ST. GEORGE, Utah — The shouts, the chaos, and the emotions are still burned into memories five years after the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and continue to reverberate in Utah.
"It's a reminder of how crazy the world can get, and how divided we can be and still are," said Jake Peart, "So that's probably what it means to me more than anything and how important it is to try and get rid of that division and that hate."
Five years ago, Peart traveled from the Toquerville area to Washington, D.C., to attend his first Trump rally. He said emotions ultimately got the best of him and others that day, and he was among those who entered the Capitol. Earlier this year, Peart was among the participants pardoned by Trump upon his return to office.
Peart said he doesn’t believe in regrets, but admits he was changed by that day.
"I hope I love people more. That's what I hope," he shared Tuesday. "I don't care about politics anymore. Yeah, I love our country, still love our country, still love America... but I also see there’s a lot of other perspectives, and that we should look at others individually and care about... like, we get too tied up in demonizing all sides and everybody and causing all sorts of problems.
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Along with Peart and hundreds of others, Utahn Brady Knowton also entered the U.S. Capitol during the attack, but feels differently about his participation.
"You may look at it as a riotous calamity. Others may look at it as a day that people were unsure that they were participating in self-government and decided they were no longer going to be governable," he said.
The part-time resident of the Dammeron Valley in Utah now divides his time between Utah, Texas, and Mexico, and has no regrets when it comes to entering the Capitol and taking part in what occurred inside.
"Where I was that day, I had a blast," said Knowlton. "It was a great day. I felt very alive. I felt that it helped process the experience that I think that America was having."
Geoff Allen serves as chairman of the Washington County Democratic Party and hardly agrees with Knowlton's sentiments.
"I don't think the average person looked at January 6 and said, 'Oh, this is a good thing,' even in Washington County. I don't think there's any reason to believe that," said Allen.
Now living in St. George, Allen was a professor at the University of Utah at the time of the Capitol incident and remembers having a hard time explaining to students that what was happening was not normal. He said he still does.
"I think what [students] don't see, though, is anybody articulating to them why it's wrong," he explained. "Democracy requires the ability for one side to accept that they lost."
Despite their differences, the Utahns who experienced or watched the events of Jan. 6 all agree on one thing.
"I think we need to set aside a lot of our political differences and we need to find the commonality that we possess as Americans," said Knowlton.
"I don't feel powerless," added Allen.
"I'm sad that we aren't unified," Peart shared, "and that we don't care more about each other."
