#TABITHA RASKIN WINDOWS#

Our view was slightly obstructed by the inaugural scaffolding and platform, but it was clear that the crowd was getting bigger and more aggressive and there definitely were not enough Capitol Police officers. Tabitha, Hank and I knew something was very wrong. All of the major news channels were showing the activities on the floor, so we only received information about outside activities through Twitter and information other friends and staffers were sending us.

#TABITHA RASKIN WINDOWS#

Our windows faced the West Front of the Capitol, in the direction of the Washington Monument. Jamie left for the floor, which was around 50 feet from our door, and Tabitha, Hank and I started looking out of the large office window at what was taking place outside. The plan was that shortly before Jamie was to speak on the floor, at around 1:30 p.m., Tabitha and Hank would be taken to one of the viewing galleries by security (this was a special privilege, as only Members of Congress were permitted in these galleries during the Joint Session). This is when things began to get crazy a lot is still hazy to me. The wonderful staff of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer gave us the Hoyer ceremonial office (H-219) for the week so Jamie could have privacy in his time of mourning and be closer to the House floor. At around noon, Jamie and I walked to the Capitol through the tunnels, the only direction that Capitol Police had ever given us for this momentous day, to meet Tabitha and Hank in a ceremonial room off the House floor. JamieвЂ™s other daughter, Hannah, and TabithaвЂ™s boyfriend, Ryan, would watch the proceedings at home with JamieвЂ™s wife, Sarah. JamieвЂ™s family wanted to be with him and see him in action on the floor, so they decided that his daughter, Tabitha, and his son-in-law, Hank, would come to the Capitol. We went up to our office in the Rayburn House Office Building, where Jamie worked on his speech in preparation for his big day. As we drove on 3rd Street NW in front of the Capitol, we could see people with Trump, QAnon and Confederate flags milling around and heading toward the White House (or so it seemed). We live near each other, and pre-COVID, were daily commuting partners. I picked up Jamie and drove him to work (masks on, windows down). You may also know that Jamie is a constitutional scholar, and Speaker Pelosi gave him the high honor of being one of the four key players during the electoral college vote on the House floor.

Forgive me, itвЂ™s a long read.ДЄs most of you know, I am Chief of Staff to Representative Jamie Raskin, who had an unbearable family tragedy on December 31 when he lost his beloved son Tommy. I am writing this because the process is cathartic for me, and I donвЂ™t want to EVER forget the details of January 6, 2021. We are reprinting it with her permission.ДЇriends, here is my story of what happened to me yesterday.

Julie Tagen, who is the Chief of Staff to Congressman Jamie Raskin, wrote the following account of her experience during the attack on the U.S. I think it is a more eloquent commentary than anything I could write and reprint it here: We lost one of the three people most precious to us, and we discovered the precariousness of democracy itself.Last year, Adam Pagnucco published a first-hand account of what it was like to be inside the Capitol on January 6th. In that period of about a week, a lot of basic pillars of my existence were demolished. Jamie says the confluence of the two events-the suicide of their son and the storming of the Capitol-has left an indelible mark: вЂњWe experienced the violent attack on Congress and the insurrection against the government, which was a public trauma to accompany our family trauma.

Jamie, Tabitha and Hank had gone to the Capitol to witness the ceremonial counting of the Electoral College ballots making Joe Biden president. вЂњI was thinking, has my life taken this dramatic turn where IвЂ™m going to be losing my entire family?вЂќ Now, Jamie, the coupleвЂ™s daughter Tabitha, and their daughter HannahвЂ™s husband, Hank Kronick, were all at the Capitol, threatened by a menacing mob. Jamie Raskin, had buried their 25-year-old son, Tommy. Just the day before, she and her husband, Rep. 6, Sarah Bloom Raskin was home in Takoma Park watching the assault against the U.S.

Tabitha raskin