WASHINGTON – Five years ago, a pivotal moment unfolded in American history as Donald Trump, then the outgoing president, stood before a crowd of his supporters outside the White House. Urging them to march to the Capitol, Trump declared, “I’ll be there with you,” as Congress was in the process of certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.

In a short span, the world witnessed an unprecedented event as chaos erupted at the heart of U.S. democracy. The Capitol, a symbol of American power, was engulfed in turmoil, casting uncertainty over the nation’s democratic foundations.

As the fifth anniversary of January 6, 2021, arrives, no official commemoration is planned for that infamous day. The world watched in shock as a mob moved along Pennsylvania Avenue, clashing with police at the Capitol’s barriers and breaching its halls, forcing lawmakers to flee. Despite global coverage, political parties remain divided over the narrative of those events, and a plaque intended to honor the police who defended the Capitol remains uninstalled.

However, former President Trump will convene with House Republicans at the Kennedy Center, now branded with his name, for a policy discussion. Meanwhile, Democrats plan to hold a hearing featuring testimony from witnesses of the violence, followed by a gathering on the Capitol steps to remember the events of the day.

In a separate event, Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, will lead a midday march, retracing the path taken by the rioters from the White House to the Capitol. This march aims to honor Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter who died during the January 6 siege, alongside others who lost their lives in the aftermath.

“I ask those that are able to attend please do so,” Tarrio said on social media feed X.

Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy for having orchestrated the Jan. 6 attack, and is among more than 1,500 defendants who saw their charges dropped when Trump issued a sweeping pardon on his return to the White House last year. “This will be a PATRIOTIC and PEACEFUL march. If you have any intention of causing trouble we ask that you stay home,” Tarrio wrote.

The Jan. 6 events, being held inside and outside, carry echoes of the split screen five years ago, as the House and Senate gathered to affirm the election results while the Trump supporters swarmed.

This milestone anniversary unfolds while attention is focused elsewhere, particularly after the U.S. military’s stunning capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and Trump’s plans to take over the country and prop up its vast oil industry, a striking new era of American expansionism.

“These people in the administration, they want to lecture the world about democracy when they’re undermining the rule of law at home, as we all will be powerfully reminded,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said on the eve of the anniversary.

The Democratic leadership is reconvening the now defunct Jan. 6 committee to hear from police, elected officials and Americans about what they experienced that day.

Among those expected to testify is former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who along with former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, were the two Republicans on the panel that investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn Biden’s win. Cheney, who lost her own reelection bid to a Trump-backed challenger, is not expected to appear.

Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, who has been tapped by House Speaker Mike Johnson to lead a new committee to probe other theories about what happened on Jan. 6, rejected Tuesday’s session as a “partisan exercise” designed to hurt Trump and his allies.

Many Republicans reject the narrative that Trump sparked the Jan. 6 attack and Johnson, before he became the House speaker, had led challenges to the 2020 election. He was among some 130 GOP lawmakers voting that day to reject the presidential results from some states.

Instead, they have instead focused on security lapses at the Capitol — from the time it took for the National Guard to arrive on the scene to the failure of the police canine units to discover the pipe bombs found that day outside Republican and Democratic party headquarters. The FBI arrested a Virginia man suspected of placing the pipe bombs who told investigators last month he believed someone needed to speak up for those who believed the 2020 election was stolen.

“The Capitol Complex is no more secure today than it was on January 6,” Loudermilk said in a social media post. “My Select Subcommittee remains committed to transparency and accountability and ensuring the security failures that occurred on January 6 and the partisan investigation that followed never happens again.”

Five people died in the Capitol siege and its aftermath, including Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police trying to climb through a door window near the House chamber, and Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died later after battling the mob. Several law enforcement personnel died later, some by suicide.

The Justice Department indicted Trump on four counts in a conspiracy to defraud voters with his claims of a rigged election in the run-up to the Jan. 6 attack.

Former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers last month that the riot at the Capitol “does not happen” without Trump. He ended up abandoning the case once Trump was reelected president, adhering to department guidelines against prosecuting a sitting president.

Trump, who never made it to the Capitol that day as he hunkered down at the White House, was impeached by the House on the sole charge of having incited the insurrection. The Senate acquitted him after top GOP senators believed the matter was best left to the courts.

Ahead of the 2024 election, the Supreme Court ruled ex-presidents have broad immunity from prosecution.