![]() ![]() Despite strict visitor rules at the Capitol due to COVID, I knew I had to be there for him and support his fight to protect American democracy. He told me that I was now his only son, and how much having me as a son-in-law meant to him. That evening, I could tell Jamie was struggling with the death of his son. As a constitutional law professor of 30 years, Jamie was one of the few members of Congress equipped with the skills and experience to explain how this moment fits into the history and meaning of American democracy. A faction of the Republican Party planned to protest the traditionally ceremonial congressional verification of the Electoral College vote - claiming the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. He was ready to fight - Tommy’s spirit was burning inside him. ![]() On our way home from the service, Jamie was on the phone with colleagues planning the speech he would give on the House floor the following day. I drove three of the Raskins - my partner Hannah, her sister Tabitha, and their dad Jamie - to their beloved Tommy’s burial service. It was a gloomy morning on Tuesday, January 5th, 2021. That hope quickly dissipated and, over the next seven days became a mixture of grief, sadness, frustration, anger, and fear for my own life. A resurgence of hope for the human collective. I distinctly remember that morning - in the hours before I learned of Tommy’s death - and my feelings of excitement for the new year. My brother-in-law’s death was a light switch turning off in an already dim year full of suffering and uncertainty. An Outsider Inside the Capitol Insurrectionĭepression took Tommy Raskin’s life on New Years’ Eve Day - the last day of 2020. ![]()
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