‘Jan 6 is not behind us’: House lawmakers reflect on riot with Capitol Police officer’s family in attendance

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House Democrats gathered for more than two hours to reflect on the chaos and aftermath of the attack on the halls of Congress, sharing their emotional experience inside the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021 as a mob threatened to break into the chamber.

The parents of US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick – who died following two strokes the day after the assault – were also in attendance at the event at the Capitol on Thursday, as two dozen lawmakers recalled the shock of the assault and recommitted themselves against anti-democratic threats.

US Rep Lisa Blunt Rochester said she remembered “ducking and crawling over and under railings, hands, knees,” while “we had a front row seat to what lies, hate or plain-old misinformation conjures.”

“We went from victims to witnesses and today we are messengers,” she said.

US Rep Rosa DeLauro said she “will never forget that amid this interaction, the Capitol Police told us to hit the floor, grab the gas masks under our seats.”

“I had no idea there were gas masks under our seats,” she said.

US Rep Adam Schiff, who was on the floor of the House that day managing challenges to the Electoral College count from Republicans, said he “wasn’t really paying attention” to the swelling mob outside the building.

“It was not until our leadership was swiftly removed from the chamber, and police announced that we needed to take out our gas masks, that I understood the full extent of the danger,” he said.

After the order to evacuate, he “stayed behind” until two Republican lawmakers approached him, saying, “You can’t let them see you,” he said.

“I can talk to these people, I can talk my way through these people – you’re in a whole different category,” Mr Schiff remembered them telling him.

“Thanks to the courage of the police officers that day, we were safe,” Mr Schiff said. “We returned to the chamber that night to finish the work and certify the results.”

US Rep Pramila Japayal, who was relying on use of a cane after recovering from knee surgery that day, said she remembered anticipating using it as a weapon, while other lawmakers feared whether she would be able to flee.

Congressman Dan Kildee said he carried a piece of broken glass he found that day as a reminder of the “brutality” he witnessed, and of the persistent lie that fuelled the attack.

“January 6 is not over,” he said. “January 6 is not behind us. The threat and the lie that fuels that threat continues to rear its head in other forms.”

Republicans were largely absent from memorial events on Thursday, from morning speeches from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, to floor speeches from Democratic senators in the Senate, to a moment of silence inside the Capitol at noon and a candlelit vigil on its steps that evening.

US Rep Liz Cheney and her father, former vice president Dick Cheney, were the only Republicans in the House; Ms Cheney, one of two Republicans on the select committee charged with investigating the riot, was the only elected Republican to participate in memorial events.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump cancelled a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort planned to coincide with 6 January events, after GOP lawmakers appeared to dissuade him.

Republican US Reps Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene held a joint press conference to amplify baseless claims that federal law enforcement played a role in staging the attack, and the former president was photographed giving a thumbs up from a moving car after golfing in Florida.