Thousands of Donald Trump supporters invaded the nation's capital, inspired by his accusations of voting fraud, to protest the US Congress's impending certification of Joe Biden's White House triumph, and the former president was behind it, according to a congressional investigation.
On Thursday, June 9, a legislative hearing heard that the former president had a key role in attempting to forcefully prevent the presidential elections from taking place.
Trump claimed that supporters of Joe Biden'stole' and 'fixed' the election, accusations that have been thoroughly debunked.
As they overran the building where legislators were meeting, a large mob, some armed, made their way past police lines, many threatening to kill officials inside, including Vice President Mike Pence.
On Thursday, the investigation heard an allegation in which Trump stated his former vice president 'deserves it' as crowds yelled to hang Mr Pence.
As they fought to keep control of the capital hill, five individuals died and more than 130 police officers were injured.
'President Trump called a violent mob,' stated Congresswoman Liz Cheney.
'We're in a period of extreme risk for our republic when a president fails to take the actions necessary to maintain our unity – or worse, produces a constitutional crisis.'
New footage of the deadly violence was shown during the hearing, as well as evidence from Trump's inner circle, including his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
According to the House committee, the attack on the Capitol was motivated by the former president's "repeated falsehoods" about election fraud and his public campaign to prevent Joe Biden's victory.
'Democracy remains in jeopardy,' said Congressman Bennie Thompson, the panel's chairman, during the hearing.
'January 6 was the climax of an attempted coup, a blatant attempt to topple the government, as one rioter described it immediately thereafter.'
'The violence was not an accident,' says the author.