LOCAL NEWS
United they stand
Candlelight vigil on UES remembers Jan. 6 Capitol attack
BY DEAN MOSES
Elected offi cials and Upper
East Side residents
mourned the Jan. 6, 2021
Capitol attack on its fi rst anniversary
Thursday.
Supporters of former President
Trump who attempted to
prevent the peaceful transition
of presidential power and
transform America into an autocracy
may have failed to enact
their coup, but not before
leading to fi ve lives lost during
the insurrection.
Remembering the assault
and the deaths that occurred,
a candlelight vigil was held
in Carl Schurz Park on 86
Street and East End Avenue.
Attendees fi led into the park
clutching signs denouncing
the attack. Collecting candles,
participants joined with elected
offi cials such as Lieutenant
Governor Brian Benjamin,
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney,
and Councilman Keith
Powers in song.
After commencing the ceremony,
Candles were lit in the shadow of democracy symbols.
Benjamin explained
that he attended the occasion
with the intention of
defending democracy.
“I cannot tell you how
ashamed I was on Jan. 6, when
I turned on the television and
saw the madness happening
in Washington, D.C. I actually
thought it was a joke. I didn’t
believe it was really happening,”
Benjamin began.
Turning his ire to Trump, the
lieutenant governor condemned
the former president for supporting
the deadly riot in his
name.
“We had a president who sat
PHOTOS BY DEAN MOSES
there and stoked all of this madness
because he refused to accept
the fact that he had lost the
election. That is not what I grew
up understanding about our democracy.
One of the things that
I’ve always loved about being an
American is that we have an orderly
transfer of power when the
people vote and decide who they
want to represent them. That’s
all I know. So, this new Putinlike
approach that the former
person in the White House was
taking us in the wrong direction.
And thank God, we have
the rule of law,” Benjamin said.
Holding candlesticks to their
chests, onlookers watched
on, enraptured by Congresswoman
Maloney who refl ected
on what it was like to see the
incursion from an elected
offi cial’s perspective.
“I was not terrifi ed for my life.
I was terrifi ed for our democracy.
I never thought I would ever
see the Capitol of the United
States violated by Americans
rushing into the Capitol, led
by the President of the United
States and his words,” Maloney
said.
In addition, Maloney went
on to state that voting rights
bills are the top priority of the
Senate in order to safeguard democracy.
The insurrectionists
had believed that the election
was a farce all due to President
Trump’s inability to accept defeat
due to 2020 experiencing
the highest voter turnout in a
century. Since then, according
to the Brennan Center for Justice,
19 states have enacted 33
laws that make it diffi cult for
Americans to vote—which is
why elected offi cials at the vigil
stressed how important voting
is in a democracy. It is the power
behind it.
Maloney stated that to protect
voters from suppression,
the Protecting Our Democracy
Act— which prevents an excessive
abuse of executive power,
restores Congress as a check
on executive authority, and
strengthens Congress’s exercise
of its own constitutional power—
and the John Lewis Voting
Rights Advancement Act (reinstates
pre-clearance review
requirements for voting laws)
have both been passed in the
house and are now a priority in
the Senate.
“That is where our focus is to
get these important bills passed.
Let me just say, our democracy
is sacred. Our country is sacred.
And we aren’t just patriots.
When our candidate wins, we’re
patriots for our country and for
honest and fair elections, and
let’s move forward and make
sure that our fragile democracy
becomes a strong democracy.
And it never happens again,”
Maloney said.
The vigil concluded with the
formal lighting of candles and a
moment of silence.
20 January 13, 2022 Schneps Media