A year later, White House, Congress to mark attack

The White House and Congress on Thursday will commemorate the one-year anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol when former president Donald Trump's supporters stormed the building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election win.

Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will make remarks Thursday morning from the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol, according to National Public Radio. The House of Representatives won't be in session, but there will be a moment of silence on the House floor.

Separately, House Democrats will hold events that will focus on the violence of the insurrection.

In a letter to fellow House Republicans released Monday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said that "our Capitol should never be compromised and those who broke the law deserve to face legal repercussions and full accountability". He also charged that Democrats were using the anniversary "as a partisan political weapon to further divide our country".

House and Senate members will hold a prayer vigil Thursday evening on the steps of the Capitol. At about the same time, Trump will hold a news conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at which he has said he will address his claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Trump was impeached by the House for an unprecedented second time for inciting the insurrection and then acquitted by the Senate. His election fraud claims have been rejected more than 60 times in courts across the nation. All of his allegations of a stolen election have been unfounded.

Trump has called the insurrection a mere "protest", while claiming that the "insurrection" was Biden's victory. In announcing the news conference last month, Trump said "the insurrection took place on Nov 3, it was the completely unarmed protest of the rigged election that took place on Jan 6".

According to a poll released Tuesday from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about 3 in 10 Republicans say the attack wasn't violent and another three say it was somewhat violent.

Overall, about two-thirds of respondents in the poll of 1,089 adults taken Dec 2-7 said the day was very or extremely violent, including about 9 in 10 Democrats.

The poll also showed that the percentage of Americans who blame Trump for the attack has grown slightly over the past year, with 57 percent saying he bears significant responsibility for what took place. An AP-NORC poll taken in the days after the attack said 50 percent.

Four people died during the insurrection, including Ashley Babbitt, a rioter who was shot by Capitol Police while storming the building. Three other rioters died of a drug overdose and cardiac arrest. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was pepper-sprayed by rioters during the attack, died of a stroke the next day.

More than 140 officers were severely injured during the riot, leaving many with mental trauma. Four Capitol Police officers died by suicide in the months after the assault.