Kelly Kenoyer
At least one resident of Sweet Home attended the rally in D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, which turned violent as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Incoming Sweet Home City Council Member Angelita Sanchez posted several live videos to Facebook of her visiting D.C. that day, including one of her walking towards the capitol building after President Donald Trump’s speech.
In a six-minute video Sanchez posted of herself walking with the crowd to the capitol, she said, “I sat down and listened to Trump speak for the last hour. There’s got to be a million people here. Now we’re all going to the capitol, the streets are flooded with people. While they certify, or try to certify, the electoral college. Trump said he’s down here with us. There’s a lot of people here.”
As she films crowds of marchers with U.S. and Trump flags walking with blasting music, Sanchez can be heard whooping: “We’re marching to the capitol. They have it barricaded, the police are around it, but the sea of people is about to flood it.”
“There were so many people down there listening to Trump, there was no service,” she added, then explained that there was service as she moved away and that’s why she was live again.
“The energy is electric,” she said.
As she approached the Capitol building she said, “they’re firing something.”
A few hours after the end of the livestream, she responded to a comment asking if she was safe by saying “yes… we have been at our hotel for the last three hours now.”
Sanchez takes her seat on City Council on Jan. 12. She declined to answer questions from The New Era, instead referring reporters from all outlets to a public statement from her Facebook page.
In it, she said she was in D.C. to “see American history in the making,” and was in the area for a family vacation.
“As a newly elected official, I also wanted to be a part of this historic event, while promoting voter integrity during the certification of the electoral college,” she wrote. “I do not believe that anybody could have anticipated what actually happened yesterday. And the things that went on, broke my heart. I was not a part of the siege on Capitol Hill, but regardless, my heart resonates with the families of those who lost family members yesterday.”
“I cannot, in good conscience, support the destruction of public property and violence between American people and Capitol Police. We all pay tax dollars to keep cities like Washington D.C. safe and pristine and to see individuals vandalize property that belongs to you and I, is completely unnecessary and unacceptable.”
Further, Sanchez denounced white supremacy. “My children are biracial, and I myself am a Hispanic Jew.”
“I am deeply saddened by the entire event and I just want better for my country.”
Sanchez also said she wants to stand up for integrity and for those who feel they have no voice as councilor-elect.
“This is not how I wanted to start my 2021. I saw the good, bad and the ugly yesterday. 2020 has exhausted us all and we the American people are tired of big government not taking care of our people. What happened yesterday was a consequence of big government, on both sides, playing too many games with hard-working Americans.
“Yesterday may have given us plenty of examples on why one could be ashamed, but I promise that when I take my place as councilwoman, we will show them what it means to be a good (with emphasis) American again.”
Sanchez ended her statement by saying she believes being a good American is about “holding big government accountable and keeping small communities safe.”
“Together we are stronger, come what may,” she said.
Sanchez told The New Era that constituents who wish to hear directly from her can “call me personally, instead of reaching out through the paper.” Her phone number is (541) 979-8208.