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Jan. 6 updates: Biden tears into Trump for inciting Capitol attack

Speaking at the Capitol, Biden slammed Trump for "spreading a web of lies."

Last Updated: January 6, 2022, 8:55 PM EST

Thursday marks one year since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and Democrats observed the anniversary with somber tributes at the building that's the symbol of American democracy.

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Homegrown: Standoff to Rebellion

A look at the days, events and conversations leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, from the eyes of anti-government groups, extremism experts and several ABC News correspondents who were at the Capitol that day.

The events in Washington included a panel discussion with historians, firsthand testimonies from lawmakers and a prayer vigil on the Capitol steps.

From Statuary Hall, which rioters stormed last year, President Joe Biden gave his most forceful rebuke of former President Donald Trump to date -- without calling him by name -- blaming him for the violence that erupted at the Capitol after he refused to accept a peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, were the only Republicans present in the House chamber for a moment of silence led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

A mob of supporters of President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.
Leah Millis/Reuters, FILE

ABC News Live will provide all-day coverage of Thursday's events at the Capitol and examine the continuing fallout for American democracy one year since the Jan. 6 siege.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jan 06, 2022, 4:59 PM EST

Almost no GOP support for Jan. 6 ceremonies

While Democrats took a lead on the day’s ceremonies, Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia -- both Trump loyalists -- held an event of their own at the Capitol to deflect blame. Trump earlier this week canceled a planned press conference to mark the anniversary from Mar-a-Lago.

PHOTO: Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Representative Matt Gaetz show video from the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol as they speak about what they say happened that day, during a press conference in Washington, DC, Jan. 6, 2022.
Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Representative Matt Gaetz show video from the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol as they speak about what they say happened that day, during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Jan. 6, 2022.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Republican leaders were not present at the Capitol with Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who serves as vice-chair on the House select committee investigating the attack, and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, rebuking GOP leadership after an earlier moment of silence in the House chamber.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is instead attending the funeral of late GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson in Atlanta. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who said on Jan. 6, 2021, from the House floor that "President Trump bears responsibility" for the "attack on Congress by mob rioters," has repeatedly accused Democrats of politicizing the day.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and Rep. Liz Cheney recite the pledge of allegiance on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.
House TV

Most House Republicans are at home "talking to their constituents about things that actually affect them" like inflation and high gas prices, according to a House Republican leadership aide.

-ABC News Benjamin Siegel

Jan 06, 2022, 4:50 PM EST

Biden confronts Trump's role on Jan. 6: Full transcript

Biden took the oath of office just days after the violent attack on the Capitol last Jan. 6, but he has fastidiously tried to prevent those unprecedented circumstances -- or his predecessor -- from dominating his first year in the White House.

But on the anniversary of the insurrection, he confronted Trump in a direct, personal way, in some of his strongest language yet.

"We must be absolutely clear about what is true and what is a lie. And here's truth," he said, speaking from Statuary Hall in the Capitol that rioters ransacked last year. "The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle. Because he sees his own interest as more important than his country's interest -- than America's interest -- and because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution. He can’t accept he lost."

Click here to read a full transcript of Biden's speech.

President Joe Biden wipes his eyes as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on the one year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, during a ceremony in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2022.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson and Sarah Kolinovsky

Jan 06, 2022, 4:36 PM EST

House lawmaker reflects on facing Capitol attack in wake of son's death

In an interview with ABC News Live on Thursday, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin reflected on the whirlwind period between the death of his 25-year-old son and Trump's second impeachment trial following the attack.

Raskin's son, Tommy Raskin, died by suicide on New Year's Eve 2020. The day after his son was buried, Raskin was on Capitol Hill when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

"The day after we buried Tommy in a small family COVID-19 graveside service, we had the violent insurrection at the Capitol and the attempt to overthrow the 2020 presidential election by Donald Trump," said Raskin, who wrote about the experience in his new book, "Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy."

"I felt like I had an obligation to do it, that Tommy would be completely with me the whole way," Raskin said. "And this was a chance to try to stand up and articulate, not just my love, but our family's love, of our Constitution and our freedom and our democracy and the idea of human rights -- the opposite of everything that was on display on Jan. 6."

In this Feb. 11, 2021, handout provided by congress.gov webcast, lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin speaks on the third day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
congress.gov via Getty Images, FILE

Raskin is a member of the Jan. 6 House select committee tasked with investigating the attack. To date, the committee has issued at least 50 subpoenas to individuals for information, according to an ABC News count, with at least 19 of those being Trump administration officials. It has conducted more than 300 depositions.

-ABC News' Allie Yang

Jan 06, 2022, 3:45 PM EST

By the numbers: Day of the insurrection

Five people died during or after the riot, including four protesters and one law enforcement officer. Separately, four officers who responded to the riot have died by suicide.

Approximately 140 police officers were injured the day at the Capitol including about 80 U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department, according to the Justice Department. Lawmakers on Thursday praised the group for holding the line and protecting the Capitol from even more bloodshed last year.

Pro-Trump protesters occupy the grounds of the West Front of the US Capitol, including the inaugural stage and viewing stands, in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.
Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock, FILE

Approximately $1.5 million in damage was done to the Capitol building, according to federal prosecutors.

"Well over 10,000" people came onto the Capitol grounds last year, according to Capitol Police, and at least 2,000 people actually entered the building. At least 706 individuals have been charged with crimes, according to an ABC News count, and approximately 150 individuals have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors.

-ABC News' Olivia Rubin, Alexander Mallin and Will Steakin

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