Biden honors Capitol police with medal ceremony
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday awarded congressional medals to the police officers who fought off the Capitol rioters.
The legislation greenlighting the medals was passed by the Senate earlier this week.
It honors members of the Capitol Police and Washington Metropolitan Police Department who held off the mob on January 6.
At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden Thursday, Biden addressed Republican lawmakers who have attempted to downplay or deny the violent insurrection.
"My fellow Americans, the tragedy of that day deserves the truth above all else. We cannot allow history to be rewritten. We cannot allow the heroism of these officers to be forgotten. We have to understand what happened."
Four people died on the day of the riots.
Capitol Police officer Brick Sicknick, who had been attacked by protesters, died the following day.
More than 100 officers were injured in the violence, while four other officers have since died by suicide.
The new law will place the medals in the Capitol building, the Capitol Police headquarters, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the Smithsonian Institution.
