2021 attack on Washington, D.C.

In the early afternoon of Wednesday, January 6, 2021, two months after the defeat of 45th U.S. president Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob sought to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. According to the House select committee that investigated the incident, the attack was the culmination of a seven-part plan by Trump to overturn the election.
Five people died either shortly before, during, or following the event: one was shot by Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer. Many people were injured, including 138 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months. As of July 7, 2022, monetary damages caused by attackers exceed $2.7 million.
Called to action by Trump, thousands of his supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., on January 5 and 6 to support his false claim that the 2020 election had been "stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats" and to demand that Vice President Mike Pence and Congress reject Biden's victory. Starting at noon on January 6, at a "Save America" rally on the Ellipse, Trump gave a speech in which he repeated false claims of election irregularities, and though he encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol to peacefully make their voices heard, he said, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." During and after his speech, thousands of attendees, some armed, walked to the Capitol, and hundreds breached police perimeters as Congress was beginning the electoral vote count.
In the days and weeks prior to January 6, the leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, two militia groups, conspired to use violence to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power. On January 6, Proud Boys led the "tip of the spear" that first breached the Capitol, while a formation of Oath Keepers later breached the Rotunda. More than 2,000 rioters ultimately entered the building, many of whom vandalized and looted parts of the building, including the offices of then House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D‑CA) and other members of Congress. Rioters also assaulted Capitol Police officers and reporters, and attempted to locate lawmakers to capture and harm. A gallows was erected west of the Capitol, and some rioters chanted "Hang Mike Pence" after he rejected false claims by Trump and others that the vice president could overturn the election results.
With building security breached, Capitol Police evacuated and locked down both chambers of Congress and several buildings in the Capitol Complex. Rioters occupied the empty Senate chamber while federal law enforcement officers defended the evacuated House floor. Pipe bombs were found at both the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters, and Molotov cocktails were discovered in a vehicle near the Capitol.
Trump resisted sending the National Guard to quell the mob. Later that afternoon, in a Twitter video, he reasserted that the election was "fraudulent", and told his supporters to "go home in peace". The Capitol was clear of rioters by mid-evening, and the counting of the electoral votes resumed and was completed in the early morning hours of January 7. Pence declared President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris victorious. Pressured by his cabinet, the threat of removal, and many resignations, Trump later committed to an orderly transition of power in a televised statement.
A week after the attack, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection, making him the only U.S. president to have been impeached twice. In February, after Trump had left office, the Senate voted 57–43 in favor of conviction, but as it fell short of a two-thirds majority, he was acquitted for a second time. Republicans in the Senate blocked a bill to create a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the attack, so instead the House approved a select committee with seven Democrats and two Republicans to investigate. The committee held nine televised public hearings on the attack in 2022, and later voted to subpoena Trump.
By March 2022, the Department of Justice's (DOJ) investigations had expanded to include the activities of others leading up to the attack. Ultimately, the committee recommended to the DOJ that Trump be prosecuted for obstructing an official proceeding, incitement, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and making false statements. On August 1, 2023, following a special counsel investigation, Trump was indicted on four charges.
A significant number of participants in the attack were linked to far-right extremist groups or conspiratorial movements, including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three Percenters. More than 1,100 people have been charged with federal crimes arising from the attack. As of August 2023, 632 defendants had pleaded guilty, while another 110 defendants had been convicted at trial; a total of 586 defendants have been sentenced as of July 2023. Numerous plotters of the attack were convicted of seditious conspiracy, including Oath Keepers leaders Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, and six of their followers, and Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and his followers Joseph Randall Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Jeremy Bertino, and Zach Rehl. The longest sentence to date related to the attack was given to Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment.
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