Written by Sophia Hysaw, Staff Writer and Opinion Editor
On Jan. 6, 2021 an event that took place at the U.S. Capitol shocked the world. A large group of President Trump supporters stormed the Capitol with Trump flags and Confederate flags in hand. Some of these civilians were also armed with assault rifles.
They climbed the walls and forced their way in, running rampant through the halls of this historic building. Some were even daring enough to sit at lawmakers’ desks, rummage through drawers, and steal things such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s lectern and a laptop.
Supporters of the event told the national media such as the Washington Post that they were “hoping to stop the counting of electoral votes,” in what they deemed as an act of patriotism, while critics have declared the event “an act of terrorism.” Lawmakers considered the event so serious that on Jan. 13, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached President Trump by a vote of 232-197 on one count of “incitement of insurrection.’
The event caught everyone’s attention almost immediately, like Indian Trail High School Junior Tucker Matrisch.
“Literally the moment it happened I think I got an alert on my phone during my English class,” Matrisch recalled.
“I heard about the incident as it was unfolding because the media coverage of the event was huge,” said Indian Trail senior Alex Marquez.
Many students were hearing about this in the middle of their school days, during their classes and were completely caught off guard.
“Speechless, I was absolutely speechless,” Matrisch said.
Alana Carmickle, another Indian Trail junior, initially experienced confusion,
“I thought that they had just shown up to protest. I was shocked though when I saw that they were trying to break into the building to stop the count of electoral votes,” Carmickle said.
It was clear that not many people saw this coming.
“The whole thing honestly caught me off guard because the government is supposed to be the big brother, but it has reminded me that this country is by the people for the people,” Marquez said.
“I don’t think I saw it coming, but I knew that it was a possibility. I didn’t think any retaliation from Trump supporters would be this extreme, especially since they were so against the BLM (Black Lives Matter) movement. But it was still a surprise to see,” she said. She was one of several who drew comparisons from the BLM movement to this event at the Capitol.
When asked where these high school students were getting most of their information from, the sources ranged from all types of news stations to apps just for politics and even parents, but all three students stated social media was a source as well.
With the popularity and normality of technology among the youth in this modern day, the news spread quickly, although several students noted they knew it was important to check sources and not trust everything they saw on the internet.
“My dad watches as many news stations as he can so I watch everything from CNN to Fox,” Carmickle said.
With all this information being circulated, several students expressed they were worried about this happening again.
“I feel like it could definitely happen again from either side, right or left, because if people want to get something done, there’s always a numbers advantage,” Marquez said, referring to how citizens of America have always outnumbered the government.
While Matrisch did agree that this could happen again, his reasoning differed.
“This will continue to happen as long as people continue to attempt to undermine our government,” Matrisch said.
Meanwhile, Carmickle completely disagreed.
“I don’t think this will happen again. Now that there is actual security, I don’t think they want to fight the armed forces,” she said.
With all this rise in opposition, Americans are concerned about the nation’s division.
“I feel like it’s definitely divided the nation more, and I feel like both sides are going to decide to do more drastic things. I don’t believe life will go back to how it has been,” Marquez said.
Though, Carmickle took a bit of a different stance.
“I think as a whole it divided the people in the nation, but watching the news I see it has made some Republican politicians realize that Trump is not the greatest president, and they’re actually agreeing with Democrats for now,” Carmickle said.
Overall, the assault on the Capitol has served as a wakeup call for some students to educate themselves on the topic as much as possible and participate in their democracy.
“I think it is important that as young people we don’t just listen to the news, but that we also take action in the democratic process which involves creating a voting plan, going out, and actually voting for what you believe in,” Matrisch said.