6 Jan 2022″ SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm,’ President Joe Biden says in a speech.
People across the United States are commemorating the first anniversary of the deadly attack on the US Capitol, described by top officials in Washington, DC, as an “unprecedented” assault on the country’s democracy.
A mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
Five people died in the ensuing violence, Trump was later impeached for “incitement of insurrection”, and more than 725 people have since been charged in relation to the attempt to undermine a democratic transition of power.
Several events are planned in the US capital on Thursday to commemorate the sombre anniversary. US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation from the Capitol
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leading Democrats will later hold a moment of silence on the House floor before leading a discussion about the riot with historians. A prayer vigil will also be held on Thursday evening.
Congress marks anniversary of January 6 with moment of silence
Members of the US House of Representatives marked the first anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol with a moment of silence at the start of a session.
Congress, however, remains deeply divided over the riot. Many Republican legislators did not mark the moment of silence.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, for instance, said he has no plans to memorialize the day, and he doesn’t think others should, either.
“This thing has already become way too politicised, and that would just further exacerbate it,” he said.
Unlike in past national traumas – including the 2001 attacks – the US has emerged from January 6 without an agreed upon road map for what comes next.
Some notable Republicans call out party over January 6
Some prominent R犀利士 epublicans, including a handful of sitting legislators and party grandees, have criticised their party over its response to the Capitol riot.
“My criticisms are often aimed at Democrats; on the anniversary of Jan. 6, I’m addressing squarely those Republicans who for a year have excused the actions of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, disrupted Congress as it received the Electoral College’s results, and violently attempted to overturn the election,” Karl Rove, a Republican consultant and former senior adviser in the George W Bush administration, wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
“If Democrats had done what some Trump supporters did on that violent Jan. 6, Republicans would have criticized them mercilessly and been right to do so,” Rove wrote. “There can be no soft-pedaling what happened and no absolution for those who planned, encouraged and aided the attempt to overthrow our democracy. Love of country demands nothing less.”
Republican Representative Liz Cheney said: “Our institutions held, but they only held because of the people who were willing to stand up against the pressure from former President Trump.“The threat continues. Former President Trump continues to make the same claims that he knows caused violence on January 6.”
Trump blasts Biden’s speech
Former President Donald Trump has lashed out at President Joe Biden over his speech at the January 6 commemorations.
Biden, a Democrat, “used my name today to try to further divide America”, Trump said in a written statement issued on Thursday. “This political theater is all just a distraction.”
Trump, a Republican, accused Biden of “destroying our nation” with “insane” border policies, “corrupt elections” and “devastating school closures”.
No signs of protest outside the Capitol
Outside the US Capitol, a few people came out to mark the anniversary of the January 6 riot where thousands had protested a year ago.
Journalists far outnumbered spectators outside the Capitol, Al Jazeera’s Ali Harb reported from the scene.
With snow still on the ground in Washington, DC, the scene seemed “eerily quiet” with many “observers and very little action”, Harb said
