During the January 6 riot at the Capitol, it wasn’t only members of Congress who were thrown into danger, but their staff and other workers in the Capitol, as well. Now, more than 370 Democratic House and Senate aides are asking the Senate to convict former President Donald Trump for his alleged role in the riot when they serve as jurors in his impeachment trial this month.The aides wrote an open letter to the Senate which was published on Wednesday. “We write this letter to share our own views and experiences, not the views of our employers,” the aides wrote. “But on January 6, 2021, our workplace was attacked by a violent mob trying to stop the electoral college vote count. That mob was incited by former president Donald J. Trump and his political allies, some of whom we pass every day in the hallways at work.”The aides likened the experience of January 6 to attending school in the “Post-Columbine era.” “As the mob smashed through Capitol Police barricades, broke doors and windows, and charged into the Capitol with body armor and weapons, many of us hide behind chairs and under desks or barricaded ourselves in offices,” the aides wrote.“Others watched on TV and frantically tried to reach bosses and colleagues as they fled for their lives.”Five people died as a result of the riot, including a Capitol Police officer, and a second officer later died by suicide. More than 180 people have since been charged in connection with the riot, according to a tally by USA Today. The aides are pinning responsibility for the violence on Trump, who spent months drumming up fake election fraud conspiracies after he lost in November, and spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6, during which he encouraged supporters to “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue” and “fight like hell” against the certification of Joe Biden’s win.“As congressional employees, we don’t have a vote on whether to convict Donald J. Trump for his role in inciting the violent attack at the Capitol, but our senators do,” the aides wrote in the letter. “And for our sake, and the sake of the country, we ask that they vote to convict the former president and bar him from ever holding office again.”
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