Internationally, the United States troops withdrew from Afghanistan, having been fully evacuated by August of this year. After this, the Taliban, once again, took control of Afghanistan. They reinstated policies that raised concerns for human rights violations, especially for women, and created more instability in the nation.
Nationally, there was a riot at the Capitol on January 6th. Former President Trump had instigated his followers over his loss in the recent 2020 election, stating it was stolen from them. A group called Proud Boys, a frequently violent right-wing group, were rallied by these statements and took it to the extreme when Trump ended up losing the election. Multiple individuals posted online threatening videos about what will happen at the Capitol to “win back the election”. In the end, rioters broke into the capitol building, forcing senators to hide under the assumption that they might die that day.
Locally, an 8-year-old girl was killed in a house fire, while her 9-year-old sister was injured. The fire occurred overnight, where the mother, father, and sister were able to get out of the house in time, the 8 year-old girl was stuck in a back bedroom. When firefighters were able to reach the young girl, she was unresponsive and pronounced dead on the scene. In her remembrance, the Somerville community, where they lived, tied purple ribbons around town because purple was her favorite color.
add later