On January 6, 2021, an unprecedented event took place; something that hasn’t happened since 1814.  

Congress was scheduled to meet in order to certify the election results from this past 2020 election. President Donald Trump spoke that morning at an event in Washington DC, along with his personal attorney and former New York mayor, Rudy Guliani. 

 From there, supporters of the President made their way to Capitol Hill where Congress was meeting. It began peacefully but escalated quickly. Intruders broke into the historic building by breaking windows and bypassing Capitol Hill Police.  A lockdown was underway and members of Congress were forced to hide under chairs and to shelter in place at an undisclosed location.  

Intruders could be seen in the chair where Vice President Mike Pence is supposed to sit and inside the Office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Currently, there are 5 reported deaths including a capitol police officer and at least 50 are injured.  

Many are currently calling for the president to be impeached since many feel the intruders acted on his behalf. Some are also calling for the 25th amendment to be exercised meaning the cabinet members voting to have the vice president take over.  

8th grader Martin Mitev said “It’s an absurdly disturbing event that has been inserted into American History.  It is a shameful riot: one it is not a protest, two, it was somehow not immediately punctuated by the police and 3, a day that we will look back on as a forgetful danger alley in which 5 people were killed.” 

This day will go down in American history as one of the most historic days. All over the world, people are having talks in order to make sense of this news. This is how a sparse protest became a Capitol Hill riot, something that isn’t expected of American democracy. Things must change if the United States wants to uphold its reputation of being a role model union. For more information click here.