On today’s episode of The Confluence:
Two years later, cases against those who entered the Capitol at the Jan. 6 insurrection, including some Western Pennsylvanians, are ongoing
(0:00 - 7:15)
Friday marks two years since rioters stormed the U.S Capitol trying to overturn the certified results of the presidential election, and some of the pro-Trump extremists hailed from Western Pennsylvania.
“We have about 25 to 30 people from this region who have been charged in the last two years, and the FBI case is continuing,” says Torsten Ove, a writer for the Pittsburgh Union Progress, the strike publication of the striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers.
Nearly 1,000 people have been charged nationwide. Ove says those who have been indicted were identified with images from surveillance cameras and police body-cam footage at the Capitol, as well as social media footage from the defendants.
“One of the most common charges is ‘disrupting an official proceeding,’” says Ove. “Almost all of them have been charged with that… and the other main charge is the assault, for some of these people. They're shown on video assaulting police.”
With as many as a thousand people still to be indicted, Ove says there will likely be more Western Pennsylvania residents identified.
Pennsylvania Congresswoman Summer Lee says despite being in the Democratic minority, again, she wants to legislate with constituents
(7:21 - 22:30)
The 118th Congress is underway in Washington, D.C., and for the first time the commonwealth of Pennsylvania has sent a Black woman to the U.S. House.
In November’s election, Summer Lee, who had served as a state representative, captured 56% of the vote to take retiring Democrat Mike Doyle’s seat.
Lee says her experience in the minority party at the Pennsylvania state house has prepared her for being in the minority party in D.C. Lee says her presence shows voters want a new guard in power.
“I think it's important that we really focus on the influence of money in politics,” says Lee. “How do we get more people into office? How do we, then, move on some of the bigger issues that we care about?”
Lee says those bigger issues include equity and environmental justice, ensuring people of color and those with less means are not relegated to living in spaces with polluted resources.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in Monday to Thursday at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.
