Image source, Reuters

Biden continues with his pointed criticism of his predecessor, calling Donald Trump the first US leader to refuse to accept the US election results and accept the will of the American people.

Donald Trump is "not just a former president", Biden says. "He's a defeated former president, defeated by a margin of over seven million of your votes in a free and fair election."

"There's simply zero proof the election results are inaccurate," he continues.

He also asks how Republican members of Congress who were elected or re-elected on the same ballot as Trump can seriously claim the election was rigged.

Image source, EPA

The 2020 election was the “greatest demonstration of democracy” in American history, President Biden said.

He said 150 million Americans went to the polls and voted, despite the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In his remarks, Biden also remarked on former president Trump’s efforts to spread “the Big Lie” about the election’s outcome – which Biden said was “wrong” and “un-American”.

“The truth is that no election…in American history has been more closely scrutinised or more carefully counted,” he said.

President Biden says the country must be clear-eyed about what is true and what isn't.

"Here's the truth: the former president has created a web of lies about the 2020 election," he says.

Biden calls out Trump for valuing "power over principle" and putting "his bruised ego" over the US Constitution.

He also lashes out at the Republican Party, remarking "they seem to no longer want to be the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan and the Bushes".

Image source, Reuters

Biden minced no words in describing what happened last year.

“What we didn’t see was a former president who just rallied the mob to attack, sitting in a private dining room of the Oval Office in the White House, watching it on television,” Biden said.

“This was an armed insurrection….they weren’t looking to uphold a free and fair election. They were looking to overturn one.”

The president said that Americans must “face the truth” to be able to move forward.

US President Joe Biden has laid the blame for the 6 January riot squarely at the feet of former President Donald Trump.

In his remarks, Biden said that for the first time in US history, his predecessor “tried to prevent a peaceful transfer of power” as a “violent mob” swarmed the Capitol.

He added that Americans “must make sure that never happens again”.

Image source, Reuters

As she spoke ahead of introducing President Biden, the vice-president highlighted a theme that has been emphasised by many - that the day has reminded Americans of the "fragility of democracy" and that citizens must work to defend it.

This was a theme in the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020, when the Democratic ticket warned that former President Trump exhibited behaviour that threatened US institutions.

"What was at stake then and now is the right to have our future decided the way the constitution prescribes it: by we the people, all the people," says Harris.

She calls out those who have peddled lies and misinformation leading up to and since the violence of that day.

She called for Americans to tend to its institutions.

"If we do not defend it, democracy will not stand. It will falter and fail," says the vice-president.

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

President Biden and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, entered National Statuary Hall, an enormous room in the US Capitol building, a short while ago.

Natural light comes in a window in the ceiling, and down below,Trump’s supporters marched across the tiles last year.

Some carried flags that said: “Trump Is My President”.

Today, President Biden will talk about the siege, and people here and across the nation are wondering what he will say about Trump and his role in the siege.

Vice-President Kamala Harris is now speaking and will introduce the president for his speech.

'What the extremists who roamed these halls targeted was not only the lives of elected leaders," she says.

"What they were assaulting were the institutions, the ideals, the values that generations of Americans have shed blood to defend."

You can watch a live stream of the speeches by clicking on the play button at the top of this page.

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

President Biden is at the Capitol, where he is about to give a speech about the siege that took place one year ago.

I was travelling in his motorcade as part of the White House press pool, a dozen or so reporters who accompany the president when he goes to events.

We crossed Constitution Avenue, the street where Trump’s supporters once marched to the Capitol. It is hard to know how many people showed up on that day, or the exact number of those who ransacked the Capitol and demanded that Trump remain president.

But government officials say as many as 2,500 people could face charges.

Today, the streets leading to the Capitol were snowy and quiet,allowing the president a moment for reflection before his speech.

President Joe Biden is expected to speak at the US Capitol building very shortly.

Biden's motorcade left the White House en route to Congress and he has arrived at the Capitol.

Image source, Getty Images

The top Senate Republican has just released a statement describing the violence from one year ago as "a dark day for Congress and our country".

"The United States Capitol, the seat of the first branch of our federal government, was stormed by criminals who brutalized police officers and used force to try to stop Congress from doing its job," wrote Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

McConnell described the actions of pro-Trump rioters on the day as "antithetical to the rule of law" and said he would continue to support bringing those involved to account.

But he accused Democrats of "stunning" and "jaw-dropping" attempts to politicise the events of the day.

“A year ago today, the Senate did not bend or break. We stuck together, stood strong, gaveled back in, and did our job," he concluded.

"Senators should not be trying to exploit this anniversary to damage the Senate in a different way from within.”

The long-time senator from Kentucky is not in Washington today as Democratic leaders prepare to commemorate the day.

He is instead leading a Republican delegation to the funeral of a late Senate colleague in Georgia, a sign of the delicate political balance he has attempted to strike over the events of the day.

Over 725 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 US states and Washington DC in connection with the 6 January riot, according to data from the Department of Justice.

More than 225 have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees.

Of these, 75 people have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious body injury to an officer.

About 640 people have been charged with entering or remaining on restricted federal property, while 275 have been charged with corrupting or impeding an official proceeding.

Approximately 40 people have been charged with conspiracy.

Of the defendants who have had their cases adjudicated in court so far, 31 have been sentenced to serve time in jail or prison, while 18 have been sentenced to home detention.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland warned that further prosecutions are likely, saying that “actions taken thus far will not be our last”.

To date, Garland said that over authorities have received more than 300,000 tips from the public and issued 5,000 subpoenas. The DOJ is still seeking help identifying 350 people suspected to be linked to the assault.

Barbara Plett Usher
State Department Correspondent, BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

At the Trump rally outside the White House on 6 January last year, a young man calling himself “Rattlesnake” and dressed head to toe in camouflage hinted at what was to come.

“We’re not going to let them get away with” cementing Joe Biden’s election win, he told me.

The protesters chanted “Fight for Trump” but there was music and dancing as we headed down Constitution Avenue.

We were seeing tweets about trouble ahead, and I was finding out with Trump supporters in real time what was going on. As we reached Capitol Hill, I pushed through the thickening crowd to see that the rioters had occupied the front of the building. There was tension but also triumph in the voices around me.

“Keep going! Keep going!” shouted one man.

“It’s pretty exciting to be here trying to take our country back,” another man told me. We didn’t yet know about the violence. But this felt momentous, like history breaking cover.

Image source, Reuters

President Joe Biden is set to speak at Congress in the next 30 minutes to mark the anniversary of the Capitol riot.

Biden is expected to blame former President Donald Trump for the “chaos and carnage” of the day.

Trump had urged protesters at a rally outside the White House shortly beforehand to “peacefully” march on Congress. But he also stirred up the crowd with unsubstantiated claims of mass voter fraud in the election he had just lost.

Trump had planned to hold a news conference on Thursday afternoon but this has since been cancelled.

Biden will make his speech from Statuary Hall, a section of the Capitol complex that was breached by rioters.

"He will forcibly push back on the lies spread by the former president - in an attempt to mislead the American people, and his own supporters, as well as distract from his role in what happened," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to preside over a moment of silence at noon on the chamber floor.

Read more here

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

Image source, Getty Images

Part of the programme in Washington today includes a discussion with historians over the significance of last year's events.

According to those looking back on the impact of the 6 January attack, the lesson would appear to be that democracy is not as sturdy as it seems.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, the author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, says the attack on the Capitol was a sign that President Trump was more powerful than many had believed at the time.

She describes the attack as “an authoritarian-leader, cult-rescue operation”. His supporters, she thinks, saw themselves as rising up to save him.

“America’s not as unique as we imagined,” says Michael Dobbs, who has written about Central Europe and the Soviet Union. “I think we must conclude that there’s the possibility that democracy doesn’t last forever, and that applies to the United States as much as other countries.”

“The United States is not unique, and democracy is a fragile plant that needs to be protected,” he says.

There may be a small silver lining, though, according to Tim Weiner, the author of One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon. The attack made people realise the importance of instituting “stronger measures” to protect voting and American democracy.

The United States is marking the first anniversary of the 6 January Capitol riots today.

A year ago, a mob stormed the US Congress in an attempt to halt the certification of Joe Biden's election victory over former President Donald Trump.

Over 700 people have been arrested in connection with the riot so far, and investigations continue.

There are a series of events planned throughout the day, mostly by Democrats, including a speech by President Biden and testimonials from members of Congress who were the target of the attack.

You can follow all the events here, as well as analysis of how that dark day for US democracy is viewed by Americans today.