Democrats commemorate January 6 attack with tears and silence at US Capitol

Hundreds of members of Congress paid tribute to five police officers whose deaths have been tied to the violent insurrection in 2021, as rioters overwhelmed law enforcement and broke into the Capitol at the urging of the then president, intent on stopping the official certification of his election defeat by Joe Biden.

Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick died not long after being attacked by the mob. Four other police officers affected by the events that day later took their own lives.

The ceremony included families of the fallen officers reading out their names, with the tolling of a bell, and concluded with 140 seconds of silence, one for each of the 140 law enforcement officers injured during the attack.

Jeffries announced it was a bipartisan gathering of lawmakers, but there was no sign of Republican leadership. Many Republican House members were engaged in a simultaneous conference call with Kevin McCarthy as he pleaded for their support in his epic struggle to become the next speaker of the House.

One Republican Congress member was spotted by CNN as being at the event, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.