Capitol Riots anniversary: Joe Biden says Donald Trump 'spread a web of lies' over election result
What has changed in the year since the storming of the Capitol? ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore, who along with his team was the only news crew to enter the building as the riot unfolded, returns to the scene one year on
Joe Biden has said that Donald Trump "spread a web of lies" about the 2020 election result, as he placed the responsibility of the Capitol Hill riots on the former Republican president.
On this day last year, a mob stormed the US Congress in an attempt to halt the certification of Mr Biden's election victory over Mr Trump.
Donald Trump 'spread a web of lies about the 2020 election,' Joe Biden said on the anniversary of the deadly riot
Speaking on the anniversary of the January 6 attack, which left five people dead, the Democratic president said: "One year ago today in this sacred place, democracy was attacked.
“The former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election.
“He has done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interests as more important than his country’s interests.
"Because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our constitution."
Robert Moore sheds light on the possibility of political violence in America's future and fears that Donald Trump may return US president
He said that Mr Trump was pre-emptively sowing doubt about the election result for months, looking for a "pretext to cover for the truth".
The 2020 election was the greatest demonstration of democracy in US history, Mr Biden added, citing the fact that more than 150 million Americans voted despite the pandemic.
“For the first time in our history, a president had not just lost an election, he tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power as the violent mob breached the Capitol," he added.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer led a bicameral prayer vigil on the East Center Steps of the US Capitol Thursday as one of the final moments to mark the US Capitol attack anniversary. Speaker Pelosi held a moment of silence in memory of the insurrection anniversary and said: "We prayerfully mark one year since the insurrection and patriotically honour the heroes who defended the Capitol and our democracy that day.
"Let us all here join in a moment of silence in memory of those who lost their lives and sacrificed so much for our democracy that day". Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church offered a prayer and Sara Sheffield of the United States Marine Band sang to commiserate the day of solemn remembrance.
Congressional leaders held a prayer vigil on the steps of the Capitol to mark the anniversary of the attacks
In scenes that reverberated around the world, protestors were filmed ransacking offices, breaking into the Senate chamber and clashing with armed police last January.
The storming of the capitol, which culminated in a woman being shot dead, was exclusively captured by an ITV News team who followed the mob as they charged up the grand marble steps, past Mr Biden's inauguration platform and into the People's House.
Watch ITV News' eyewitness report from inside the US Capitol as Trump supporters storm building
The violent scenes came after weeks of baseless claims that the election had been stolen from Mr Trump, who refused to concede his loss to the then-president elect.
The Trump campaign team led by Rudy Giuliani alleged a widespread conspiracy by Democrats to dump millions of illegal votes into the system with no evidence.
Referencing such misinformation, US Vice President Kamala Harris criticised those who spread lies in the build up to the violence of that day.
"If we do not defend it, democracy will not stand. It will falter and fail," Ms Harris said before introducing the president.
"What was at stake then and now is the right to have our future decided the way the constitution prescribes it: by we the people, all the people."
Defending himself against the claims, Mr Trump later issued a statement in which he said that watching Mr Biden speak would have been "very hurtful to many people".
Despite proof to the contrary, he continues to argue that the 2020 election was "rigged".
"They spread a 'web of lies' about me and Russia for four years to try to overturn the 2016 election, and now they lie about how they interfered in the 2020 Election, too. Big Tech was used illegally," he said.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the most senior Democrat in Congress, thanked the "heroism" of the Capitol police and institutional staff, as she "acknowledged the horror of that day".
"In the face of extreme danger, they all risked their safety for our democracy by protecting the Capitol complex," she said.
"Ensuring that Congress could accomplish our purpose and honour our duty to the constitution and to our country.
"That day and in the days after, they were the defenders of our democracy," Ms Pelosi added before presiding over a reflective silence in memory of the Capitol Hill police officers who died in the days after the riot.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a reflective silence in the House Chamber
While congressional Republicans almost universally condemned the attack in the days afterward, most have stayed loyal to the former president. Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney, chair of the House committee investigating the attack and one of the few GOP lawmakers attending the Capitol remembrance ceremonies, warned that “the threat continues".
The nation's divisions remained clear even on the anniversary of the attacks, as while congressional leaders held a vigil to honour the officers who protected the Capitol, activists also held a candlelight vigil hosted by right-wing group 'Look Ahead America' in support of who they called "political prisoners" of the insurrection at the Washington's Central Detention Facility where several are being held.
Micki Witthoeft, the mother of Ashli Babbitt, a protester who was fatally shot during the January 6 riot, was one of those who spoke at the vigil, defending her daughter's "legitimate right to protest".
Meanwhile, supporters of Former President Donald Trump and members of the far-right group Proud Boys also gathered during a "Justice for January 6th Vigil" at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on Thursday.