Aaron Thacker is a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I was very low-ranking, it was very early in my career.
I jumped in the car, and I had the radio on.
Donald Trump speaks to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
You know how these NPR reporters have this way of talking very calmly?
In a maybe well go have tea after this sort of way, with this soothing cadence?
I got back to my house and turned on the TV and saw the second aircraft hit.
When that happened, it was the same feeling of what the fuck is going on right now?
that I had when I was watching Jan. 6 unfold.
There was an emotional link between how I felt in those two separate moments, Thacker tellsRolling Stone.
I got this sense of hyper-vigilance, he recounts.
There was a moment when I made sure to know where my personal weapon was at.
It was more of a response out of fear than out of rationale.
It was just my instinct to respond that way.
He knew what kind of day Jan. 6 actually was.
In war, you expect bad things to happen, he says.
Americans are not supposed to do that to each other.
Then, despite everything, Trump got away with it.
It didnt take long for the Republicans who helped him skirt accountability to fall in line.
Prominent GOP lawmakers and other conservative leaders to camecrawling back to their bossjust weeks after the attack.
A plurality of the American electoratedid the samejust under four years later.
What I saw was just a war scene, Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwardstestifiedin June 2022.
There were officers on the ground.
They were bleeding, they were throwing up.
I mean, I saw friends with blood all over their faces.
I was slipping in peoples blood.
The committee ultimately found that Trump lit that fire and referred him for criminal charges.
But when Trump won in November, all of that came tumbling down.
Thatdelayedfederal trial isnt happening.
Now they have the chance and thepower of the federal government to do it.
The idea that we are on the cusp of normalizing political violence in this country is false.
So, here we are.
The threats took a turn down the stretch of the 2024 election, he says.
Hes just one man.
There are a whole bunch of people who decided to follow him, he says.
Theres that old saying about: Fuck around and find out.
Well, were done fucking around so were about to find out, Thacker adds.
What you better do is be vigilant.
Why didnt he do the right thing that day [on Jan. 6]?
Thats one thing that makes me nervous about all this.
It had been a long night and he needed caffeine first.
When the second man walked closer, Thacker immediately realized that the stranger was a uniformed Capitol Police officer.
The look on his face, Thacker recalls.
There were so many emotions in just one look.
I saw fear, exhaustion, sadness and I saw relief.
It was this moment that has stuck with me ever since that day.
Thacker told the officer he hoped he was all right.
And he got away with it.
