On the first anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol, President Joe Biden slammed former President Donald Trump. Mr. Biden accused his predecessor of spreading “a web of lies” that led to the mob’s assault in a televised speech.
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building as Congress gathered to certify Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
The world was shocked to see live footage of US politicians fleeing the mob.
Shortly before, Mr. Trump had urged protesters to “peacefully” march on Congress at a rally outside the White House. Still, he also encouraged them to “fight” and enraged the crowd with unsubstantiated claims of mass voter fraud in the election he had just lost.
Mr. Trump issued an angry statement shortly after Mr. Biden’s speech on Thursday, criticizing his successor. He accused Mr. Biden of “failure” and repeated false election claims in it.
Democrats, who control the US Congress, planned a series of events to commemorate the attack’s first anniversary, including a candlelit vigil outside the Capitol.
Many people talked about their day, including sheltering and hiding from the rioters with young staff members.
An investigation is underway by a House committee, and 725 people have been arrested in connection with the riot so far.
‘A dagger in the heart of American democracy.’
In his speech on Thursday, Vice President to Biden condemned the attackers and former President Trump, using some of his most forceful languages yet about both the Capitol riots and his predecessor.
In Statuary Hall, a section of the Capitol complex that rioters breached, Mr. Biden said;
“Those who stormed this Capitol and those who instigated this incident held a dagger at the throat of America and American democracy.”
“They came here in a fit of rage, not in the service of America, but in the service of a single man.”
“A web of lies about the 2020 election has been created and spread by the former president of the United States of America… His shattered ego is more important to him than our democracy or constitution.”
The US president also stated that the threats to democracy in the United States “have not abated.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi presided over a moment of silence on the House floor later in the day. She praised police officers for defending lawmakers and others who were huddled inside during the riot.
“The insurgents went after more than just the structure. “They went after democracy,” she explained.
Some Republicans chose to skip the day’s commemorative events. For example, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, led a delegation to the funeral of a former senator in Atlanta, Georgia.
Meanwhile, Florida congressman Matt Gaetz and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, two outspoken pro-Trump House members, held a press conference at the Capitol billed as a “Republican response” to the day’s events.
They repeated unsubstantiated claims that federal agents were behind the attack.
Outside Congress, the mother of Ashli Babblit, a US Air Force veteran who was shot by police while attempting to storm the House of Representatives, spoke.
“She was a patriot,” says the narrator. Micki Witthoeft told the Alabama-based Right Side Broadcasting Network, “She served this country her entire adult life.”
In a tweet, Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, accused Mr. Biden of “brazen politicization” of the 6 January riot.
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