennsylvania's ballots. The House rejected the objection with a vote of 282 to 138 and the Senate rejected the attempt with a vote of 92 to 7, effectively ending the efforts of turning Trump’s loss into a win. 

The New York Times predicted that around 11 Senators would vote to overturn the results, but only 7 did. Many had changed their minds after observing the attack on the Capitol. It was shocking to see many Republicans speak about how it was a bad idea to overturn the election, one being Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying an overturn would “end democracy.” Some Republican Senators even criticized Trump’s actions, like Utah Senator Mitt Romney saying “what happened here today was an insurrection incited by the president of the United States.” 

Overall, historic events happened on Wednesday, adding to the list of historic events that had happened in the last year. Even if mobs didn’t breach the Capitol, the day would have still been monumental as Congress was certifying President-elect Biden’s win. The attack on the Capitol was a violent act that was the climax of a very heated election, hurt feelings, and a significantly messed up year.