Pelosi announces plans for '9/11-type commission' to probe Capitol attack

Pelosi has previously called for the formation of such a commission and said she believes there is a need for it

US Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday (local time) announced plans to create a "9/11-type commission" to investigate the Capitol riot that took place on January 6.

"To protect our security, our security, our security, our next step will be to establish an outside, independent 9/11-type Commission to 'investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021 domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex,'" Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats.

According to a report by CNN, the commission will be established by a statute, passed by both chambers and signed into law by the President. The members of the commission will not be elected leaders but those outside the government.

On January 6, a group of then US President Donald Trump's loyalists stormed the US Capitol building, clashing with the police, damaging property, seizing the inauguration stage and occupying the rotunda.

The unrest took place after Trump urged his supporters to protest what he claims is a stolen presidential election. The outgoing President has since been blocked on all major social networks at least until after he is out of office.

Five people -- four protesters and a police officer -- were killed in the riots. The last time the Capitol was stormed was when British troops marched into Washington and set fire to the building in 1814.

The deadly attack prompted the House Democrats to move to impeach Trump. The Senate trial that ended this weekend acquitted Trump.