Naomi Girson | staff writer

As the 2024 election grows closer, Americans remember the insurrection on the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Local Democrats hope that influences voters this November.

On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and other democratic representatives stopped by Community Forge in Allegheny County to hold a campaign event on public safety and protecting democracy.

Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller joined Casey for the event.

“There hasn’t been a more important election in my lifetime and the fact that it seems like each election is more important than the last doesn’t make it any less true,” Schiff told The Duke. “I’m thrilled to see, frankly, the surge in student engagement and interest by young people and enthusiasm to be a part of the process.”

Young people getting involved with their government have already seen success with enacting change, Casey said.

The focus of the day was highlighting the importance of citizen involvement and participation in their government and why it should continue to be protected.

The Safer Community Act, which helps with limitations on firearm purchases, the Inflation Reduction Act and the implementation of clean energy tax credits are all pieces of legislation that Casey saidd would not have been possible without action from young people.

“I give young people the credit for being the impetus for getting them passed,” Casey told The Duke. “I also give young people the credit for pushing my generation and me as a legislator.”

Casey is running against Republican Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania’s senate race this November. McCormick lost the Republican primary to Mehmet Oz in 2022.

Before running, McCormick was the CEO of Bridgewater Associates, an American investment management company.

The last time McCormick ran for the senate he owned a house in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania residents were skeptical of his ties to the area, as reported by the Associated Press in August 2023.

“McCormick isn’t running to represent the working families of Pennsylvania,” Muller said on Sunday. “He’s running to represent the billionaires, the dark money special interests and on top of that he has very deep ties to the very people who tried to overturn our 2020 elections.”

Both Schiff and Dunn were at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“We defended against a mob that harassed and attacked law enforcement that day,” Dunn said.

“We heard from capitol police officers announcements of increasing severity, that there were fires in the building, that we needed to get our gas masks out, that we needed to get down on the ground and ultimately that we needed to get out,” Schiff said. “I could hear the insurrectionists outside the chamber. You could hear them bang on the doors to the chamber to get in, you could hear glass breaking.”

“[Jan. 6, was] the first time in our history when violence was used to prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” Schiff said. “We’ve always lived in a world that was ever democratizing. We thought it was inevitable, only to find there was nothing inevitable about democracy, every generation had, as it turns out, its own struggles to preserve democracy.”

During the event Schiff recalled living through the insurrection. He described the sound of hearing glass break and the emergency announcements that were made.

Four years later, Dunn said he still gets upset every time he talks about it.

Dunn left his job at the Capitol not long after the attack and became one of the hundreds of members of law enforcement that earned the Congressional Gold Medal, which are awarded by Congress.

Dunn believes that Casey is the type of politician that the U.S. needs.

“Sen. Bob Casey has always stood with Capitol police officers and the Pennsylvania law enforcement, but his opponent David McCormick has a record that has left law enforcement behind,” Dunn said.

Casey has held office in the Senate since 2007 and is running for reelection.

Kellie Cominski, a friend of Dunn, attended the event to show her support for the democrats.

Her big ticket items to hear Casey address were three-fold: women’s rights, inflation and protecting democracy.

“I think it’s really important for women to get out and vote and exercise that right,” Cominski said. “That’s the main thing I care about, seeing a lot of women at the polls this year.”

Although Casey did not take a stance on women’s rights, as he spoke Sunday morning, he addressed protecting voting rights. He addressed his record, and how he delivered $200 million to the people of the state, helping law enforcement get more bulletproof vests, police cars and ballistic shields.

On Wednesday, Casey was up 5.3 points in the polls from McCormick, according to data from ABC News.

Two spectators, Michael and Megan Culig, came to show their support for the Democratic Party.

Both in their 60s, the two felt strongly about the results of the 2024 election.

“It’s very important for both Casey and Mr. Schiff to win their election,” Michael said. “Republican policies are leading the country into an evil place, bankrupting the middle class, increasing the deficits.”

“[Republicans are] not problem solvers,” Megan said.