May 19, 2024
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‘The voters should decide, not an insurrectionist mob’

Vigil held in Geneva to remember attack on U.S. Capitol

By Eric Schelkopf

Deb Banion of Geneva holds up her sign while standing on the State Street Bridge in Geneva during a January 6 Day of Remembrance and Action on the anniversary of the breach on the U.S. Capitol. (Sandy Bressner - sbressner@shawmedia.com)

A year after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election, St. Charles resident Pam Verner remains concerned about the future of democracy.

“I’m very, very concerned about what’s going on right now with the squashing of voting rights,” Verner said. “The only way that democracy will work is if everybody has the right to vote.”

Patrons gathered on the State Street Bridge in Geneva for a January 6 Day of Remembrance and Action on the anniversary of the breach on the U.S. Capitol. (Sandy Bressner - sbressner@shawmedia.com)

Verner was among those standing on the State Street Bridge in Geneva Thursday battling bitterly cold temperatures to participate in a Vigil for Democracy. The event was one of hundreds of vigils that took place across the country urging legislators to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, the Protecting Our Democracy Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

“Everybody should have the right to vote, otherwise we don’t really have a democracy,” Verner said.

Also participating in the vigil was Kane County Board member Mavis Bates, D-Aurora.

Kerri Hildebrand of St. Charles waves and American flag to passersby while standing on the State Street Bridge in Geneva for a January 6 Day of Remembrance and Action on the anniversary of the breach on the U.S. Capitol. (Sandy Bressner - sbressner@shawmedia.com)

“I felt like it was very important to be here to make sure that we remember what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, and to remember how fragile our democracy is and that it’s under constant attack,” Bates said. “We who believe that the voters should decide, not an insurrectionist mob, need to be out here freezing our toes off and making it visible to the world that we remember and that we know that we have to fight to protect democracy.”

As a member of the Kane County Board, Bates said she wants to make sure that all elections are fair and honest.

Patrons gathered on the State Street Bridge in Geneva for a January 6 Day of Remembrance and Action on the anniversary of the breach on the U.S. Capitol. (Sandy Bressner - sbressner@shawmedia.com)

“As an elected official, I feel it is even more important to protect our election process,” she said. “That’s the only way we can protect democracy. Every election has to be fair and honest and to be protected from any type of fraud. And then when the audits are done, we have to trust that the process was complete and honest and fair.”

While former President Donald Trump continues to claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, Bates is confident it was not.

“The election in 2020 was not stolen,” she said. “It was an honest election and I’m here to stand up for that.”



Kane County