Jamie Raskin Lost His Son. Then He Fled a Mob.
The day before the Capitol riot, a congressman buried his 25-year-old son, who had left a note for his family on New Year’s Eve.
As the mob seized the Capitol, Jamie Raskin thought not of himself, but of his younger daughter, Tabitha, who had asked him not to go to work that day. “This is an essential constitutional moment,” he had told her. Rather than stay home, he proposed another idea: What if she came along?
When Raskin, the congressman from Maryland, rose to address the chamber around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, he received a bipartisan standing ovation. He peered around the room, patting his heart in gratitude. His fingers lingered over a torn black cloth affixed to the lapel of his gray suit jacket. The day before, Raskin had buried his 25-year-old son, who on New Year’s Eve left his family a note: Please forgive me. My illness won today. Please look after each.
