HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — During a particularly violent week in Connecticut’s capital city, Andrew Woods was among a small number of anti-violence workers who rushed in to help victims’ families, offering condolences and referrals to services while trying to discourage retaliation.
A California man charged with joining anti-government extremists in rioting at the U.S. Capitol told the IRS last year that he formed a charity called the American Phoenix Project to defend “human and civil rights” and educate the public about vaccines.
Pulling a pistol from his waistband, the young man spun his human shield toward police. “Don’t do it!” a pursuing officer pleaded. The young man complied, releasing the bystander and tossing the gun, which skittered across the city street and then into the hands of police.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by antigovernment sentiment after President Joe Biden's election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks.
In more than 220 years, the U.S. Capitol had seen nothing like it: a roiling mob, forcing its way past its majestic marble columns, disrupting the passage of power, desecrating the seat of the world’s greatest democracy.