DeKalb residents rally to reflect on Jan. 6 insurrection two years later

DeKALB – Two years following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, demonstrators in DeKalb gathered to mark the grim anniversary.

Many said this day in history serves as a reminder of the troubles that follow a democracy that doesn’t work for everyone.

Demonstrators gathered at Memorial Park in downtown DeKalb, also known as “peace corner,” Friday evening to mark two days since the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., leading to five deaths and injuring more than 138 police officers.

“I do think [democracy for all] is our best chance,” DeKalb resident Cynthia de Seife. “Democracy isn’t working for everybody. But we spend a lot of time trying to bring information to the public, so those of us who feel disenfranchised by the government know how to engage, how to get involved, so they can make themselves known.”

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Cynthia De Seife, (left) a member of Responsive Engagement Activating Civic Talent, along with other demonstrators wave at passing cars Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, during a Stand for Democracy demonstration at Memorial Park in downtown DeKalb. The second annual event was held to affirm the attendees commitment to American democracy. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com/Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.co)

The insurrection followed a summer of civil unrest and controversy over the 2020 election, after which Republican former President Donald Trump and his supporters falsely claimed that the election had been stolen by Democrat President Joe Biden.

Since that time, local efforts to drum up support for democracy have been planned by local groups such as REACT (Responsive Engagement Activating Civic Talent) and the League of Women Voters DeKalb County.

de Seife said the demonstration held in DeKalb coincided with similar events organized by various groups across the nation.

The crowd, gathered at the corner of First Street and Lincoln Highway, included Anita Zurbrugg, who was hoisted a sign.

She said she felt compelled to come out to the event because she cares a lot about the country.

“I think too many of us don’t take our history seriously and our responsibilities seriously enough to stand up and step out,” Zurbrugg said. “I think a lot of us don’t know our history and don’t know how hard those before us fought and worked to make our country what it is.”

Zurbrugg said she follows developments in local, state and federal government closely.

When asked what she thinks about the U.S. House GOP’s inability to confirm Kevin McCarthy as speaker – which stalled again after a 14th historic vote during day three of voting – Zurbrugg said it’s a shame.

“How sadly ironic that right now in Washington D.C., it’s not working,” she said. “We have people apparently who don’t want democracy to work and are starting to suggest that we aren’t even a democracy and they don’t want us to be a democracy. That’s very alarming to me. I don’t take it for granted that we’ll have an operating government if we can’t come to grips even with electing someone to chair our House of Representatives.”

DeKalb resident Brian Nigbor stood holding a sign during the event. He recalled that on Jan. 6 he was at his mom’s house when he turned on his television to find a riot.

“I was personally shocked at the lack of protection and the surprise,” Nigbor said.

Nigbor acknowledged that not everyone may believe democracy is working for the greater good. He said he’s gotten to know several Trump supporters living in a town with a larger conservative population.

“For them, the democracy is not working,” Nighbor. “A lot of those people are reasonable, intelligent people that are looking at things from a different point of view. But a lot of the core issues when you talk to them are not much different than the core issues people have here – the loss of the middle class, increase of drugs just everywhere and so many shared problems. I came to find that once you weeded out stuff, you did have people on that extreme ends that are going to be irreconcilable but it’s always like that.”