House Democrats plan to mark the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Monday.
The Maryland Democrat told reporters the one-year anniversary of the attack by hundreds of angry protesters who traveled to the Capitol from a rally hosted by then-President Donald Trump will not be ignored, although he did not reveal specific plans to remember the incident.
“We are certainly not going to let that day go unrecognized or undiscussed,” Hoyer said.
Congress does not gavel in for the 2022 session until Jan. 10, which means most lawmakers will not be in the Capitol on Jan. 6.
But Hoyer said Democratic leaders in both chambers are planning something for the anniversary of the attack.
“I would expect that we will be doing something together on that day, possibly at the Capitol itself,” Hoyer said. “But that has not yet been decided.”
Democrats are eager to keep Jan. 6 in the spotlight, along with any association between the attack and the GOP.
The angry throng marched to the Capitol from the Trump rally to protest lawmakers voting to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
At the time of the attack, many GOP lawmakers had voted against certification, citing election irregularities.
Trump said the election was rigged in Biden’s favor and called on followers to march “peacefully” to the Capitol to register their objections.
Instead, the angry crowd violently pushed past the police and forced its way into the building, sending lawmakers running for safety.
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It took hours before authorities were able to regain control of the building. The Justice Department is prosecuting dozens of protesters, and House Democrats launched a special committee to examine the events that provoked the attack, with a focus on whether Trump and other Republicans sparked the intrusion.
“Jan. 6 was a very historic day in our country, which should have sent all of our citizens a very profound message — a message that our democracy can be put at risk by those in authority, and those who are following those in authority, to substitute force for votes, to substitute intimidation and violence for voting and process consistent with the Constitution in the laws of the United States of America,” Hoyer said.
