Smithsonian collecting items from Capitol riots to document violence that shook world
Jan 15, 2021
Washington [US], January 15 : The Smithsonian is collecting items from the last week's riots at the US Capitol to document the violence that shook the world.
According to a report by The Hill, the National Museum of American History, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution, announced after the riot that curators have begun collecting and sorting through protest signs, posters and other items left behind from the violent mob that stormed through the Capitol on January 6.
"The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has an ongoing and deep commitment to document all aspects of the American political experiment: a government by the people," Anthea M. Hartig, the museum's director, was quoted as saying in a statement on January 8.
He further said, "A key tenant of this constitutional democracy is the peaceful transfer of power following US presidential elections, dating back to the republic's first presidential election. This week, that core belief was shaken."
Meanwhile, Hartig has urged people to save materials that can be considered for future and also send photos and descriptions of the artifacts to the museum.
However, it has not been specified as to which items from the riots will be taken for the collection.
"As curators from the museum's Division of Political and Military History continue to document the election of 2020, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, they will include objects and stories that help future generations remember and contextualize Jan. 6 and its aftermath," Hartig said.
On January 6, during a rally at the Ellipse, just outside the White House, Trump said, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave Senators and Congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them."
Shortly after the speech, a group of Trump's loyalists stormed the US Capitol building, clashing with police, damaging property, seizing the inauguration stage and occupying the rotunda. Five people died in the clash.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday impeached President Donald Trump for "inciting" the deadly violence at Capitol Hill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirmed the impeachment making Trump the first US president to be impeached twice. Congress voted 232 to 197 on the single article of impeachment charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection".
