It has been one year since the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol that dominated headlines for months, but as is the case across much of the country, local perspectives of the incident vary based on political ideologies.
Democrats and others on the left more vehemently denounce the attack that resulted in multiple deaths and caused an estimated $1.5 million in damage to the Capitol, while conservatives believe the violence has either been blown out of proportion or wasn’t the work of Donald Trump supporters at all.
Mitchell Grosky, a member and former chair of the Athol Democratic Town Committee, said he was at home when the Capitol was breached and he watched much of the calamity unfold live on television. He said he was horrified by what he saw, especially considering investigations revealed no widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
“It was unnerving to see. Not only was the Capitol under attack, all of American democracy was under attack,” Grosky said.
The rioters had come from the nearby “Save America Rally,” which then-President Trump used to further spread the fiction that the election was stolen. Grosky said was he was disturbed to hear Trump tell his revelers that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” He then told them to march to the Capitol to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard” because “you don’t concede when there’s theft involved.” Grosky also said it was upsetting to hear Rudy Guiliani call for “trial by combat.”
Roberta “Bobbi” Newman of Royalston was with a group of fellow Trump supporters at the “Save America Rally,” though she was not near the violence. She said members of Black Lives Matter and Antifa were present and were the ones smashing windows and attacking police officers.
“Antifa was there and they were dressed how we would be dressed,” she said. “We’re not stupid. We wear winter coats in the winter, not T-shirts. So I knew something was up.”
Newman believes radical leftists who rioted have been let off the hook and peaceful demonstrators were the only ones prosecuted. She also said they have been treated horribly in prison, and she believes voter fraud — despite no large-scale incidences being documented — swung the election in Joe Biden’s favor.
Still, despite the arrests and the frigid weather, she does not regret going.
“I love the time we had,” she said. “It was beautiful.”
Ray Younghans, chair of the Orange Republican Town Committee, said he did not attend the “Save America Rally,” but he thinks the riot was not as serious as it has been portrayed in the media.
“I think it’s overplayed. I think if you take a look, both parties were wrong in what they were doing. Nancy Pelosi should have taken the advice and called in the National Guard,” he said. “With the Washington (D.C.) police, they were probably understaffed.
“I think the television and social media has overplayed this event,” he continued.
At least 725 people have been charged in connection with the attack, and 163 have pleaded guilty. But Doug Mayo, a member of the Greenfield Democratic Town Committee and the city councilor for Precinct 8, feels the punishments doled out have not been nearly harsh enough.
“The crimes have been whittled down to something that is … not comparable to the crimes that they actually did,” he said. “It’s an insurrection and nothing less. It’s not treason, but it certainly meets the standard, in my mind, for an insurrection.”
Mayo said prosecutors seem satisfied with pursuing “a slap on the wrist” for the rioters. Many of them, he said, have been sentenced to community service, a small fine or a short stint in jail.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, was a firsthand witness to the Jan. 6 events.
“It was a coup. An attempted coup. That almost succeeded,” McGovern said. “I still look back at horror on that day.”
McGovern presided over the House of Representatives before members’ evacuation from the chamber that day. He was also the last member of Congress to leave the House chamber and passed through the speaker’s lobby after he did so, a room that’s directly connected to the House floor.
Shortly after McGovern passed through, rioter Ashli Babbitt was shot dead by Capitol police as she was trying to gain entrance to the lobby, one of several people who died as a result of the invasion.
McGovern has little patience for those who don’t think there was an insurrection or downplay it.
“They’re either lying or they weren’t here,” he said. “Tell those who were injured that day that it didn’t happen.”
Reporter Bera Dunau contributed to this article.