A flag left by supporters of former President Donald Trump outside the US Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP) US Capitol riots anniversary LIVE updates: A year after hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, the White House is sent to mark the grim anniversary of the deadly assault with a speech by President Joe Biden warning of the threats to democracy. Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak on Thursday morning at the Capitol as well.
Former President Donald Trump, who was scheduled to hold a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Jan 6, cancelled the event. Trump said he would, instead, address many of the same topics at a rally in Arizona on Jan 15 instead. It was not clear why Trump canceled the news conference, which had originally been announced on Dec 21.
The Jan 6 anniversary comes as Trump continues to fight to block the release of White House records sought by the House committee investigating the attack. Trump, some fellow Republicans and right-wing media personalities have pushed false accounts to downplay the attack, calling it a non-violent protest or blaming left-wing activists.
Four people died on the day of the riot, and one Capitol police officer died the day after defending Congress. Dozens of police were injured during the multi-hour onslaught by Trump supporters, and four officers have since taken their own lives.
A mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump fight with members of law enforcement at a door they broke open as they storm the US Capitol Building in Washington on Jan 6, 2021. (Reuters)
January 6 will mark a year since the deadly siege of the US Capitol by a partially-armed and whimsically-dressed mob made of supporters of then-President Donald Trump. The attack on the Capitol — a complex that is widely seen as a symbol of American democracy — was unprecedented. The only other forcible breach had occurred more than 200 years earlier when British troops set fire to it in August 1814. That the January 6 assault was perpetrated by flag-waving patriots instigated by a sitting president making false claims of a stolen election — and refusing to acknowledge his electoral defeat — only underscores the political danger it portends. Accepting electoral defeat is, after all, fundamental to the functioning of any democracy. Click here to read more.
A year after thousands of violent pro-Trump rioters overwhelmed police officers at the US Capitol — severely injuring dozens in the process — the force dedicated to protecting the premier symbol of American democracy has transformed.
The leaders who were in charge of the US Capitol Police on Jan. 6 were ousted following criticism for intelligence and other failures that left the legislative branch vulnerable to the stunning attack. And more broadly, the agency that was once little-known outside of Washington now has an elevated profile, leading to a roughly 15% increase in funding and a greater awareness of its role in the patchwork of groups that protect the region. Read the full report here.
US President Joe Biden Thursday will mark the one-year anniversary of the deadly Jan 6 assault at the US Capitol by honoring the bravery of law enforcement on the scene, and outlining the unfinished work the nation needs to do to strengthen its democracy, the White House said.
"On Thursday, the president is going to speak to the truth of what happened, not the lies that some have spread since, and the peril it has posed to the rule of law and our system of democratic governance," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday in the first preview of the president's remarks. (Reuters)
The US House of Representatives panel probing the deadly attack on the US Capitol in January 2021 wants to question Fox News host Sean Hannity about his text messages with former President Donald Trump, his aides and lawyers from that time.
Representative Bennie Thompson, the committee's chairman, and Liz Cheney, its vice chair, on Tuesday sent a letter requesting Hannity voluntarily answer questions about matters including his communications with Trump, Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows and others in the days surrounding the Jan 6, 2021 attack.
The letter added that Hannity's communications suggested he "had knowledge of concerns by President Trump's White House Counsel's Office regarding the legality of the former President's plans for January 6th."Hannity did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawmakers said they have dozens of text messages between Hannity, Meadows and others "related to the 2020 election and President Trump's efforts to contest the outcome of the vote."
"At this time, we are specifically focused on a series of your communications with President Trump, White House staff and President Trump's legal team between December 31, 2020, and January 20, 2021," Cheney and Thompson wrote to Hannity. (Reuters)
Former US President Donald Trump has cancelled a press conference he had planned to hold in Florida on the anniversary of the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
Trump said in a statement Tuesday evening that he would instead be discussing his grievances at a rally he has planned in Arizona later this month.
Trump had been expected to use the press conference to rail against the congressional committee investigating the events of Jan 6, when a mob of his supporters violently stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt the peaceful transfer of power, and to repeat his lies about the 2020 election. (AP)