Friday marked two years since a riotous crowd of Donald Trump supporters descended on the Capitol building, spurred on by widespread falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election and an exhortation by Trump himself to march to the Capitol after his so-called “Stop the Steal” rally.
Thousands of supporters — many of them glad in military-style gear, some armed with a range of weapons, and countless carrying flags in support of the now-former president — marched to the Capitol as Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden‘s electoral win. After hours of fighting that has been described as “hours of hand to hand combat” and “medieval” by law enforcement officials on the ground that day, Trump’s supporters ultimately won out: they breached the building, forcing Congress to stop the certification as lawmakers and staff evacuated the building or sheltered in place.
According to the Justice Department, some 140 police officers were assaulted in the melee, including about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was attacked with chemical spray, died the next day, and four more officers who tried to fend off Trump supporters died from suicide in the weeks following Jan. 6.