VERO BEACH, Fla. — Many of the people who traveled to Washington, D.C., last year for the rally at the U.S. Capitol were from Florida. One year later, two Treasure Coast women are sharing their opinions on the events that took place.
Neither of the women, Medora Reading and Lamarre Notargiacomo, who visited D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, said they condone the violent acts committed at the Capitol last year.
They said moving forward they are focused on electoral integrity.
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Reading and Notargiacomo, both Treasure Coast residents, said they traveled to the nation's Capitol to support President Donald Trump and make their voices heard about alleged voter fraud.
"There was election fraud on various levels with electronic and vote by mail, and there was all kinds of evidence presented," Notargiacomo said. "The Supreme Court refused to hear it, so we felt like we really needed to be there."
They said they both walked to the Capitol after Trump's speech and don't believe he incited any form of violence.
"We were singing God Bless America and America the Beautiful too. We wanted to make a statement that we are here, and we count," Reading said. "He did not say be violent. He did not say anything like that. That's not our way. That does nothing."
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Both believe Trump should not be held responsible for the attack on the Capitol.
"If anything, I think he should be apologized to. Because none of this would have come to be if the facts had been true at each state level," Reading said.
"There were bad actors. The FBI knows who they were because that is one of the most secure buildings in the entire country, if not the world," Notargiacomo said. "So, there's no possible way they got into the building without some kind of help."
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Moving forward, the women said changes need to be made in future elections.
"If our people do not have confidence in our electoral process, there will never be another secure election," Notargiacomo said.
Many court and state government audits have all concluded that the 2020 presidential election was fair, and there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud.