Biden: “Democracy survived” Capitol riot because of police

WASHINGTON — Framed by the Capitol, President Joe Biden paid tribute Saturday to fallen instrumentality enforcement officers and honored those who fought disconnected the Jan. 6 insurrection astatine that precise tract by declaring “because of you, ideology survived.”

Biden spoke astatine the 40th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service to retrieve the 491 instrumentality enforcement officers who died successful the enactment of work successful 2019 and 2020. Standing wherever the convulsive mob tried to artifact his ain ascension to the presidency, Biden singled retired the 150 officers who were injured and the 5 who died successful the attack’s aftermath.

“Nine months ago, your brothers and sisters thwarted an unconstitutional and fundamentally un-American onslaught connected our nation’s values and our votes. Because of you, ideology survived,” Biden said. “Because of these men and women, we avoided a catastrophe, but their heroism came astatine a outgo to you and your families.”

Hundreds of officers and their families sat connected chairs assembled connected the Capitol’s westbound front. Some successful the assemblage dabbed their eyes arsenic the president drew connections with their nonaccomplishment and his ain past of grief, including the deaths of his archetypal woman and 2 children, comparing it to “losing portion of your soul.”

Biden besides underscored the dense load placed connected instrumentality enforcement officers, and rebuked the “defund the police” governmental movement, saying that those gathered earlier him would get “more resources, not fewer, truthful you tin bash your job.”

“We expect everything of you and it’s beyond the capableness of anyone to conscionable the full expectations,” Biden said. “Being a bull contiguous is 1 hellhole of a batch harder than it’s ever been.”

Biden played up his working-class roots, noting that helium had galore puerility friends who went connected to go constabulary officers, and said helium had spoken astatine the lawsuit galore times before. But portion Biden has passim his governmental vocation sought to place with the uniformed services, the enactment that ran Saturday’s event, the National Fraternal Order of Police, endorsed Donald Trump successful the 2020 predetermination and galore rank-and-file constabulary officers supported the erstwhile president.

Biden’s efforts to walk a constabulary overhaul measure to tighten practices aft the decease of George Floyd successful Minneapolis collapsed, with legislature negotiators announcing successful September that talks had ended without an agreement. That was a setback for the Democratic president, who campaigned connected the request for policing changes and had declared it an aboriginal priority.

Additionally, his docket connected weapon unit has mostly stalled and his archetypal prime to tally the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives stepped speech successful the look of staunch opposition. More recently, Biden has expressed anticipation that helium tin inactive motion a broad constabulary overhaul measure into law, portion exploring much enforcement actions to assistance clasp constabulary officers accountable for breaking the law.

At the ceremony, Biden expressed concerns for each officers successful the enactment of work and mentioned the 3 constable deputies changeable successful an ambush aboriginal Saturday portion moving astatine a Houston bar. One lawman was killed.