MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The presidential electors certified the victory of Donald Trump today. A handful of demonstrators, both pro- and anti-Trump, stood in the cold, far from the Capitol building, cut off by an 8-foot tall security fence. They were hundreds of yards away from the proceedings.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: He's our president now.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Laughter) He's a certified.
KELLY: Of course, it was a far different scene four years ago today. That's when thousands of protesters stormed onto the Capitol grounds, pushing aside metal bike racks, surging into the Capitol itself. They broke doors and windows, assaulted police and, for a time, halted the certification of Joe Biden. NPR Pentagon reporter Tom Bowman was part of an NPR team that witnessed the assault on the Capitol four years ago. He returned there today. Hey, Tom.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hello.
KELLY: Tell me more about what it was like today.
BOWMAN: Well, Mary Louise, it couldn't have been more different. There were cops chatting and joking. And we saw just two anti-Trump protesters standing by the security fence with the Capitol dome in the background. One was from New Hampshire - Max Goddard, 29. He works for the Forest Service and flew down for the certification. And he held up this white sign with black lettering that read 14th Amendment, Section 3.
MAX GODDARD: That's the disqualification part of the Constitution, that people who have committed insurrection or given aid or comfort to those who have committed insurrection are disqualified from office.
BOWMAN: Well, the Supreme Court thought otherwise and ruled that Trump could not be barred from the ballot. So Max just came to Washington to have his voice heard.
How should this day be remembered?
GODDARD: Solemnly, tragically, apprehensively.
KELLY: Tom Bowman, you said there were also supporters of Donald Trump there today. What did you hear from them?
BOWMAN: Right. Just as I was talking with Max, this orange Ford Fusion drives past painted like the General Lee from that old "Dukes Of Hazard" TV show.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL CAR HORN)
MARK HENLEY: Trump won. Get over it.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSICAL CAR HORN)
BOWMAN: It's plastered with Donald Trump stickers. So we flagged down the driver. His name is Mark Henley from New Jersey. He runs this auto repair business.
What are you doing here?
HENLEY: Come and make sure the election gets certified.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Hell yeah.
HENLEY: (Laughter).
BOWMAN: Is he your guy, Trump?
HENLEY: My guy (laughter)? Yes, that's my guy.
BOWMAN: And talk about what you have here in the stickers.
HENLEY: Yeah, so this is - I call this my Trump-mobile. When he lost - well, when he got cheated the second election, I made a note to myself that I will show people that you can express yourself however you want, and that's when I came up with the General Lee.
BOWMAN: Now, of course, the election four years ago was not stolen. And, Mary Louise, there were also demonstrators who were carrying flowers to honor the protesters who died that day, including Ashli Babbitt.
KELLY: Yeah, people may remember that name - Ashli Babbitt. She was the veteran - the Air Force veteran who was shot by Capitol police as she was trying to break into the House chamber.
BOWMAN: That's right. Ashli's mom had hoped to be here today. Her flight was delayed because of the snow. And the plan was to place the flowers on the Capitol steps, but, of course, they couldn't because of that security fence. So a half dozen or so demonstrators walked around the perimeter and ended up placing the flowers on the fence. And as we talked with some of them, there's this sort of different narrative about what happened four years ago. Here's Nicole Reffitt, whose husband Guy, was convicted for his part in the Capitol assault and sentenced to more than seven years in jail. She thinks he and the others were themselves victims and were overcharged.
Some people call it an insurrection, some a riot. How do you describe what happened that day?
NICOLE REFFITT: I call it a protest, and, you know, what happened on the Capitol grounds - chaos was ensued, whether it came from the police officers or whether it came, you know, from the people.
BOWMAN: You know, she has high hopes that Trump will carry through with his promise to pardon or commute sentences for those convicted of January 6 charges, but she wouldn't say whether she talked with the president-elect recently.
REFFITT: It is a difficult situation 'cause everybody asked that question, you know? But we're going to have a really great day on Inauguration Day. And I think everybody will be pleasantly surprised across the country.
KELLY: Reporting there from NPR's Tom Bowman. He was on Capitol Hill today as he was four years ago on January 6. Thank you, Tom.
BOWMAN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
