One year after the assault on the Capitol on January 6: an attack on democracy that is not forgotten

The country remains deeply divided one year after the worst attack on the Capitol since the British burned it down nearly 208 years ago.

In Congress, some lawmakers plan to mark the anniversary of the assault on the Capitol with a minute of silence.

Others will spend the day teaching their fellow citizens how the democratic system works.

But there are many who do not even believe that it is an event to be remembered.

The differences on how to commemorate or not the anniversary of January 6, reflect the marked partisan divisions.

Supporters of then-President Donald Trump on the day of the assault on the Capitol in Washington DC, January 6, 2021.Samuel Corum / Getty Images

Donal Trump, the president who was defeated at the polls on November 2, 2020, refused to acknowledge his defeat and asked his supporters to "fight devilishly" to prevent Joe Biden's certification of victory.

He even assured them that he would march with them to the Capitol, although he refrained from doing so.

Five people died during the violent riot and at least two other deaths were directly related to those events, according to Congressional investigations.

How strengthened the country became after this crisis is a question that is still up for debate.

[Trump cancels press conference scheduled for January 6]

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat of California Nancy Pelosi, assured in an interview with the news agency

this Wednesday that

, after having faced great danger.

Because the instigators of the attack did not get what they wanted: to reverse Biden's electoral victory.

However, some experts consider that the lack of consensus in the political class to condemn the attack means that

"Something that people should consider when they think about January 6 is ... the fragility of democracy,"

Joanne Freeman, professor of history and American studies at Yale University, author of the book

, which chronicles the violence in Congress that preceded the Civil War.

This is how the investigation of the assault on the Capitol has progressed one year after the events

Jan. 6, 202201: 57

With few historical parallels, Freeman cautioned: "We are at a time when things that have been taken for granted about the workings of democratic politics can no longer be taken for granted."

This Wednesday, President Joe Biden will deliver a speech to mark the event that shook the country like no other event has, probably since the disputed 1876 election that put the country on the brink of a second civil war.

The FBI has not stopped searching for the attackers

FBI agents and analysts are reviewing tens of thousands of photos and videos, using facial recognition software and cell phone records that allow them to trace the movements of people who were inside the Capitol, the first time those techniques are used to such a large scale.

They have also brought federal criminal charges against 705 people, of whom about a quarter have pleaded guilty.

Judges have sentenced approximately 70 defendants, and 31 of them have been ordered to serve time in prison for periods ranging from a few days to just over five years.

"The Department of Justice remains committed to holding all perpetrators of January 6 accountable, at whatever level, according to the law, whether they were present that day or were criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy," the attorney general said Wednesday. Merrick Garland thanking the department.

officials for their work in riot cases.

"We will follow the facts wherever they take us."

A priority now for the FBI is to identify more than 250 people seen in photos and videos assaulting police officers inside and outside the building.

"The attacks occurred on all Capitol grounds," said Steven D'Antuono, the FBI's deputy director in charge of its Washington field office.

“It was not just a hit and run.

It was several times that these officers, men and women, were attacked ”.

At least 140 officers were attacked.

Videos on the FBI website show rioters using a long probe to deliver shocks, hitting officers with a stick and spraying them with chemical irritants.