Jan. 6 updates: Biden tears into Trump for inciting Capitol attack
Speaking at the Capitol, Biden slammed Trump for "spreading a web of lies."
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.
![Homegrown: Standoff to Rebellion](https://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/capitol-graphic2-abc-ml-220105_1641409891450_hpMain.jpg)
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.
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:
Capitol Police union praises officers' 'dedication and commitment'
The union representing United States Capitol Police officers praised the "dedication and commitment" of those who protected the Capitol building one year ago.
"Today, we recognize the dedication and commitment to mission of the men and women who put their own lives and safety on the line to defend the U.S. Capitol," Gus Papathanasiou, chair of the union, said in a statement Thursday. "We especially pay tribute to Officer Sicknick who died after being injured during the rioting, and to Officer Liebengood who tragically took his own life after the attack."
According to Papathanasiou, 80 Capitol Police officers sustained injuries that day, with some so serious they are still not back at work. He said members of the force remain "committed to our mission," but that comes with an increase in officers as well as improved intelligence and communications between officers and leadership.
Papathanasiou noted that the legacy of Jan. 6 -- from a policing perspective -- should be a police force that is better prepared, with an eye toward readiness if an attack of such scale ever occurred again.
"Going forward, this Union will work with the Department to ensure those sacrifices will not be in vain," he added. "We must ensure that the events of January 6th are never repeated."
-ABC News' Luke Barr
Who placed the pipe bombs the night before the Capitol attack?
On the evening of Jan. 5, 2021, on a sleepy street a short distance from the U.S. Capitol, a mysterious figure loomed. Wearing a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, a pair of Air Max Speed Turf shoes with a yellow Nike logo, a backpack and gloves, the suspect walked through alleyways and was equipped with what investigators say were two pipe bombs.
A full year later, the agency still has not caught the person who placed the bombs nor has it released information about a "person of interest."
Click here for more.
-ABC News' Luke Barr
How Trump's plot nearly succeeded: ANALYSIS
Beyond the riot, Jan. 6 was a dangerously close call. ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl asks: "What if Pence had followed Trump’s order? What would have happened if he had brought the gavel down during the joint session on Jan. 6 and thrown out Biden’s electoral votes in the states Trump had contested? What if he had declared Trump the winner of those states?"
J. Michael Luttig, a former federal appellate judge popular among conservatives, had advised Pence he would be violating the Constitution if he followed Trump’s order, and Luttig tells ABC News that if Pence had attempted to do it, he would have "plunged the country into a constitutional crisis of the highest order."
Click here for more.
-ABC News' chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl
Pence sheltered feet away from insurrectionists
As lawmakers returned the evening of Jan. 6 to certify the election following the attack, then-Vice President Mike Pence tweeted his thanks last year to the law enforcement officers who kept him safe, showing how he was rushed to a Capitol Hill parking garage during the attack.
In the subsequent weeks, video played at Trump’s second impeachment trial revealed just how close the rioters came -- some within 100 feet of Pence and his family, who were forced to take shelter in the Capitol.
In an interview with Trump for his book "Betrayal," ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl asked Trump at Mar-a-Lago last March if he was worried about the safety of his vice president.
"No, I thought he was well-protected," Trump said. "And I had heard that he was in good shape.”
When asked directly about the "’Hang Mike Pence’” chants on tape, Trump said, "Well, the people were very angry. Because it's -- it's common sense, Jon, it's common sense, that you're supposed to protect -- How can you, if you know a vote is fraudulent, right — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress?"
There is no evidence to support Trump’s claims that he won the election over Biden, despite dozens of failed court battles last year.
Historians commemorate Jan. 6 in panel discussion
In a panel discussion moderated by Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, historians John Meacham and Doris Kearns Goodwin addressed the significance of the anniversary of the attack and the importance of sharing a common truth about the events of the day instead of whitewashing what happened.
"This is about our future and all of us have a responsibility to remember that a more perfect union is about we the people, not a singular person," Meacham said.
He echoed Biden in calling the moment Americans face now "an inflection point" and said the founders would “want us to defend their experiment."
"In my lifetime this is the hardest moment for democracy," Goodwin added. "We have to recognize how deep that challenge is and not to sugar coat it, as Lincoln would say... but I think it can come back again."
The panel got some help at the top from the cast of the Broadway hit "Hamilton" -- which explores the foundations of American democracy and George Washington's choice to surrender power after two terms.
"You're all stewards of the American experiment," creator Lin-Manuel Miranda said in a pre-recorded video, before the cast sang, via Zoom, the song "Dear Theodosia" from the musical.
-ABC News Benjamin Siegel