Biden returns a toy dropped by slain Capitol officer's daughter in sweet moment during memorial

A small moment of kindness came amid heartbreak on Tuesday when President Joe Biden was seen picking up a toy dropped by the daughter of Billy Evans during a ceremony to honor the late Capitol police officer. According to PEOPLE, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was delivering remarks during the service in the Capitol Rotunda when the heartwarming moment between Biden and seven-year-old Abigail Evans broke the tension in an otherwise somber affair. The president jumped out of his seat to grab the toy—shaped like the Capitol dome—and returned it to the young girl, whose father was killed earlier this month after a driver rammed a barricade outside the Capitol.

"A greater compliment does no one have than the president of the United States looking after your toys," Pelosi said of the situation unfolding before her. President Biden also delivered a speech to the assembled crowd during the service on Tuesday, drawing on his own history of loss for his remarks. "Mrs. Evans, you have — I have some idea of what you're feeling like. I buried two of my children," Biden said. "And people have come up to you and are going to come up to you for some time and say, 'I know how you feel.'  ... And after a while — you know everybody means well — you feel like saying, "You have no idea.'"

"That's how you're all going to know that you're going to make it: By holding each other together and, most importantly, by holding Logan and Abigail as tightly as you can. Because as long as you have them, you've got Billy. As long as you have them," Biden continued, directly addressing Evans' family. "Losing a son, daughter, brother, sister, mom, dad — it's like losing a piece of your soul. But it's buried deep, but it comes back."

"Your son, your husband, your brother, your dad was a hero. And he's part of you. It's in your blood," the president added. "My prayer for you is that moment when a smile comes before the tear, quicker than longer." As per a press release from acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, Evans was an 18-year veteran of the Capitol Police who joined the department in 2003. "It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the passing of Officer William 'Billy' Evans this afternoon from injuries he sustained following an attack at the North Barricade by a lone assailant..," Pittman said in the statement earlier this month.

"He began his USCP service on March 7, 2003, and was a member of the Capitol Division's First Responder's Unit. Please keep Officer Evans and his family in your thoughts and prayers," she added. Evans' friends and colleagues have remembered him as someone who was "always happy, always laughing," and loved his kids. Speaking to NPR earlier this month, Jason LaForest, a North Adams City Council member and childhood friend of Evans, revealed that the late Capitol police offer "had an infectious laugh and an infectious smile."

"There isn't a picture of those kids that doesn't show them not just smiling but smiling broadly, and you know that there's a laugh behind all of that," La Forest said. "Billy's a guy who could make a trip to the dump look like a truly good time, and he certainly made every moment count with his children." Evans had wanted to be a Capitol Police officer since college, the grieving friend revealed, adding that he loved the people he interacted with each day at the Capitol, from coworkers to lawmakers. Evans leaves behind his mother and older sister as well as a hometown where "his death will be felt by many," LaForest said.