In contrast to a year ago, the Denver commemoration of the Jan, 6 U.S. Capitol assault was low key.

At the state Capitol, two rallies – one from each side of the attempt to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential vote count – were scheduled, but only one took place.

The League of Women Voters, Mi Familia Vota, Colorado Common Cause, New Era Colorado and the NAACP sponsored a noon gathering that drew little more than a handful of people braving the cold.

Maytham Alshadood, the deputy chief of staff and district director for U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Aurora, read a prepared statement from the congressman, a former Marine who was viewed as a hero a year ago for protecting fellow members of Congress in the House chamber.

Alshadood said Crow was put in the unfortunate circumstance of making phone calls to loved ones – calls that could have been his last. 

“We are reflecting on the attack and what January 6th was about, not just for those who were trapped in the House chamber during that time, those officers who were brutally beaten and those who gave their lives that day, but the greater meaning that it has for our democracy,” Crow’s statement said. 

The statement added that more concrete steps need to be taken as a country to “combat the toxic forces that were at play on that day and are still at play today.” He added the nation is at a crossroads, one that calls for action “to reconfirm a commitment to democracy.” He also encouraged listeners to run for office or volunteer with civic organizations.

“We can all show that our democracy will be reinvigorated, ultimately not in Washington, DC, but on main streets,” the statement said.

Other speakers called for filibuster reform, passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, which have stalled in the U.S. Senate.

January 6 was only the beginning, said Eunice Brownlee of Colorado Common Cause.

She said everyday since has been a “continued attack on our democracy,” with states, legislators, governors and elected officials across the country passing laws, spreading disinformation, and changing the rules “to make what that violent mob attempted one year ago not only easier, but legal.”

Toni Larson of the League of Women Voters added that the Jan. 6 insurrection was a “strong warning that our democracy needs constant attention.”

She also advocated for passage of the Freedom to Vote legislation, arguing that more than 400 of what critics describe as voter suppression bills were introduced in legislatures in 2021. She said pro-democracy lawmakers and allies, including the League and its partners, are “fighting against destructive changes to election rules and supporting election officials who see that their vital worth as nonpartisan is imperative.”

A second rally, scheduled for 2 p.m. and backed by a group identified by the Colorado State Patrol as We the People: January 6 Day of Remembrance and Action, failed to materialize.