It may have been a year since zealous protestors stormed the Capitol building as Congress voted to certify the results of the 2020 Presidential election, but it's left an indelible mark on a lot of people.
Just ask someone, like U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee), who was inside the building on Jan. 6, 2021.
He, along with others, spoke at a vigil Thursday evening outside the Osceola County Historic Old Courthouse.
Former St. Cloud Mayor Donna Hart, who spearheaded the Osceola event, made it clear that the vigil was a non-partisan event that was part of a national movement of about 300 similar vigils held Thursday.
"I asked elected Republicans and Independents to join me in sponsoring this event, but sadly I stand here alone tonight," Hart said.
Those who spoke at the event called the uprising, by-in-large, "a threat to the country's peaceful transfer of power," and Hart mentioned it was "an act of domestic terrorism, according to the FBI."
Five died, many were injured — including 138 police officers — and more than $1 million in damage was done to the Capitol building. Over 700 have been arrested in connection with their roles in the riot.
Soto told the story of what he saw from inside the House of Representatives chamber as the attack occurred.
"It will be known as the day when our tradition of the transfer of power was stained with blood; the day our democracy nearly died," he said.
He said he was one of the last 10 House members to vacate the chamber to safety.
"We were in the final steps of the certification of electing a President while another scene ensued at the Ellipse (the original rally near the National Mall involving Donald Trump)," he said, noting he received a text the the Capitol was breached as Congress began recording electoral votes.
"I rest assured, I'm in the safest place on Earth, the 'People's House' has never fallen," he recalled. "Debate yielded to prayer, and I became uneasy as fear was in the air, and the members began to evacuate the House chamber."
Soto said he was among three-dozen stranded members in the gallery as insurrectionists began banging at the chamber doors. "We fled over chairs and under railings to the door ... we are trapped. Orders rang to 'Get down', then gunshots, flash bombs, tear gas. I still don't comprehend to this day as Capitol police acted as sentinels. I contemplated my life."
While the Senate chamber fell with without a shot fired, Soto said he was able to escape down a hall, the only way out, to his offices, flanked by guards, and found all his staff were safe.
"I was hungry, thirsty ... and suspicious of certain colleagues in the room. We watched the news, we see the mob, we were in disbelief," he said. "Hours went by with eyes glued to the coverage. The decision was made: return to the Chamber and do our duty ... by 4 a.m., a domestic terrorism plot had been foiled. I was alive, Congress was alive, and thank the God almighty, democracy was alive.
"America must remember this day, learn from this day, lest we repeat it. I thank our Capitol Police, heroes who saved our lives and our democracy, waging a medieval battle to save the Capitol that lasted over four hours."
Dr. R. LeWayne, Esq., a service veteran of 35 years, said "democracy won that night," and drew parallels that day to his upbringing in Mississippi in the 1960s during the era of Jim Crow laws.
"Everything I've fought for for the last 35 years came to fruition," he said. "I never forgot the terror we felt watching insurrectionists storm our government. American will never be destroyed from the outside, but a previous administration used protestors, turned assailants to overthrow an election."
