Biden: 'Democracy was attacked' on Jan. 6
"To state the obvious, one year ago today, in this sacred place, democracy was attacked. Simply attacked," Biden said, describing the police officers who battled against the insurrection as having "saved the rule of law."
Biden, a Democrat, made the remarks from a podium inside Congress, where in 2021 supporters of Republican former president Donald Trump smashed windows and attacked security personnel in an effort to stop lawmakers from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Biden described the day's rampage by rioters in vivid terms, recorded in hours of footage for all to see:
"A mob. Breaking windows. Kicking in doors. Breaching the Capitol. American flags on poles being used as weapons, being used as spears."
Four people died in the hours-long chaos a year ago, which occurred after Trump urged supporters to march to the Capitol and "fight like hell." One police officer died the day after battling rioters and four later died by suicide. Around 140 police officers were injured.
Biden castigated Trump - though not by name, describing him as "a former president, who had just rallied the mob to attack, sitting in the private dining room off the Oval Office in the White House watching it all on television and doing nothing for hours."
Trump in a statement issued after the speech said that Biden "used my name today to try to further divide America."
