US Capitol attack was an ‘attempted coup’, says investigating committee 


The head of the US Congressional Committee investigating deadly Capitol riots said that the attack was ‘culmination of an attempted coup’. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee was speaking during public hearing that was widely broadcast Live across America during primetime on June 9.

The attack on US Capitol on January 6, 2021 was perpetrated by supporters of former US president Donald Trump after his sustained campaign that claimed that his defeat in US elections 2020 was a ‘fraud’. Trump had addressed his supporters shortly before the attack. At the time of the attack, US lawmakers from both parties were certifying US President Joe Biden’s victory. The attack caused evacuation of the building.

During his opening statement, House committee chairman Bennie Thompson warned that the conspiracy was not over.

“The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over,” he said.

“There are those in this country who thirst for power but have no love or respect for what makes America great: devotion to the Constitution, allegiance to the rule of law, our shared journey to build a more perfect Union.” he said.

During the hearing, the committee offered first conclusions from a year-long probe into the assault — and sought to outline a deep-rooted and ongoing plot to undermine the US Constitution and overturn Donald Trump’s election defeat.

In coming days, the committee will reveal ‘never before seen footage’ related to the attack and make more details public.

Trump has defiantly dismissed the probe as a baseless “witch hunt” — but the public hearings were clearly on his mind Thursday as he launched into a largely false tirade on his social media platform, defending the insurrection as “the greatest movement in the history of our Country to Make America Great Again.”   

The case the committee plans to make is that Trump laid the groundwork for the insurrection through months of lies about fraud in an election described by his own administration as the most secure ever.

(With inputs from agencies)

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