WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt) released the following statement:
“The attack on the Capitol itself happened five years ago, but the threat to our democracy continues today. Whether our democracy will endure is still an open question.
“Donald Trump caused the insurrection. He invited rioters to come to Washington; he encouraged the mob to attack the Capitol; he was the major instrumental cause in bringing them to the Capitol that day. Now, President Trump is rewriting history and erasing the insurrection. His enablers in Congress turned their backs on justice, standing with the President as he pardoned and commuted sentences for the rioters who attacked police officers and spread lies about the outcome of the 2020 election.
“I was in the House Chamber on January 6th. I heard the shot ring out and saw the mob shatter the glass of the chamber doors. Even though I was there, I couldn’t believe it was happening—that it could happen in America. Members of Congress, Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers, Capitol Hill staff, and the Capitol Press Corps are still haunted. So, too, are Americans across the country who witnessed their Capitol building desecrated and saw our law enforcement attacked and beaten.
“Five years later, the aftershocks of January 6th continue to ripple across our society and our democracy. Today, as we honor the police officers who defended our Capitol and those who died as a result, elected leaders must resist efforts to re-write history. Our democracy still hangs in the balance. I am determined to do everything I can—as I know all Vermonters are—to protect it.”
On January 6, 2021, then-Representative Welch was in the House Gallery as the Capitol was breached by a violent mob and the chamber was put into lockdown. The House of Representatives was in the process of certifying President Joe Biden as the elected winner of the 2020 election. He recently joined NPR to discuss his experience five years ago today.
In October, Senator Welch invited Daniel Hodges, a Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer who responded to the January 6th insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, to the Senate to push back on Republicans’ false narrative on political violence. Senator Welch has condemned President Trump’s blanket pardons of January 6 rioters and subsequent retaliation against investigators and prosecutors. The Senator has also criticized continued attempts of Trump loyalists, such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, to rewrite the history of the insurrection and defend the rioters.
Senator Welch is a cosponsor of the No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act and No Settlements for January 6 Law Enforcement Assaulters Act, legislation that would prevent the Trump Administration from handing out millions in taxpayer funds to Capitol rioters.
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