Jeffries: Jan. 6 rioters weren’t ‘peace-loving individuals’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), on the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riots, said the Jan. 6 protesters were not “peace-loving individuals.”

“The thugs who were part of the violent mob on January 6 desecrated the Capitol, threatened to hang the Vice President, assassinate the Speaker of the House and hunt down Members of Congress,” Jeffries said in a statement posted to Bluesky. “They were not peace-loving individuals.”

Congress will meet Monday to certify the results of the 2024 election, handing President-elect Trump the keys to his second White House term.

Trump has insisted that the Jan. 6 attack was a “day of love” and vowed to pardon the individuals who stormed the Capitol looking to stop the certification of the 2020 election results when he returns to office.

In his statement, Jeffries highlighted the efforts of police officers who responded to the Capitol breach and protected lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

More than 140 officers were injured. One U.S. Capitol Police officer died of a stroke a day later, after suffering injuries on Jan. 6, and four others died by suicide in the days and months following the attack.

Jeffries recalled the riot in his statement, calling Trump’s supporters a “violent mob” who attacked the Capitol in an effort to “halt the peaceful transfer of power.”

“The American people must never be allowed to forget the events of January 6, 2021, the lives that were lost and the heroism of the law enforcement community,” Jeffries said in the statement. “History will always remember the attempted insurrection and we will never allow the violence that unfolded in plain sight to be whitewashed.”

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