WASHINGTON — As the Supreme Court considers the landmark immunity case, what happens outside the court room is a reminder of how these Supreme Court cases hit close to home here.
Protestors lined up outside the Supreme Court, is a DC sight, as common as the cherry blossoms; they come with the season.
But there’s something about Thursday and the case that is different.
“This is the most significant case that I’ve seen at the Supreme Court since I’ve been alive," Sharon Eliza Nichols said.
Part of it involves DC. Justice Department attorneys, who allege former President Trumps’ attempts to subvert the 2020 election led to his followers attacking the Capitol on January 6th.
“I came in that day to be vaccinated,” Nichols said.
Nichols works for DC representative Eleanor Holmes Norton. She remembers the terror from that day, which has led to the trauma she lives with now.
“I’m much faster to check in on coworkers who are in danger,” she said. “I’m also a little scared when large crowds gather, especially at work.”
However, outside the Supreme Court, Nichols said she isn’t triggered by the ongoing legal cases against the former President. With this particular case she said sees it as part of a process: closure.
“I feel like it is part of the healing process that will help us all move forward,” she said. “Move forward for all the staff, the Capitol police that risked their personal safety and the country that watched it on tv.”
Nichols said not all the people who endured the Capitol riot see it that way, some of her colleagues prefer to not hear about the case over and over.
A historic supreme court case, that hits the heart of the District, personally for some.