By Telegram & Gazette Staff
WORCESTER – Thomas Devlin was home on Jan. 6 last year, watching the news in disbelief as a violent mob descended upon the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., leaving him appalled at the state of his nation.
One year later, Devlin was among dozens who gathered Thursday afternoon at Park Avenue and Salisbury Street to commemorate the anniversary of the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, participating in a display meant to promote protecting American democracy.
The involvement of a United States president in instigating such an incident through “inflammatory speeches” was especially hard to swallow for Devlin, a Worcester resident. Former President Donald Trump’s speech on Jan. 6, in which he asked his supporters to march to the Capitol to show strength, “because you’ll never take back our country with weakness, was at the center of his second impeachment.