The vigil began with a prayer, moment of silence led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and performances.
The vigil ended around 5:40 ET.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced Lin-Manuel Miranda and cast members, who joined virtually in a recorded video.
“May his beautiful words be an inspiration to us,” Pelosi said about Miranda.
“We’ll make it right for you. If we lay a strong enough foundation, we will pass it on to you, and we will give the world to you,” Pelosi quoted the lyrics from ‘‘Dear Theodosia.’’
Miranda said he was honored to participate.
“We should never take our rights and liberties for granted, but we must remain committed to finding a way forward together,” said Miranda.
“That’s what I wrote about in the song ‘Dear Theodosia’ from Hamilton.”
Cast members then joined for the performance.
As detailed in the timeline video below, the day started early with former President Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally, Congress later met to count the Electoral College votes.
Protesters then began to storm the U.S. Capitol and the riots continued for hours. The day ended Jan. 7 at 3:40 AM, when Joe Biden was declared the President-Elect.
The complete breakdown can be found in the Newsweek article below.
Many, including the House Select Committee, refer to Jan. 6 as a “domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol,” but there is debate over whether the charges qualify as such.
As Newsweek reports, “The simple fact is that even if there was enough evidence to accuse a Capitol riot suspect of terrorism, there is no legal definition for domestic terrorism in the U.S, meaning it is not a federal crime.”
As of Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice says 725 arrests have been made in nearly all 50 states in connection to the Jan. 6 attack.
During Thursday’s speech at the Capitol, President Joe Biden spoke about the importance of protecting the right to vote.
“We have to be firm, resolute and unyielding in our defense of the right to vote,” Biden said. “And to have that vote counted.”
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about the passing current proposed legislation during her speech Thursday.
“We must pass voting rights bills that are now before the Senate, and the American people must also do something more,” Harris said.
“We cannot sit on the sidelines. We must unite in defense of our democracy in order to form a more perfect union.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer attacked former President Donald Trump’s “Big Lie,” claiming the 2020 Election results were illegitimate.
“We must confront this Big Lie,” Schumer said. “We will move forward to protect democracy and voting rights.”
The DOJ stated, the attack caused approximately $1.5 million worth of damage to the U.S. Capitol building one year ago today.
More than 725 defendants have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Approximately 165 individuals have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges, from misdemeanors to felony obstruction, many of whom will face incarceration at sentencing.
Approximately 70 federal defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for their criminal activity on Jan. 6. Thirty-one have been sentenced to periods of incarceration. Eighteen have been sentenced to a period of home detention, and the other defendants have been sentenced to probation with no term of incarceration.
The statement also stated, “The Department of Justice’s resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane.”
During Thursday’s White House press briefing, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki why.
“There’s only one president in the history of this country who fomented an insurrection which prompted the seizing of our nation’s capitol,” Psaki answered. “I think everybody knew who he was referring to.”
Psaki added, “As the president said, this day, and the work we need to be doing moving forward, is not about one person.”
“It is about the country reflecting on who we are in this moment and who we want to be moving forward and what steps we need to take to protect our democracy.”
When asked why President Biden had not delivered a speech like Thursday’s in the past, she said it was due to the “unique threat” posed by Trump.
“Trump posed a threat to democracy throughout the course of his Presidency and that was a root reason why President Biden ran for office,” Psaki said.
Trump issued a statement following Biden’s speech Thursday, calling it “political theater.”
Psaki responded to his statement saying, “Well, it looks like he saw the speech, I guess that’s good news.”
“Maybe he learned something about what it looks like to meet the moment in the country. To meet the moment where people are hurting.”
“I’m deeply disappointed we don’t have better leadership in the Republican party to restore the Constitution,” Dick Chaney told ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
He added that Jan. 6 is “an important historical event.”
“You can’t overestimate how important it is,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said House members were “very honored” by Dick Cheney’s presence Thursday.
“We were very honored by his being there,” she said. “He has a right to be on the floor as a former member of the House. I was happy to welcome him back, and to congratulate him on the courage.”
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger recalled the events saying it was, “a day unlike any other in our nation’s history.”
“And for the Capitol Police, it was a day defined by chaos, tragic loss, courage, and resolve,” a statement posted on Twitter reads.
“Our brave men and women have persevered through a very challenging year, and we appreciate their service and thank them for their continued commitment to our critical mission.”
DC Police echoed similar sentiments; a post on Twitter reads, “One year ago today, brave members of law enforcement answered the call for service to our city and our country.”
“Thank you for your courage and fortitude, and for the risks that you take every day to protect those who depend on us to keep them safe.”
“I want to acknowledge our fallen heroes of that day,” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said on the House Floor.
“U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood, Metropolitan Officer Jeffrey Smith, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Billy Evans, of a later assault. Now I ask all members to rise for a moment of silence in their memory.”
While describing the Capitol attack Schumer stated, “I was told later that one of them reportedly said, ‘There’s the big Jew, let’s get him.’ "
“January 6th, 2021 was a dark day for Congress and our country,” McConnell wrote in a statement.
“The United States Capitol, the seat of the first branch of our federal government, was stormed by criminals who brutalized police officers and used force to try to stop Congress from doing its job. This disgraceful scene was antithetical to the rule of law.”
“I continue to support justice for those who broke the law.”
McConnell also his gratitude for the police officers who responded that day and called out some Democrats.
“As I said yesterday, it has been stunning to see some Washington Democrats try to exploit this anniversary to advance partisan policy goals that long predated this event.”
“A year ago today, the Senate did not bend or break. We stuck together, stood strong, gaveled back in, and did our job. Senators should not be trying to exploit this anniversary to damage the Senate in a different way from within.”
Obama stated, “Although initially rejected by the many Republicans, the claims that fanned the flames of violence on January 6th have since been embraced by a sizeable portion of voters and elected officials — many of whom know better”.
“We can’t set an example when our own leaders are willing to fabricate lies and cast doubt on the results of free and fair elections,” Obama wrote.
The prevalence of the rule of law and principles of equality, fair elections and empowerment of the people showed the strength, she said.
That strength was also demonstrated through the heroism of law enforcement and the “resolve” of elected officials to certify the election and demonstrate loyalty “not to party, but to the Constitution.”
Harris said the closeness to which we came to an overturned election reflects our democracy’s fragility.
“If we are not vigilant and do not stand to defend it, democracy will simply not stand,” she said. “It will falter and fail.”
Harris said “the American spirit is being tested” and the answer to that test resides with the people.
“We cannot sit on the sidelines,” she said. “We must unite in defense of our democracy in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general welfare and secure blessings of liberties to ourselves and our prosperity.”
In her speech, Harris said January 6, 2021 is a date that will “echo throughout history” as an assault on our democracy, along with December 7, 1942 and September 11, 2001.
She said the rioters who entered the capitol that day issued an assault on American values.
“What they sought to degrade and destroy was not only a building, hallowed as it is,” Harris said. “What they were assaulting were the institutions, values, ideas that generations of Americans have marched, picketed, and shed blood to establish and defend.”
Harris said Jan. 6 exemplified what American would look like is our democracy was dismantled.
“What was at stake then and now is the right to have our future decided the way the Constitution prescribes it, by we the people. All the people,” she said.
Harris added that the nation’s future cannot be decided by those “bent on silencing our voices, overturning our votes and peddling lies and disinformation.”
Trump issued a statement, reading in part:
“Biden, who is destroying our Nation with insane policies of open Borders, corrupt Elections, disastrous energy policies, unconstitutional mandates, and devastating school closures, used my name today to try to further divide America.”
“This political theater is all just a distraction for the fact Biden has completely and totally failed.”
“Our Country no longer has Borders, has totally and completely lost control of Covid (record numbers!), is no longer Energy Independent, Inflation is rampant, our Military is in chaos, and our exit, or surrender, from Afghanistan was perhaps the most embarrassing day in the long and distinguished history of the United States—and so much more.”
Trump also maintained the 2020 election was “rigged.”
“Why is it that the Unselect Committee of totally partisan political hacks, whose judgment has long ago been made, not discussing the rigged Presidential Election of 2020? It’s because they don’t have the answers or justifications for what happened. They got away with something, and it is leading to our Country’s destruction.”
“The Democrats want to own this day of January 6th so they can stoke fears and divide America. I say, let them have it because America sees through theirs lies and polarizations.”
Biden called out Trump during his speech, saying:
He called out Trump’s three “big lies” about the 2020 election, attacking his points but refusing to mention him by name.
He addresses how the U.S. might look to the rest of the world - and how America’s adversaries may be seeking to take advantage of democracy under threat.
Harris labeled America “the greatest democracy in the world” but noted its “fragility”. She called Joe Biden the man to “meet this moment”, before inviting him to begin his speech. The President used his speech to reflect on the events of the day - an “attack on our democracy” - and declared that “we are in a battle for the soul of America”.
Attacking former president Donald Trump, but refusing to mention him by name, Biden said he was “watching it all on television and doing nothing for hours” while he sat in a dining room in the White House. He also slammed Trump’s supporters, saying that “they weren’t looking to save an election, they were looking to overturn one”.
He accused Trump of “spreading a web of lies” about the 2020 election and said his “bruised ego matters more to him than democracy”. “He can’t accept he lost,” he said.
Expressing anger at those who refuse to accept the events one year ago today, on behalf of Capitol police officers, he said “how dare anyone deny the hell they were put through that day”. Speaking about current attempts to change voter laws in dozens of states, he said any attempt to suppress voters was “un-American”.
Newsweek will have a summary of the speech soon after it has been made.
It comes after she gave evidence to the House committee investigating January 6 yesterday, convinced by panel member Jamie Raskin to testify after a long phone call.
Grisham was “candid” about events in the White House at the time and was present for most of it, reports CNN.
He cautioned that “without immediate action, we are at genuine risk of civil conflict and losing our precious democracy”.
Carter added that “promoters of the lie that the election was stolen have taken over one political party and stoked distrust in our electoral systems.”
It comes after he joined three other living former Presidents - Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton - in denouncing rioters who stormed the Capitol one year ago today.
But regardless, the House is not in session today and Nancy Pelosi confirmed there will be a “full program of events” to mark one year since Donald Trump supporters attempted to prevent the 2020 Election results from being certified, citing conspiracy theories around election fraud.
Many GOP figures will instead be heading to Georgia to attend the funeral of late senator Johnny Isakson, who died on December 19 aged 76, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
FULL STORY: GOP Leaders Ignore Jan. 6 Anniversary
“My understanding was that a lot of it was pretty peaceful,” Paul Bender, a self-described conservative from Cleveland, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “I’ve seen some video of the people just like marching in through a velvet rope.”
But almost a quarter of Republicans now think Trump bears “significant responsibility” for the riots taking place - sharply up from just 11 percent last year. Sixty percent, however, still believe he had little to no responsibility.
“I actually tried to, on more than one occasion, calm the crowd,” he said in an interview with Inside Edition. “But it just didn’t work.”
Chansley was later convicted for the ‘obstruction of an official proceeding’ - a felony - after prosecutors said he yelled “time’s up, motherf*ckers” and left a chilling note on then-Vice President Mike Pence’s desk telling him that “justice is coming”.
He is now serving a 41-month prison sentence for his part in the insurrection - one of the hundreds convicted so far.
He took aim at his Republican opponents, saying that “many of the victims turned into clowns” when they turned down the opportunity to condemn Trump in a crunch impeachment vote, which was passed through the House but with 197 GOP representatives opposed.
He feared “the entire WH counsels office” would quit following January 6, said Trump should “go to [Florida] and watch Joe [Biden] mess up daily” instead of refuting the outcome of the election, and told advisers he was “very worried about the next 48 hours”.
The committee has asked Hannity to voluntarily cooperate with the inquiry—meaning he has not been subpoenaed like a number of other Trump allies.
FULL STORY: What Sean Hannity Text Messages Reveal About Jan 6 Communication With Trump Officials
Sent out to supporters and published online by campaign spokesperson Liz Harrington, he labeled the COVID measures an “outrage” and said an administration under his leadership “never would” issue such mandates.
Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Thursday for full coverage of Jan. 6 Anniversary events.
