One Year After Capitol Insurrection President Biden Says, ‘I Will Defend This Nation’

One year after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election and keep Joe Biden from taking office, President Joe Biden stood in the same place where police fought the insurrectionists and called for Americans to decide to take a stand for democracy.

“They weren’t looking to save America, they were looking to subvert the Constitution,” Biden stated, referring to what has become known as “The Big Lie,” the notion that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election instead of Biden.

In the months since Jan. 6, 2021, Congressional leaders have held hearings and investigations to uncover the organizers of the day’s rally and subsequent attack on the government which forced lawmakers to take cover in their offices. Some sought safety on the floor of the Senate while others and their staff barricaded themselves in their office using filing cabinets and desks. A group of protesters stormed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, and more than 140 Capitol police officers during the attack were injured with five dying from their injuries. Four have committed suicide in the months since the insurrection.

The Justice Department has launched the largest investigation in its history. The FBI has charged more than 550 protesters, and the officials are reportedly still looking for more than 200 others. Cases involving those charged have been working their way through the courts.

“The former President of the United States has created and spread a web of lies,” Biden emphasized in his most forceful criticism of Trump since the insurrection. He said Trump watched the day’s events from the White House and did “nothing for hours.”

When Trump did emerge from the White House to quell the chaos, he struck a conciliatory tone, describing the crowd as “patriots” and “peaceful people.”

Biden strongly refuted that idea as he addressed the nation from Statuary Hall where the mob had wielded “American flags on poles as spears.”

“This wasn’t a group of tourists. This was an armed insurrection,” Biden explained.

He also pointed out the Confederate flags some of the attackers carried as they tore through the Capitol building, acknowledging it was the first time in history a Confederate flag had been seen in the hallowed halls.

Vice-President Kamala Harris also spoke during the morning ceremony and described Jan. 6 as a day all Americans will remember where they where and what they were doing.

“The American spirit is being tested,” she said. “We cannot let our future be decided by those want to silence our voices.”

Since the Nov. 2020 election during which more than 150 million Americans voted, many of whom were Black, most state legislatures have enacted voter restriction laws.

Harris urged Americans to resist the assault on voting rights and called for Congress to pass legislature currently under consideration to address the voter suppression efforts.

“If we are not vigilant, if we do not defend it, democracy will fail,” she stated.

Biden and Harris will spend the day attending a slate of events marking last year’s deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol.