Bridie Farrell, a Democratic candidate for New York’s 21st Congressional district seat, speaks to a crowd in Saranac Lake at a rally remembering the riot at the U.S. Capitol last year on Jan. 6. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

SARANAC LAKE — Around 70 locals came together in Riverside Park on Thursday to hold a candlelight “Vigil for Democracy,” remembering the attack at the U.S. Capitol building last year, when a violent mob stormed Congress as its members were voting to confirm the election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The rally on Thursday was organized by Voters for Change.

Sue Abbot Jones, one of the organizers, said she’s been peacefully protesting since the days of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement and she was disappointed to see things moving “backward.”

“It was illegal what happened,” she said.

Georgia Jones, from Lake Placid, said she came to Saranac Lake because she thinks it’s important to remember Jan. 6. She said the day is historically significant, like 9/11.

“Oh my God, I cried. I was heartbroken,” she said of watching the Jan. 6 coverage last year. “I’m an old lady and I’d never seen anything like that.”

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“That’s really dangerous”

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Georgia said she was unsure how to stop an attack like that from happening again, but said she believes it’s important to vote, remind and remember.

“What happened that day isn’t going to go away unless we do something,” she said.

A few attendees of the rally repeatedly said they were shocked by what they saw that day and said they never thought they’d see such a scene in their lives

“I’m mad,” Joe Henderson, a sociology professor at Paul Smith’s College, said. “It seems to me that there’s a group of people in this county that don’t want to respect open elections. That’s really dangerous.”

Looking at the people who were arrested at the riot, it was often upper middle class white people who were afraid of change, Henderson said.

“It’s people who feel their status is threatened,” he said. “This is a country that’s changing. I think it’s a group of people who are threatened by change.”

Henderson said he thinks they were unwilling to accept they lost and were willing to physically fight to hold onto power. He also said there were several white supremacist militia groups represented there.

“Is this country going to become a pluralistic multi-racial democracy?” he wondered. “Or are we going to slip into something like a white majority rule?”

Michael Armstrong said though he’s trying to debate politics less with people in an effort to be closer to those he disagrees with, supporting fair elections was something he won’t compromise on.

Steve Erman, who carried a large American flag on a pole, agreed.

“I feel pretty deeply that it’s alright for people to disagree when it comes to policies,” he said. “But when it comes to supporting the Constitution … that’s something you can’t compromise on.”

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Bridie Farrell visits rally

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Bridie Farrell, a Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik in New York’s 21st Congressional district, attended the rally.

“I consider Saranac Lake and Lake Placid my second home in the Adirondacks since I was a speed skater and kind of grew up here,” Farrell said. “It was an obvious place for me to come on such a personal day.”

Last year, she said she was working for an organization called Citizens for a Strong Democracy, which was founded by four former Homeland Security secretaries. Farrell said those people knew this was a “domestic attack on our country.”

“What these people did was they tried to overturn a free and fair election, overturn our government and push out our way of American life,” Farrell said.

She said division led to that riot — people in an “us or them” mindset. She accused Stefanik of fanning these flames.

She was asked what makes her want to run for Congress.

“There’s too much at stake not to,” she said. “Everyone needs to drop their fists and just sit and talk and listen. Everywhere (Stefanik) goes, she walks with her fists up.”

Stefanik was not immediately available for comment by press time Thursday. In a statement she released Wednesday, she condemned the violence that took place at the Capitol and criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for setting up a “partisan” committee to investigate the riot.

Last year, Stefanik voted against an independent investigatory committee, saying its focus on Jan. 6 was too narrow and saying it should also investigate the 2017 shooting of Republican lawmakers at a charity baseball game and violence at the Black Lives Matter rallies in 2020 which occurred after the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man.

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Stefanik criticized

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Several protestors held signs with Stefanik’s name on them, criticizing her for calling the legitimacy of the election into question and saying she was partially responsible for the riot.

“She doesn’t represent me,” Georgia Jones said. “When she started out I thought maybe she’d be a good voice for us. But she’s gotten so far off the mark.”

She said she felt Stefanik’s vote to not confirm Pennsylvania’s electors that night was “horrifying.”

“We want to bring Elise down. At least call her out,” Sue said.

Henderson said he was mad at Stefanik and said he believes she violated her oath to the Constitution by voting against certifying the election based on lies.

“I don’t say that lightly,” he said.

Henderson said people in power use conspiracy theories to maintain their power and accused Stefanik of doing that.

“She’s not dumb,” he said. “They’re using these things to try to keep themselves in power.”

“I stand by my objection to the electors of certain states based on the unconstitutional overreach by unelected state officials and judges ignoring state election laws,” Stefanik wrote in a statement.

Cars driving by the demonstrators Thursday honked and some drivers shouted, barked or gave one-fingered salutes to the crowd.