A divided country looks back at the January 6th insurrection, a year later

Today, we look back at the riot in Washington DC, that took place a year ago. This program originally aired on Thursday, January 6, 2022, but was pre-empted by remarks from President Joe Biden. We wanted to bring you the conversation in full today.

In what was a shock to nearly all Americans, a mob of thousands marched upon the US Capitol building, egged on by a speech from the then-President, eventually turning violent as they sought a goal of stopping the certification of then President Elect; Joe Biden, as the nation's new commander-in-chief.

The events of the day devolved from a Pro-Trump protest on the Ellipses of the National Mall, to harried clashes with law enforcement, and then to destruction, looting, the beating of Capitol Police officers, death threats, and vandalizing the halls of Congress.

US Senators and members of the House of Representatives were trapped inside the building, many fearing for their lives, some tearful, many in hiding, some resorting to prayer - eventually many were whisked off to undisclosed locations.

At the time, President Elect Biden called for peace, and Biden was among many in Washington calling for Trump to condemn the actions of the rioters.

But President Trump did little to quell the violence, instead repeating his baseless claims of a 'fraudulent and stolen election'.

It wasn't until that evening; that Trump called for a 'peaceful transition of power'.

When all was said and done, 4 people died that day. One more, a Capitol Police Officer, died the following day, and in the days and months after the attack 4 more police officers involved in the battle died by suicide.

Since the events of January 6th, more than 700 arrests of people who were at the Capitol have taken place across the country, including more than three dozen Ohioans. Charges range from assaulting a police officer, to destruction of government property.

It's no surprise that a good number of the attackers have been linked to extremist groups.

For the first half of the program today, we'll look back at the events of January 6th, 2021. what's transpired since that day, and what's still to come.

I'll speak with Malachy Browne, from The New York Times, who is co-director of "Day of Rage" an Oscar nominated documentary short about January 6th, and Professor of Political Science David Cohen, from The University of Akron.

To finish off the hour, a preview of this month's Science Cafe lecture, where we learn about new carbon capture technologies and how they're being used in space.

- David Cohen, Professor of Political Science; Director, Applied Politics Program; Fellow, Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, University of Akron

- Malachy Browne, co-director, “Day of Rage” from The New York Times

- Burcu Gurkan, PhD, Nord Distinguished Associate Professor; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Case Western Reserve University