Recounting the visit to DC

On January 6, thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in Washington, D.C. to attend the "Save America Rally", which had been organized by pro-Trump groups such as "Women for America First" and "Stop the Steal". 

Of the thousands to show up, two who attended had a connection to the Platte Valley. Howard Hill currently lives in Cheyenne but had lived in Riverside, Wyoming until 2018. Joining Hill was Saratoga resident Mark Pesognelli.

In the weeks leading up to January 6, the date during which both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives were to hold a joint session to certify the electoral college results, the rally was promoted across social media and by Trump himself.

"Big protest in D.C. on January 6th," Trump tweeted on December 19. "Be there, will be wild."

Both men, in an interview with the Saratoga Sun, stated that they made the decision to attend the rally a week to two weeks prior.

"Just said 'The heck with it. Let's go. It's something we need to do. We need to protect this constitutional republic and let's be a part of this'," said Hill. "(What) We actually thought at the time, while we were talking about it, is 'How is two or three people going to make a difference?' but after we sat there and we talked, it doesn't matter. The fact is what matters is we went and we represented ourselves as Americans."

Pesognelli said he had similar reasons for going to Washington, D.C., citing his concerns over the 2020 Presidential Election. 

"There seemed to be a lot of disputes in several different states as to the validity of the elections and whether proper procedures were followed," said Pesognelli. "With the abnormalities that you saw in the election during that evening, the night of the election, I just felt that we should take a harder look at it and really try and guarantee that the laws were followed, that process was followed and that the Constitution was followed."

In the weeks leading up to the election, and in the weeks after, Trump casted doubt on the election results as he repeatedly claimed the election was riddled with fraud. Multiple recounts and audits, however, did not reveal fraud on such a massive scale as to affect the election.

Following the election, the Trump campaign took to the courts to challenge election results in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and several other states. To date, out of 54 cases, 13 have been dropped by the Trump campaign while 27 were dismissed, six have an ongoing appeal and six ruled against the plaintiffs. Additionally, on December 8, the State of Texas filed suit against the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan in the Supreme Court. The case was denied by the Supreme Court on December 11.

Hill and Pesognelli arrived in Washington, D.C. on the evening of January 5 and headed to the rally on the morning of January 6. The rally was held on The Ellipses, a 52 acre park managed by the National Park Service which had approved a permit for the rally with an expected attendance of 30,000. 

According to Pesognelli, while both he and Hill had planned to gather at The Ellipses, it was already crowded by the time they had arrived. Additionally, organizers announced over bullhorns a list of items not allowed into the area. Among those items were backpacks, which both Pesognelli and Hill wore.

"We had backpacks with us because there was nowhere to get food, nowhere to get water," Pesognelli said. "Limited bathroom facilities at the time."

"We were not accepted to begin with," Hill said. "This whole thing was not accepted by the mayor. She shut everything down. There weren't any bathrooms, there were no trash receptacles. They just did not want us there at all."

Standing at the Washington Monument instead, Hill and Pesognelli, like the thousands in attendance, listened to the various speakers at the event which included Donald Trump, Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Rudy Gulliani and President Trump himself. As the rally ended, many of those gathered marched towards the Capitol Building where Congress was certifying votes and set up was beginning for the upcoming inauguration.

"We were all the way up in the steps of the Capitol Building. We were right there, in the thick of it, so to speak," said Hill. "We just kept moving forward with the crowds."

According to Hill, the thousands who had gathered on and around the Capitol Building sang "God Bless America" and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 

"We had no idea what was happening because, 15 minutes earlier, there were nobody up in the bleachers and, all of a sudden, it was occupied, so to speak, on the outside of the building and on the upper levels as well.," Hill said.

It was while Hill and Pesognelli were at the Capitol Building that they heard a curfew of 6 p.m. had been issued for Washington, D.C. The two men, seeing the arrival of the Capitol Police, said they decided to leave the Capitol.

"I said 'Well, I think at this point we've let our voices be heard' which is what we came there to do," said Pesognelli. "Peacefully demonstrate and express our First Amendment rights and the right to gather. We did that, so I looked at that as I've accomplished what I went there to do."

The two men left the Capitol Building and went to get something to eat. While neither had a watch, they estimated their departure to be between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. as they went to get something to eat close to their hotel. When they went to get on a subway shortly after 6 p.m., they found that the transportation system was shut down.

"We were a couple blocks from our hotel, got out, ate somewhere and then they put out another curfew for Alexandria and Arlington counties," said Hill. "So, the whole thing was shutdown. So we finished eating, and that was at 6:08 (p.m.), and went to get on the subway to get back to our hotel and it was shut down. Everything was shut down."

While Pesognelli said that there had been rumors among the crowd at the Capitol Building that people had broken in, Hill said that they didn't know for sure until they had reached their hotel that night. In the time since January 6, it has been revealed by federal law enforcement officials that various far-right and militia groups were involved in the breach of the Capitol Building.

According to Hill, those groups were present from the very beginning with many of them trying to encourage attendees to rush the Capitol Building before the rally. Both men denounced the violence that was reported and recorded from inside the Capitol Building, saying that it delegitimized why they were in Washington, D.C.

"Any group that was there doing something of that nature did that," said Hill.

For their part, the two men returned home Thursday night safe and sound. Both, however, do not believe that what was seen by people across the country and across the world on January 6 accurately represents why they were there.

"My experience was it was peaceful the whole time along," said Pesognelli. "Even most of the people on the steps (were) very, very peaceful."

Following their visit to Washington, D.C., Pesognelli posted photos and videos to his personal Facebook page showing the speakers at the rally as well as the large crowd on the steps of the Capitol Building. A day after his interview, he informed the Sun that he had been blocked from posting for 30 days for violating community standards.