January 6 LIVE updates – Trump rips ‘committee of Dems’ before Biden’s Capitol riot anniversary speech with VP Kamala

Officer Eugene Goodman praised as hero

When rioters broke into the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, Goodman found himself as the lone officer standing between a big gathering of rioters and the Senate chamber, which had not yet been evacuated, while the insurgents pushed their way through the structure. 

Goodman enticed the crowd to follow him away from the chamber, preventing a considerably more heated conflict between the rioters and the officers guarding the unarmed senators and their aides.

He was commended for his heroism by Bernice King for baiting and directing the mob away from the chamber. 

Biden seen wiping tears on anniversary

President Joe Biden wiped away his tears as Kamala Harris spoke about the Capitol riot before taking several hits at his predecessor Donald Trump.

 and Vice President  delivered remarks on Thursday at the National Statuary Hall on the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.

The president was photographed in the wings tearing up while Harris addressed the nation.

Pence on the riots

Last June Pence told Republicans in New Hampshire that he will likely never “see eye to eye” with Trump regarding the insurrection.

He said: “As I said that day, Jan. 6 was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol.

“You know, President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye about that day,” he continued. 

“But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.”

Mob ‘got close to nuclear football’

During the riots, Pence, his wife, and daughter were rushed out by security staff.

Secret Service agents and a military officer carrying the “nuclear football” followed closely behind.

Officials who oversee the process to launch missiles were reportedly unaware that the “football” was potentially in danger.

Impeachment manager Rep. Stacey Plaskett said: “As the rioters reached the top of the stairs, they were within 100 feet of where the vice president was sheltering with his family, and they were just feet away from one of the doors to this chamber.”

Pence felt ‘betrayed’

Mike Pence felt “scared, angry, and betrayed” during the Capitol insurrection one year ago, an ex-White House staffer revealed, as rampaging protesters threatened to “hang” the former vice president.

Olivia Troye, a former staffer on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told The Sun that she feared violence would erupt on January 6.

She revealed: “I think the most jarring thing was seeing the gallows set up outside the Capitol and the ‘Hang Mike Pence’ chants toward someone who had remained so loyal for many years.

“He is known to the GOP as a very traditional, conservative Republican.”

Troye said she has no doubt that Pence was “angry, scared and worried” as he was with his family when the chaos unfolded.

She believes the former vice president felt a sense of betrayal.

Vigil in support of those arrested

Matt Braynard (L), executive director of Look Ahead America, looks on as Ashli Babbitt's mother, Micki Witthoeft, speaks during a Look Ahead America vigil outside of the Washington, DC Detention Center in support of hundreds of people who were arrested and charged following last year's Capitol insurrection.

Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot during the January 6, 2021 riot by law enforcement as she attempted to breach the US House Chamber.

Four police officers died after riots

Five people died in the Capitol riots as protesters tried to stop lawmakers from certifying  victory in the 2020 election.

Four police officers later died by suicide. Officer Kyle DeFreytag, 26, was found dead on July 10 last year.

On the day of the insurrection, he helped crews enforce the curfew put in place after the Capitol building was breached.

Gunther Hashida was found dead in his home on July 29. He joined the Metropolitan Police Department in 2003 and was part of the Emergency Response Team within the Special Operations Division.

Twelve-year MPD veteran Jeffrey Smith and 16-year veteran Howard Liebengood also died by suicide.

Smith, 35, shot himself in the head on January 15, while Liebengood died three days after the attack.

Vice President Kamala Harris recalls January 6, 2021

Harris was in a classified hearing hours before the attack occurred on this date last year.

She remembers “converting filing cabinets into barricades.”

“On January 6, we all saw what our nation would look like if the forces who seek to dismantle our democracy are successful,” she said in her speech this morning.

Historic picture

In this file photo taken on January 06, 2021 Richard Barnett sits at the desk of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi inside the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

One year after rioters stormed the US Capitol and shut down Congress, Americans still await a reckoning on the unprecedented challenge to the country’s democracy.

Videos from January 6, 2021 show attackers beating security officers with iron bars and clubs. A policeman crushed in a doorway, howling in pain. A woman shot to death in a Capitol hallway.

Why Biden didn’t name Trump

After the national speech on Thursday, Biden was asked why he didn’t use Trump’s name in his remarks, to which he said he didn’t turn the moment into “a contemporary political battle” between himself and the former president.

“I think we just have to face the facts. What happens? Draw a clearer picture for the American people. It’s not about me.

“It’s not about the vice president. It really isn’t. That’s the thing that bothers me most about the sort of attitude that seems to be emerging to some degree in American politics. It’s not about you, it’s about me. That’s how it’s viewed.

“But it’s not about me. It’s not about whether I’m president or she’s vice president. It’s about the system. And about somebody who decides to put himself above everything. And so, but I did not want to turn it into a contemporary political battle between me and the president. It’s way beyond that.”

Anniversary vigil

People hold up candles during a candlelight vigil on the National Mall in observance of the first anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

More than 700 people have been charged by the Justice Department in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, according to .

Of the more than 50 defendants who have been sentenced for their role, fewer than half were sent to jail for their crimes, the outlet noted.

What happened on January 6, 2021?

The January 6 riots broke out as protestors claiming the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building.

Protestors pushed back against police who awaited aid from the national guard and broke through the barriers separating them from the building.

They scaled walls and smashed windows to breach the building and gain access to the chambers of Congress and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office as members met to officially elect Joe Biden as the 46th President.

The protests came after Trump spoke to his supporters declaring the election was stolen and telling them they should “peacefully” march on the Capitol.

'This is serious stuff'

President Biden answered a few questions from the press after his remarks at the Capitol.

He said “this is serious stuff” and “you gotta face it.”

“That’s what great nations do. They face the truth, deal with it, and move on.”

Trump to discuss issues later

Instead of holding a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on January 6, former President Donald Trump said he’ll address the issues he would have discussed that day at a different rally later in the month.

He will instead hold a rally in Arizona on Saturday, January 15.

Who is Ashley Babbitt?

Babbitt was an Air Force vet with 14 years in the service, during which she did four tours of duty.

She was a high-level security official throughout her time in service.

Babbitt was shot in the chest during the mayhem inside the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Video footage captured the sound of the gunshot and showed the woman crumpling to the floor from multiple angles.

She was reportedly shot by Capitol Police.

President Biden’s speech

 and Vice President  delivered remarks on Thursday at the National Statuary Hall on the one-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.

“We are a great nation. We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie,” Biden said.

“And here is the truth: The former President of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election.

“His bruised ego matters more to him than our … Constitution. He refused to accept the results of the election.”

Biden continued: “It’s the first time in our history, a president who just lost an election tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

“He’s not just a former president, he’s a defeated president.”

'Vigil for Democracy'

A candlelight vigil called "Vigil for Democracy" was held on Thursday in Washington, D.C.

Pictured is Ashli Babbit's mother Micki Witthoeft.

Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot during the January 6, 2021 riot by law enforcement as she attempted to breach the US House Chamber.

‘ A wild story’

From video showing a cop being crushed by a door to a photo of a protester putting his boots up on Nancy Pelosi‘s desk, the footage from the January 6, 2021 riot tells a wild story.

In the year since protesters broke down barricades in front of the Capitol building and forced their way onto the premises while Congress was certifying the 2020 election, the US Attorney’s Office for Washington, D.C., has charged over 700 people.

Four people died on the day of the attack and one police officer, Brian Sicknick, died after suffering two strokes a day later.

Hundreds of rioters charged

More than 700 people have been charged by the Justice Department in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot, according to .

Of the more than 50 defendants who have been sentenced for their role, fewer than half were sent to jail for their crimes, the outlet noted.

‘The gallery group’

In the days after the attack, many of the lawmakers who were in the gallery started connecting on a text message chain. It quickly evolved into therapeutic group sessions and even potluck gatherings where they tried to make sense of it all.

They dubbed themselves “the gallery group,” and the name stuck.

Some of the Democrats who sheltered in the gallery are planning to spend time together at the Capitol this week.

Rep Val Demings remembers

Rep Val Demings, D-Fla., was among those sheltering in the gallery during the riot. She tried to remain calm, drawing on what she learned as chief of the Orlando police. But she also felt powerless, lacking a gun or any of the other weapons she always had on the beat.

She shuddered when police said there had been a “breach” of the building.

“That is probably the word that I will remember about that day for the rest of my life more than any other,” Demings said. “I knew that meant that the police had somehow lost the line. And I also know, having been a former police officer, that they would have done everything in their power to hold that line to protect us.”

Lawmakers ‘shaken’ by experience

Interviewed by The Associated Press before this week’s anniversary of the attack, 10 of the House members who were in the gallery , recalling viscerally the sights and sounds amid the chaos.

Vividly they remember the loud, hornetlike buzz of their gas masks. The explosive crack of tear gas in the hallways outside. The screams of officers telling them to stay down. The thunderous beating on the doors below. Glass shattering as the rioters punched through a window pane. The knobs rattling ominously on the locked doors just a few feet behind them.

How many people died in the Capitol riot?

Five people died either shortly before, during, or following the 2021 riot on the Capitol.

One was shot by Capitol Police and another died of a drug overdose.

Three others died of natural causes; the reported that two died of heart failure.

Bipartisan committee investigation

Last year the House of Representatives voted to create a bipartisan committee to investigate the deadly January 6 Capitol riot.

The June 30 House vote agreed to establish a panel tasked with determining the root causes of the attack on the nation’s capital.

On July 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she tapped Liz Cheney for the Capitol riot investigation committee.

Cheney joined seven  to investigate the violent  in a panel chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson.

In addition to Thompson and Cheney, Pelosi named Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren of California, Adam Schiff of , Pete Aguilar of California, Stephanie Murphy, of , Jamie Raskin of  and Elaine Luria of .

The day in images

Protesters are seen storming the US Capitol following on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

The rioters gathered in the nation’s capital to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election.

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the images that shocked the world.