May 19, 2024
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Vigil for Democracy set Thursday in Geneva on anniversary of Capitol riot

Organizer: ’We need some democracy’

By Brenda Schory

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump hold on to a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. A New Jersey gym owner on Friday became the first person to plead guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) A Vigil for Democracy is scheduled for 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday on the State Street bridge in Geneva. (John Minchillo/AP)

GENEVA – A Vigil for Democracy will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday on Geneva’s State Street bridge on Route 38 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the nation’s Capitol, according to a news release.

The rioters sought to overturn results of the 2020 election that Joe Biden was elected president, instead to declare that former President Donald Trump won re-election.

Organizer Linda Robertson of St. Charles said the Tri-City area’s vigil is among 300 from groups around the country.

“We need some democracy,” Robertson said.

A news release about the vigil states that a year ago, “a faction of elected officials incited armed right-wing militants to attack the U.S. Capitol.”

“One year later, the same faction is working to restrict the freedom to vote, attacking fair voting districts and quietly preparing future attempts to sabotage free and fair elections,” the release stated.

Participants are asked to bring posters, flashlights and tea lights to drive home the message that voters decide the outcome of elections, and to support the Freedom to Vote Act, the Protecting our Democracy Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and DC Statehood, the release stated.

The Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack is ongoing. As of Jan. 4, the committee announced it was seeking information from Fox host Sean Hannity, according to a news release.

To date, 725 people from 45 states have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, according to the FBI.

An Aurora man, James Robert Elliott, 24, was arrested Dec. 20, following an indictment alleging he assaulted an officer with a flagpole during the Jan. 6 riot, among other charges.

Elliott’s attorney with the Federal Defender program could not be reached for comment. Elliott could not be reached for comment.

The FBI is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying those who attacked the Capitol, destroyed property, assaulted law enforcement and members of the media on Jan. 6, 2020.

Tips can be sent to tips.fbi.gov, where videos of the participants are posted.

The U.S. Department of Justice lists all the Capitol Breach Cases online at justice.gov.

Geneva