Biden describes violence in evocative and at times graphic detail — officer speared by flagpole flying American flag, beatings, bloodshed and racist screams from rioters.
President Joe Biden has marked the second anniversary of the deadly attack on the US Capitol by awarding the "Presidential Citizens Medal" to 14 people, some of them posthumously, who battled to defend America's democracy after the 2020 election.
In a White House ceremony on Friday, Biden, a Democrat, described the violence that wounded 140 police as "fuelled by lies."
As he spoke, Republicans, many of them loyal to former president Donald Trump, who pushed the false election claims, struggled for a fourth straight day to elect a speaker of the House of Representatives.
"All of it was fuelled by lies about the 2020 election, but on this day two years ago, our democracy held because we the people...did not flinch," Biden said.
"History will remember your names..remember your courage and remember your bravery," Biden said.
The honorees also included former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who resisted pressure to overturn the 2020 election results in their states, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who diverted rioters from the Senate floor while lawmakers were evacuating, and Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman, who was falsely accused by Trump of election fraud.
The White House on Friday added two names to the list, both of whom took their own lives in the aftermath of January 6, US Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood and Washington police officer Jeffrey Smith.
Freeman was forced to flee her home last year after death threats from angry Trump supporters.
Trump on Wednesday targeted Freeman by name again to his nearly five million followers on his social media platform.
Biden said Freeman and others fought back against "predators and peddlers of lies" about the 2020 election won by Biden.
READ MORE: 2 years on: The aftermath of the January 6 United States Capitol riots
Biden gives the award to Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick's parents.
Warranted award
Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died in the days following the attack on the Capitol, was awarded a posthumous medal.
Washington's chief medical examiner ruled that Sicknick died of natural causes following multiple strokes after the attack on the Capitol.
His parents, Charles and Gladys Sicknick, accepted the award on his behalf.
Biden held Gladys Sicknick's hand as the citation about her son was read.
"This is warranted, and in some senses overdue but also incredibly difficult for the families, and particularly the families of those who lost a hero defending our democracy," Biden said in the White House East Room, which was packed with family and friends of those being honoured.
Other awardees included Harry Dunn, Caroline Edwards, Michael Fanone, Aquilino Gonell, Eugene Goodman and Daniel Hodges, who were all members of law enforcement who defended the Capitol on the day of the attack.
Shaye Moss, an election worker from Fulton Country, Georgia and Al Schmidt, who was a city commissioner on the Philadelphia County Board of Elections, also received awards.
READ MORE: US January 6 committee unveils report, says Trump engaged in 'conspiracy'
Honored to stand alongside the recipients of the Presidential Citizens Medal, the first of my presidency. pic.twitter.com/vLMkDpsEiH
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 7, 2023
Contrast with Trump
Trump supporters attacked police, broke through barricades and entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a failed effort to prevent congressional certification of Biden's 2020 election victory.
Trump, who has announced another bid for the presidency in 2024, had pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, not to certify the vote, and he continues to claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.
The White House event gave Biden another opportunity to condemn the acts of violence two years ago and raise concerns about the threats to US democracy by Trump and people inspired by him.
Biden provided another contrast with bickering House Republicans during a joint appearance with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday in Kentucky in a display of bipartisanship.
Shortly before the 2021 rampage, Trump, in his waning days as president delivered a speech near the White House urging his supporters to march on the Capitol.
Five people died in the ensuing riot, and more than 140 police officers were wounded.
A US House panel investigating the attack said last month that Trump should face criminal charges for his role in provoking the violence.
READ MORE: US January 6 committee recommends criminal charges against Trump
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