Five years ago outside the White House, the outgoing President Donald Trump told a crowd of his supporters to head to the Capitol — “ and I’ll be there with you ” — in protest as Congress was affirming the 2020 election victory for Democrat Joe Biden.
A short time later, the world watched as the seat of U.S. power descended into chaos, and democracy hung in the balance.
Jan. 6 attack, a cornerstone of Donald Trump’s bid for the U.S. White House
On the fifth anniversary of January 6, 2021, there is no official event to memorialise what happened that day, when the mob made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue, battled police at the Capitol barricades and stormed inside, as lawmakers fled. The political parties refuse to agree on a shared history of the events, which were broadcast around the globe. And the official plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol has never been hung.
Instead, Mr. Trump will meet privately with House Republicans at the Kennedy Centre, which the President has rebranded to carry his own name, for a policy forum. Democrats will hold a hearing with witnesses to the violence and later gather on the Capitol steps to mark the memory of what happened.
