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Donald Trump, former US President
“We're running to the Capitol. We're going there and giving our Republicans the pride and courage they need to take our country back. "
When hundreds of Trump supporters storm into the Capitol on January 6, 2021, wreaking havoc and havoc inside, the Democratic MP Jackie Speier from California crouches on the dais of the boardroom.
A year later, the 71-year-old tells us about her fear of death in a video call.
Jackie Speier, MP
“We were instructed to pull a bag from under our seats.
I've been to this gallery 100 times, but I didn't know that it even existed.
So I took it, unzipped it, and found a gas mask that was ready to use when you pull it over your face.
But we have been instructed not to do that yet.
So we lay there paralyzed, scared and unsure of what would happen next. "
When shots suddenly rang out in the Capitol, terrible memories are awakened for Jackie Speier.
One day 42 years ago in South America.
Jackie Speier, MP
“And as I lay my cheek on the floor, the thought occurred to me, 'I survived the jungles of Guyana - and now I'm going to die here?
In the hallowed halls of democracy? 'I couldn't believe it. "
Review.
Guyana, 1978: Speier, then 28 years old, travels to Jonestown to work with MP Leo Ryan.
The two suspect that in this village in the middle of the jungle, people are being held against their will.
Since 1974 the charismatic preacher Jim Jones had gathered around 1000 followers of his sect »Peoples Temple« here: People seeking meaning, often unemployed, poor or sick, longed for support in Jones's Christian-socialist ideology.
But Ryan and Speier's impression is quickly confirmed: The sect village is like a prison, residents report flogging and rape. Jones initially pretends to allow the dissatisfied to leave the country.
Jim Jones,
Cult Leader “Anyone who wants out of here can leave us. We have no problem with that. People come and go as they please. People seek the spotlight. Not me."
But when the politicians from Washington board the plane back to America with some cult members, Jones' supporters open fire. Five people die, including MP Ryan. Speier is badly injured and only survives by pretending to be dead.
Jim Jones, who sees his cult threatened, gives the order for mass suicide.
On November 18, 1978, more than 900 followers of the preacher died after swallowing potassium cyanide at his command.
Many take the poison voluntarily, others are coerced.
Jim Jones dies too: Whether he was shot or shot himself is never known.
More than 40 years later, Jackie Speier is certain that the Jonestown massacre and the storming of the Capitol show parallels.
Jackie Speier, MP
“That's what happens when you make such a dangerous person, a megalomaniac, a narcissist President of the United States.
I researched the cult behavior of Jim Jones in Guyana.
Donald Trump did the same thing in this country. "
Jones founded a religious sect, Trump a political one.
Both men managed to gather particularly loyal followers around them.
In Jonestown they were ready to die.
To storm the Capitol in Trump's world.
Jackie Speier, MP
“They both have personalities that get attention, who draw people in.
Especially people who are dissatisfied, who carry a complex around with them, who have the feeling that other people or the government owe them something.
Jim Jones gathered around him many poor people who had no families.
His cult became her family.
Forty years later, these "families" have had the opportunity to unite on the internet and on social media.
Social media became a weapon. "
What still connects the sect leader and the ex-president from Speier's point of view: Similar to Jones, Trump has spread falsehoods and manipulated his followers for years.
Trump's rallies have increasingly resembled the meetings of a sect that unconditionally worships its leader.
The climax was reached when the elected president once again purposefully incited the crowd on January 6th with the lie of electoral fraud.
Donald Trump, former US President
"None of us want to watch the radical left steal our election victory."
Jackie Speier, MP
“That was a bloody, deadly siege. That was an attempted coup against our democracy. Do not be fooled. And those who think: 'Oh, those were just naive demonstrators who got a little out of control.' Don't believe that. These people had stun guns, they had pepper spray, they had bars. They used the flagpoles as spears. Five people died. Four police officers then committed suicide. 150 police officers were injured, many of them now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. "
Even a year after storming the Capitol, Republicans have failed to break away from Trump.
His loudest critics within their own party, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, are only so fearless, according to Speier, because both no longer have any political ambitions.
Jackie Speier, MP
“Not only did he have a following, he still has it.
There are many Republicans in Congress who are afraid of messing with Donald Trump because they are worried about losing their jobs.
This has created a cult among Republicans in Congress.
They must have been manipulated because they don't do anything Trump doesn't allow them to do. "
Speier's political career is drawing to a close.
She sees her last and perhaps most important task in coming to terms with the events of January 6th and proving that Donald Trump played a key role in the attempted coup.
Speech from Congress
“The President of the United States found it amusing and a patriotic act to overturn the election.
That was politically motivated.
We'll find out why that happened and make sure it never happens again. "
Mid-term elections will be held in November 2022.
Jackie Speier will no longer compete.
Jackie Speier, farewell speech
»Exactly 43 years ago I was lying on a runway in the jungle of Guyana with five bullet points in my body.
I swore: if I survive, I'll dedicate my life to civil service.
I survived and served the public.
It was a remarkable journey that exceeded my wildest dreams.
Today I announce that I will not run for a seat in Congress again in 2022. "
