Wednesday, January 6th was an unprecedented historical event; rioters breached the Capitol sparking a nationwide controversy. Nationwide reactions vary greatly; some people are surprised whereas others expect the tragedy. Questions regarding national security and double standards have been prominent as well as demand for justice. The Kearnian interviewed several student’s at Kearny High to listen to their reactions:

Carina Lamego:

The Capitol riots made me feel embarrassed to live in this country and I’m only 15. To see this all go down because a president was voted out of office really concerns me for the future since this happens every 4-8 years. Many will argue that liberals did protests in May and that this is a constitutional right, but this can not and should not be compared to the BLM protests that happened last year. Those protests were peaceful and happened for a good reason while this all happened because a group’s leader doesn’t hold power anymore. And the fact that it got as far as it did really scares me as a teenager because I will be able to vote on the next election and things might be very VERY different by the time we get there. It scares me that something bad might happen to me if I express my beliefs. I remember being taught that you shouldn’t talk about your political views growing up but now it’s all people seem to talk about. Not only do we look like fools to ourselves but we look like fools to the rest of the world and it makes it seem like a joke and that it’s easy to break into our capital if the police allow its own people to do so freely.

Daniela Calle

What had occurred at the Capitol was an act of terrorism, an attack on our democracy, and a blatant demonstration of how racist and unjust our criminal justice system is. To clarify, the insurrection that had occurred bluntly displayed how police treat white people differently than those who were at the BLM protests (mainly people of color or those joining in the fight for people of color.) Using the BLM protests as an equivalent example as to what happened during the attack, as a lot of people are doing, is absolutely disgusting. People who were at the BLM protests fought against police brutality, fought for our criminal justice system to be reformed, and fought for equality. That day, we saw how white supremacists stormed the Capitol. They thought they had an entitlement to do so. This so-called entitlement they thought they had is white privilege. With this white privilege that they have, they used it to successfully breach a government building putting many lives at risk. With that white privilege they managed to trespass into government property with weapons, and battle cries without being shot, tear gassed, jailed, or taken away and beaten. At the BLM protests, we saw how peaceful protests turned violent after police officers who were dressed in full riot gear were hiding behind their “orders” and beating up, tear gassing, pepper spraying, people of color. We did not see that during the Capitol riot. It was disgusting and terrifying to see how easily our Capitol was raided. Our President incited this attack as well which is unbelievable. Our Vice President had to call in the National Guard in order to protect the Capitol. This was an infringement on our democratic practices, an event that put unarmed citizens in danger, and an overall terrorist attack. These people deserve to be called terrorists. 

Nicole Gallegos 

“I thought they were going to harm the people counting the vote and hold them hostage to rig the election. I think the capitol police should be investigated and prosecuted because it’s an important government building, so you wouldn’t think they’d let anyone go inside and let it get out of hand that quickly. They could’ve stopped it before everyone started raiding, but it feels as if they were involved in the entire plot. Maybe the police even saw or heard things going around, but didn’t report it. I doubt the rioters planned it quietly, they probably planned something on social media, it wasn’t a spur of the moment event. I personally think Republicans should take responsibility for inciting the actions that led to this coup. They aren’t doing anything about it, they have the power to keep the order and to not let things get out of control to this level. They refuse to take accountability and continue to defend it and let everyone off the hook because “America is about freedom”. People have the right to riot and protest but only when it’s fair and they don’t have the right to act violently. It’s about freedom to a certain extent.”

This insurrection has brought the second impeachment of Donald Trump’s 4 year term. House Democrats are proactively fighting for republican senators to convict him for being the major spark in the coup that happened on January 6th. New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, who represents the New Jersey’s 9th Congressional district, has been one of the most vocal critics in the past four years regarding Trump’s dangerous agenda and is calling for the investigation of him and his administration. He wants to see the Republicans in the House and Senate to also face ramifications for inciting violence even further by pushing radical right-wing extremism into the core values of the modern-day Republican Party. 

For more updates on Rep. Pascrell’s call for investigation follow his social media handles @billpascrell