Three years later, my memories of Jan. 6 are still fresh. The yells as members and security barricaded the doors to the House floor. Members of Congress deploying gas masks. My Marine Corps training kicking in as we prepared to fight to evacuate the chamber. Texting my wife that I loved her, that I would be OK. The chaos of waiting to know if we would return to the House floor and cast our votes to certify the results of the 2020 election.
Jan. 6, 2021, is a day I will never forget. God willing, a day this country will never forget. Extremist Republicans like Senate candidate Kari Lake try to rewrite history and call it a “peaceful protest” where rioters were “invited in” — but I won’t let them. None of us should. That day was anything but peaceful.
On Jan. 6, the rioters were the weapon.
Across the Capitol, thousands of rioters stormed the center of our democracy with the hopes of preventing the certification of the 2020 election. With many dressed in combat gear, they brutally assaulted over 100 law enforcement officers because they believed Donald Trump’s lie that the election was stolen.
As a Marine serving in Iraq, I dealt with some very aggressive crowds. Individuals themselves aren’t usually the problem, but when they get together and create a mob, the mob itself is the weapon. On Jan. 6, the rioters were the weapon.
Capitol Police fought like hell to protect us. Tragically, several of them died in the aftermath of what happened at the Capitol that day; many more still live with physical and mental scars that will never fade. I’ve gotten to know some of these brave heroes well in the aftershock, bonding over what we saw.
To me, this was personal. That morning, I had prepared to go on the House floor and defend the right of the will of the people of Arizona, my home, to be heard. One minute, I was a member of Congress ready and willing to cast my vote — my district’s vote — to certify the presidential election. The next, I was standing on…
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