WASHINGTON — On the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, House Democrats pledged to never forget the insurrection that led to the injury of almost 140 police officers and arrests of more than 1,500 protestors. During an hours-long forum in a basement conference room at the Capitol, dozens of Democratic lawmakers recounted their experiences of attempting to certify the 2020 election results when a mob breached the building.
“I could never had had the idea that a president of the United States would incite an insurrection on the Capitol of the United States — a symbol of democracy throughout the entire world,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday, about the day in 2021 she and other lawmakers were forced to hide before confirming the vote.
“How many times did I hear they were going to put a bullet in my F-word head? That’s what we were seeing on TV,” Pelosi said. “One thing I knew when we saw that is that we would go to the floor that night and show the world that the Congress of the United States, that our democracy had survived the insurrection that the U.S. president had incited.”
Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, President Donald Trump reiterated what he has often said about his speech on the ellipse the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, insisting that he said his supporters should “walk or march peacefully and patriotically to the Capitol.”
He blamed Pelosi for not calling in 10,000 soldiers to help with security — a claim the former House speaker refuted during her testimony Tuesday, saying she and other lawmakers had “begged” Trump for three hours to send the National Guard but he never did.
“Some people want to rewrite the history of January 6 to ignore what we saw with our own eyes,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said at the hearing. His remarks came after the screening of a short video showing what the Mississippi lawmaker described as the Capitol building being “transformed into a war zone” as rioters beat police with flag poles and crushed them in doorways.
“Some people want us to forget the lessons of that day to pretend that we have overcome the threats facing our democracy and rule of law,” said Thompson, who served as chairman of the House Select Committee that investigated the attack. “We will not allow that to happen.”
Five people died in the Capitol siege and its aftermath, including Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police while trying to climb through the window of a door near the House Chamber, and Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after battling the mob. Several law enforcement personnel died later, some by suicide.
While Trump was impeached by the House on the charge of “incitement of insurrection,” the Senate acquitted him after top GOP senators said they believed the matter should be left to the courts. The Supreme Court has ruled that ex-presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.
Almost a year after Trump pardoned all of the convicted rioters, House Democrats heard testimony from a variety of perspectives: a Capitol Police officer who was punched in the face and had his baton ripped from his hand; the so-called MAGA granny who served 60 months for rioting and declined Trump’s pardon; a national security analyst; and a former federal attorney who spent two years prosecuting Jan. 6 rioters and resigned two days after they were all pardoned.
“Why has the president continued to focus on erasing the history of January 6?” former Department of Justice prosecutor Brendan Ballou said during the hearing. “If he can convince Americans to forget, if January 6 is forgotten or — worse yet — excused as legitimate political discourse, then January 6 and attacks like it, more violent, will certainly happen again.”
Pamela Hemphill, a mother, grandmother, cancer survivor and retired addiction counselor who is the only Jan. 6 rioter to decline Trump’s pardon, testified that she traveled to the Capitol and joined the riot because she thought the election had been stolen and that Trump was going to join the group.
She ended up being trampled by other demonstrators who knocked her to the ground, broke her glasses and left her unable to breathe.
“If it hadn’t been for Capitol Police officers, I would’ve died,” she said, before turning to one of the officers and apologizing “from the bottom of my heart for being part of the mob that put you and so many officers in danger.”
She pledged to “do everything I can to stop the lies” she contended are being pushed by Republican leaders and Trump about Jan. 6 — a stance that has resulted in her being doxed, harassed and physically assaulted, she said.
Pelosi was among the many lawmakers who heaped praise on Hemphill for her courage.
“You are showing more bravery than so many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that still refuse to admit what happened on January 6th,” Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., said at Tuesday's hearing.
Many of the lawmakers called on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to install a congressionally mandated plaque that honors the law enforcement personnel who helped protect the Capitol from the rioters. A statute required the plaque to be placed on the building by March 2023 with a list of those who had served, but it remains in storage.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Johnson’s “office said in a statement late Monday the statute authorizing the plaque is ‘not implementable’ and proposed alternatives also ‘do not comply.’”
Several lawmakers who served on the Jan. 6 investigative committee also provided testimony, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. — one of the only Republicans to serve on the Jan. 6 investigative committee — former Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.; and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
“As the select committee warned in its findings, the greatest threat to democracy comes from those in positions of power who are willing to subvert the rule of law. That is exactly what this administration is trying to engineer,” Schiff said. “Despite the challenges facing our democracy, we can and must ensure a free and fair election this fall and far into the future.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.