A year on from the insurrection that rocked the U.S. Capitol, southern California House of Representatives members interviewed this week say they remain concerned about the nation’s future.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, said the nation hasn’t gotten past the trauma of the violent attack on the Capitol.
“It’s like a wound, it’s a psychological wound,” Lowenthal told CNS. “And that wound should be healing after a while. Then we’d be back to where we were, reaching out, not agreeing, but that wound has never really healed. It’s like an open sore. And it’s really important that we do heal and be able to call upon not just our own close friends, but to call upon our colleagues to help us heal.”
Lowenthal said he has prided himself on his bipartisanship, but those relationships with members of the other party remain strained.
“There’s been a tremendous strain that has taken place, but many of my Republican friends I have not really spent a lot of time with have reached out to me and say they miss our close relationship … but there has been a strain on our relationships,” said Lowenthal, who is retiring from Congress this year.
Lowenthal, 80, said he was on his way to the Capitol to join in the process of certifying the election when he heard pounding on his office door. He worried initially that it might be the protesters.
“I had been planning to go over to the Capitol, but then the Capitol Police came over and said we’re evacuating,” Lowenthal said. “I never did get to the floor of the Capitol.”
Lowenthal said he watched the rally led by former President Donald Trump that preceded the insurrection.
“I was terrified that day when the police came into my office and said, ‘Grab your gas mask,’ and I said, ‘I don’t have a gas mask,’ and they said, ‘You’ve got a gas mask. You’ve got to grab it and take it with you,'” Lowenthal said. “I was overwhelmed.”
After he was taken to a safe place in another building, he watched the riot unfold on TV with another colleague. Later that night, when Congress reconvened to certify the election, he was stunned at the aftermath.
“To walk through later that night, to see the condition, the desecration of that building, to talk to people that were on the floor and how frightening it was, it was all very frightening just to be there and frightening to be in (the Longworth building),” he said. “We thought we were going to be attacked also. We were scared. Where do we hide?”
In the year since the attack, hundreds have been charged with crimes, including two Long Beach men who are facing four charges each, including entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building, and parading or demonstrating in a Capitol building, according to court records.
President Joe Biden on Thursday denounced his predecessor, former President Donald J. Trump, for tearing down democracy because he could not stand the fact that he lost a free and fair election.
Locally, members of Congress said they think about the events of Jan. 6 every day.
“It’s something that has not moved on,” Rep. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, told City News Service. “I think the repercussions, the full extent of the repercussions ofJan. 6, are still to be seen.”
Correa was in the rotunda of the Capitol as rioters charged the doors while Congress was in the process of certifying of the election of President Joe Biden—normally a routine part of the electoral process.
“That is why every day I think about it. I was there,” Correa said. “I was trapped in the rotunda. I saw Democrats and Republicans, colleagues, in terror. I saw my colleagues crying. I saw my colleagues try to run for cover where there was no cover.
“I remember the smell of tear gas, the loud pops, the gunfire, the loud alarm, the look of sheer terror and confusion in the eyes and faces of the Capitol Police, who were supposed to protect us. They were outside of their normal operations. They didn’t know what to do. It was pure chaos.”
Correa emphasized that he does not view it as a partisan issue.
“This is an issue of an erosion in our confidence in our electoral system and democracy, and this is not good,” Correa said. “I think the answer is we’ve just got to remember who we are and start working together and stop talking across each other.”
‘A mob scene’: Long Beach congressman had to flee from pro-Trump violence at Capitol