January 6 United States Capitol attack

Attempts to overturn the presidential election Joe Biden, of the Democratic Party, defeated incumbent Republican Party president Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Trump and other Republicans attempted to overturn the election, falsely claiming widespread voter fraud. Within hours after the polls closing, while votes were still being tabulated, Trump declared victory, demanding counting be halted. He began a campaign to subvert the election, through legal challenges and extralegal effort. Trump's attorneys concluded there was neither a factual foundation nor valid legal argument for challenging the election results. and appointed a special counsel to find instances of fraud, despite conclusions by federal and state officials that such cases were few or non-existent. Trump ultimately undertook neither step. On December 28, far-right activist Ali Alexander described collaboration with the Proud Boys and explained the purpose of the January 6 event would be "to build momentum and pressure" to convince members of Congress to alter the election results. He named three Republican members of the House as allies who were planning "something big": Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and Mo Brooks. "We're the four guys who came up with a January6 event", Alexander said. On December 23, Roger Stone's group Stop the Steal posted plans to "occupy just outside" the Capitol with promises to "escalate" if opposed by police. Stone recorded a video for his "Stop The Steal Security Project" to raise funds "for the staging, the transportation and most importantly the security" of the event. The event was largely funded by Trump donor Julie Fancelli, heiress to the Publix supermarket fortune, who budgeted $3million for and spent at least $650,000. Fancelli's funding, via conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, was used to reserve the Ellipse. With Fancelli's funding, a robocall campaign urged people to "march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal". Jones claimed the White House asked him to lead the march to the Capitol. On January 2, Trump announced plans to speak at the "March to Save America" rally on January6. On January 4, Steve Bannon said he was part of "the bloodless coup". Seditious conspiracy by Oath Keepers and Proud Boys On November 5, two days after the election, leaders of the Oath Keepers began communicating about a "civil war". On November 9, the leaders held a members-only online conference in which leader Stewart Rhodes outlined a plan to stop the transfer of power, including preparations for using force. The Oath Keepers planned to store "an arsenal" with a "Quick Reaction Force" (QRF) in nearby Alexandria, Virginia. The leaders planned to procure boat transportation so bridge closures could not prevent their entry into D.C. On December 12, about 200 Proud Boys joined a march near Freedom Plaza and the Trump International Hotel dressed in combat fatigues and ballistic vests. In scuffles between protesters and counter-protesters, four people were stabbed and at least 23 arrested. Three days later, Proud Boy members were being photographed wearing apparel featuring the antisemitic, Neo-Nazi slogan "6MWE" (6million wasn't enough), The image, which spread on Twitter, prompted the Anti-Defamation League to declare that the "Proud Boys' Bigotry is on Full Display". On December 19, Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs called Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. One Proud Boy leader posted a message saying, "I am assuming most of the protest will be at the capital building given what's going on inside". The Proud Boys leadership encouraged members to attend the January 6 event. Leaders used a crowdfunding website to raise money and purchase paramilitary equipment such as concealed tactical vests and radio equipment in preparation for the attack. Chapter leadership spent the days prior to, and morning of January 6, planning the attack. On December 29, leaders announced plans to be "incognito" on January 6, by not wearing their traditional black and yellow garb. On December 30, the leadership received a document titled "1776 Returns", which called for the occupation of "crucial buildings" on January 6 and argued for supporters to "Storm the Winter Palace" in a reference to an attack on the Capitol. On January 3 and 4, Proud Boys leadership explicitly discussed "storming" the Capitol. The night of January 5, Proud Boys leaders divided members into teams, passed out radios, and programmed them to specific channels in preparation. Orders were issued to assemble at 10a.m. at the Washington Monument. Leadership warned members to avoid police and blend in with the public. On January 6, about 100 plainclothes members assembled at the Washington Monument and were led to the Capitol to participate in the attack. On January 1, the operator of a website about the tunnels noticed a traffic spike, prompting him to notify the FBI of a likely attack. From December 29 to January 5, the FBI and its field offices warned of armed protests at every state capitol and reported plans by Trump supporters that included violence. On December 30, one popular comment was posted, saying, "I'm thinking it will be literal war on that day. Where we'll storm offices and physically remove and even kill all the D.C. traitors and reclaim the country". That comment was highlighted in a January 2 article by The Daily Beast which reported protesters were discussing bringing guns, breaking into federal buildings, and attacking law enforcement. In the days leading up to the attack, organizations, including ones that monitor online extremism, issued warnings about the event. On January 5, the media published stories about widespread predictions of violence, and D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser called for residents to avoid the downtown area where protesters would march. Two D.C. food and lodging establishments with a history of being patronized by the Proud Boys announced temporary closures, citing safety concerns. Members of Congress reached out to law enforcement charged with protecting the Capitol against violence and were assured Capitol Police were prepared. Three days before the Capitol attack, the Capitol Police intelligence unit circulated a memo warning that Trump supporters see the day of the Electoral College vote count "as the last opportunity to overturn the results of the presidential election" and could use violence against "Congress itself" on that date. Law enforcement and National Guard preparations On November 9, Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and replaced him with Christopher C. Miller. In response, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Gina Haspel told Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley "we are on the way to a right-wing coup". On December 18, Miller unilaterally terminated the Department of Defense's transition to the incoming administration, falsely claiming it was a mutually-agreed pause for the holidays. On January 2, Republican senator Mitt Romney – who himself had lost the 2012 presidential election against Barack Obama, and conceded in an orderly manner – contacted Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, predicting reinforcements would be denied, "... a senior official at the Pentagon... reports that they are seeing very disturbing social media traffic regarding the protests planned on the 6th. There are calls to burn down your home, Mitch; to smuggle guns into DC, and to storm the Capitol. I hope that sufficient security plans are in place, but I am concerned that the instigator—the President—is the one who commands the reinforcements the DC and Capitol police might require". On January 3, all ten living former defense secretaries released an open letter in which they expressed concerns about a potential coup to overturn the election, mentioning Christopher Miller by name. That day, Trump ordered Miller to "do whatever was necessary to protect the demonstrators" on January 6. The next day, Miller signed a memo severely limiting the ability of the D.C. National Guard to deploy without his permission. Since his appointment in 2018, D.C. National Guard commanding major general William J. Walker had standing orders to respond to civil disturbances in the district, but on January 5, Walker received new orders from Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy forbidding him to respond to a civil disturbance without explicit prior approval from McCarthy and Miller. After the attack, Walker described the order as "unusual", noting "It required me to seek authorization from the secretary of the Army and the secretary of defense to essentially protect my guardsmen". Jurisdictionally, the Metropolitan Police Department is responsible for city streets of the National Mall and Capitol area, whereas the Park Police are responsible for the Ellipse, the Secret Service is responsible for the vicinity of the White House, and the Capitol Police is responsible for the Capitol complex itself. On January 6, under "orders from leadership", the Capitol Police deployed without "less lethal" arms such as sting grenades. The Capitol Police armory was not properly maintained; riot shields had been improperly stored at the wrong temperature, rendering them ineffective, while ammunition stores were expired. ==Trump supporters gather in D.C.==

On January 5, events related to overturning the election occurred on or near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at places such as Freedom Plaza, the North Inner Gravel Walkway between 13th and 14th Streets, Area9 across from the Russell Senate Office Building, and near the United States Supreme Court. On the night of January5 and into the morning of January 6, at least ten people were arrested, several on weapons charges. On January 5, Ray Epps, an individual with a history in the Arizona Oath Keepers, was filmed during two street gatherings urging people to go into the Capitol the next day, "peacefully", he said at one of the gatherings. Epps was filmed on January 6 telling people to "go to the Capitol". Epps later claimed that he had been boasting about "directing" people towards the Capitol. From 1:00 to 5:00p.m. on January 5, a series of Trump rallies were held at Freedom Plaza. Notable speakers included Alex Jones, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and Roger Stone. Flynn and Stone had received presidential pardons in prior weeks. On December 8, Trump pardoned retired USArmy lieutenant general Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to "willfully and knowingly" making false statements to the FBI about communications with the Russian ambassador. Flynn, a prominent QAnon proponent, participated in the D.C. events on January 5, while his brother, U.S. Army general Charles Flynn, would participate in a conference call on January 6 when he would refuse permission to deploy the National Guard after the breach of the Capitol. On December 23, Trump pardoned Roger Stone, who had been found guilty at trial of witness tampering, making false statements to Congress, and obstruction. Stone, who had longtime ties to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, employed Oath Keepers as security on January 5. Stone's Oath-Keeper driver, Roberto Minuta, was later convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in plotting and executing the following day's attack. January 5 meetings In the evening of January 5, Trump's closest allies, including Michael Flynn, Corey Lewandowski, Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville, and Trump's sons DonaldJr. and Eric, met at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Tuberville has since said that he did not attend the meeting, despite having been photographed in the hotel's lobby. According to Charles Herbster, who said he attended the meeting himself, attendees included Tuberville, Adam Piper, and Peter Navarro. Daniel Beck wrote that "Fifteen of us spent the evening with Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Tommy Tuberville, Mike Lindell, Peter Navarro, and Rudy Giuliani". Herbster claimed to be standing "in the private residence of the President at Trump International with the following patriots who are joining me in a battle for justice and truth". He added David Bossie to the list of attendees. At 7:40p.m. on January 5, someone was filmed carrying a bag through a neighborhood on South Capitol Street. At 7:52p.m., the person was recorded sitting on a bench outside the DNC; the next day, a pipe bomb was discovered there, under a bush. In the footage, the suspect appears to zip a bag, stand and walk away. At 8:14, the suspect was filmed in an alley near the RNC, where a second pipe bomb was found the following day. Both bombs were placed within a few blocks of the Capitol. Nearing the second anniversary of the incident, a reward of $500,000 was offered. In December 2025, a suspect in connection with the incident was arrested by the FBI and told the FBI that he believed conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. January 6 Trump rally On January6, the "Save America" rally (or "March to Save America", promoted as a "Save America March") took place on the Ellipse within the National Mall just south of the White House. The permit granted to Women for America First scheduled a first amendment rally "March for Trump", with speeches running from 9:00a.m. to 3:30p.m., with an additional hour for the conclusion of the rally and dispersal of participants. In a February court filing, Jessica Watkins, a member of the Oath Keepers, claimed she had acted as "security" at the rally in collaboration with the Secret Service. The Secret Service denied this, with Watkins later changing her story; in 2023, she was sentenced to years in prison. Mo Brooks was a featured speaker at the rally and spoke around 9a.m., where he said, "Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass". And later, "Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America? Louder! Will you fight for America?" Representative Madison Cawthorn said, "This crowd has some fight". Women for America First founder Amy Kremer told attendees, "it is up to you and I to save this Republic" and called on them to "keep up the fight". Donald Jr. said of Republican lawmakers, "If you're gonna be the zero and not the hero, we're coming for you". Rudy Giuliani repeated conspiracy theories that voting machines used in the election were "crooked" and at 10:50 called for "trial by combat". Eastman asserted that balloting machines contained "secret folders" that altered voting results. At 10:58, a Proud Boys contingent left the rally and marched toward the Capitol Building. On January 6, the "Wild Protest" was organized by Stop The Steal and took place in Area8, across from the Russell Senate Office Building. On January 6, the "Freedom Rally" was organized by Virginia Freedom Keepers, Latinos for Trump, and United Medical Freedom Super PAC at 300 First Street NE, across from the Russell Senate Office Building. Trump's speech delivering his rally speech from behind a bulletproof shield was projected onto this screen at the rally|alt=People holding their phones up to take photos and videos of Donald Trump delivering a speech. Trump is not directly visible, but rather a large screen behind the stage shows him. Starting at 11:58, from behind a bulletproof shield, President Trump gave a speech, declaring that he would "never concede" the election, criticizing the media, and calling for Pence to overturn the election results. His speech contained many falsehoods and misrepresentations that inflamed the crowd. Trump did not call on his supporters to use violence or enter the Capitol, but his speech was filled with violent imagery. On social media, Trump was suggesting that his supporters had the power to prevent Biden from taking office. Although the initial plan for the rally called for people to remain at the Ellipse until the counting of electoral slates was complete, the White House said they should march to the Capitol, as Trump repeatedly urged during his speech. He said the protesters would be "going to the Capitol and we're going to try and give [Republicans] the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country". Trump also said, "you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated". He called upon his supporters to "fight much harder" against "bad people"; told the crowd that "you are allowed to go by very different rules"; said that his supporters were "not going to take it any longer"; framed the moment as the last stand; suggested that Pence and other Republican officials put themselves in danger by accepting Biden's victory; and told the crowd he would march with them to the Capitol (but was prevented from doing so by his security detail). In addition to the twenty times he used the term "fight", Trump once used the term "peacefully", saying, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard". Before Trump had finished speaking at 1:12p.m., the Proud Boys had begun their attack on the Capitol and breached the outer perimeter of the Capitol grounds; the two pipe bombs had been discovered nearby. == Attack on the Capitol ==

traffic during the attack Just before the Proud Boys attacked the Capitol, pipe bombs were discovered nearby. Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other attackers besieged and breached the Capitol. Members of Congress barricaded themselves in the chamber, and one unarmed woman, airforce veteran Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot by police while attempting to breach a barricade. After officials at the Pentagon delayed deployment of the National Guard, citing concerns about optics, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser requested assistance from Virginia governor Ralph Northam. By 3:15, Virginia State Police began arriving in D.C. En route, comments from a Proud Boy served as an indicator of a plan to attack the Capitol, according to a documentary filmmaker on scene: Around 12:30, a crowd of about 300 assembled east of the Capitol. Senator Josh Hawley, a leader of the group of lawmakers who vowed to challenge the Electoral College vote, greeted these protesters with a raised fist as he passed on his way to Congress's joint session. At 12:52, a group of Oath Keepers, wearing black hoodies with prominent logos, left the rally at the Ellipse and changed into Army Combat Uniforms, with helmets, on their way to the Capitol. Proud Boys targeted an access point and riled up the previously peaceful crowd. Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola recalled seeing Biggs flash a handgun and goading Samsel, telling him to "defend his manhood" by attacking the police line, but later tried to retract this statement. Samsel talked to Oath Keeper Ray Epps in the same time frame, with Samsel and Epps stating that Epps was attempting to calm Samsel down and dissuade him from attacking police as Biggs was encouraging him to do. Samsel later changed his story. Shortly after speaking to Epps and Biggs, Samsel became the first to violently attack police. Officer Caroline Edwards described the attack: Video showed Edwards being pushed back behind a bicycle rack as Proud Boys pushed barricades towards her, knocking her off her feet and causing her to hit her head on the steps. The Proud Boys led the charge toward the Capitol, to the next police line, The crowd swept past barriers and officers, with members of the mob spraying officers with chemical agents or hitting them with lead pipes. Many rioters walked up the external stairways, while some resorted to ropes and makeshift ladders. Police blocked the entrance to a tunnel at the lower west terrace, where rioters waged a three-hour fight to enter. To gain access to the Capitol, several rioters scaled the west wall. Representative Zoe Lofgren, aware rioters had reached the Capitol steps, could not reach Capitol police chief Steven Sund by phone. House sergeant-at-arms Paul D. Irving told Lofgren the doors to the Capitol were locked and "nobody can get in". Sund called Irving and Stenger at 12:58 and asked for an emergency declaration required to call in the National Guard; they told Sund they would "run it up the chain", but approval was withheld for over an hour. and other Proud Boys led the "tip of the spear" to breach the Capitol building. The LA Times noted that "whether by sheer luck, real-time trial and error, or advance knowledge", attackers ran past 15 reinforced windows, "making a beeline" for the recessed area near the Senate where two unreinforced windows and two doors with unreinforced glass were the only protection from attack. From 1:25 to 1:28, three different groups of Proud Boys leaders were recorded marching in stack formations away from the newly reinforced police line. Attackers on west terrace breach Senate Wing hallway Just before 2:00p.m., attackers reached the doors and windows of the Capitol and attempted to break in. The Los Angeles Times observed that "whether by sheer luck, real-time trial and error, or advance knowledge", the first attackers to break through the police line onto the upper west terrace ran past 15 reinforced windows, "making a beeline" for the recessed area near the Senate where unreinforced windows and doors with unreinforced glass were the only protection from attack. Joe Biggs and other Proud Boy leaders had entered the Capitol by 2:14. At 2:13, Pence was removed from the Senate chamber by a Secret Service agent, who brought him to an office about from the landing. Pence's wife Karen Pence, daughter Charlotte Pence Bond, and brother, Representative Greg Pence, were in the Capitol. As Pence and his family were escorted from the Senate chamber to a nearby hideaway, they came within a minute of being visible to rioters on a staircase away. Unaccompanied by other officers, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman confronted the mob. He has been cited for heroism in baiting and diverting the rioters away from the Senate chamber in the minutes before the chamber could be safely evacuated. As the crowd of rioters reached a landing from which there was an unimpeded path to the chamber, Goodman pushed the lead attacker, Doug Jensen, and then deliberately retreated away from the chamber, enticing the crowd to chase him in another direction. One media report described his actions as follows: In short, he tricked them, willingly becoming the rabbit to their wolf pack, pulling them away from the chambers where armed officers were waiting, avoiding tragedy and saving lives. Lives which include their own. Those present, including legislators and members of the press, praised Goodman for his quick thinking and brave actions. Senator Ben Sasse credited Goodman with having "single-handedly prevented untold bloodshed". Goodman's actions were captured in video footage. The footage of Goodman went viral on the internet, receiving more than 10million views. Goodman was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal. Evacuation of leadership amid Capitol lockdown At 2:13, the Senate recessed, and the doors were locked. A minute later, the rioters reached the doors to the gallery above the chamber. Banging could be heard from outside as rioters attempted to break through the doors. Speaker Pelosi was escorted out of the House chamber. A police officer carrying a semi-automatic weapon appeared on the floor and stood between Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and minority leader Chuck Schumer. Senator Mitt Romney exasperatedly threw up his hands and criticized fellow Republicans challenging Biden's electoral votes, yelling to them, "This is what you've gotten, guys". Members of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's staff carried the boxes of Electoral College votes and documentation out of the chamber to hidden safe rooms. At 2:26, Pence's Secret Service detail evacuated him and his family from their hideaway near the Senate downstairs, towards a secure location. After his evacuation, Pence's detail wanted to move him from the Capitol building, but Pence refused to get in the car. Addressing the agent in charge of his detail, Tim Giebels, Pence said, "I trust you, Tim, but you're not driving the car. If I get in that vehicle, you guys are taking off. I'm not getting in the car". All buildings in the complex were subsequently locked down, with no entry or exit allowed. Capitol staff were asked to shelter in place; those outside were advised to "seek cover". As the mob roamed the Capitol, lawmakers, aides, and staff took shelter in offices and closets. Aides to Mitch McConnell, barricaded in a room just off a hallway, heard a rioter outside the door "praying loudly", asking for "the evil of Congress [to] be brought to an end". With senators still in the chamber, Trump called Senator Tommy Tuberville and told him to do more to block the counting of Biden's electoral votes, but the call had to be cut off when the Senate chamber was evacuated at 2:30. After evacuation, the mob took control of the chamber, with armed men carrying plastic handcuffs and others posing with raised fists on the Senate dais Pence had left minutes earlier. Staff and reporters were taken by secure elevators to the basement, to a bunker constructed following the attempted attack on the Capitol in 2001. Evacuees were redirected en route after the bunker was infiltrated by the mob. Amid the security concerns, Representative Dean Phillips yelled, "This is because of you!" at his Republican colleagues. According to her book, Oath and Honor, "[t]he C-SPAN cameras captured [Representative Cheney] as [she] pointed at [Representative Jason Smith] and said 'You did this.' [She] was angry. 'You did this. The House resumed debate at 2:26. With violence breaking out, Capitol security advised members of Congress to take cover. An armed standoff took place at the front door of the chamber of the House of Representatives: as the mob attempted to break in, federal law enforcement officers inside drew their guns In a stairway, one officer fired a shot at a man coming toward him. Photographer Erin Schaff said that, from the Capitol Rotunda, she ran upstairs, where rioters grabbed her press badge. Police found her, and because her pass had been stolen, held her at gunpoint before colleagues intervened. A Democratic aide to the House Administration Committee emailed Greg Sargent of The Washington Post claiming the missing buttons were due to a "clerical screw-up" resulting from Pressley's swapping offices. Representative Jamaal Bowman tweeted that there were no duress buttons in his office, but acknowledged he was only three days into his term and the buttons were installed a week later. Multiple rioters, using the cameras on their cell phones, documented themselves occupying the Capitol and the offices of representatives, vandalizing the offices of Speaker Pelosi, accessing secure computers, and stealing a laptop. Oath Keepers arrive and breach Rotunda Shortly after 2:00, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes arrived on the restricted Capitol grounds. At 2:30, a team of Oath Keepers ("Stack One", which included Meggs, Harrelson, Watkins, Hackett, and Moerschel), clad in paramilitary clothing, marched in a stack formation up the east steps to join the mob already besieging the Capitol. At 2:38, those doors to the Capitol Rotunda were breached, and "Stack One" entered the building alongside other attackers. A second group ("Stack Two") entered the Capitol through those same doors at 3:15. Meanwhile, also at 2:38, Proud Boy founder Enrique Tarrio made a social media post writing, "Don't fucking leave". In response to a member who asked "Are we a militia yet?", Tarrio replied, "Yep... Make no mistake... We did this..." While some lawmakers remained trapped in the House gallery, House members and staff from the floor were being evacuated by Capitol Police, protected from the attackers by a barricaded door with glass windows. Lieutenant Michael Byrd aimed his weapon, prompting attackers to repeatedly warn "he's got a gun". Police and Secret Service warned "Get back! Get down! Get out of the way!". Ashli Babbitt, wearing a Trump flag as a cape, began to climb through the shattered window, prompting Byrd to fire a single shot, hitting the attacker in the shoulder. Mob members immediately began to leave the scene, making room for a police emergency response team to administer aid. Babbitt had entered the building through the breach on the upper west terrace. She was evacuated to Washington Hospital Center where she died. Attack on the tunnel crushed in doorway of the Tunnel, Around 3:15, MPD officer Daniel Hodges was crushed in a door while defending the Capitol tunnel from attackers. One of his attackers was sentenced to 7.5years in prison. At 3:21, MPD officer Michael Fanone was pulled into the mob and assaulted—dragged down the Capitol steps, beaten with pipes, stunned with a Taser, sprayed with chemical irritants, and threatened with his own sidearm. Fanone was carried unconscious back into the tunnel. He suffered burns, a heart attack, traumatic brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder. By 3:39p.m., fully-equipped riot officers from Virginia had arrived and began defending the tunnel, using flashbang munitions to clear the area of attackers. Police clear the Capitol and Congress reconvenes A combined force of Capitol and Metropolitan police began an operation to clear the Capitol. By 2:49, the Crypt was cleared, and the mob outside the Speaker's Lobby was cleared by 2:57. At 3:25, law enforcement, including a line of MPD officers in riot gear, proceeded to clear the Rotunda; and by 3:40, rioters had mostly been pushed out onto West Plaza. At 4:22p.m., Trump issued a video message to supporters on social media, "We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special". At 5:08, Army senior leaders relayed to Major General Walker the secretary of defense's permission to deploy the DC National Guard to the Capitol; The first contingent of 155 Guard members, dressed in riot gear, began arriving at the Capitol at 5:20. By 6p.m., the building was cleared of rioters, and bomb squads swept the Capitol. At 8:06p.m., Pence called the Senate back into session, and at 9:02, Pelosi did the same in the House. Biden's victory was confirmed by Pence shortly before 03:40a.m. on January 7, and the joint session was dissolved at 03:44. ==Federal officials' conduct==

Trump's conduct Trump was in the West Wing of the White House at the time of the attack. He was "initially pleased" and refused to intercede when his supporters breached the Capitol. Staffers reported that Trump had been "impossible to talk to throughout the day". Concerned that Trump may have committed treason through his actions, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone reportedly advised administration officials to avoid contact with Trump and ignore any illegal orders that could further incite the attack, in order to limit their prosecutorial liability under the Sedition Act of 1918. Shortly after 2:00p.m. EST, as the attack was ongoing and after senators had been evacuated, Trump placed calls to Republican senators (first Mike Lee of Utah, then Tommy Tuberville of Alabama), asking them to make more objections to the counting of the electoral votes. At 2:47p.m., as Trump's supporters violently clashed with police at the Capitol, Trump's account tweeted, "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!" The Washington Post later reported that Trump did not want to include the words "stay peaceful", During the attack, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows received messages from Donald Trump Jr., as well as Fox News hosts Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Brian Kilmeade, urging him to tell Trump to condemn the mayhem, or risk destroying his legacy. By 3:10, pressure was building on Trump to condemn supporters engaged in the attack. By 3:25, Trump tweeted, "I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Orderrespect the Law and our great men and women in Blue", but he refused to call upon the crowd to disperse. At some point on January 6, Trump formally withdrew his nomination of acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf, transmitting his withdrawal to the Senate. By 3:50p.m., White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the National Guard and "other federal protective services" had been deployed. At 7:00, Rudy Giuliani placed a second call to Lee's number and left a voicemail intended for Tuberville, urging him to make more objections to the electoral votes as part of a bid "to try to just slow it down". According to testimony from Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, a Secret Service official had warned Trump that protestors were carrying weapons, but Trump wanted the magnetometers used to detect metallic weapons removed so armed supporters could enter the rally. According to Hutchinson, when warned, Trump said: Allegation of assaulting a Secret Service driver In June 2022, Cassidy Hutchinson testified that she was told by then-White House deputy chief of staff Anthony Ornato that after Trump got into the presidential SUV following his rally, hoping to drive to the Capitol as his supporters marched there, his lead Secret Service agent, Robert Engel, told him it was too dangerous and informed him they were returning to the White House. Hutchinson said Ornato told her Trump became irate, attempted to grab the steering wheel of the vehicle, and lunged at Engel's clavicle. She testified Engel was present with Ornato as he related the incident but never contradicted the account. Three days after Hutchinson's testimony, CNN reported that it had spoken with two Secret Service agents who had heard accounts of the incident from multiple other agents since February 2021, including Trump's driver. Although details differed, agents confirmed there was an angry confrontation, with one agent relating that Trump "tried to lunge over the seatfor what reason, nobody had any idea", but no one asserted Trump attacked Engel. A separate Secret Service official told CNN that Engel denied that Trump grabbed at the steering wheel or lunged toward an agent on his detail, and that Ornato denied telling Hutchinson that. The same day, Politico reported that during an early 2022 deposition Engel told the committee that he had kept his full account of the incident from his Secret Service colleagues for at least fourteen months. On July 14, 2022, CNN published a corroborating account by a Metropolitan Police officer in the motorcade, who told of the "heated exchange" Trump had with his Secret Service detail when they refused to take him to the Capitol following his rally on January 6. Endangering Mike Pence On January 5, after Vice President Mike Pence refused to participate in the fake electors plot, Trump warned that he would have to criticize him publicly. This prompted Pence's chief of staff to become concerned for Pence's safety and to alert Pence's Secret Service detail to the perceived threat. At 3:23a.m. on the morning of January 6, QAnon leader Ron Watkins posted a tweet accusing Pence of orchestrating a coup against Trump and linked to a blog post which called for "the immediate arrest of [Pence], for treason". At 2:24, while Pence was in hiding in the Capitol, Trump tweeted that Pence "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done". Outside, the mob chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!", which some crowds continued to chant as they stormed the Capitol. At least three rioters were overheard by a reporter as saying that they wanted to find Pence and execute him as a "traitor" by hanging him from a tree outside the building. One official recalled that: "The members of the [Vice President's Secret Service detail] at this time were starting to fear for their own lives... they're screaming and saying things like 'say goodbye to the family'". Alerted by a staffer to the threat against Pence, Trump reportedly replied "So what?" Witnesses report that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told colleagues that Trump expressed frustration about Pence being taken to safety and implying that Pence should be hanged. Pence later argued that Trump's "reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day". On April 3, 2025, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced Pence as the recipient of the JFK Profile in Courage Award "for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021". Failure to end the attack In a televised January 6 Attack congressional hearing on June 9, 2022, congresspersons Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney stated that Trump did nothing to stop the attack despite numerous urgent requests that he intervene. They described Trump's inaction as a "dereliction of duty". Cheney said that Trump had attempted to overturn a free and fair democratic election by promoting a seven-part conspiracy. According to Representative Thompson, "Jan. 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt, as one rioter put it shortly after Jan. 6, to overthrow the government... The violence was no accident. It represents Trump's last stand, most desperate chance to halt the transfer of power". Trump, according to the committee, "lied to the American people, ignored all evidence refuting his false fraud claims, pressured state and federal officials to throw out election results favoring his challenger, encouraged a violent mob to storm the Capitol and even signaled support for the execution of his own vice president". Capitol Police leadership's failure to prepare Capitol Police leadership had not planned for a riot or attack, Department riot shields had been improperly stored, causing them to shatter upon impact. Department of Defense leadership's refusal to send Guard On January 3, acting defense secretary Miller had been ordered by Trump to "do whatever was necessary to protect the demonstrators" on January 6. At 1:34 p.m., D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser had a telephone call with Army Secretary Ryan D. McCarthy in which she requested that they deploy the Guard. At 2:10p.m., the Capitol Police board permitted Chief Sund to formally request deployment of the Guard. General Charles A. Flynn, brother of General Michael Flynn, a Trump and QAnon supporter, participated in the call. By 3:37p.m., the Pentagon dispatched its own security forces to guard the homes of senior defense leaders, "even though no rioters or criminal attacks are occurring at those locations". Sund later opined, "This demonstrates to me that the Pentagon fully understands the urgency and danger of the situation even as it does nothing to support us on the Hill". On January 6, Secretary Miller ultimately withheld permission to deploy the National Guard until 4:32p.m., after assets from Virginia had already entered the district, FBI tactical teams had arrived at the Capitol, and Trump had instructed rioters to "go home". Miller's permission would not actually be relayed to the commander of the National Guard until 5:08. Sund recalls a comment from the DC National Guard commander General Walker, who said: Steve, I felt so bad. I wanted to help you immediately, but I couldn't. I could hear the desperation in your voice, but they wouldn't let me come. When we arrived, I saw the New Jersey State Police. Imagine how I felt. New Jersey got here before we did! The Army falsely denied for two weeks that Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn, the Army deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and training, was on the call requesting the National Guard. Flynn's role drew scrutiny due to his brother Michael's recent calls for martial law and an election do-over overseen by the military. Flynn testified that "he never expressed a concern about the visuals, image, or public perception of" sending the Guard to the Capitol; Col. Earl Matthews, who participated in the call and took contemporaneous notes, called Flynn's denial "outright perjury". Department of Defense leaders claim they called the D.C. National Guard commander at 4:30 to relay permission to deploy—leaders of the Guard deny this call ever took place. Congressional conduct During the attack, Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) posted information about the police response and the location of members on Twitter, including the fact that Speaker Pelosi had been taken out of the chamber, for which Boebert has faced calls to resign for endangering members. Boebert responded that she was not sharing private information since Pelosi's removal was also broadcast on TV. Deletion of Secret Service and Homeland Security text messages As part of its investigation into the events of January 6, the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General requested text messages from the Secret Service. In response, the messages were deleted. Text messages from Department of Homeland Security leaders Chad Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli "are missing from a key period leading up to the January 6 attack". Wolf's nomination had been withdrawn by the White House sometime on January 6. A criminal investigation was opened into the deletion. ==Participants, groups, and criminal charges==

By November 2023, over 1,200 defendants had been charged for their role in the attack. The mob included Republican Party officials, current and former state legislators and political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, According to the FBI, dozens of people on its terrorist watchlist were in D.C. for pro-Trump events on the 6th, with the majority being "suspected white supremacists". Some came heavily armed and some were convicted criminals, including a man who had been released from a Florida prison after serving a sentence for attempted murder. Rod of Iron Ministries, Groypers, Nationalist Social Club-131 and Super Happy Fun America were allegedly involved in the attack. Multiple factions of the Three Percenters also participated in the attack, including "DCBrigade", "Patriot Boys of North Texas", and "B Squad". The BSquad and DCBrigade conspired with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. Proud Boys The Proud Boys played a much greater role in planning and coordinating the attack than was publicly known in 2021. In 2022, new information appeared in testimony to the January 6 Committee and in a New York Times investigative video. Another key revelation about the Proud Boys' plans came from an informant and concerned Mike Pence: {{Blockquote On July 7, 2023, Barry Bennet Ramey was sentenced to 5years in prison. He was connected to the Proud Boys and pepper-sprayed police in the face. Proud Boys leaders Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were sentenced to 17 and 15years respectively. Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who breached the Capitol with a stolen police riot shield, was sentenced to 10years. Proud Boys founder Enrique Tarrio, described as the "ultimate leader" of the conspiracy, was sentenced to 22years in prison. On November 29, a jury convicted Rhodes and Florida chapter Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy. Three other members of the Oath Keepers were found not guilty of seditious conspiracy, but were convicted on other, related charges. On May 23, 2023, Rhodes, age 57, was sentenced to 18years in prison. Eight of Rhodes's militiamen were convicted for seditious conspiracy, among other charges. Meggs was sentenced to 12years in prison. Jessica Marie Watkins was sentenced to 8years and six months, and Kenneth Harrelson was sentenced to four years in prison. Both convicts were members of the Oath Keepers, with Watkins's crimes including merging her local Ohio armed group with the Oath Keepers in 2020, and Harrelson's as serving as the right-hand man to Kelly Meggs, leader of the Florida chapter. QAnon , the "QAnon Shaman", in the US Senate during the attack. He was later sentenced to 41 months in prison, being released from halfway house in May 2023.QAnon is an American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in the American far-right political sphere in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". Those claims have been relayed and developed by online communities and influencers. Their core belief is that a cabal of Satanic, Multiple QAnon-affiliated protesters participated in the attack. One participant, whose attire and behavior attracted worldwide media attention, was Jacob Chansley, a QAnon supporter nicknamed the "QAnon Shaman". Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot dead by police as she was trying to break into the Speaker's Lobby, was a committed follower of QAnon. The day before the attack, she had tweeted: "the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours". White supremacists, neo-Nazis, and neo-Confederates Far-right emblematic gear was worn by some participants, including neo-Confederate, Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazi and Völkisch-inspired neopagan apparel, as well as a shirt emblazoned with references to the Auschwitz concentration camp and its motto, ("Work sets you free"). The anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi group NSC-131 was at the event, although it is unknown to what extent. Following the event, members of the group detailed their actions and claimed they were the "beginning of the start of White Revolution in the United States". After the attack, two white nationalists known for racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric streamed to their online followers a video posted on social media showing a man harassing an Israeli journalist seeking to conduct a live report outside the building. A Confederate battle flag was displayed inside the Capitol for the first time in U.S. history. A group of Indian American Trump supporters held an Indian flag. Varun Gandhi, a senior parliamentarian from India's ruling BJP, expressed surprise and disapproval of the prominent display of the Indian flag by some of the protestors in one of his tweets; opposition Indian National Congress leader Shashi Tharoor equated the mentality of some Indians with that of Trump supporters. The laptop computer taken from Pelosi's office was taken by 22-year-old Capitol rioter Riley Williams, a member of the Atomwaffen Division and the Order of Nine Angles. Williams' boyfriend, who tipped off police, said that she had intended to send the stolen laptop to a friend in Russia for sale to Russian intelligence. The National Capital Region Threat Intelligence Consortium, a fusion center that aids the DHS and other federal national security and law enforcement groups, wrote that potentially violent individuals were joining the protest from the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division and Stormfront. Despite this information, the Secret Service released an internal memo that stated there was no concern. Others Although the anti-government Boogaloo movement mostly were opposed to Trump, a Boogaloo follower said groups under his command helped attack the Capitol, taking the opportunity to strike against the federal government. Also present during the attack were parts of the National Anarchist Movement and the Blue Lives Matter movement, supporters of the America First Movement, the Stop the Steal movement and the Patriot Movement, remnants of the Tea Party movement, the Three Percenters, the Groypers, Christian nationalists, and other far-right organizations and groups. Rioters were seen using the OK gesture, a gesture that had been famously co-opted as an alt-right symbol. Christian imagery, including a large "Jesus saves" banner, was seen in the crowd of demonstrators. Various other iconography was also on display, such as flags of other countries. Anti-vaccine activists and conspiracy theorists were also present at the rally. Members of the right-wing Tea Party Patriots–backed group America's Frontline Doctors, including founder Simone Gold and its communications director, were arrested. She was later sentenced to 60 days in prison by a US federal court in Washington, D.C., for illegally entering the Capitol building. West Virginia delegate Derrick Evans, a state lawmaker, filmed himself entering the Capitol alongside rioters. On January8, he was charged by federal authorities with entering a restricted area; he resigned from the House of Delegates the next day and was ultimately sentenced to 90 days in jail. Amanda Chase was censured by the Virginia State Senate for her actions surrounding the event. Police and military connections Politico reported that some rioters briefly showed their police badges or military identification to law enforcement as they approached the Capitol, expecting to be let inside; a Capitol Police officer told BuzzFeed News that one rioter had told him "[w]e're doing this for you" as he flashed a badge. One former police officer, Laura Steele, was convicted for breaching the Capitol with fellow Oath Keepers. A number of U.S. military personnel participated in the attack; Nearly 20% of defendants charged in relation to the attack, and about 12% of the participants in general, were current or former members of the U.S. military. A report from George Washington University and the Combating Terrorism Center said that "if anything... there actually is a very slight underrepresentation of veterans among the January 6 attackers". Two Capitol Police officers were suspended, one for directing rioters inside the building while wearing a Make America Great Again hat, and the other for taking a selfie with a rioter. Analysis grounds|alt=A row of flags supporting Donald Trump are lined on a lawn in D.C. In February 2021, an academic analysis in The Atlantic found that of the 193 persons so far arrested for invading the Capitol, 89 percent had no clear public connection to established far-right militias, known white-nationalist gangs, or any other known militant organizations. "The overwhelming reason for action, cited again and again in court documents, was that arrestees were following Trump's orders to keep Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the presidential-election winner". They were older than participants in previous far-right violent demonstrations and more likely to be employed, with 40% being business owners. The researchers concluded that these "middle-aged, middle-class insurrectionists" represented "a new force in American politicsnot merely a mix of right-wing organizations, but a broader mass political movement that has violence at its core and draws strength even from places where Trump supporters are in the minority". The Associated Press reviewed public and online records of more than 120 participants after the attack and found that many of them shared conspiracy theories about the election on social media and had believed other QAnon and "deep state" conspiracy theories. Several had threatened Democratic and Republican politicians before the attack. According to the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism: shortly after Congress was evacuated|alt=A crowd of protestors moving towards the Capitol building. Federal officials estimate that about ten thousand rioters entered the Capitol grounds, and the Secret Service and FBI have estimated that from 2,000 to 2,500 ultimately entered the building. Those who went inside the Capitol but were peaceful have been called "MAGA tourists". More than 800 video and audio files—including D.C. Metropolitan Police radio transmissions, Capitol Police body-worn camera footage, and Capitol surveillance camera footage—were later obtained as evidence in Trump's impeachment trial. The evidence showed that the assailants launched a large and coordinated attack. For example, "Security camera footage near the House chamber shows the rioters waving in reinforcements to come around the corner. Another video shows more than 150 rioters charging through a breached entrance in just a minute-and-a-half". While assaulting the Capitol, the crowd chanted "Fight, Fight"; "Stop the steal"; and "Fight for Trump". As they were overrun by a violent mob, the police acted with restraint and pleaded for backup. Some rioters wore riot gear, including helmets and military-style vests. A pair of rioters carried plastic handcuffs, which they found on a table inside the Capitol. In an analysis of later court documents, it was reported that at least 85 participants in the riot were charged with carrying or using a weapon—such as guns, knives, axes, chemical sprays, police gear, and stun guns—in the riots to assault others or break objects. It is illegal to possess weapons at the Capitol. ==Results==

Casualties and suicides died the day after the attack. Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran, was fatally shot in the upper chest by Lt. Michael Leroy Byrd while attempting to climb through the shattered window of a barricaded door. Brian Sicknick, a 42-year-old responding Capitol Police officer, was pepper-sprayed during the attack and had two thromboembolic strokes the next day, after which he was placed on life support The D.C. chief medical examiner found he died from a stroke, classifying his death as natural, and said that the designation of natural causes is "used when a disease alone causes death. If death is hastened by an injury, the manner of death is not considered natural". While some accounts maintain he was struck in the head during the riots, he was not found to have died from blunt-force trauma. No signs of any injuries were found during medical examination. When the crowd of rioters moved from on top of her, she was found dead. Her death was ruled as accidental by the D.C. medical examiner's office. Kevin Greeson, 55; and Benjamin Philips, 50, died naturally from coronary heart disease and hypertensive heart disease, respectively. There was no indication that they participated in the riot. Capitol Police officer Howard Charles Liebengood died by suicide three days after the attack. D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Jeffrey Smith, who was injured in the attack, died by suicide from a gunshot wound to the head at George Washington Memorial Parkway on January 15, after a misdiagnosed concussion; his death was found to be in line of duty. In July, two more officers who responded to the attack died by suicide: Metropolitan Police officer Kyle Hendrik DeFreytag was found on July 10, and Metropolitan Police officer Gunther Paul Hashida was found on July 29. Some rioters and 174 police officers were injured, of whom 15 were hospitalized, some with severe injuries. All had been released from the hospital by January 11. Damage |alt=A photo taken from the inside of the Capitol building. Windows are broken, along with their wooden frames. They are boarded up. Rioters stormed the offices of Pelosi, flipping tables and ripping photos from walls; Windows were smashed throughout the building, leaving the floor littered with glass and debris. Rioters also destroyed a display honoring the life of congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis. A photo of Representative Andy Kim cleaning up the litter in the rotunda after midnight went viral. The rioters caused extensive physical damage. Interior damage from the attack included broken glass, broken doors, and graffiti; some statues, paintings, and furniture were damaged by pepper spray, tear gas, and fire extinguishing agents deployed by rioters and police. Items, including portraits of John Quincy Adams and James Madison, as well as a marble statue of Thomas Jefferson, were covered in "corrosive gas agent residue"; these were sent to the Smithsonian for assessment and restoration. Laptop theft and cybersecurity concerns A laptop owned by Senator Jeff Merkley was stolen. A laptop taken from Pelosi's office was a "laptop from a conference room... that was only used for presentations", according to Pelosi's deputy chief of staff. After the thief, Riley Williams, was arrested, her house and car were searched by police but they were unable to recover the laptop. The device has not been found to this day. Representative Ruben Gallego said, "we have to do a full review of what was taken, or copied, or even left behind in terms of bugs and listening devices". Representative Anna Eshoo said in a statement that "[i]mages on social media and in the press of vigilantes accessing congressional computers are worrying" and she had asked the Chief Administrative Officer of the House (CAO) "to conduct a full assessment of threats based on what transpired". The CAO said it was "providing support and guidance to House offices as needed". == Aftermath ==

Political, legal, and social repercussions Within days of the attack on the Capitol, a significant number of corporations and political donors financially distanced themselves from The Trump Organization. The Professional Golf Association was one of the first major organizations to do so, announcing on January 11, 2021, that they would move their 2022 PGA Championship from Trump's club to New Jersey. Deutsche Bank and Signature Bank both announced that week that they would be cutting ties with Trump, with the latter closing two of Trump's personal bank accounts collectively worth $5.3 million USD. New York City previously had contracts with the organization to run several properties but terminated them, a decision that Eric Trump claimed was not within their right to do. Cushman & Wakefield, one of the United States' largest real estate companies, cut ties with The Trump Organization in the week following the attack. The firm had previously worked with the organization on Trump Tower and the Trump Building, two of the organization's most profitable assets. It had also managed leasing for several of the organization's properties, including Trump Tower. Trump's nephew, Fred Trump III, was asked to leave Cushman & Wakefield due to his familial ties with Trump. Fred Trump III, while he had sued Trump along with his sister Mary L. Trump between 1999 and 2001 over the estate of Fred Trump, had not yet released his 2024 allegations against Trump and was not yet a vocal critic of him. On August 1, 2023, Fitch Ratings downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+, making it the second time in U.S. history the government's credit rating was downgraded since Standard & Poor's downgrade in 2011. Fitch Ratings directly cited the attack as a factor in its decision to downgrade, privately telling Biden officials that the event "indicated an unstable government". It also cited rising debt at the federal, state, and local levels, a "steady deterioration in standards of governance" over the last two decades, worsening political divisions around spending and tax policy, and "repeated debt limit standoffs and last-minute resolutions". Fitch Ratings did note in a previous report that while government stability declined from 2018 to 2021, it had increased since Biden assumed the presidency. On July 16, 2023, Trump was notified that he was officially a target in the Smith special counsel investigation. On August 1, 2023, Trump was indicted on four charges. These were conspiracy to defraud the United States under Title 18 of the United States Code, obstructing an official proceeding and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding under the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002, and conspiracy against rights under the Enforcement Act of 1870. Trump pleaded not guilty, while his attorney Sidney Powell later pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere with the election. Following Trump's reelection to the presidency in November 2024, Smith filed a motion to dismiss the case without prejudice, citing the DOJ's policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. Judge Chutkan approved the request and dismissed all charges. Smith submitted his final 137-page report to the Justice Department on January 7, 2025, and resigned three days later. The part of the report about election obstruction was made public on January 14. The part about the mishandling of government records was not released at the same time because it was related to an ongoing criminal case. Although a few evangelical leaders supported the attack, most condemned the violence and criticized Trump for inciting the crowd. This criticism came from liberal Christian groups such as the Red-Letter Christians, as well as evangelical groups who were generally supportive of Trump. This criticism did not noticeably affect evangelical support for Trump; investigative journalist Sarah Posner, author of Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump, argued that many white evangelical Christians in the U.S. create an echo chamber whereby Trump's missteps are blamed on the Democratic Party, leftists, or the mainstream media, the last of which is viewed as especially untrustworthy. In February 2025, during Donald Trump's second presidential term, The Washington Post reported that candidates for top intelligence and law enforcement positions were being screened with yes-or-no questions about whether January 6 was "an inside job" and whether the 2020 presidential election was "stolen". State-level legislation has been introduced in New York and passed in Maine and Nevada to preserve the history of the U.S. Capitol riot and counter what Nevada State Assemblymember Steve Yeager describes as "misinformation about Jan. 6". On December 4, 2025, Brian Cole, who was suspected of placing pipe bombs at both the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the January 6, 2021, attack, would be arrested by FBI agents in Virginia. On the fifth anniversary of the attack, the second Trump administration published a website with a false telling of events, which The Washington Post described as a part of "Trump’s years-long effort to reshape the narrative surrounding the day when a mob of his supporters violently overran the U.S. Capitol." Domestic reactions Biden, Harris, civil rights groups and celebrities immediately criticized the Capitol Police for a perceived "double standard" in the treatment of the protesters and rioters, who were mostly white. Biden stated, "No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday they wouldn't have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that's true and it is unacceptable". Harris stated, "We witnessed two systems of justice when we saw one that let extremists storm the United States Capitol and another that released tear gas on peaceful protestors (Black Lives Matter) last summer". Michelle Obama wrote, "Yesterday made it painfully clear that certain Americans are, in fact, allowed to denigrate the flag and symbols of our nation. They've just got to look the right way". Capitol Police chief Steven Sund, who later resigned, explained they had prepared for a peaceful protest but were overwhelmed by an "angry, violent mob". Later in the year, at a White House ceremony to thank officers who responded to the attack that day, Biden and Harris congratulated the police on their response, calling them "heroes". International reactions 14th Amendment disqualification In late 2022 Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. Some legal scholars argued that Trump should be barred from presidential office under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because of his apparent support for the attack. Three states, Maine, Colorado, and Illinois, issued rulings to disqualify Trump from appearing on election ballots, with Trump appealing in Trump v. Anderson. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on March 4, 2024, that states could not remove Trump from the ballot. Following Biden's withdrawal from the race in July, Trump ultimately defeated Kamala Harris the election in November, being inaugurated for a second term on January 20, 2025, with JD Vance as his vice president. Other public officials involved in the January 6 attack have also faced disqualification under the Fourteenth Amendment. Otero County, New Mexico, commissioner Couy Griffin was disqualified and removed from office while Congressional representative Marjorie Taylor Greene survived a similar challenge. Sarbanes–Oxley Act prosecutions Over 350 defendants, including Trump, were charged with obstructing an official proceeding under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Prior to the January 6 prosecutions, such charges had never been brought in cases that did not involve evidence tampering. In Fischer v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on non-ideological lines in favor of defendant Joseph Fischer and found that the obstruction charges in the case were overbroad, as they did not apply to evidence tampering, although charges against Trump could potentially proceed. Soon after the ruling, other January 6 criminal cases were reopened to adhere to the Fischer ruling and further usage of obstruction charges against January 6 defendants was stopped. In 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia initiated an internal review of its prosecutions of January 6 defendants under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Later that day, on the first day of his second term, U.S. president Donald Trump issued a proclamation granting clemency to approximately 1,200 individuals convicted for their involvement in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and dismissing the cases of the remaining approximately 300 charged individuals. The pardon extended to those charged with vandalism and assaults on law enforcement officers, including members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. Soon after, video evidence of the attack likewise began being purged from government databases. == Analysis and terminology ==

On January 4, 2021, Steve Bannon, while discussing the planning for the upcoming events and speech by Trump on January 6 at The Ellipse, described it as a "bloodless coup". A June 2023 poll found that about 12million American adults, or 4.4 percent of the adult population, believed violence is justified in returning Trump to the White House. Historians' perspectives While there have been other instances of violence at the Capitol in the 19th and 20th centuries, this event was the most severe assault on the building since the 1814 burning of Washington by British forces during the War of 1812. The last attempt on the life of the vice president was a bomb plot against Thomas Marshall in July 1915. For the first time in U.S. history, a Confederate battle flag was flown inside the Capitol. The Confederate States Army had never reached the Capitol, nor come closer than from the Capitol at the Battle of Fort Stevens, during the American Civil War. Douglas Brinkley, a historian at Rice University, remarked on how January 6 would be remembered in American history: "Now every Jan. 6, we're going to have to remember what happened... I worry if we lose the date that it will lose some of its wallop over time". He also wrote about Trump's responsibility during the attack: "There are always going to be puzzle pieces added to what occurred on January 6, because the president of the United States was sitting there watching this on television in the White House, as we all know, allowing it to go on and on". On the first anniversary of the attack, historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham warned that the U.S. remained at "a crucial turning point". Meacham commented, "What you saw a year ago today was the worst instincts of both human nature and American politics and it's either a step on the way to the abyss or it is a call to arms figuratively for citizens to engage". Robert Paxton considered the attack to be evidence that Trump's movement was an example of fascism, a characterization that Paxton had resisted up to that point. Paxton compared the event to the French 6 February 1934 crisis. Richard J. Evans said that it was not a coup, but that it did represent a danger to democracy in the U.S. Other scholars expressed concern about how history would portray the attack and its aftermath. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, stated that reframing the insurrection as a "sightseeing tour" by the GOP has given "the far-right extremists, the neo-Nazi white supremacists who are obsessed with January 6, the counter reality they've been looking for of a bunch of patriots taking a tour in the Capitol". A memorial plaque honoring Capitol police officers who were injured that day was installed at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning March 7, 2026. == See also ==