Capitol attack hearings stir up memories for CT’s delegation: ‘It was shocking to see how terribly violent it was’

As one of the last members of Congress to be evacuated from the House gallery on Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes recalled being whisked past rioters held back at gunpoint by Capitol police officers trying desperately to defend the building.

More than 17 months later, however, the congressman from Connecticut’s 4th District said he was still disturbed by new images of the insurrection that aired for the first time Thursday night as a select congressional committee began its series of hearings into the January 6 attack and the role that former president Donald Trump played in how it unfolded.

“Time has a way of dulling the sharp edges of your memory of these things,” Himes said by phone Friday morning. “Even though I was there, it was shocking to see how terribly violent it was, it was shocking to see Americans going after police officers.”

Members of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation reacted to the first night of the televised hearings with a mixture of anguished recollections of their own experiences being at the Capitol, as well as a resolve to focus public attention on the committee’s findings regarding the former president.

Chief among those findings, according to the committee’s leaders, was that President Trump had egged on his supporters through his baseless claims about a stolen election and then stood by for hours as they lay siege to the Capitol, even going so far as to suggest to aides that the mob “were doing what they should be doing.”

The committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, does not include any members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation.

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“I urge Americans to continue to engage with the hearings,” said a statement from Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who was evacuated from the chamber along with Himes. “This is not old news – we must understand what happened at the Capitol on January 6th and why this attack was allowed to happen so that we can ensure it never happens again.”

The reaction from Republicans, meanwhile, ranged from scorn to indifference over the hearings, which they insisted were being televised on prime time for partisan gain.

“I have other things in my life to do, why do I need to watch it?” said Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto, who said he spent Thursday night attending an event in the state.

Himes, meanwhile, said he watched gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearings, and was most struck by the video of testimony from former Attorney General William Barr, who recalled to investigators telling Trump that he believed his claims of election fraud were “bull****.”

Additionally, the congressman said he was surprised to learn from the committee’s top-ranking GOP member, Rep. Liz Cheyney of Wyoming, that multiple Republican members of congress sought pardons from Trump related to their actions seeking to overturn the election.

“It suggests that at the time they knew that they had done something wrong,” Himes said. “You know, I have to work with these people everyday, so that was tough.”

DeLauro, who represents the 3rd District, said in her statement about the hearing that it brought back memories of calling her husband while ducking on the floor to tell him that she was safe.

“I am particularly shocked by the extensive involvement of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, which Committee investigators have determined were responsible for the initial breaches that drove rioters further within the Capitol,” DeLauro said. “This is chilling and demonstrates that this attack was orchestrated from the very start with the intent of interrupting a democratic process and keeping President Trump in power. This was not a random riot, or a peaceful protest. This was a coordinated effort by domestic actors to overthrow the democracy of the United States.”

Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut’s 5th District, who alerted her Twitter followers that she was “safe and sheltering” on the evening of January 6, said in a statement Friday that the hearing showed “the gravity of this attack on our country and the fragility of our democracy cannot be understated.”

“Last night, the raw, unadulterated facts of the events leading to the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6th were presented to the American people,” Hayes said. “The facts speak for themselves. I hope people will take these facts to heart, and consider them seriously and soberly.”

Asked whether he feared a repeat of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Proto said it was a concern but that he was more focused on other pressing issues such as inflation, immigration and a national shortage of baby formula.

“I don’t know what these hearings are going to do about it other than attempt to score political points,” Proto said. “They’re not proposing any solutions. It’s political theater designed to get people like you to write about it as opposed to writing about the issues we face today.”

For Himes, however, the hearings represent an opportunity to refocus the nation’s attention on bringing to justice the perpetrators of attack on the capitol, which he said included some of the former president’s top aides.

“It was a coup attempt and we need to be clear with each other that that is what it was, it wasn’t just a bunch of over-caffeinated protestors,” Himes said. “If we don’t acknowledge that and accept that, it could happen again. That is what I hope comes out of these hearings.”