All of us remember the insurrection at the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. To quote President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech after the bombings on Pear Harbor in 1941, “… a day in which will live in infamy.“
Watching our nation’s capitol under siege by “patriots” hit us hard in the chest, over an election that should have gone about business the same way it has gone historically, and peacefully. Instead, the capital looked like a war zone. The most poignant moment was seeing a noose hanging from a scaffold because Former Vice President Mike Pence wouldn’t certify the election in favor of Trump. I was shocked to see what had happened to our country, but in the end, I was angry.
Instead, we saw extremists break into the hollowed halls of The United States Capitol Building and cause mayhem, destruction and violence, all while having the audacity to carry the American flag.
On the same day, former President Donald Trump tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution… not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”
Utah was experiencing something akin to an insurrection, although it wasn’t nearly as violent as what we saw at the United States Capitol that day. But still, more than 700 Trump supporters were at the Utah State Capitol.
For the folks there, maybe it was nice to be part of the in-group instead of a minority. It didn’t feel welcoming for the counter-protesters and the outliers, including myself, who initially took pictures to document the historic day. At the time, I was studying international law at Utah Valley University, and I knew that when I saw the news broadcast about people coming to Utah’s Capitol, I couldn’t afford to miss it. Even more, I didn’t want to miss out on witnessing the historic day.
From the get-go, highway patrol were guarding our statehouse just in case things got ugly, which in hindsight should have been an alarm for how far Utah’s Proud Boy and Oath Keepers chapters would be willing to go or any extremist right-wing group that was in attendance.
Immediately when the counter-protesters waved a Black Lives Matter Flag, suddenly, I heard the Oath Keepers chanting “f*ck Antifa” over and over, and much like a pack of wild wolves, here came the rest of the hate-filled groups that were protesting the election results.
Things got crazy fast; all of us were surrounded. On one side, we were facing a pack of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers; on the other side, we had non-affiliated Trump supporters yelling and encouraging the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, and to our back was a group of highway patrolmen.
Either way, things were on a collision course for bad. Myself and the other group of counter-protesters were pounced on; one of the group leaders made a move to take the Black Lives Matter Flag while the counter-protestors tried to keep their flag.
After a minor scuffle in the world’s worst tug-of-war, the counter-protestors lost their Black Lives Matter flag. What I assume to be the Proud Boys’ leader stepped up and said something to the effect of, “You guys better leave before it gets worse for you.” Mainly because the Oath Keepers were already foaming at the mouth for more than a tug-of-war match.
“What can be worse?” I wondered because I already saw how violent they got over something as simple as a BLM Flag and five counter-protestors.
As the saying goes, “Look at the consequences of my own actions,” — things got worse.
As I and the counter-protestors were escorted out by an armed Proud Boy who could have been as young as I was in 2021, they said, “You guys better watch your backs; I’ve seen where they have planted bombs under cars and detonated them.” At this point, I thought, “Huh, maybe I should have stayed home.”
I was also worried about my car, which was just down in Marmalade District, which is down the street from the capitol, with its bright blue Bernie Sanders bumper sticker on the back. In hindsight, if my car were visible, I’m sure something would have happened to it.
What struck me was how conversational he was. He just dropped a loose threat on us and then had the nerve to say, “So, as long as you guys are with me, you are safe, and they won’t hurt you.” Then, the next thing out of his mouth left me stunned; he said, “I’ll walk you guys to your cars to be safe and make sure there aren’t any bombs under your car. You’ll be safe with me.”
“Safe” is definitely not a word I would use to describe my interaction with this Proud Boy. I was glad the group I ended up with decided to say, “That’s okay, we took the TRAX up here.” After he ensured we were far from the capitol building, the Proud Boy finally turned around and walked away.
It’s been almost three years since that encounter, and to this day, I wonder what drove people to be okay with threatening their fellow Utahns and fellow Americans.
In a country that uses the phrase “insure domestic Tranquility” in its preamble to the Constitution, we as Americans should have never witnessed the violence we saw at both the United States Capitol Building and the Utah State Capitol Building Jan. 6th.
To this day, I detest the Proud Boy, who escorted us off the property of the Utah Capitol Building, and the Oath Keepers, who caused a scene by swearing at the group and stealing their flag.
In the end, I despise the actions of former President Donald Trump on that fateful day more and how close he and his followers came to overthrowing an election.
