A Cobb County committee of the worse kind of Georgia Republicans was actually planning a candlelight vigil in honor of the insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “The Patriots Are Awake, Willing and Eager to Protect Their American Freedoms & Liberties,” read an event flier The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) obtained. The two-hour event was supposed to include a livestream of former President Donald Trump's news conference from Florida, which has since been canceled, as well as the vigil for the “J6 Patriots,” a nickname for those who attempted to overthrow the election results and stop the rightful president from taking office.
AJC reporter Greg Bluestein tweeted about Trump's impact on the county GOP in the fourth largest county in metro Atlanta. "The Cobb GOP was once the heart of the mainstream GOP in Georgia, but Trump’s rise has pulled the local party to the far right," Bluestein wrote. The event in honor of the violent extremists was ultimately canceled in what Jason Shepherd, a former chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party, said was the “right choice.”
“It will go a long way into encouraging unity among Cobb Republicans,” Shepherd said.
What I find interesting about Shepherd’s take is that even in defending cancellation of the insulting event, he didn’t outright condemn the actions of those who many have accused of committing treason. Officer Brian Sicknick was dead on Jan. 7, 2021 following the attack. There was no mention of him in Shepherd’s AJC interview, nor was there any mention of the more than a dozen other police officers who were injured in the Capitol riot. Cobb GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs defended the canceled event as a means to honor people who suffered a “miscarriage of justice.”
State Rep. Teri Anulewicz more accurately described the event as an “homage to treason,” according to the AJC.
A person who actually deserves a ceremony in his honor, Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, got no such recognition from the Georgia Republican group. Goodman, a Black man, used himself as bait for an angry mob on that dreaded day in U.S. history. At one point in footage of the officer's heroic efforts, the lead terrorist wearing a QAnon T-shirt over a gray sweatshirt looked over his right shoulder toward the entrance to the Senate before continuing to follow Goodman in the opposite direction, HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic said in a tweet.
Bobic told Good Morning America Thursday he was covering what is normally a routine procedural step of Congress certifying electoral votes from the presidential election when he heard "a commotion" and "yelling." Bobic continued: "And I ran downstairs to the first floor of the Senate building, where I encountered this lone police officer courageously making a stand against the mob of 20 or so Trump supporters who breached the capitol itself and were trying to get upstairs.”
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Goodman didn’t pull his gun out, and he wasn’t wearing tactical gear. Still, he shoved the mob leader to bait him and ran to grab a baton, Bobic’s video showed. Members of the mob chased Goodman at times and paused to yell at others. “They were yelling ‘Traitors. We want justice. This is our America. If we don’t stop this now, we won’t get justice. Trump won,’” Bobic told Good Morning America.
Because of Goodman’s actions, the group wasn’t successful in its efforts.
Who are some other heroes of that horrific day one year ago?
RELATED: Hero cop comes face-to-face with man so out of touch with reality he seems to consider Trump God
AJC reporter Greg Bluestein tweeted about Trump's impact on the county GOP in the fourth largest county in metro Atlanta. "The Cobb GOP was once the heart of the mainstream GOP in Georgia, but Trump’s rise has pulled the local party to the far right," Bluestein wrote. The event in honor of the violent extremists was ultimately canceled in what Jason Shepherd, a former chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party, said was the “right choice.”
“It will go a long way into encouraging unity among Cobb Republicans,” Shepherd said.
What I find interesting about Shepherd’s take is that even in defending cancellation of the insulting event, he didn’t outright condemn the actions of those who many have accused of committing treason. Officer Brian Sicknick was dead on Jan. 7, 2021 following the attack. There was no mention of him in Shepherd’s AJC interview, nor was there any mention of the more than a dozen other police officers who were injured in the Capitol riot. Cobb GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs defended the canceled event as a means to honor people who suffered a “miscarriage of justice.”
State Rep. Teri Anulewicz more accurately described the event as an “homage to treason,” according to the AJC.
A person who actually deserves a ceremony in his honor, Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, got no such recognition from the Georgia Republican group. Goodman, a Black man, used himself as bait for an angry mob on that dreaded day in U.S. history. At one point in footage of the officer's heroic efforts, the lead terrorist wearing a QAnon T-shirt over a gray sweatshirt looked over his right shoulder toward the entrance to the Senate before continuing to follow Goodman in the opposite direction, HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic said in a tweet.
Bobic told Good Morning America Thursday he was covering what is normally a routine procedural step of Congress certifying electoral votes from the presidential election when he heard "a commotion" and "yelling." Bobic continued: "And I ran downstairs to the first floor of the Senate building, where I encountered this lone police officer courageously making a stand against the mob of 20 or so Trump supporters who breached the capitol itself and were trying to get upstairs.”
YouTube Video
Goodman didn’t pull his gun out, and he wasn’t wearing tactical gear. Still, he shoved the mob leader to bait him and ran to grab a baton, Bobic’s video showed. Members of the mob chased Goodman at times and paused to yell at others. “They were yelling ‘Traitors. We want justice. This is our America. If we don’t stop this now, we won’t get justice. Trump won,’” Bobic told Good Morning America.
Because of Goodman’s actions, the group wasn’t successful in its efforts.
Who are some other heroes of that horrific day one year ago?
RELATED: Hero cop comes face-to-face with man so out of touch with reality he seems to consider Trump God