Biden, Pelosi, and top lawmakers mourn the loss of Capitol Police officer Billy Evans alongside his wife and two young children

Eliza Relman

Apr 14, 2021, 00:22 IST

Biden, Pelosi, and top lawmakers mourn the loss of Capitol Police officer Billy Evans alongside his wife and two young children

The family of US Capitol Police Officer William Evans looks on as his casket is carried into the U.S. Capitol to lie in honor in the rotunda on April 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.Shawn Thew/Getty Images

President Joe Biden and top lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday to honor Capitol Police officer William "Billy" Evans.
Biden addressed Evans' family, including his 9-year-old son Logan and 7-year-old daughter Abigail, in personal terms.
"Never ... has so much strain and responsibility been placed on the shoulders of Capitol police," Biden said.

President Joe Biden and top lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday to honor Capitol Police officer William "Billy" Evans, who was killed during a car attack while protecting the building on April 2.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Evans "a martyr for our democracy" and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer told Evans' two young children, 9-year-old Logan and 7-year-old Abigail, "we are forever indebted to your dad." Both children held stuffed animals and Logan wore his father's police hat.

Biden addressed Evans' family in personal terms, mentioning his own familial losses.

"You're gonna make it, by holding each other together. Most importantly, by holding Logan and Abigail as tightly as you can," Biden said. "Because as long as you have them, you have Billy."

Evans, 41, is the second Capitol Police officer to die in the line of duty in less than three months. Lawmakers and officers gathered on February 3 to honor Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after being attacked by rioters while protecting the Capitol building on January 6.

"Never ... has so much strain and responsibility been placed on the shoulders of Capitol police," Biden said.

The president gave Logan a challenge coin after he spoke.

Evans and Sicknick are the fifth and sixth private citizens respectively to lay in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, following civil rights activist Rosa Parks, Rev. Billy Graham, and two Capitol Police officers who died in the line of duty in 1998.

Evans' assailant, 25-year-old Noah Green, was shot and killed by officers after he exited the car he used to ram a Capitol barricade. Green's motives remain unclear, but a relative reported he struggled with mental illness.