LEADER JEFFRIES: "THE JANUARY 6 VIOLENT ATTACK ON THE CAPITOL WILL BE SHAMEFUL ALWAYS AND FOREVER"
Today, on the five-year anniversary of January 6, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries delivered remarks setting the record straight about the Trump-incited January 6 insurrection:
LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you all for your presence here today on this solemn anniversary. Five years ago today, a violent mob incited by Donald Trump attacked the Capitol as part of a concerted effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and halt the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history. This bloodthirsty, treacherous mob brutally assaulted police officers and seriously injured more than 140 brave men and women of law enforcement. Many have suffered lasting physical and psychological damage. Several tragically lost their lives. Because of the extraordinary bravery of the U.S. Capitol Police, other law enforcement officials and the resolve of the Congress to return that night, this unprecedented attack on our country and on our democracy failed.
Over the last five years, instead of holding those responsible for the attack accountable, Donald Trump and far-right extremists in Congress have repeatedly attempted to rewrite history and whitewash the horrific events of January 6. We will not let that happen. On the first day in office of his second term, instead of fulfilling his promise to lower the high cost of living on day one, Donald Trump pardoned hundreds of violent felons who brutally beat police officers while storming the United States Capitol. The criminals and thugs that Donald Trump pardoned have flooded communities across the country, unleashing violence and mayhem.
The crimes committed by those rioters before and after the violent insurrection include child sexual assault, production of child pornography, possession of child pornography, rape, conspiracy to murder FBI agents, kidnapping, sexual assault, aggravated robbery, reckless homicide, driving under the influence causing death, illegal possession of firearms, domestic violence by strangulation, burglary, vandalism, grand theft, stalking, violation of protection orders, threatening public officials and drug trafficking. It's been a Trump-inspired crime spree.
Why won't Republicans in Congress condemn this dangerous behavior, an ongoing threat to public safety? They refuse to serve as a check and balance on an increasingly out-of-control executive branch, preferring to be nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda. The January 6 violent attack on the Capitol that took place five years ago today was shameful then, it is shameful now and it will be shameful always and forever.
We must continue to learn from what happened on January 6 in order to make sure that it never happens again. We must protect our free and fair elections. We must protect the peaceful transfer of power. We must protect the preeminence of the rule of law. And we must protect the eternal commitment to a democratic America which remains the last, best hope on Earth.
Ongoing hearing can be viewed here.