Remembering the Jan 6, US Capitol Attack
A crowd of about 50 people joined in a candlelight vigil in downtown Castro Valley this past Thursday to remember the events of January 6, 2021, when a mob stormed the US Capitol aimed at thwarting a peaceful transfer of power.
The remembrance vigil at the so-called Castro Valley Peace Corner—the intersection of Castro Valley Boulevard and Redwood Road—also included signs in support of new voting legislation including the Freedom to Vote Act, the Protecting Our Democracy Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and DC Statehood.
Among the attendees were Castro Valley residents Bob and Liz, an older couple who asked their last names not to be used. The pair have been joining the rallies for the last five years to voice their frustration with former President Donald Trump.
“People need to realize how important our democracy is… and it’s being challenged,” Liz said
“What the Republicans are doing in other states is unconscionable. They are taking the right to vote away.”
“Our message for people is to make sure you vote and make sure everyone else can vote. If we can do that, we’re okay,” Bob said, adding that he and Liz have been voting by mail for a long time and consider it the safest way to vote.
The event in Castro Valley was one of more than 220 events taking place across the country. The various events were promoted by activist organizations like MoveOn, publications such as Daily Kos, and environmental advocacy groups like the League of Conservation Voters.
US Congressman Eric Swalwell who represents Castro Valley was at a similar candlelight vigil at the US Capitol with fellow lawmakers and first responders who protected them last January 6. Swalwell says what happened last year and what he feels Congress needs to do next are closely related.
"Democracy is like your health if you don't take care of it, you lose it," Swalwell told the Forum/Times. "The second we get lazy and not exercise our freedoms, we are in peril. The best part of our country is the right to free speech. If people disagree with the outcome of a vote, they have a right to peacefully protest. The boundaries were crossed, however, when the former president encouraged people to storm the Capitol as well as those who tried to disrupt the certification of the vote.”
Following the November 2020 election, Trump and his supporters held a rally in Washington DC on January 6. The president voiced his displeasure with the results and called on the crowd to act. The march on the US Capitol degraded into a raucous, out-of-control scene. The failed insurrection resulted in five deaths and the evacuation of the US Congress.
As for the next steps, Swalwell says he is most interested in those who bring those who broke the law to justice. Additionally, he says the next most important thing Congress can do is to cement voting rights and inoculate against those he says, "choose violence over voting."
To ensure the voting legislation passes quickly, Swalwell and others are demanding the removal of a congressional procedure known as the filibuster. Swalwell says he thinks it is time to end the filibuster and endorses its removal to ensure the proposed voting rights laws are given a fair process.