VP Harris marks Jan. 6, says day was scene of ‘violence, chaos and lawlessness’

Vice President Kamala Harris marked the third anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, remembering the day as one of “violence, chaos and lawlessness.” 

Ms. Harris’ remarks on the deadly attack on the Capitol came at a stop in South Carolina where the vice president gave the keynote address at the 7th Episcopal District AME Church Women’s Missionary Society annual retreat in Myrtle Beach. 

“I ask you to remember where you were three years ago today on January 6 2021 when a mob violently attacked the United States Capitol,” Ms. Harris said. “They used brutal force and fear to try and overturn the results of a free and fair election. They tried to overrule the votes of millions of Americans.”

Ms. Harris did not mention former President Donald Trump by name but did take a jab at his and others’ claims that the storming of the Capitol was a peaceful affair. 

“On that day we saw violence, chaos, and lawlessness,” she said. “But some so-called leaders still tried to mislead and gaslight by claiming it was a peaceful protest.”

Her comments follow a scathing rebuke by President Biden on Friday, where the president accused his likely opponent in 2024 of instigating the events of Jan. 6. 

“He told the crowd to fight like hell. And all hell was unleashed,” Mr. Biden said. “Then as usual he left the dirty work to others. He retreated to the White House.”

Mr. Trump barely mentioned Jan. 6 amidst a flurry of barbs against his opponents in the race for the GOP presidential nomination and lambasting the Biden administration for doing little to make the country better during Mr. Biden’s and Ms. Harris’ tenure in office during a rally in Iowa on Saturday. 

He argued that the Biden administration was weaponizing the government against him with the four indictments and dozens of charges he’s facing, including Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against Mr. Trump that included charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the rights of citizens.

“There’s a statute of limitations, I mean, what they have is a very dangerous thing. What they’re doing is a very dangerous thing,” Mr. Trump said. “Until this happened, in fact, nobody thought [Jan. 6] was even a possibility.”