House Democrats who were on the Jan. 6th Select Committee are holding an event marking five years since the violent U.S. Capitol riots. CBS News' Scott MacFarlane has the details.

Washington

House Democrats organized a public event at the Capitol Visitor Center to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riots. The event featured testimony from victims, police responders, and members of Congress, focusing on the impact of the attack and ongoing threats to democratic processes.

At the same time, a group of pardoned Capitol riot defendants gathered outside the Capitol, retracing their steps from the day of the attack. No official events were held by Republican leaders, and some lawmakers and analysts expressed concern about efforts to revise or minimize the historical facts of January 6.

House Democrats lead event remembering Jan. 6 Capitol riots

Today marks five years since the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and in a matter of moments, Democrats will begin a hearing on that riot. It will also examine ongoing threats to free and fair elections. Several witnesses and Capitol officers are expected to deliver emotional testimony on the impact of the riot half a decade later. At the same time, a group of pardoned Capitol riot defendants are gathering outside the U.S. Capitol. CBS News Justice Correspondent Scott McFarlane joins us now live from Capitol Hill with more on this. Scott, you've done extensive reporting on the January 6th rioters, and now we're looking at two competing observances, one for Democrats, one for pardoned protesters. What should the rest of the country make of this? How do you see it? Errol, this is what happens, and this is what it looks like when there is a whitewashing of part of U.S. history. There are no official events planned here at the Capitol, nothing beneath the Capitol Rotunda, nothing in the House chamber, nothing in the Senate chamber to mark this five-year date of January 6th. The Republican leadership of the House and Senate have organized and staged nothing. They've issued no statements. They're not acknowledging the January 6th date that's arrived today. So we're left with informal things that are popping up. That hearing, and if you want to call it a hearing, that's somewhat debatable, but this public meeting that's happening shortly inside the Capitol Visitor Center is being staged by just one party, the House Democrats have organized this. Therefore, it's not an official hearing. There'll be a number of witnesses who are victims of January 6th, police responders, members of Congress who are hiding beneath their chairs as the riotous mob approached, and they'll have some testimony to talk about the damage of January 6th and the ongoing threat to democracy. Then you have the convicted rioters, some of whom are retracing their steps from the White House Ellipse to the Capitol West Front today, the same march they made five years ago today. They've insisted this will be a peaceful protest or a peaceful memorial for their fellow members of that January 6th mob. But them being here is provocative, and I suspect they know that, and they know they're gonna get some attention for being here today. But that's what happens when there's nothing official. Informal things pop up, little sparks happen here or there, and there's an expectation. All of this will remain relatively calm and quiet, but perhaps, according to one police officer who spoke with CBS News, it's not the best way to mark this day and honor the victims. And Scott, I was speaking with our political analyst, David Becker, last hour, who warned that this whitewashing of history, this rewriting of the facts, may work to change people's perceptions of what was witnessed that day. And I know that there is a push to preserve the facts of what happened on January 6th five years ago. Talk to us about how lawmakers are trying to make sure this historical event is not revised. Yeah, some of the Democrats here today say they're trying to fight for some terrain to reclaim the facts that we all saw on television five years ago today. We witnessed a riot inside America's Capitol, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We hear these House Democrats, Senate Democrats, some of the police responders say they want to just reiterate and reaffirm the facts on the ground. More than 140 police officers were maimed that day. Several died by suicide in the days after January 6th. There was a confrontation between rioters and Capitol Police that nearly upended democracy in the 2020 election. These were the facts, and that they are, five years later, still fighting to reaffirm those facts in the face of whitewashing, revisionist history, and the fictionalizing of January 6th speaks to the moment we're in. But also, I think it's worth underscoring, those pardons, those pardons land wrong with certain victims of January 6th. We are now seeing these defendants free for their first January 6th since the day of the attack.

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