Lawmakers expressed relief over a special designation for this coming Jan. 6, saying it will boost security on what could be a tense day at the Capitol. But the move is just the beginning, some said.
The designation, made by the Department of Homeland Security and announced Wednesday by the Secret Service, comes amid fears of a potential repeat of the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol in an attempt to stop the count of electoral votes.
“Anything we can do to prevent a violent insurrection or an inside political coup, we should be doing,” said Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the House select committee that investigated the attack. “But if you have a faction in society that fundamentally does not accept the outcome of democratic elections and the rule of law, there is not any kind of legal panacea to the problem. We have to be prepared at every level for what’s coming at us.”
