Pittsfield — On January 6, 2021, two months after former President Donald Trump was defeated in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of thousands of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The supporters intended to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting Electoral College votes, a formality in the process of certifying the election.
The angry mob failed at their mission and President Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States days later on January 20, 2021. However, five people died as a result of the attack, and thousands were injured.
Three years later, on Saturday, January 6, at 1 p.m., the Berkshire Democratic Brigades will be holding its “Defend Democracy, Defend America” stand-out event at Park Square.
As described on its Facebook page, the group is a “grassroots Democratic organization supporting progressive issues and candidates.”
Michael Wise, who leads the group, shared with The Berkshire Edge his memories of the January 6 attack on the Capitol. “When I was watching the attack, I was absolutely appalled and rather frightened,” Wise recounted. “It was outrageous that we have gotten to the point where that physical violence was not just being contemplated, but exercised, in an attempt to dismantle the basic functions of democracy.”
Wise said that one of the points of the stand-out event is to raise awareness of the ongoing threats against democracy. “I think that there are a meaningful number of people who all think that violence is the answer,” Wise said. “They are frustrated by the democratic process in which they don’t win everything every time.”
“American democracy is under attack, and, unlike World War II when the threat came from Nazis and the Japanese Empire, this time it comes from fascists within our own country,” Wise explained. “To defend our democracy, we need to strengthen the democratic institutions that we have. We need to respect them and make sure that they work on what they are supposed to do. We also need to pay attention to the roots of the dangers against democracy, which is why we’re having this stand-out event. We need to keep these issues out there.”
Wise argued that democracy in Massachusetts is “[n]ot in anywhere near the same sense” of danger as it is nationwide. “I have some views about the Massachusetts situation, but [it] pales in comparison with the threat on the national level,” Wise said. “I am aware that there are things we could fix about the way the government works in Massachusetts. Still, I think everybody involved here of any significance understands that the democratic institutions in the state are sound. We work within those institutions rather than tossing the cards off of the table.”
For more information about the Berkshire Democratic Brigades, visit their Facebook page.
