January 6 Committee Chairman Thompson Marks Five Years Since Attack on the Capitol

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), former Chairman of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, released the below opening statement for the Democratic hearing marking the five-year anniversary of the attack:

Five years ago today, an armed mob of thousands, incited by President Donald Trump, attacked, breached, and laid siege to the United States Capitol. They did so as Congress was carrying out one of its most fundamental constitutional duties: counting electoral votes, certifying a presidential election, and facilitating the peaceful transfer of power.

What unfolded that day was both brutal and calculated. Officers were stabbed with metal fence stakes and bludgeoned with flagpoles. They were crushed in doorways until their ribs were broken. Eyes were gouged. At least one officer was dragged into the mob, beaten, tased, and left for dead. Others suffered lasting damage from concussions and traumatic brain injuries. 

In the days and weeks that followed, five police officers died due to the physical or psychological trauma they endured protecting Congress and the Constitution. The years may have muffled the screams we heard, and the horrible images of that day may have faded. So, as we mark this grim anniversary, it is important that we remember exactly what happened. 

January 6th was not a regular tourist visit. It was not a day of love. It was a bloody riot that pushed our democracy to the breaking point. Some people want to rewrite the history of January 6^th. To ignore what we all saw with our own eyes. Some people want us to forget the lessons of that day. To pretend that we have overcome the threats facing our democracy and the rule of law. We will not allow that to happen.

We gather to continue to uphold our oaths to “support and defend the Constitution…against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” To defend against the lawlessness of that day and the lawlessness we continue to see today. We gather because, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. […] Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

Five years ago, police told us to remove the lapel pins that identify us as Members of Congress, so we would be less likely to be attacked by the mob that was desecrating our Capitol. I did not take my pin off then, and I am still wearing it today—because the work we do mattered then and continues to matter today.

The rule of law and our oaths continue to matter, especially as we see Donald Trump pardon those who were charged or convicted in the January 6th attack, engage the military abroad while bypassing Congress, tear down the White House, shutter whole government agencies, order masked goons to round up and deport U.S. citizens, and unlawfully put his name on a memorial to a better man. 

The bipartisan January 6th Select Committee, which I was privileged to lead, was charged with uncovering the facts, circumstances, and causes of what happened on that awful day, and to ensure it never happens again. It was one part of ensuring that our Constitutional Republic could withstand President Trump’s repeated attacks, and it offers lessons for today.

One such lesson was seeing how important it was for officials, most of them Republicans, to put their country over their party. They remembered their oath was to the Constitution and not to one man. And we need to remember that lesson today, because five years on, the danger has not dissipated. 

President Trump still refuses to acknowledge that he lost the 2020 election. Many who promoted or litigated his Big Lie have been rewarded with powerful positions. Dozens of nonpartisan career prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on January 6th cases have been summarily fired. State election officials who stood up to the Trump pressure campaign have faced threats and retaliation. The Department of Justice has become an instrument for retribution. 

The message is clear: uphold the rule of law, and you will be punished. Only loyalty to one man will be rewarded—violence in service of Trump is above the law. 

Remembering January 6th is not an exercise in partisanship. It is an obligation to all those who have sacrificed for this country and all those who will in the future. Democracy depends on the courage of those who will defend it, and on our willingness to hold accountable those who wish to destroy it.