Dozens gather at Chicago bar to watch the first of a series of televised hearings on the Capitol riot investigation

Justin Hill, who moved back to Chicago two years ago after living and working abroad for some time, said he was out of the country on Jan. 6, 2021, when droves of people swarmed the U.S. Capitol.

“It’s a weird thing when you’re living in a foreign country and you’re watching the dissolution of your country’s whole famed idea that we are a peaceful democracy and there’s a peaceful transfer of power,” Hill said.

Roughly a year and a half later, Hill and a couple dozen others gathered Thursday evening in a back room at Bar Louie in the Dearborn Park neighborhood to watch the first of a series of live televised hearings revealing to the world the inner workings of the investigation into the insurrection.

The watch event, one of many being held across the country, was hosted by the activist group Indivisible Chicago.

“I wanted to be in a group of people who are also concerned,” Hill said.

The yearlong investigation included dozens of subpoenas and almost 1,000 interviews.

The findings of the House select committee, commonly known as the January 6th Committee, played out on two TV screens on opposite sides of the room, with spectators glued to the proceedings as if it were Super Bowl Sunday.

The breach of the Capitol building last year during a joint session of Congress was the result of a violent mob loyal to former President Donald Trump that had hopes of overturning the 2020 presidential election and keeping President Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.

The historic attack on the Capitol was also penned by many as an attack on democracy.

More than 800 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and Washington, D.C., including more than 250 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Justice Department. At least 30 Illinois residents have been charged in connection with the Capitol breach.

The hearings are streaming live on most major television networks with the series expected to be finished by the end of June. Viewers can expect to learn new details about the insurrection, including never-before-seen footage aired during the live hearing Thursday of events leading up to and during the Capitol breach.

Hyde Park resident Barbara Maloof said she showed up to watch with the group Thursday night because she thinks the investigation is “really important” for the public and hopes people everywhere will “show up and pay attention” to the hearings and the aftereffects.

“I was appalled when this happened,” Maloof said. “I was stunned. But I’m further stunned that the American people aren’t stunned by this. We can’t be in denial.”

Nancy Martin, who lives in the Loop, said she’s been part of Indivisible Chicago since the 2020 presidential election and saw Thursday as a way to prepare for the midterm elections later this year.

Martin said her reaction on Jan. 6, 2021, was “like when I first saw 9/11, like, ‘is this happening?’”

She said she wants the hearings to serve as a “record for history.”

“It’s about the information,” Martin said. “Making information available for the public so that future historians and scholars and the public can better understand our country and its history.”