Senate Democratic Chief Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) on Monday marked the four-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, assaults on the U.S. Capitol and condemned the potential pardons of the rioters who stormed the Senate and Home.
Schumer, talking moments earlier than lawmakers have been set to convene for a joint session to certify the outcomes of the 2024 election, recalled the chaotic scene of 4 years in the past.
“As we were going about our business, all of a sudden I felt a hand pull my collar. My security detail gripped me by the arm and told me we had to get out, a mob of rioters had broken into the Capitol and that we were not safe,” Schumer mentioned.
“I looked to the podium and saw Vice President Pence quickly rushed out of the chamber by his detail,” he remembered.
Schumer recalled coming inside 20 toes of “angry rioters” and shuddered on the considered what might need occurred if one among them had a gun.
With varied media shops on Monday replaying the harrowing footage of that assault, Schumer warned President-elect Trump that granting pardons to these rioters can be an “insult” to the Capitol Law enforcement officials who defended the constructing.
A number of officers died after the melee, together with Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who suffered two strokes after being sprayed by chemical irritants.
4 different officers died by suicide within the weeks and months afterward.
“It is shamefully, utterly outrageous that the president is considering pardons for these rioters who broke the law, attacked our police officers on Jan. 6. Pardoning the criminals who assaulted police officers and tried to halt the Democratic process would be a dangerous endorsement of political violence,” Schumer mentioned.
Trump has mentioned he’ll pardon most of the Jan. 6 protesters who’ve been convicted of crimes throughout his first day in workplace, Jan. 20.
A Washington Submit ballot carried out final month discovered that two-thirds of Individuals oppose pardons for individuals convicted of Jan. 6-related crimes.
Schumer argued {that a} pardon of Jan. 6 protesters would ship a message to the world that those that use pressure to get their means is not going to be punished.
“It is wrong. It is reckless. And it would be an insult to the memory of those who died in connection with that day,” he mentioned.
Schumer known as it “one of the darkest, most shameful days in American history of our democracy” and mentioned this Jan. 6 can be very completely different as Democrats would respect the outcomes of the 2024 election.
“Today we will not see the violence we saw four years ago. Today the process will return to normal and remain solemn but peaceful,” he mentioned.
Democrats in each chambers say they don’t count on anybody to object to any state’s slate of electors.
