A group of Maine House Democrats is working to enshrine the commemoration of the January 2021 Capitol protests into law with a bill from Rep. Rafael Macias (D-Topsham), declaring a “day to remember” and educating the public about the protest.
“Eight months after January 6 I was on crutches when I met Representative Chellie Pingree [D-Maine] outside the Capitol in D.C. I asked her what her pain level she felt on January 6. She said an eight. Then I asked what she felt that day standing there in front of me about January 6, she said still an eight,” said Rep. Macias during a public hearing in the Committee on State and Local Government on Monday.
“Our congressional delegation lived through an historic attack on our democracy. Their voices matter, their memories matter, and if we don’t preserve them fully officially publicly, we risk letting others tell the story for us, or worse letting the story disappear entirely,” he added.
During his testimony, Macias never mentioned Air Force veteran Ashli Babbit, the only person who lost their life on Jan. 6, 2021. She was unarmed when she was shot by Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd.
The bill, LD 702, drew co-sponsorships from five Democrats. It would designate January 6 annually as “A Day to Remember” and would require the governor to issue a statement “honoring the resilience of democracy.” The proclamation would also urge Mainers to use the day to contemplate the importance of democracy and constitutional government.
Educational institutions, libraries, and civic organizations would be encouraged to hold events commemorating January 6.
The bill also instructs the State Archivist and the Maine Historical Society to collect testimony from Mainers, including the state’s congressional delegation, who were present during the protest. The records and testimonies would then be added to the Maine State Archives.
The archivist will collaborate with schools to create educational material based on the testimonies. The bill also requires the archivist to submit annual reports to the legislature detailing the collection of testimonies and any educational initiatives.
While January 6 has long been a favorite talking point of left-wing politicians at all levels of government, the bill’s public hearing did not receive a single testimony in favor of it, either in person or as written testimony.
The only Mainer who testified on the bill in person, Deputy Secretary of State Emily Cook, spoke neither for nor against the bill, supporting its purpose but raising concerns about whether the State Archive is the most appropriate entity to undertake the collection of testimonies.
“Documenting this history is an important endeavor that will be vital to future generations. We aren’t sure, however, that the Maine State Archive is the appropriate entity to compile this history. Rather than creating new records, the Maine State Archives preserves and provides access to our state’s government’s archival records,” said Deputy Secretary of State Emily Cook.
The written testimonies were even less favorable, with one Mainer testifying neither for nor against it, and three others opposing it entirely.
“It was a day of to be learned from and forgotten, not eulogized by people who want to shame the people expressing their belief that their election had been stolen by bad actors. And it had been! The ‘adults in the room’ need to move on. We have much more important things to attend to right here in Maine,” said Diane Vernesoni of Topsham.
“This bill is nothing more than partisan virtue signaling,” said Danny Emerson of South Berwick.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="37101 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=37101">29 Comments
Maine democrats suck .
It’s a day of remembrance for the murder of Ashli Babbitt. That’s what I remember along with the J6 committee losing all of the “evidence”.
Who are all the Democrats that want this?
Yes by all means. As new information is released such as the payed pelosi agitators and undercover fbi insurrectionists the truth will eventually come out, anyone with some level of intelligence already knows it was a set up. Declaring a day to remember will be a reminder of how the democrats are anti-american scum.
Yeah, we’ll remember how stupid democrats can be… RIP Ashley B.
January 6, a day Democrats attempted to curtail free speech.
trumps been in for 3 months…. zero accountabilty for any of the crimes of the government commit against the people!! in fact they continue! when!! time is the enemy… the longer it goes the less likely anything with happen
This would backfire and soon become a day of MAGA celebration.
These idiots don’t learn from history.
We are living in a Kingdom of lies.
Are you kidding me? Jan 6th was a Fedsurrection, a total set-up. Ray Epps, the 2 “pipe bombs”, the bus load of undercover FBI informants parked in the garage, Officer Michael Byrd shooting and murdering an UNARMED woman, no national guard troops, police firing bean bags into the crowd, beating to death Rosanne Boyland, etc. etc… Give me a break.
This meathead asked chellie pingree what her pain level was?? Nothing but woke bs!! Thank God Trump pardoned all the real Americans that the criminal j6 committee railroaded! C’mon man!
Here’s the dufus Dems making up for not erecting a George Floyd monument. Pathetic, idiotic, and numbing down the body politic.
Absolutely PATHETIC.
Just f/n stupid, Maine is going broke, people are cold and hungry and this moron has a stick up his a$$ overJ/6? Hope you folks remember this garbage come the mid-terms!
Oh no, devilcrat scumbags, I don’t think so! The FBI false flag “insurrection”? Democraps in this state are the most corrupt weasels ever.
Death to democrat tyrants.
By all means, let’s party every Jan 6, to celebrate the beginning of the Republican takeover! Cake, ice cream, and horned hats for everybody!
For the rest of us in the real world who realize beyond any doubt that the 2020 election was a fraud, and an illegal incompetent idiot assumed the office of the President, your idea of memorializing the tragedy that was forced upon the rest of us is beyond disgusting. The kangaroo court that held US citizens in deplorable conditions for four years was ideologically identical to the gulags in Russia where free-thinking dissidents were sent to keep them quiet.
Once again you clearly demonstrate that if it weren’t for double standards, you democrats would have no standards at ll. For the benefit of the rest of us free-thinking Mainer’s I wish you would pack up your bags and go back to the third world shithole democrats have created in Commiefornia. Your kind has no business here and Maine is all the worse for having elected the likes of you.
With absolutely no respect whatsoever for your pathetic efforts,
so this is what the DemocRATS-Communist think is important? So Mainers are you for this idiocy? Honestly Mainers can not be this dumb and clueless to keep voting these Communists back in to office time and time again. Though I am probably wrong.
This is a new low. Democrats engineer a fake insurrection, then want to memorialize it.
January 6 should be a holiday. It should be celebrated as a day where disenfranchised voters who suffered at the hands of the mail in voting scam got to express their distaste for being robbed of an election. The funny thing is though, as pay back the Dems get to suffer through 4 more years of President Trump on steroids in payback for the stolen elections.. It woulda been over now! whoda thought? Gotta love it.
Democrats .
If Jasmine Crockett can call Greg Abbot “ Hot Wheels “ and get away with it …..
I can call her “ nigga “ .
Remember Ashli Babbitt Day
Yes we should remember the day that Capital insinuated a riot on American protesters, and falsely prosecuted them and ruined their lives so that it never happens again.
Porca miseria.
Here is the straight scoop: ““This bill is nothing more than partisan virtue signaling,” said Danny Emerson of South Berwick.”
Mr Arnold suggests that this should indeed be a Holiday: “Remember Ashli Babbitt Day”. As I retired U S navy vet and Maine EMT, I believe that Ashli Babbitt’s cold blooded murder should be recalled with an annual day of rememberance and attonement.
Hey Crook! How about the worst mass shooting in the history of Maine under incompetent Mills administration!!!!! How about you commemorate that you stupid liberal hack!!!!!
Topsham should be embarrassed that they voted for this idiot to be their rep. How about someone in the legislature do something meaningful instead of making up bullshit to get name on history archive for doing absolutely nothing.