Fears for US democracy aired year after rioting

WASHINGTON－One year after the violent assault on the US Capitol, deep concerns remain about the health of the country's democracy and many say violence against the government can sometimes be justified, according to two polls published on Sunday.

The Jan 6 attack on the seat of Congress, led by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, was "a harbinger of increasing political violence", and the United States' democracy "is threatened", according to two-thirds of those surveyed for a CBS News poll.

Pride among people in their democracy has dropped sharply, from 90 percent in 2002 to 54 percent now, a Washington Post/University of Maryland survey found.

With the Jan 6 anniversary nearing, the polls offer specific causes for concern: CBS found that 28 percent of respondents believe force can be used to defend the result of an election, while 34 percent told The Washington Post that a violent action against government can sometimes be justified－the largest percentage in decades.

The results underscore the seemingly almost irreconcilable views dividing society, which President Joe Biden－who took office 14 days after the Capitol rioting－has promised to overcome.

Two-thirds of Trump's supporters still believe his baseless charge that Biden is not the legitimately elected president.

Trump had addressed thousands of supporters shortly before the Capitol assault, telling them the election had been "rigged" and that they should "fight like hell".

Nearly 60 percent of those polled say Trump bears heavy responsibility for the invasion of the Capitol just as lawmakers were set to certify Biden's victory.

'Coordinated effort'

There again, opinion follows partisan lines: 83 percent of Trump voters placed his level of responsibility at only "some" or "none," the Post survey found.

And 26 percent of the survey respondents want him to run again in 2024, according to CBS.

A select committee of the House of Representatives has spent months working to establish the roles and responsibility of those who incited or may have organized the protest.

Despite limited cooperation from Trump's inner circle, the panel has conducted over 300 interviews and collected thousands of documents.

"We have uncovered some things that cause us real concern, things like people trying to ... undermine the integrity of our democracy," the panel's chairman, Representative Bennie Thompson, told ABC on Sunday.

"It appeared to be a coordinated effort on the part of a number of people to undermine the election.

"It could be people in the executive branch. It could be people in the Department of Defense ... and some very wealthy individuals."

Agencies via Xinhua