[ad_1]<\/p>\n
All those years their parents spent risking their lives in uniform, the couple\u2019s three adult sons, twins Antoine and Antonio, and Austin, never worried about Mom and Dad not coming home. Though death or injury were a constant possibility, Demings said they chose to dedicate their lives to public service and knew the risks. But, when they got home every night, \u201cwe took the uniform off, and then it\u2019s like, \u2018What we gon cook for dinner?\u2019 We really tried to be just like any other family.\u201d<\/p>\n
January 6 changed all of that.<\/p>\n
The night before<\/strong> the mob of Trumpists tried to overthrow democracy, some House members texted one another in their group chat, concerned. \u201cDon\u2019t underestimate, because many of them will see this as their last stand,\u201d Demings replied at one point. As she arrived at the Capitol that Wednesday morning, she was surprised there wasn\u2019t more law enforcement present. In the demonstrations she had worked during her time in uniform, she\u2019d learned that a show of force often discourages unruly acts. \u201cLike, if you wanna cut the fool here, don\u2019t do it because we\u2019re here with our helmets and riot gear on,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve increased our authorized strength\u2014don\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after proceedings to certify Biden\u2019s election win began, there was commotion outside the House gallery. Demings, sitting in the front row, flashed back to her days on the force. Instinct kicked in. She got up and stood guard by the door, arms crossed in front of her body.<\/p>\n Moments later, the sergeant at arms ran down the center aisle, repeating, \u201cThere\u2019s been a breach!\u201d When Demings heard breach,<\/em> her mindset shifted. When there\u2019s a demonstration, she told me, there\u2019s an outer perimeter and an inner perimeter, and people might get through the outer perimeter, \u201cbut nobody gets through the inner perimeter. I knew if there had been a breach of the building, that the police had lost whatever battle they were in.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruckus ensued. Glass started to break. Soon, the Capitol filled with eerie howls as the pack bounded down the halls. Capitol Police officers frantically pushed furniture against doors. Rioters pounded harder, trying to break through.<\/p>\n Capitol Police began evacuating the House floor. They told those in the gallery to \u201cget down! Get your gas mask, because we might need to deploy gas,\u201d Demings said, still flashing back. \u201cAnd here I am, I\u2019m thinking, Wait a minute, wait a minute. I spent 27 years on the streets of Orlando. I have chased people through backyards and alleys, and all those traffic stops\u2014which can be the most dangerous because many times you don\u2019t know who you\u2019re stopping\u2014and all those domestic violence calls, which are extremely dangerous, and I\u2019m in the House of Representatives<\/em>?\u201d\u2014her widened eyes stayed on me a beat longer, no blinks\u2014\u201cAnd I remember looking down at my waist.\u201d No gun. \u201cI never felt as vulnerable as I did that day, because on the street, you have all your weapons, you have your vest on, you\u2019re prepared for that. I\u2019m in the Capitol in my suit and my high heels.\u201d<\/p>\n As the attack escalated, Representative Jason Crow\u2014a fellow impeachment manager alongside Demings during Trump\u2019s first trial\u2014told everyone to take off their congressional pins. (He later told Demings they should\u2019ve walked over to the GOP side.) Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester and Demings spread out on the floor next to each other. Gas masks on.<\/p>\n Rochester stared at Demings and said, \u201cVal, what do you think is going to happen?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLisa, I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Demings told her, \u201cbut if we all died today, if we are who we say we are as a nation, if we are as big and bad as we say we are, then another group will just come in and certify these electoral ballots declaring Joe Biden as the president and Kamala Harris as the vice president. If America is as bad\u2014if our spirit and determination is what I believe it is\u2014they might stop us, but they can\u2019t stop this process.\u201d (She told me, point-blank, if she had to die that day, she was ready \u201cbecause I went to a job every day where I knew that I might not go back home.\u201d)<\/p>\n Demings then told Rochester to pray and remembered thinking: \u201cThe rest was like, it\u2019s in God\u2019s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n The entire time, Jerry had been blowing up Demings\u2019s phone. When he finally reached her, she was blazing up with anger. \u201cI was reminding her, you\u2019ve been through this stuff before,\u201d Jerry said. \u201cYou can\u2019t do your best thinking when you\u2019re angry. You have to take control of the situation and think through it. But she was in police mode at that point on behalf of her colleagues who have never been in a high-risk situation, had never been shot at, and had never been in a shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n Capitol Police finally escorted Demings and her colleagues to safety through a tunnel they\u2019d never seen before.<\/p>\n Reflecting on that day after a campaign stop in Gainesville, she told me there\u2019s an urgent need to safeguard democracy. \u201cThere\u2019s always been a lot of focus on our adversaries around the world,\u201d she said, \u201cbut in every oath that I\u2019ve taken, it talks about \u2018protect against all enemies, foreign and domestic.\u2019 And I don\u2019t believe that there is any<\/em> foreign power out there that can take our country down. I think we can only do it from within.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n