On January 6, the Capitol building in Washington D.C. was stormed by Pro-Trump protestors trying to overturn the election result. That Wednesday afternoon was filled with crowded hallways, stolen historical artifacts and confused Americans. 

   The rioters made their way up to the entry of the capitol building, with scarce numbers of security to keep them out. Eventually, the rioters made it into the building and went through some of the government officials’ offices and restricted areas. 

   The riot only came to a halt once an announcement from President Trump came out telling all of the rioters to go home.
  Many people were shocked to see this riot, which was something that a lot of Americans had not experienced before.

    Junior Sophie Bordron, a student at Westerville North, explained what was surprising about the riot to her. 

   “I was surprised the most that there was such little security. Even if they didn’t know it was happening, it’s still scary to think that the Congress was in session and such little force was taken to protect them.”

    “I don’t think [the riot] was handled well, it took a very long time to take action and call for backup. Also, the action to get them out was not serious enough of a consequence for what they had done,” said Bordron. 

   Others were surprised by the initial reason for the riot. 

   Jim Brady, an educator at Westerville North who teaches U.S. Government, commented on the event. 

   “I’m surprised by the fact that this many people are unwilling to go along with this and that the president didn’t end the … I never thought I would see a day where people would go and intentionally try to harm members of Congress,” said Brady. 

   The Inauguration was also a major historical event that took place, mainly because of it being the first inauguration during a pandemic. President Biden was sworn in on January 20. 

   His administration did not take long to get to work, halting the border wall building and implementing the travel ban that was lifted by President Trump. The halting of the border wall was addressed in a proclamation by President Biden on the White House’s website.  

   “Like every nation, the United States has a right and a duty to secure its borders and protect its people against threats.  But building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border is not a serious policy solution.  It is a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security,” stated in an address at the white house.

   Furthermore, the Biden administration reinstated the travel bans lifted by President Trump, in order to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The following is an excerpt of an article by USA Today. 

   “The restrictions, which were in place for most of 2020, apply to non-U.S. citizens who have been in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and much of Europe,” according to the article.

   USA Today stated that the ban added South Africa to the list of countries people could not travel to or from. People are interested to see what the next four years have in store revolving around other current issues.

   Autumn Nelson, a senior at Westerville North, gave her thoughts on what she is looking forward to seeing.

   “In the next four years, it is most important to me to see comprehensive climate and environmental reform, legislative action to promote racial equity and destroy white supremacist policies … I hope this new administration places greater value on truthful and unbiased reporting,” Nelson said.