ALL eyes were on Washington, DC last week when insurgents stormed the US Capitol building and broke into the Senate chamber, with a Fermanagh man living in the political heart of the United States telling The Impartial Reporter of his shock at the dramatic scenes.

Aidan O’Brien, from Enniskillen, has been living in America since October 2019, with the domestic terrorism incident at the normally calm and well-policed centre of US political life giving him some memories of a lifetime.

He said: "I was shocked by the scenes. Growing up in Northern Ireland doesn’t prepare you for these events. It kind of reminded me of the [2012] City Hall flag protests in Belfast.”

The Fermanagh man resides in Washington, DC, living just two miles from the US Capitol building – where the insurgents attacked US democracy, with fatal results – and is currently working at the National Cancer Institute, researching pancreatic cancer genetics.

However, Aidan was home working, so had not travelled that day, and at first he didn’t notice any major disruptions to his normal routine – until his phone started hopping with messages from friends and family in Fermanagh, and people outside of Washington, all of whom told him to watch the news.

Like the rest of the world, Aidan then turned on the news, seeing the attack on US democracy that was taking place almost literally on his doorstep.

Of the day's developments, Aidan told this paper that people all across America had known that day was coming, though few could have known of its deadly consequences.

He said: “This day had been talked about; everyone knew it was coming. There are always protests in DC; it is part of day-to-day life here.

"The Proud Boys had recently protested in DC; they're a Far Right, neo-Fascist and male-only political organisation that promotes and engages in political violence."

Despite the regularity of protests in the city, the day's events still surprised and shocked Aidan.

He said: “We are used to seeing protests, but this was shocking. It got out of hand – usually, protests are peaceful and safe, especially because DC is full of Federal buildings.”

Despite living so close to the chaos, there was no disruption to his home life, said Aidan.

"There was a slight increase in sirens, but noise wasn’t an issue. The curfew was a big thing; we got an emergency alert to our phones – it was a loud, irritating noise that told us the mayor was putting us on curfew from 6pm.

"The impression was that if you went outside, you’d be lifted by the police. But there was no disruption to life at home; what we saw was no different to what was on TV; it didn’t feel over-hyped.”

Watching the insurgency on TV, and reflecting on protests in Washington, DC that have happened in recent times, Aidan said: “It was certainly handled differently to how the Black Lives Matter protests were policed.”

When asked if he considered going closer to the action, following word of the domestic terrorism event taking place only two miles from his house, Aidan said: “No – no-one even considered going closer, or going to look at it.

"A lot of [the insurgents] were from outside of DC, and there were people armed and carrying guns. There was a general feeling that you shouldn’t go near it.”