Three years on, January 6 Capitol riot reverberates in US courts, 2024 race
Al Jazeera
US Capitol riot continues to fuel divisions as criminal cases progress in courts, including a federal indictment against Donald Trump.
Shattered glass. Clashes with police. Angry protesters scaling walls outside the United States Capitol.
The images from the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, remain some of the most memorable in modern political history. That day saw thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump storm the building in an effort to overturn his election defeat, forcing legislators to flee for safety.
But three years on, the country continues to grapple with the ramifications. On Friday, the eve of the riot’s anniversary, current President Joe Biden evoked the violence in a campaign speech near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, warning of its enduring effects on US democracy.
“Three years ago tomorrow, we saw with our own eyes the violent mob storm the United States Capitol,” he said. “For the first time in our history, insurrectionists had come to stop the peaceful transfer of power in America — the first time.”
Biden also took a jab at Trump, calling him out for inaction and election-related lies. “It was among the worst derelictions of duty by a president in American history.”
