2021 U.S. coup attempt

The 2021 United States coup attempt, also known as the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, the 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol, the 2021 United States Capitol attack, the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot, January 6, J6, and 1/6, was a failed self-coup attempt and neo-fascist terrorist attack that took place at Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021. Taking place two months after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, it was the culmination of Donald Trump's first term, and marked a crescendo in right-wing populism's creeping influence on American society and the culture war between Democrats and Republicans, all while kickstarting a new era of tension between the parties.
As the US Congress was about to certify former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s victory over President and narcissistic sore loser Donald J. Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a group of a few thousand far-right pro-Trump paramilitaries, rioters, and "patriots" stormed the fucking Capitol building, demanding that Congress subvert the will of voters they didn't like and declare Trump the winner. The building was trashed and vandalized by the insurrectionists, resulting in dozens of injuries and the deaths of four rioters and one police officer. by Kurt Andersen (3:25 PM · Jan 8, 2021) Twitter (archived from January 8, 2021. Most of the rioters had attended a "Save America March" (and rally) at the National Mall that morning, where Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell" and Rudy Giuliani asserted that "trial by combat" was the only way to "save" America from the radical anti-American/commie/SJW/anti-white/Cultural Marxist/antifa/BLM/"globalists", or some trumped-up bullshit like that,No pun intended (see, we used lower case!). and Representative Mo Brooks would also rile up the crowd as well. This was arguably the most terrifying disruption in the day-to-day functioning of Congress since and definitely had the potential to become so much worse.
As a result, Trump and his buddies were widely seen as being indirectly, if not directly, responsible for the carnage that occurred – by even some of Trump's most obsequious of loyalists. Indeed, much of his cabinet resigned in disgrace over the next few days. 
The riot had a massive effect on the U.S. government, the Republican Party, the United States as a whole, and of course, the Trump presidency, whose end was fast approaching. Following the failed coup, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and now-Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) called for Trump to either resign or be removed from office,Pelosi and Schumer call for Trump's immediate removal. CNBC, 7 January 2021. with the support of even a few less-than-crazy Republican Congresspeople. Many of the Republicans who added fuel to the conspiracies and red baiting that led to this event, such as Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), the outgoing David Perdue and Kelly LoefflerBoth of whom only did the performative 180° turns to save their "legacies", because of the whole "history remembers the last thing a politician does" deal, as well as the fact that the former's term had already expired. (both R-Georgia), and Faux News pundits such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, suddenly turned their heads and pretended they had nothing to do with the conspiracy theories that led to the violence taking place. Nothing.
Trump was impeached for inciting the riot on January 13, 2021, making him the first President in American history to be impeached not once, but twice.Trump impeached for 'inciting' US Capitol riot. BBC, 13 January 2021.All 222 Democrats voted for impeachment along with 10 Republicans, while four Republicans abstained from voting. The trial itself occurred from February 9th to February 14th, concluding with a failure to convict Trump as not enough Republican senators would vote outside party lines. To date, it is the only time in history that a President has incited an attack on the Capitol, and only the second time that the Capitol was breached after British soldiers stormed it in 1814 during the War of 1812, over 200 years prior.US Capitol's last breach was more than 200 years ago. The Guardian.
Trump, who had helped instigate the incident along with several Republican politicians and right-wing personalities, finally conceded the election (which he had previously refused to do even as he lost case after case after unsubstantiated legal case) before being banned from Twitter and most social media.Trump publicly acknowledges he won't serve a second term a day after inciting mob by Kevin Liptak et al. (Updated 10:58 PM ET, Thu January 7, 2021) CNN. Keep in mind that these are the people who have the nerve to lecture Democrats and moderate Republicans on what it means to be a patriot.
==Um... What the fuck happened?==
Here is the timeline of the events leading up to January 6.
===Prelude===
The term "Stop the Steal" originated with ratfucker Roger Stone and the Committee to Restore America's Greatness PAC in 2016, when he was working on the Trump primary campaign for the 2016 U.S. presidential election, initially to assure that fellow Republicans did not keep Trump from being nominated and as a bogus voter fraud reporting site.The Roger Stone tapes: Previously unseen documentary footage shows the longtime Trump adviser working to overturn the 2020 election and, after the Jan. 6 riot, secure pardons for the former president's supporters by Dalton Bennett & Jon Swaine (March 4, 2022) The Washington Post.Committee to Restore America's Greatnes Stop the Steal (archived from March 10, 2016). Even after Trump was declared the winner of the Electoral College vote in 2016, the site continued to claim that there was voter fraud in an attempt to continue raking in donor cash.Stop the Steal Stop the Steal (archived from December 23, 2016). Almost immediately after Trump's loss in the 2020 election, Stone resurrected the "Stop the Steal" campaign, partnering with Ali Alexander. "Stop the Steal" was the name of a November 14, 2020 rally in Washington, as well as other minor rallies at that time.Trump supporters plan rallies in Washington DC, experts warn extremists may attend by N'dea Yancey-Bragg (Published 1:39 p.m. ET Nov. 13, 2020; Updated 5:15 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2020) USA Today.Right-Wing Operative Ali Alexander Leads 'Stop the Steal' Campaign by Kristen Doerer (November 5, 2020 10:54 am) Right Wing Watch. The Washington rally headlined conspiracy theorist Scott Presler.Look forward to seeing you all this Saturday, November 14th, at the Freedom Plaza in DC. #StopTheSteal by Scott Presler (November 9, 2020) Twitter (archived from January 9, 2021). Stop the Steal later partnered for a December 12 rally ("Let the Church ROAR") with Jericho March, a Christian nationalist organization.Events, People, and Networks Leading up to January 6 by Andrew L. Seidel (2022) Christians Against Christian Nationalism. Pages 14-24. On the same day, a competing pro-Trump Christian nationalist rally was held in Washington by Women for America First.
Stuart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers paramilitary group, began inciting his followers on November 9, two days after it became clear that Biden won the election, to be prepared to fight to keep Trump in office.FBI got tip about Oath Keepers' plans for armed fight in November 2020: An FBI agent resumed testimony in the trial of Stewart Rhodes and others indicted with him in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Rachel Weiner & Spencer S. Hsu (October 4, 2022) The Washington Post. Rhodes cited the 2000 overthrow of dictator Slobodan Milošević, which included the storming and burning of the Serbian parliament. This was paradoxical since Rhodes wanted to overturn a democratic election based on an example of overthrowing a dictatorship.From Serbia to Roger Stone, Oath Keepers trial traces threads of alleged Jan. 6 plot by Spencer S. Hsu & Rachel Weiner (October 8, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post. Rhodes was later convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Trump's refusal to accept an election loss under any circumstances can be traced all the way back to the 2016 election. He first trotted out claims of a "rigged election" when he lost the 2016 Republican Iowa Caucus to Ted Cruz.Trump accuses Cruz of stealing Iowa caucuses through 'fraud' by Amy Tennery (February 3, 20168:13 AM) Reuters. Later in that cycle he implied that he would never accept the outcome if Hillary Clinton won the election.The scary part of an unpredictable President by Yascha Mounk (Updated 8:36 AM EST, Fri November 11, 2016) CNN.On Election Day, Trump still signaling he may not accept results by Andrew Kaczynski & Nathan McDermott (Updated 10:37 PM EST, Tue November 8, 2016) CNN. His rhetoric was shady enough, and loud enough, for sitting president Obama to chide him for it in October 2016.
===Trump's attempts to overturn the election===
====Prelude continued====
Trump's shameless attempts to rig the 2020 election in his favor against his own people's wishes had begun long before even the first early votes were cast. Over the three months leading up to Election Day on November 3, he had publicly insisted on numerous occasions that mail-in votes were "insecure", and that "Democrats would try to steal the election". He sowed even more division through his many public statements, woo-pushing and dangerous information about COVID-19, which ranged from refusing to wear a face mask in public to claiming that injecting oneself with Lysol cures COVID, holding enormous (mostly unmasked/not socially-distanced) campaign rallies, and encouraging his supporters to "liberate" states from partial lockdowns – all while repeatedly, consistently tweeting to his followers that the virus was no big deal. The logical conclusion from all of this is that Republicans largely took the pandemic less seriously and were far less likely to vote by mail than Democrats were (if they weren't already predisposed towards trying to sow doubt about America's democratic system, Trump made sure they were by first casting doubt on mail-in ballots). As even someone with Trump's level of intelligence could clearly see this, his next course of action was to sabotage the United States Postal Service, one of the most important government agencies by far, by appointing campaign donor and crony Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General, who was alleged to have financial conflicts of interest in running the post office.Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Should Resign Over 'Obvious Financial Conflicts Of Interest,' Experts Testify by Alison Durkee (Sep 14, 2020,01:07pm EDT) Forbes. Under his tenure, the cost to send mail has increased and mail deliveries have become significantly delayed. Mail dropboxes and sorting machines were systematically culled, especially in swing states and minority-majority areas. Trump also refused to boost funding for the Postal Service, because without that money they could not conduct universal mail-in voting, and instead said they should quadruple the price of mail to raise money.Grace Panetta, Trump admits he's refusing to fund the US Postal Service to sabotage mail-in voting. MSN, 13 August 2020. Intentionally interfering with the passage of mail is a felony, punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison.
A few days before the election, Trump announced his intention to declare victory prematurely if at any point he looked to be ahead in vote counting.Scoop: Trump's plan to declare premature victory by Jonathan Swan (Updated Nov 1, 2020) Axios. This was later confirmed by a subsequently released audio recording of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon speaking at an audio meeting in July 2020 in which he confirmed Trump's strategy and predicted that there would be a "firestorm" following such an announcement and that Trump's followers would go "crazy".Leaked Audio: Before Election Day, Bannon Said Trump Planned to Falsely Claim Victory by Dan Friedman (July 12, 2022) Mother Jones. Trump's strategy for falsely claiming victory is based on the so-called "Red Mirage": where early results skew right because Republican voters tend to vote more often on election day, while Democratic voters tend to vote earlier with election day votes generally counted first and other votes counted later.What Is the Red Mirage? Meaning Behind Trump's False Sense of Victory by Adam Staten (6/13/22 at 1:09 PM EDT) Newsweek. The meaning of all this for all the crimes that later unfolded after the election is that it showed premeditation by Trump.Leaked Steve Bannon audio is worse for Trump than it first appears by Greg Sargent (July 14, 2022 at 11:49 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
====Spurious lawsuits====
Immediately after Fox News called the election for Biden on November 7, 2020"Our Poll on Arizona Was Beautiful": Ex-Fox News Editor Defends Biden's Win in Jan. 6 Hearing Testimony by Caleb Ecarma (June 13, 2022) Vanity Fair. the White House inner circle split into two groups according to Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, "Team Normal" (accepting the loss) and Rudy Giuliani's teamHere's every word of the second Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation (June 13, 20226:16 PM ET) NPR. – never mind that Stepien himself had been part of "team big lie enabler" from July up through at least mid-November.Bill Stepien pimped for the Big Lie – now he claims to be "Team Normal": I heard Trump's campaign manager push the Big Lie hard after the election. Now he's telling a different story by Bob Hennelly (June 16, 2022 6:00AM) Salon. Trump knew that he had lost the election, he had been told so by his lawyers and election advisors, but it was irrelevant. Giuliani went on to lead a constellation of lawsuits in the six battleground states, claiming voter fraud with little to no evidence. Of the 62 lawsuits filed, Trump won only one, and it was one that did not change the outcome of that election. This legal chicanery resulted in the suspension (with possible disbarment) of Giuliani's law license in his home state of New York.Court Suspends Giuliani's Law License, Citing Trump Election Lies: The former mayor of New York, once the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, is temporarily barred from practicing law in the state and faces possible disbarment. by Nicole Hong et al. (June 24, 2021) The New York Times. John Eastman, Sidney Powell, and other lawyers who filed the lawsuits are also facing disciplinary hearings and possible disbarment.Inside the effort to disbar attorneys who backed bogus election lawsuits by Tierney Sneed (March 10, 2022) CNN.
Following Trump's 2020 election loss, his (as well as other) lawyers filed and lost over 60 lawsuits in an attempt to throw out ballots in swing states and subvert the will of the voters, alleging widespread election fraud while refusing to provide any evidence – all just to scam his deluded supporters out of their hard-earned money en masse. To put it simply, this kind of strategy was paraphrased by Roger Stone in early 2019: "When you don't have evidence, you use theatrics."Stone: When you don't have evidence, you use theatrics (Jan 26, 2019) CNN. As the lawsuits failed and the vote certification process moved forward, Trump grew increasingly desperate to chisel himself out a victory. Just four days before the riots, Trump threatened Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to get him to "find 11,780 votes"Trump-Raffensperger Call Transcript (2021) WikiSource. (one more than Biden had won the state by) for him'Find the fraud': details emerge of another Trump call to Georgia officials. Associated Press in Georgia via The Guardian, 10 January 2021. – a scandal that would have practically torpedoed the career of just about any other politician. John Eastman, who was formerly a dean and professor of law at Chapman University,'This is not who we are': Chapman professor represents Trump in lawsuit by Jasmin Sani (Dec 10, 2020) The Panther. even represented Trump at the Supreme Court over these spurious lawsuits.
A copy of the memo was later sent to federal Judge David Carter, who criticized it:
During this period of spurious lawsuits, Trump raised $250,000 from marketing a fund called, "Official Election Defense Fund", implying that it was to pay for litigation, but which did not actually exist. The funds instead were siphoned to a newly created political fund, "Save America PAC". The sales tactics and wording used by this fundraising effort closely resembles that of other spammy emails "associated with subprime mortgage loans, odometer-rolling used car salesmen, and shady internet businesses that rely on duping unsophisticated customers."How Trump's Ridiculous Fundraising Emails Raked in $250 Million for 'a Fund That Didn't Exist': The congressional committee on Jan. 6 has zeroed in on Trump's fundraising emails, which target mostly retirees, as the fuel of the Big Lie. by Dell Cameron (June 17, 2022) Gizmodo. Following the January 6 Committee's revelation, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she was considering investigating the fundraising for potential fraud.The new details revealed tonight related to January 6 are disturbing. It's my duty to investigate allegations of fraud or potential misconduct in New York. This incident is no exception. (7:27 PM - 13 Jun 2022) Twitter (archived from June 14, 2022).
====Attempts at corrupting the Department of Justice====
Following the election Trump had put pressure on then-Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate election fraud as part of Trump's attempt to prove that he had actually won the election. This was unusual because although the DOJ does investigate and prosecute election fraud, it normally does not do so until long after elections since it does not have the authority to decide election outcomes.Here's every word from the fifth Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation (June 23, 20227:31 PM ET) NPR. Nontheless Barr did order the DOJ to investigate numerous allegations of election fraud in the 2020 election. Barr explained his rationale for this to the House January 6 Committee:
Barr was essentially attempting to establish a bulwark against Trump's attempt to politicize the DOJ.
Barr resigned on December 23, and was replaced by Jeffrey A. Rosen as acting Attorney General. Shortly thereafter, an anti-environmental lawyer in the DOJ named Jeffrey ClarkWhy do they keep calling Jeffrey Clark an "environmental lawyer"? He's an ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL lawyer, a hired gun for the fossil fuel industry whom Trump stashed in DOJ. Let's keep that straight. Don't give environmental lawyers a bad name, please! by Lawrence Tribe (8:52 AM - 23 Jun 2022) Twitter (archived from June 23, 2022). met with Trump directly without authorization. It was against DOJ policy for anyone other than the AG, the assistant AG or someone authorized by them to meet with the president; this was done to keep politicization or the appearance thereof out of the DOJ.
Subsequent to meeting, Clark drafted a letter to the Georgia State legislature for Rosen and Deputy AG Richard Donoghue to sign. The letter claimed falsely that the DOJ had evidence of fraud in the Georgia election that would be forthcoming. Rosen and Donoghue were pressured by the White House to sign the letter, but they refused to sign not just because it made a false claim but because the DOJ had no jurisdiction in deciding the outcome of the Georgia election. In a final act of attempting to corrupt the DOJ, on January Trump called Rosen, Donoghue, assistant AG Steven Engel, Clark and other members of the DOJ for a meeting. Without telling Rosen, Trump had announced that he would be replacing Rosen with Clark as assistant AG.
The DOJ officials at the meeting (other than Clark) explained at length to Trump why sending the letter was a terrible idea. At one point during the meeting, White House lawyer Pat Cipollone called the proposed letter that Clark would send a "murder-suicide pact" because it would require the firing of Rosen and Donoghue and would result in the mass resignation of DOJ attorneys in protest, likely resulting in widespread resignation of other US attorneys.Senate report gives new details of Trump efforts to use Justice Dept. to overturn election by Devlin Barrett (October 7, 2021) The Washington Post. The threat of mass resignation resulted in Trump backing down from his scheme.
Although the DOJ leaders managed to stop Trump from this terrible idea, Trump has endlessly persisted in repeating the big lie despite being told repeatedly by the courts and by leaders of the DOJ (Barr, Rosen and others) that there was no evidence behind any of the allegations of fraud that were sufficient to change the election results.
====Coercing the Vice President====
Shortly after the United States Electoral College certified Biden's win on December 14, a lawyer named Kenneth Chesebro wrote a memo to Giuliani that during joint session of Congress on January 6, that Vice President Mike Pence should not count the votes from Arizona and that it should be sent back to the states to certify a group of Trump supporters who had declared themselves alt-electors.Here's every word of the third Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation (June 16, 20228:25 PM ET) NPR.
January 6 was the day the Electoral College votes were being officially tallied and was basically the last possible moment when any objections to an incoming President's victory could be filed. Indeed, many Trump supporters, including the man himself, wanted Pence to overturn the election results that day – a power he, for obvious reasons, did not even constitutionally have to begin with.
Courtney Weaver, Donald Trump pressures Mike Pence to overturn election result. Archived from the original at Financial Times, 5 January 2021. The Electoral Count Act of 1887 grants members of the House of Representatives the ability to object a state's electoral ballot if joined by a Senator. Should this happen the chambers recess, debate, and vote on accepting or rejecting the votes. Prior to 2021 this had only happened twice, most recently in 2005 when then Ohio representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones and then California Senator Barbara Boxer (both Democrats) raised objections to Ohio's vote. Their stated intention was to bring attention to disproportionately long lines in predominantly Black precincts in Ohio and this was not approved or encouraged by 2004 runner-up John Kerry.Bush carries Electoral College after delay: Democrats challenge Ohio vote, push back official certification January 6, 2005) CNN. Numerous Senators, notably Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley (Republican-Missouri), filed a challenge to the certification of Arizona's and Pennsylvania's votes respectively just before the mob stormed the Capitol and would challenge Pennsylvania's results even after the riots had occurred.Kelly Loeffler initially planned to object to Georgia as well but decided against it after the coup attempt.
Following Trump's failure in the Electoral College, Eastman developed a two-fold plan based on what Chesebro had developed to coerce Pence into overturning the election results, "to reject the votes and either declare Trump the winner or send the votes back to the states to be counted again." The problem with this scheme was not just that it was illegal and unconstitutional but the lawyers involved, including Eastman himself, knew this.Trump campaign documents give inside look at fake-elector plan: A review of emails and memos shows that lawyers advising the former president knew the plan was baseless but pursued it anyway by Rosalind S. Helderman (June 20, 2022 at 6:05 a.m. EDT) The Washington Post. Pence's legal counsel, Greg Jacob, spoke with Eastman about this problem:
Despite Pence having already rejected this scheme based on sound legal advice from conservative lawyers, Trump continued to pressure him on January 6 in private and in public at the rally:
One might wonder who was this "we" that would become president was it just the royal "we" of megalomaniaHubris syndrome: An acquired personality disorder? A study of US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers over the last 100 years by David Owen & Jonathan Davidson (2009) Brain 132(5):1396–1406. or was Trump also signaling the members of his cabal who had committed crimes or would commit crimes to enact a coup that they would be pardoned or absolved?
Not content with Pence having supported the rule of law over his desires, Trump's response to January 6 rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" was:Here's every word of the first Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation (June 10, 20221:27 PM ET) NPR.
The coup plotters had planned for Republicans in Congress to object to the electors from all swing states that Biden had won, thus delaying the Congressional certification, and potentially allowing Pence to send the matter back to the states or just nullifying the election by fiat. This was known as the "Green Bay Sweep" according to ex-Trump White House staffer and coup plotter Peter Navarro.In Trump Time: A Journal of America's Plague Year by Peter Navarro (2021). All Seasons Press. ISBN 1737478501. The coup plotters ran this plan simultaneously with the storming of the Capitol plan presumably as backup, but by not having Pence on board with the Green Bay Sweep, the two plans actually worked counter to each other: the storming of the Capitol stopped the vote count, and when the count resumed Pence decided not to allow further objections to the legitimate electors. Trump Adviser Worried He's Not Getting Enough Credit for Trying to Ruin American Democracy: Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro details the "Green Bay Sweep" he organized with "over 100 congressmen" to keep Trump in office by Tim Dickinson (December 28, 2021 2:42PM ET ) Rolling Stone.
===Preparation for the insurrection===
There were several websites that insurrectionists used to communicate with each other for planning and coordination, both before and during the riot, including on Telegram, Parler, Gab, WildProtest.com, TheDonald.win,'Be There. Will Be Wild!': Trump All but Circled the Date: Inside Trump supporters' online echo chambers, the chaos of Jan. 6 could be seen coming. People posted their plans to come to Washington – and showed the weapons they would carry. by Dan Barry & Sheera Frenkel (Jan. 6, 2021; Updated Jan. 8, 2021) The New York Times. and Zello.Revealed: walkie-talkie app Zello hosted far-right groups who stormed Capitol: Audio and chat logs show insurrectionists communicated via the app, which has avoided proactive content moderation by Micah Loewinger & Hampton Stall (13 Jan 2021 21.24 EST) The Guardian. In the case of Gab, a hacker stole 70Gb of data from the site some time after the insurrection, including public and private data.Hackers steal 70GB of data from far-right social network Gab: The stolen data contains nearly 100,000 private messages from Gab users by Danny Bradbury (1 Mar 2021) IT Pro. TheDonald.win website was where people went after Reddit shut down /r/The_Donald in 2019 due to incitement of violence.Reddit quarantines Trump subreddit r/The_Donald for violent comments by Adi Robertson (Jun 26, 2019, 2:10pm EDT) The Verge. TheDonald.win was hosted and moderated by Jody Williams. Williams claimed that he was appalled by the comments that he saw on his site (racism, white supremacy, threats, Holocaust denial, and QAnon), his inability to fully moderate them, and the events of January 6, but nonetheless did not shut the site down until some time after January 21.TheDonald.win (archived from January 21, 2021). A consequence of TheDonald.win being an open website was that quite a bit of information was archived by Advance Democracy, which provided a 135-page report to The Washington Post.Gallows or guillotines? The chilling debate on TheDonald.win before the Capitol siege. Users discussed how to bring guns into D.C., how to attack police officers and what kind of zip ties would most effectively subdue members of Congress who voted to certify the election of Joe Biden by Craig Timberg (April 15, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. Much of the planning for January 6 on TheDonald.win did eventuate during the insurrection:
*Debate over whether to construct a gallows or a guillotine (a gallows was decided upon)
*A map of the Capitol, including tunnel locations
*Discussion of how to sneak guns into Washington, DC
===March for Trump/Save America rally===
Immediately preceding the rally on January 5, the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) used an unaffiliated non-profit fundraiser called the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF) to pay for a robocall that featured false, inflammatory language such as: 
RLDF was one of the rally's sponsors. RAGA director Adam Piper resigned on January 11 amid much criticism for this robocall.
As soon as the tweet was posted, crowds began to gather at around 4:30 at the Ellipse, a park located just south of the White House. Eventually, protesters wearing bulletproof vests and helmets with flashlights attached even in broad daylight began showing up in thousands.How a sparse protest became a Capitol Hill riot by Tina Nguyen & Daniel Lippman (01/06/2021 07:52 PM EST) Politico.
Trump supporter and lawyer spoke at the January 6 rally next to Rudy Giuliani. Privately, Eastman had written a memo to Vice President Pence on the same day as to how to overturn the election in the Senate.A Trump lawyer wrote an instruction manual for a coup. Why haven't you seen it on the news? by Margaret Sullivan (September 30, 2021) The Washington Post.January 6 scenario by John Eastman via CNN.
As with the , White Christian nationalists were heavily involved in both the January 6 rallies and the storming of the Capitol.Attack on The Capitol: Evidence of the Role of White Christian Nationalism by Andrew L. Seidel (2022) Christians Against Christian Nationalism. Pages 25-40. The main Trump rally was opened by Paula White, evangelist and White House "adviser", who quoted a favored Bible passage among Christian nationalist, , "Blessed is the nation whose God is Lord." Senator Mo Brooks and Representative Madison Cawthorn spoke at the main rally and repeated Christian nationalist talking points. Christian symbolism was widespread at the siege of the Capitol. Insurrectionist Jacob Chansley gave a prayer in the Senate chamber that referenced Christian nationalist ideology, that the country would be "reborn in Christ's holy name". Other Christian nationalist ideology by insurrectionists was widespread and observed both during and after the riot.
====Funding====
The March for Trump/Save America rally initially started out as a normal, peaceful protest that preceded an unorganized march to the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021. On January 1, a permit was granted to the rally organizer "Women for America First", listing speakers including Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone and Diamond & Silk.Here's What We Know About the Pro-Trump Rallies That Have Permits by Andrew Baeujon (5 January 2021) The Washington Post. The "most visible financial backer of Women for America First" was Mike Lindell, though he claimed not to have supported the organization subsequent to December 14, 2020.Before the Capitol Riot, Calls for Cash and Talk of Revolution: A network of far-right agitators across the country spent weeks organizing and raising money for a mass action to overturn President Trump's election loss. by David D. Kirkpatrick et al. (Jan. 16, 2021) The New York Times.March for Trump (archived from November 27, 2020). Although the rally was specifically titled "March for Trump", the permit stated that the Women for America First would not be conducting an organized march after the rally ended, but that participants may leave to attend rallies at the U.S. Capitol.United States Department of the Interior, Public Gathering Permit for Women For America First, 1 January 2021. The currently known sponsors of the rally were:of the Pre-Attack Rally Have Taken Down Their Websites. Don't Forget Who They Were. Here are the organizers of the event that led to the assault on the Capitol. by David Corn (January 12, 2021) Mother Jones.Websites For The Coup Rally Organizers Have Quietly Been Erased From The Web by Matt Shuham (January 8, 2021 4:58 p.m.) Talking Points Memo.
Additionally, Alex Jones said that he pledged $50,000 in seed money and that he arranged for heiress and major Trump donor Julie Jenkins Fancelli to pay for $300,000 of the $500,000 total raised for the event.Jan. 6 Rally Funded by Top Trump Donor, Helped by Alex Jones, Organizers Say-Publix Super Markets heiress donated about $300,000 to the Ellipse event; far-right show host pledged seed money, organizers say by Shalini Ramachandran et al. (Updated Jan. 30, 2021 1:28 pm ET) The Wall Street Journal.
Trump advisors Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, and Michael Flynn had all promoted the January 6 rally at events leading up to it.Longtime Trump advisers connected to groups behind rally that led to Capitol attack by Will Steakin et al. (January 15, 2021, 7:13 AM) ABC News.
====Speachifying====
At around 10:20, Trump gave a speechSave America Rally Speech (2021) by Donald John Trump (January 6, 2021) WikiSource. that would later come to be regarded as the moment the violence was incited. He and Giuliani each delivered rambling speeches calling on the mass of supporters to march to the Capitol.Rudy Giuliani says pro-Trump rioters attacking US Capitol building are 'on the right side of history'. The Independent UK. 6 January 2020. Among the attendees were a mix of rank-and-file Trump supporters, QAnoners and members of more overtly extremist far-right groups (e.g. the Three Percenters and Oath Keepers militas, Nick Fuentes and his "Groypers", Baked Alaska, Black Hebrew Israelites, Neo-Confederates, and Neo-Nazis) — all of whom had traveled to D.C. from around the country. Many were former or off-duty police officers and military personnel.Off-duty police, firefighters under investigation in connection with U.S. Capitol riot by Maria Caspani (January 10, 202110:56 AM) Reuters.Off-duty police officers and members of the military are being investigated over the attack on the US Capitol by Tom Porter (Jan 11, 2021, 4:00 AM) Business Insider. Several Confederate battle flags were present, marking the first time such flags had ever been flown inside the Capitol.Before Wednesday, insurgents waving Confederate flags hadn't been within 6 miles of the US Capitol by Eliott C. McLaughlin (Updated 2:44 PM ET, Thu January 7, 2021) CNN.The red flag with the blue "X" with stars on it, contrary to a common misconception among even these neoconfederates, was not the CSA's national flag.
According to Alexander's Wild Protest, the invited speakers were:President Trump Wants You in DC January 6 Wild Protest (archived from January 1, 2021).
Alexander also organized a separate rally at the same time at a different location near the Capitol under the fictional name "One Nation Under God".The Capitol Police Granted Permits For Jan. 6 Protests Despite Signs That Organizers Weren't Who They Said They Were by Jason Leopold (Last updated on September 17, 2021, at 11:26 a.m. ET) BuzzFeedNews. The Capitol Police approved the permit for this rally, giving a threat assessment of "highly improbable" despite raising concerns about the permit. The listed speakers for One Nation Under God overlapped with the Stop the Steal rally and were:Jan 6th One Nation Under God schedule (as of Dec 30th subject to change and order of appearance) Document Cloud.
Four other organizations had permits for rallies in the vicinity of the Capitol on January 6 are also suspected of being connected to Stop the Steal: one by Bryan Lewis, Virginia Freedom Keepers ("rally for health freedom"), Women for a Great America/50+ Days of Blessing ("pray and worship for our nation"), and Rock Ministries International ("prayer campaign encouraging pastors, leaders and citizens to pray for the United States").
The 1st Amendment Praetorian militia group had provided security to Trump rallies in November and December of 2020, and a QAnon conference in 2021. Robert Patrick Lewis, the militia's leader, spoke at a January 5 incendiary rally in Washington, where he said, "I am willing to get up here and walk into danger if we need if, if we need to be there, to make sure we don't cede this country, and have my kids grow up in a Communist hellhole. And I need each of you to fight as hard as you can to ensure that does not happen."What is the '1st Amendment Praetorian,' the obscure far-right group subpoenaed by the January 6 committee? by Marshall Cohen (November 24, 2021) CNN.
Tea Party Patriots leader Jenny Beth Martin claimed that her organization gave no financial support for the rally, despite them being listed as an organizer and herself being listed as an invited speaker; Martin did not actually speak at the rally. At least six current or former members of the Council for National Policy were involved in organizing the rally, but CNP Executive Director Bob McEwen said his group was not involved.
Chapman University law professor John Eastman, who spoke at the rally, was forced to resign after being accused by university members of incitement.Eastman Out by Colleen Flaherty (January 15, 2021) Inside Higher Ed.
====Anti-vaxx sideshow====
Despite Trump having authorized to rapidly develop COVID vaccines in the US, the anti-vaxx group United Freedom Super PAC actively promoted the January 6 event and included speakers on a sideshow stage.Plandemic's Mikki Willis Joins, Praises Violent Capitol Mob by Matthew Remski (January 11, 2021) Conspirituality.Leaders of the anti-vaccine movement used 'Stop the Steal' crusade to advance their own conspiracy theories by Curt Devine & Drew Griffin (Updated 8:37 AM ET, Fri February 5, 2021) CNN.The Truth About Cancer by The Truth About Cancer (04:00 - 6. Jan. 2021) Twitter (archived from January 6, 2021).Join us TODAY in Washington DC from 10AM-4PM at the US Capitol. We'll be speaking at the MAGA Freedom Rally with numerous patriots & freedom lovers. Get the details! ➡️ https://magafreedomrallydc.com This is literally a "once in a lifetime" event. Don't miss it! See you there.] (04:00 - 6. Jan. 2021) by The Truth About Cancer (Ty & Charlene Bollinger) Twitter (archived from January 6, 2021). The speakers included Del Bigtree, Ty Bollinger, Mikki Willis (producer of Plandemic), David Martin (featured in Plandemic, Mike Smith (creator of the QAnon-promoting film Out of The Shadows), and Roger Stone.Inside 'Out of Shadows': The Bonkers Hollywood-Pedophilia 'Documentary' QAnon Loves by Tarpley Hitt (Updated Aug. 06, 2020 1:25PM ET / Published Aug. 06, 2020 4:47AM ET) Daily Beast.Prominent anti-vaccine figures pushed egregious misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine live on Facebook and YouTube by Kayla Gogarty (01/11/21 10:00 AM EST) Media Matters for America. Willis was also filmed near the front of the breach of one of the Capitol doors, but not as far as is known entering the Capitol. Willis was also filmed praising the insurrection as it was still happening.Mikki Willis speaking at MAGA event after storming the Capitol by Conspirituality (Jan 11, 2021) YouTube. Alex Jones also appeared at the Capitol on January 6 and spoke in Washington at a January 3 Washington rally against vaccines. In case there's any doubt that the sideshow was sanctioned by the main event, Stop the Steal organizer Alexander Ali spoke at a January 5 event while introducing Simone Gold, where he referred to not just fighting the election results but also against "medical tyranny", an anti-vaxxer code-word.Medical Tyranny Anti-Vaccine Covid-19 Virus Sticker RedBubble (archived from March 27, 2021).
====Two Minutes Hate====
Before Trump regaled his followers with venom and hatred (à la ), they were primed with a short video. All synced to a remix of Linkin Park's In The End."Trump Film Ellipse on January 6, 2021" courtesy of Vimeo. Though relatively short, it is packed with fascist imagery plainly meant to convince those there that a violent overthrowing of multicultural democracy was necessary.Movie at the Ellipse: A Study in Fascist Propaganda: Scholars on the Nazis and anti-Semitism have seen this before by Jason Stanley (February, 4 2021) Just Security. Some particular highlights:
*The first five frames of the film feature a shadowed picture of Trump from the nose up, the camera slowly zooming in on his face, followed by an image of the Capitol Building, the Hollywood sign, and two empty parliament buildings, identified as the UN General Assembly and the EU Parliament.Trump propaganda film gif The image of Trump evokes strength; the zoom and the cut to the Capitol building make clear Trump is focused on that as his target. The other three frames play into a common theme of right-wing conspiracies, Jewish control of the media and global governing bodies.
*The next few frames feature a voice-over by Trump of his inauguration speech, "For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government, while the people have borne the cost," while showing an image of Biden with a vacant expression, implying that he is not the one in control. The next two frames send a clear message: the real puppet masters are the Jews. The one immediately after is of Chuck Schumer wearing a Kente cloth, implying both Jewish control and Jewish collaboration with Black liberation. The next frame is a wide shot of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a podium flanked by two House Representatives, Rep. Jerry Nadler and Rep. Adam Schiff, both Jewish. The implication is that Pelosi is also controlled by the Jews.Trump propaganda film gif #2 This is followed again by Trump's Inauguration speech, "The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of this our country," then sounds of gunshots and images of dead soldiers returning home, homeless encampments, and emblematic pictures of white America, American flags and pick-up trucks, damaged by rural decay. Again from Trump, "This all ends right here, right now." It's clear who is responsible, and the film makes clear, Trump is the man who will hold those responsible to account.
*The next few sections come right from the authoritarian playbook. Triumphant music plays over images of military equipment, Trump at the Army-Navy football game, teeming supporters at Trump rallies, women crying in awe of Trump. He is the national father whom everyone adores. More military equipment, more factories, more trucks, Trump at the Lincoln Memorial, black and white supporters embrace. The father made all of this happen.Trump propaganda film gif #3. More military equipment, then the mood shifts, showing Bill Barr being sworn in followed by Biden smirking. Biden laughs in the face of American justice.
*The last few frames show loss: American cities empty, white women trapped in their homes. For one second, Scrabble pieces spell out "FEAR".Still-shot of the Trump propaganda film. Then more loss: empty school desks, "Closed" signs, then images of the Supreme Court building and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) demonstrators, on a street that reads, "DEFUND THE POLICE". While America is idle, Black people seek to rid you of protection from the father's greatest accomplishment, nominating three justices to the Supreme Court. An image of Biden speaking to a solitary man (weakness), then more glorious Trump images: rising stocks, more military equipment, black and white embrace while wearing shirts that say "JESUS SAVES", closing with an image of Trump, showing steely resolve.
Everything about this video, notes, borrows from the fascist framework. It features a patriarchal cult leader promising revival from undefined humiliation inflicted by a multicultural elite bent upon destroying the "True Nation". It brings together the ideologies that have been building in America since the Ku Klux Klan gained power and Henry Ford published "The International Jew": Jews support Black liberation, control the media, and seek to destroy white history.
===Siege of the US Capitol===
:
While there was no permit for (or even organization of) a march into the actual Capitol building, there were significant comments made in social media in the days leading up to the March for Trump rally that called for a march from the Ellipse to the building.Jane Lytvynenko and Molly Hensley-Clancy, The Rioters Who Took Over The Capitol Have Been Planning Online In The Open For Weeks. Buzzfeed, 6 January 2021. There were also calls for marching to the Capitol during the rally, notably by Trump himself, who stated, "we're going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue – I love Pennsylvania Avenue – and we're 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. So let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you all for being here, this is incredible."Travis Andersen, Before mob stormed US Capitol, Trump told them to 'fight like hell'. Boston Globe, 6 January 2021. An additional instruction to march on the Capitol was made by Mo Brooks, the U.S. Congressional Representative from Alabama, who told rally attendees to "Stop by the Capitol".Mo Brooks gives FIERY speech against anti-Trump Republicans, socialists. The Hill on YouTube, 6 January 2021.
The rallies were organized in part by right-wing personality Ali Alexander, best known for his association with Jacob Wohl and Laura Loomer. Alexander claimed he had help from Republican Reps. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Mo Brooks (R-AL). Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA claimed in a tweet to have organized "80+ buses full of patriots" to D.C. Alex Jones of InfoWars notoriety, who later claimed the riot was set up by Antifa agents provocateurs, was also present and claims to have helped pay for the rally in question. An Infowars host, Owen Shroyer, was also charged with misdemeanors in connection with the riot.Infowars host Owen Shroyer wanted a 'new revolution' on Jan. 6, feds say. Now he's charged in the Capitol riot. by Jonathan Edwards (August 23, 2021) The Washington Post.
Marchers arrived at the grounds of the Capitol building around 1 p.m. ET on January 6, 2021, and quickly began clashing with police, pushing through security barriers and interacting violently with Capitol police who were trying to prevent unauthorized access to the Capitol grounds.Ted Barrett, Manu Raju and Peter Nickeas, US Capitol secured, 4 dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden's win. CNN, 7 January 2021. Shortly after 2 p.m. ET, they began to climb the building and break windows, at which point they had successfully gained access to the building. At that time, Congressional sessions on the floor of the House and Senate were proceeding with arguments concerning the objection to the electoral vote count for the state of Arizona. The Congressional sessions were interrupted at around 2:13 p.m. ET when the Senators and Representatives were informed that the rioters had gotten inside the Capitol, and Vice President Pence and congressional members were evacuated. Congress and staffers were evacuated via an underground tunnel to a secure location while rioters breached the building. An armed standoff at the door to the House took place at 3 p.m. ET, during which a rioter was shot and killed.Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Melissa Mahtani, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, Congress finalizes Biden's win after riot disrupts Capitol. CNN, 7 January 2021. Members of the siege also gained access to the floor of the Senate chamber and various offices in the Capitol building, including the offices of U.S. Representative Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.Tucker Higgins, Man photographed with foot on Pelosi's desk during U.S. Capitol riot arrested. CNBC, 8 January 2021. Rioters proceeded to vandalize Congressional offices and chambers, breaking a litany of federal laws in the process. In a stunning lack of many rioters did not wear masks and livestreamed or posted their activities to social media.
For anyone claiming the rioters were "peaceful", a number had built a fucking gallowsRioters built a gallows and others were chanting their intention to outright lynch Pence (who didn't rig the election for Trump) and Pelosi (for opposing Trump in general). Peaceful, friendly, civil-disobedient types these were not. The gallows directly referenced the white supremacist book The Turner Diaries, and the mass lynching within the book ("The Day of the Rope")."Insurrection" by Kathleen Belew. In: Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past, edited by Kevin M. Kruse & Julian E. Zelizer (2022) Basic Books. . Pages 251-265.
====Racism at the riot====
During Congressional testimony, District of Columbia police officer Daniel Hodges testified:
In written and oral testimony, Capitol police officer Harry A. Dunn testified:
====Underwhelming police response====
The response to the violence by law enforcement was completely abysmal. Police presence outside the Capitol was extremely limited, with no dogs, mounted officers, or manned perimeter, only a small line on the building's steps that was quickly outnumbered and overwhelmed by the mob.W.J. Hennigan and Vera Bergengruen, Insurrectionists Openly Planned for Weeks to Storm the Capitol. Why Were Police So Easily Overwhelmed? Time Magazine, 7 January 2021 Some media commentators, however, incorrectly claimed that cops were downright friendly towards the rioters, with others even claiming conspiracy with rioters, with one out-of-context viral Twitter video showing police removing crowd control barriers and seemingly allowing the mob to freely enter the Capitol, cevansavenger, Twitter, 6 January 2021. though reporters stated that the police were overwhelmed by the crowd and decided that it wasn't worth holding it out.Putterman, S. (January 7, 2021). "Ask PolitiFact: Did Capitol Police let mob of Trump supporters in?". PolitiFact. Accessed July 12, 2021.
As it became clear that Capitol police were unable to contain the situation, there were bipartisan calls for Trump to deploy the National Guard. The deployment of the Guard was delayed, and the Pentagon prevented D.C. guardsmen from receiving ammunition or riot gear or sharing equipment with local law enforcement because crowd control wasn't part of the mission and the Pentagon disliked the "optics" of armed soldiers in the Capitol. It eventually took three hours for police and the Guard to retake the Capitol.Paul Sonne, Peter Hermann, and Missy Ryan, Pentagon placed limits on D.C. Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests due to narrow mission Washington Post, 7 January 2021
The half-assed response to the riot received bipartisan criticism and resulted in the resignation of both Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and the sergeants-at-arms of both houses of Congress.Police Failures Spur Resignations and Complaints of Double Standard New York Times, 7 January 2021 Much of the most vocal criticism came from racial justice activists, who contrasted the skeleton crew law enforcement deployed to handle a violent mob storming the freaking Capitol building with the heavily militarized response to the predominantly peaceful Black Lives Matter protests of the previous summer.Kimberly Dozer and Melissa Chan, Accusations of Bias, Racism Swirl Around Capitol Police After Mob Attack Time Magazine, 8 January 2021
===Trump's role===
Any other U.S. President would have condemned this fascist coup in the strongest possible terms. However, Trump isn't like any other U.S. President, as the United States had already learned four years ago. He started the night with a fairly tame tweet telling the aforementioned fascists to "support the police" and to "respect our great men and women in blue".Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman, Trump openly condones supporters who violently stormed the Capitol, prompting Twitter to lock his account. The New York Times, 6 January 2021. The closest thing to a condemnation of these actions was him saying "No violence!" Keep in mind this is the same guy who said "when the looting starts the shooting starts" (a racist dog whistle aimed at African AmericansThe History Behind 'When The Looting Starts, The Shooting Starts' by Barbara Sprunt (May 29, 20201:13 PM ET)) on the exact same platform, because, as we all know, looting a store is so much worse than attempting to overthrow a democratically-elected government. This was followed by a video from the White House where Trump calls for calm while continuing to push the bullshit conspiracy that the election was "stolen" from him, the same conspiracy that caused this brouhaha in the first place. Eventually after he came to his senses and realized the damage he had caused Pence presumably threatened to kick him in the balls, Trump put out a video condemning the coup attempt and conceding to Biden, confirming there would be a "smooth transition of power" to the Biden administration.Connor Sephton, Trump condemns supporters who stormed US Capitol and concedes to Biden for first time. sky.com, 8 January 2021. Hilarity ensued on the likes of Parler and 4chan as Trumpists no doubt felt like they were watching the fall of the Roman Empire. But fortunately for them and unfortunately for the rest of us, Trump immediately contradicted himself and tweeted about how the rioters were "great patriots" and again spouted the same "fraudulent election" nonsense that started it all. This was finally enough for Twitter, who perma-banned his account because of the real fear of more political violence and the possibility of lawsuits against Twitter.Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump by Twitter Inc. (8 January 2021) Twitter (archived from 13 Jan 2021 15:58:55 UTC). Later that week, Facebook and Instagram banned him indefinitely from their respective platforms.Facebook bans Trump account indefinitely, along with Instagram
The botched response of the National Guard raised even more disturbing questions. You see, Washington DC isn't like any other part of the U.S. Since it isn't a state, its National Guard is controlled by the Department of Defense, which is subordinate to the President. As the attempted fascist coup was occurring, many observers noticed that the National Guard wasn't responding to this very quickly; this was strange, as when BLM protestors were outside the Capitol during the summer, the National Guard was out in force and, notably, used tear gas and rubber bullets to expel peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square in June so that Trump could walk to a nearby church for a photo op.Tom Gjelten, Peaceful Protesters Tear-Gassed To Clear Way for Trump Church Photo-Op. NPR, 1 June 2020. It later emerged that Trump was "hesitant" (i.e. "not going") to send them in, and in the end, Pence was the one who made the call.Kaitlan Collins, Zachary Cohen, Barbara Starr and Jennifer Hansler, Pence took lead as Trump initially resisted sending National Guard to Capitol. CNN, 7 January 2021. By the time the National Guard arrived, it was too late; the damage had been done. The fact that Trump wouldn't send in the National Guard when his supporters were attempting an insurrection despite being more than willing to do the same to BLM just for a photo op was yet another damning indictment of Bunker Boy's presidency.
==Aftermath==
Many of the rioters who broke into the Capitol were arrested for federal crimes. This has been especially easy since few of the rioters wore anything like a mask which could conceal their identities. Many of them identified themselves on video or livestream and posted pictures on social media, effectively getting self-doxxed. Among them were Derrick Evans, a lawmaker from West Virginia who was forced to resign,Maggie Astor, Derrick Evans, a West Virginia legislator who stormed the Capitol, has resigned. The New York Times, 9 January 2021. and Rick Saccone, a candidate from Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional district who lost to Conor Lamb.Jeff Himler, Rick Saccone resigns from Saint Vincent faculty in wake of Capitol trip. triblive.com, 7 January 2021. As a result of inciting the attack, Donald Trump, as well as over 70,000 other accounts related to QAnon, was permanently suspended from Twitter.Marina Pitofsky, 70K QAnon Twitter accounts suspended in the wake of Capitol riot. The Hill, 11 January 2021.
Representative Liz Cheney was ousted from a Republican leadership position for refusing to play along with Trumpublican bullshit about voter fraud.A sprawling investigation: What we know so far about the Capitol riot suspects Since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, more than 400 people who were part of the pro-Trump mob that day have been arrested — a number that could still grow substantially. by Devlin Barrett et al. (Updated May 13 at 3:51 p.m.; Originally published May 13, 2021) The Washington Post.
===Casualties and damage===
"When the looting starts, the shooting starts!" ...due to which five people were killed in the event. One was shot by police, three more died due to apparent medical emergencies, and a Capitol Police officer died a day after the riots.Marc Santora, Megan Specia and Mike Baker, Capitol Police Officer Dies From Injuries in Pro-Trump Rampage. The New York Times, 8 January 2021. The formermost, Ashli Babbitt, was claimed as a martyr by the far-right less than 4 days after the riot,Vera Bergengruen, 'Our First Martyr.' How Ashli Babbitt Is Being Turned Into a Far-Right Recruiting Tool. Time, 10 January 2021. and by members of the GOP mainstream by June 2021.The slow-building conservative effort to turn Ashli Babbitt into a martyr by Aaron Blake (June 18, 2021 at 9:12 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
*Brian D. Sicknick – 42, a Capitol Police officer was attacked with chemical spray during the confrontation and died from a stroke the next day; Washington DC's chief medical examiner concluded that the attack "played a role in his condition."Trump and two rioters are sued over the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick. NPR. 
*Ashli Elizabeth Babbitt – 35, an Air Force veteran and QAnon follower who was shot by police while attempting to breach the House floor.
*Rosanne Boyland – 34, a Trump supporter and QAnon follower from Kennesaw, Georgia, who was trampled to death while wearing a "Don't Tread On Me!" flag.Sudhin Thanawala, Stefanie Dazio and Jeff Martin, Rosanne Boyland, Trump supporter who died, followed QAnon conspiracy, family says. USA Today, 9 January 2021.Did Woman Who Died at Capitol Riot Carry a 'Don't Tread on Me' Flag? Macabre online speculation surrounded the death of Georgia resident Rosanne Boyland during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots. by Dan MacGuill (Published 12 January 2021; Updated 1 February 2021) Snopes.
*Kevin Greeson – 55, a Trump supporter from Athens, Alabama, who died of a heart attack.Trump supporter Kevin Greeson's wife said he didn't tase himself when he had a heart attack and died. revolt.tv, 10 January 2021.
*Benjamin Philips – 50, a Trump supporter from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and owner of several pro-Trump websites who died of a stroke.He organized a bus of Trump supporters from Pa. for 'the first day of the rest of our lives.' He died in Washington. inquirer.com, 7 January 2021.
140 Capitol police officers were injured by rioters,Police union says 140 officers injured in Capitol riot by Tom Jackman (January 27, 2021 at 7:47 p.m. EST) The Washington Post. including one officer who was stabbed repeatedly with an American flagpole while lying on the steps.Beaten, sprayed with mace and hit with stun guns: police describe injuries to dozens of officers during assault on U.S. Capitol by Peter Hermann & Julie Zauzmer (Jan. 11, 2021 at 4:22 p.m. PST) The Washington Post. Two D.C. police officers who responded to the riot committed suicide in the following days.Peter Hermann, D.C. police sent 850 officers to the Capitol during the insurrection, spent $8.8 million during week of Jan. 6. Archived from the original at The Washington Post, 26 January 2021.Annie Grayer,Two police officers died by suicide after responding to Capitol riot. CNN, 27 January 2021.
===Known or charged participants===
After nearly 1 year, 725 arrests were made with 225 of the arrestees charged with assault or resisting arrest, and 75 of the 225 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon.Prosecutors break down charges, convictions for 725 arrested so far in Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol by Keith L. Alexander (December 31, 2021) The Washington Post.
As of March 2021, among those charged with Federal crimes, there were at least 18 associated with QAnon, 17 associated with the Proud Boys, 13 associated with the Oath Keepers, and "at least 14% [...] had possible ties to the military or to law enforcement."The Capitol Siege: The Arrested And Their Stories (Updated March 12, 202112:23 PM ET) NPR. The majority of those charged did not have known affiliations with militias or other extremist groups. In the early stages of trials of arrestees (July 2021), one person has attempted a sovereign citizen defense, Pauline Bauer, who allegedly threatened Speaker Pelosi's life.Pizzeria Owner Mounts Truly Bizarre Defense for Jan. 6 Riots: Not only is she representing herself, she's using far-out "sovereign citizen" talking points to claim she is immune from prosecution. by Kelly Weill (Published Jul. 11, 2021 5:15AM ET; Updated Jul. 12, 2021 4:46AM ET) The Daily Beast.
Most of the defendants are facing multiple charges, but most of the charges are misdemeanors. Only 600 of the 2000 charges are potential felonies, suggesting that many of the defendants if convicted might not face serious jail time, although the possibility of additional charges being appended as time progresses and evidence is gathered is not out of the question.
There were rioters from all 50 states, as well as from DC. As of March 2021, 500 people have been charged with crimes at the federal level, including 100 who have been charged with assaulting police.U.S. arrests more than a dozen in Capitol riot, among the most made public in a single day by Spencer S. Hsu & Rachel Weiner (June 30, 2021 at 4:57 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post. It is one of largest criminal probes in US history.Justice Dept. calls Jan. 6 'Capitol Attack' probe one of largest in U.S. history, expects at least 400 to be charged by Spencer S. Hsu (March 12, 2021 at 4:28 p.m. PST) The Washington Post. The alleged crimes include a wide range of offenses from the serious to the relatively minor:Investigations regarding violence at the Capitol. United States Department of Justice.Capitol Hill Siege, George Washington University Program on Extremism.
Because five people died as a result of events on January 6, it is possible that people could be charged with murder because of the "felony murder" rule.Felony Murder and the Storming of the Capitol by Carissa Byrne Hessick (January 14, 2021, 9:19 AM) Lawfare. The federal felony murder statute can be triggered when someone commits any of several crimes (burglary is most likely in this case) in which someone else committed a murder; the burglar can then under specific conditions be charged and convicted of murder.
====Police and military involvement====
The relatively large number of off-duty police officers who are being investigated and in some cases arrested is remarkable because police departments are in many of these cases turning in their own to the FBI, breaking with the notorious 'Front of the pack': Off-duty Pa. officer charged at police during the Capitol riots, FBI says by Hannah Knowles (Feb. 20, 2021 at 9:06 p.m. PST) The Washington Post.
One off-duty Capitol police officer, Michael Angelo Riley, was charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly warning a riot suspect to remove their Facebook posts.Capitol Police officer charged with obstruction, accused of warning Jan. 6 riot suspect to remove Facebook posts by Spencer S. Hsu & Peter Hermann (October 15, 2021) The Washington Post. Riley subsequently removed his Facebook posts with the suspect after being warned by said suspect that they were interrogated by the FBI, indicating a consciousness of guilt.
A former FBI supervisor, Jared L. Wise, was not arrested until May 2023 because of an anonymous tip sent to the FBI. Wise was confirmed to have been at the riot based on cell phone data. Wise reportedly confronted police officers at the riot, telling them "You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. … Shame on you!" and telling rioters to kill the police.Former FBI supervisor arrested in connection with Jan. 6 riot: Jared Wise, formerly assigned to the Washington field office, left the bureau in 2017 by Tom Jackman (May 3, 2023 at 3:52 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post.Former FBI agent who compared police to Nazis charged for Jan. 6 involvement by Stephen Neukam (May 3, 2023) The Hill.
====Attacks on journalists====
Several people were charged with destroying journalists' equipment and violence or incitement of violence against members of the media,FBI launches flurry of arrests over attacks on journalists during Capitol riot by Devlin Barrett (July 3, 2021 at 3:00 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. doubtless inspired by Trump's relentless attacks on mainstream media,A history of the Trump War on Media – the obsession not even coronavirus could stop by Manuel Roig-Franzia & Sarah Ellison (March 29, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post. including during the . One of the arrestees, Joshua Dillon Haynes, allegedly messaged, "We attacked the CNN reporters and the fake news and destroyed tens of thousands of dollars of their video and television equipment here's a picture behind me of the pile we made out of it."
====Anti-abortion insurrectionists====
Several anti-abortion activists were known to have been present at the insurrection, which given that there has been a conspiracist thread (white genocide) running through part of the anti-abortion movement dating back to the KKK's heday, should not be a surprise since QAnon, a driver of the insurrection, reflects back virtually every conspiracy theory.The Link Between the Capitol Riot and Anti-Abortion Extremism by Jessica Winter (March 11, 2021) The New Yorker. Known anti-abortion activists at the insurrection were:
*"John Brockhoeft, who was convicted of firebombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Cincinnati, in 1985, and of conspiring to bomb another abortion clinic in Pensacola, in 1988, live-streamed from outside the Capitol."
*Derrick Evans, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, resigned after being charged with illegally entering the Capitol. He had frequently harassed staff at West Virginia's sole clinic.
*Leo Brent Bozell IV, son of L. Brent Bozell III, and grandson of L. Brent Bozell, Jr. who was an anti-abortion activist.
*Christine Priola held an anti-abortion sign at the insurrection, wrote a resignation letter that indicated she believed in QAnon ("to expose the global evil of human trafficking and pedophilia", etc.), charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct in the Capitol.
====Drivers of insurrection====
The Chicago Project on Security and Threats conducted three linked analyses to determine the like drivers that caused people to storm the Capitol: 1) on the 377 people arrested in connection with the insurrection as of March 31, 2021 2) on a 1000-person representative survey of Americans and 3) on a 1000-person representative survey of conservatives.Understanding American Domestic Terrorism: Mobilization Potential and Risk Factors of a New Threat Trajectory by Robert A. Pape et al. (April 6, 2021) The Chicago Project on Security and Threats.American Political Violence The Chicago Project on Security and Threats .
Fear of The Great Replacement was a significant driver of insurrection. Arrestees were 6 times more likely to come from counties with declines in the percentage of non-Hispanic Whites in the population. Fear that Blacks and Hispanics are overtaking Whites increased the likelihood of being an insurrectionist by threefold in the second study. Fear that Blacks and Hispanics will have more rights than Whites increased the likelihood of being an insurrectionist by twofold in the third study.
Compared to previous right-wing extremist arrests, the insurrectionists were much older and less likely to be unemployed. Many had white-collar jobs (30%) and 14% were business owners.
Using social media for 7 or more hours per day was a significant driver for insurrection (5-6 times more likely).
===Coup plotter nothing wrong===
According to testimony two members of the Trump White House, several people, including five members of Congress, sought (and did not receive) Presidential pardons, presumably based on their activities in connection with the January 6th events:5 takeaways from the Jan. 6 hearing on Trump's Justice Dept. plot by Aaron Blake (June 23, 2022 at 6:26 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
==Reactions==
Numerous outlets, journalists, academics, lawmakers, pundits, and even members of Trump's own administration denounced his actions on January 6 as an attempted coup."This Is a Coup," David A. Graham, The Atlantic"Now Is It a Coup?" David Rosenberg, MotherJones."Donald Trump's American carnage ends with a coup attempt," John Avlon, CNN The Senate hearing about certifying the election results that ensued was fraught with much anger at the wannabe dictator from both sides. Analysts criticized all who still refused to believe Trump had the capacity for a coup attempt following the wake of this day."This Is a Coup. Why Were Experts So Reluctant to See It Coming?" Paul Musgrave, Foreign Policy. Even previously loyalist Republicans and pro-Trump news outlets were disgusted by the treasonous act."GOP lawmaker on violence at Capitol: 'This is a coup attempt," Justine Coleman, The Hill Calls to impeach Trump immediately came not just from mainstream media outlets such as Nation,"Impeach Trump Immediately" by John Nichols, Nation, 2021 January 6 (who correctly called Trump a "terrorist leader"),"Donald Trump Is Now a Terrorist Leader" by David Corn, Mother Jones, 2021 January 6 "Remove Trump Now" by Jeremy Stahl, Slate, 2021 January 6 "We Must Impeach Donald Trump Again" by David French, Time, 2021 January 6 ,"Impeach Trump Again" by Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic, 2021 January 6 and The New York Times,"Impeach and Convict. Right Now." by Bret Stephens, New York Times, 2021 January 6 but also from right-leaning outlets like the National Review"Trump Must Pay" by Matt Continetti, National Review, 2021 January 6 and "Remove Trump From Office" by Daniel Larison, 2021 January 6 Not only did the NAACP and the Lincoln Project call for the immediate impeachment of Trump,"Impeach Trump Immediately", NAACP.org"Lincoln Project adds to impeachment calls" by Justine Coleman, The Hill, 2021 January 6 but the frickin' even suggested that Vice President Pence evoke the to remove Trump from office."National Association of Manufacturers suggests Pence invoke the 25th Amendment" by Ursula Perano, Axios, 2021 January 6
After tolerating Trump shamelessly stretching the norms of major social media platforms' terms of service to their very limits for over a decade, this was finally enough for the moderation teams of said platforms to take meaningful action. Twitter locked Trump's account for 12 hours,"Twitter locks Trump out over election fraud tweets amid Capitol siege" by Ina Fried, Axios, 2021 January 6 and also locked his account."Snapchat locks Trump's account amid chaos in Washington" by SaraFischer, Axios, 2021 January 6 But surprisingly enough, it was Facebook that finally tired of Trump's bullshit the most, removing him from both their platform and Instagram "indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete"."Facebook and Instagram Ban Trump Indefinitely after Violent Riots by Andrew Griffin, Independent, 2021 January 7 On January 8 2021, Twitter finally had enough of the wannabe-dictator's bullshit, permanently suspending @realdonaldtrump."Twitter Bans President Trump, Citing 'Risk Of Further Incitement Of Violence'" by Bobby Allyn and Tamara Keith, NPR, 2021 January 8 Twitter also removed tweets whining about mUh fReEzEpEaCh that functioned as attempts at ban evasion from @POTUS, and permanently suspended @TeamTrump.Twitter is deleting Trump's attempts to circumvent ban. The Verge. 8 January 2021.
===Splash damage===
The riot resulted in many people being axed from social media sites, and even got the legs of the wannabe far-right social media site Parler (in practice an ID harvesting operation funded by the same people who funded Cambridge Analytica) metaphorically sawed off.Amazon Will Suspend Hosting For Pro-Trump Social Network Parler, BuzzfeedWe were notified that Parler was using a free trial of Okta's product and we have terminated Parler's access to the Okta platform. While we support organizations across the political spectrum, our platform will not be used for threats of violence and illegal activity. by @Okta (12:54 AM - 10 Jan 2021) Twitter (archived from January 12, 2021).@RealOGAnonymous: BREAKING - @twilio has cut services with Parler, registration is now inoperable due to SMS capabilities being lost. Thank you, Twilio. Let us hope other vendors follow suit., Twitter@RealOGAnonymous (image transcribed): Hello, we wanted to share an update that Zendesk will be suspending Parler's account effectie 11:59 p.m. on January 10, 2021 as a result of violations of our User Content and Conduct PolicyWhat to know about Parler, the social-media platform that is now attracting millions of Trump supporters by Alex Newhouse (Last Updated: Nov. 30, 2020 at 11:18 a.m. ET; First Published: Nov. 27, 2020 at 12:12 p.m. ET) Market Watch. Likewise, 8chan, the far-right imageboard and primary source of the QAnon theories (rechristened to 8kun), had lost its clearnet domain, and is currently slated to go Tor-only "soon".@fr_brennan: BREAKING: because of an anonymous tip via email I can confirm that @LimTheNick has failed to keep 8kun online during the latest onslaught of deplatforming. The platform will be going Tor only "soon". Twitter (note: LimTheNick is the CEO of VanwaTech, the provider providing hosting to 8kun.)
Again, this bears repeating just in case you didn't get the memo: Trump's Twitter was >FINALLY GONE!</big> Now that we have your attention, this also means the Mango Messiah's influence has been greatly diminished, as his inane Twitter babbling gave him a lot of power which has now been stripped from him. And the Facebook ban? That's a second shot to the liver. Overall, Trump's banishment from social media had a HUUUGE impact on social media disinformation – San Francisco analytics firm found that online disinformation about election fraud plunged by 73 percent after Trump's suspension."Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump" by Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg, Washington Post, 2021 January 16 This was at least until someone decided to reinstate his account.Elon Musk restores Donald Trump's Twitter account by Clare Duffy and Paul LeBlanc, November 19, 2022, CNN
Many Trump officials resignedHere are all the Trump officials who have resigned since the Capitol riot. yahoo!newsNot as brave as it sounds, as if Trump hadn't done enough already. That's as brave as getting out of a car going 1 mph. over this event, a clear signal that this riot bigly inconvenienced Trump and broken the back of his entire online presence. Why? Just to be extra clear, the Capitol riot can now be cited as an example at any time, anywhere, by any person, as the ultimate reason why Trump is one of the most dangerous figures to ever hold public office in the United States of America. It also exposes the tatters of the Republican Party as having no position at all besides the raw desire for power; it can no longer claim to even be the party of "law and order".
Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) filed a lawsuit against Trump and Giuliani, and members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, accusing them of conspiring in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.The 150-year-old Ku Klux Klan Act being used against Trump in Capitol attack by Erick Trickey (Feb. 18, 2021 at 4:00 a.m. PST) The Washington Post. In the case of Trump, this could be considered a case of karma since his father was very likely a klansman. The NAACP also sued Trump and the GOP in December 2020 under the Klan Act and the Voting Rights Act, "alleging that they conspired to interfere with the civil rights of Black voters in Michigan."NAACP files suit accusing Trump, GOP of violating KKK Act by Harper Neidig (12/22/20 11:37 AM EST) The Hill.
Representative Eric Swalwell also filed a lawsuit, this one accusing Representative Mo Brooks, Donald Trump Sr., Donald Trump Jr., and Rudy Giuliani of instigating the riot.Mo Brooks served with Swalwell lawsuit by Joseph Choi (06/06/21 08:30 PM EDT) The Hill.
Following what appears to be Trump-ally Benjamin Netanyahu's imminent ouster from power in Israel in June 2021, the head of Israel's internal security service (Shin Bet) Nadav Argaman issued a warning that "extremely violent and inciting discourse" and that demonstrations "may be interpreted by certain groups or individuals as one that allows for violent and illegal activities that may even, God forbid, become lethal", reflecting both the January 6 insurrection and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 by a right-wing extremist.Israeli security chief issues rare warning over potential for Jan. 6-style mob violence ahead of Netanyahu departure by Shira Rubin (June 6, 2021 at 5:19 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
It remains to be seen whether and how other countries in the world will be affected by this. It certainly presents a stark warning about the dangers of authoritarianism, but the reaction may be quite mixed. That being said, it has already managed to kick a little sense into many of the less-than-competent leaders of democracies across the world, such as Boris Johnson and the UK Conservative Party.Boris Johnson condemns 'disgraceful' Trump riots as Washington descends into chaos. EXPRESS.
Furthermore, it is now clear once and for all that what happened on January 6, 2021, will not be forgotten by American history. This is most likely for the better in the future, as the union can no longer pretend to be immune to the rise of fascism, let alone ignore its past in slavery and the Civil War and similar events.Not to mention its long history with genocides (of Native Americans) – an all-time favorite pastime of dictators. It will likely mark the US for years, if not decades, to come.
====Lawyers in the dock====
The lawyers who helped Trump promote his fraudulent claims of election irregularities are facing repercussions. Why? Because it is a lawyer's professional duty to make due diligence in investigating claims that they bring to court as evidence, to not promote hearsay evidence, to not make fraudulent or frivolous claims, and to not file lawsuits in bad faith.
*Lawyers Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker had filed a spurious lawsuit quoting a Trump tweet and hearsay evidence in a lawsuit regarding the Colorado election results.'The stuff of which violent insurrections are made:' Federal judge punishes Colorado lawyers for 2020 election lawsuit by Rosalind S. Helderman (August 4, 2021) The Washington Post. In a scathing 86-page legal judgment, they have been ordered to pay the legal fees for all 18 of the entities that they had sued.
*A committee of judges in New York State suspended Rudy Giuliani's law license for his legal shenanigans regarding the 2020 election.Giuliani's N.Y. law license suspended in connection with efforts to overturn 2020 election by Shayna Jacobs et al. (June 24, 2021 at 4:37 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post. He has since been charged with various criminal offences relating to the election.Rudy Giuliani Indicted In Georgia On Election Interference Charges by Nick Visser (August 15, 2020 at 4:17 a.m. BST) The Huffington Post. As a result of his unethical practices, Giuliani has been disbarred in both NY https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/02/rudy-giuliani-disbarred-in-new-york-00166232 and DC https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/26/rudy-giuliani-disbarred-washington-00181183.
*Seven of the lawyers who falsely alleged massive fraud in Michigan, including "Kraken" lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, were ordered to pay thousands of dollars worth of sanctions for their baseless legal filings. Hilariously, four of them were ordered to sit through legal education classes as the court considered them incompetent to work.Sanctions against Sidney Powell over Trump election claims largely upheld by David Thomas (June 23, 2023 at 10:59 p.m.) Reuters. Powell was later prosecuted for racketeering, election fraud and conspiracy over her attempts to subvert Georgia's electoral process,What you need to know about Sidney Powell’s 2020 election charges (August 25, 2023 at 8:32 a.m. EDT) PBS. and was forced to plead guilty to six misdemeanors to avoid prison.Trump attorney Sidney Powell pleads guilty in Georgia election subversion case by Marshall Cohen, CNN, 19 October 2020.
*The State Bar of Georgia brought disciplinary charges against Lin Wood for his repeated bad faith challenges to the election, forcing him to surrender his license to practice.Attorney who challenged Trump’s 2020 loss gives up law license as states weigh disciplining him by Meg Kinnard (July 5, 2023) Associated Press.
*John Eastman was disbarred for criminally conspiring to obstruct the electoral count on January 6.Why MAGA lawyer John Eastman’s disbarment ruling is bad news for Trump by Dennis Aftergut and Neil Goteiner (April 3, 2024) MSNBC.
*Pro-Trump attorney Stefanie Lambert filed a spurious lawsuit alleging massive fraud in Michigan.Trump-Loving Attorney Is Third Charged in Michigan Voting Machine Investigation by AJ McDougall (August 4, 2023) Daily Beast. Lambert and another lawyer, failed Attorney General candidate Matthew DePerno, were later criminally charged for illegally accessing and tampering with voting machines on behalf of other pro-Trump actors.
*Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was heavily involved in legal challenges to the election result, even asking the Supreme Court to throw out the election.Supreme Court rejects Texas bid to overturn election results in four states by Melissa Quinn (December 12, 2020 at 6:50 a.m.) CBS News. He now faces ethics charges from the state bar for having misled the Supreme Court during the suit, and if he loses the case Paxton's license could be suspended or he could even be disbarred.Texas AG Ken Paxton was acquitted at his impeachment trial. He still faces legal troubles by Jake Bleiberg (September 17, 2023) Yahoo News. He was also suspended from his position pending an impeachment trial over accusations of corruption,What to know about the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (September 5, 2020 at 2:52 p.m. IST) The Times of India. and while the bastard was acquitted in a show trial he is under criminal investigation by the FBI into the same charges.Texas attorney general acquitted in historic impeachment trial by Susie Coen (September 17, 2023) The Telegraph.Why Ken Paxton was Acquitted - Wall Street Journal editorial piece.
===Impeachment===
After the insurrection, various parties called for the impeachment of the president, including historians, congresspeopleBarbara Sprunt, Pelosi, Schumer Join Chorus Of Calls For Invocation Of 25th Amendment Against Trump. NPR, January 7, 2021. and governors.Ross A. Lincoln, Growing Number of Republicans, Democrats Call for Trump's Resignation or Impeachment. thewrap.com, 6 January 2021.Illinois governor calls for Trump's impeachment, removal from office. hoiabc.com, 6 January 2021. On January 11, David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced articles of impeachment against Trump. On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump 232-197, marking the first time in American history that a president has been impeached twice.Bill Chappell, House Impeaches Trump A 2nd Time, Citing Insurrection At U.S. Capitol. NPR, 13 January 2021. Unlike last time, when only Democratic House members voted to impeach Trump, this time ten Republicans joined as well, with four abstaining.John Eligon and Thomas Kaplan, These Are the Republicans Who Supported Impeaching Trump. The New York Times, 23 January 2021.
Speaking of McConnell, it also didn't help that the much-hated Kentucky senator, in spite of all his faults, finally had enough, calling on his Republican colleagues to "vote with their conscience", which is likely politicalese for suppressing the will to care about the "party line", and might have also been perceived as a threat to vote for conviction himself.Mitch McConnell tells Republicans to 'vote with their conscience' ahead of President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. msn
Trump's impeachment defense amounted to two main arguments. The first is that his actions on and leading up to January 6th are protected by the First Amendment. The second is that it's unconstitutional to impeach/convict a President after they leave office. These are both, in two words, complete hogwash. The first is wrong because the First Amendment doesn't protect the President from the Senate convicting them and barring them from holding office. Even if it did apply, there are strong arguments that his actions constitute illegal incitement under the Constitutional Law Scholars on President Trump's First Amendment Defense. Retrieved from New York Times, 5 February, 2021. PDF. The second is utterly spurious because Trump was impeached before he left office. There is also precedent for holders of public offices being impeached or tried after they left office or were expelled.Trump Impeachment Trial After Term Ends Is Backed by History, Bloomberg Politics. 14 January, 2021. Furthermore, while the Supreme Court normally rules on whether a law is constitutional or not; the decision to conduct an impeachment trial is a decision of the Senate alone and is likely not reviewable by the courts.
A dramatic difference in the quality of each side's cases in the impeachment trial was evident from the first day, February 9. During the opening debate over the rules of the trial, the House impeachment managers relied upon presenting the facts of Trump's words and the rioters' actions and noted that accepting the Trump team's spurious arguments for the trial being unconstitutional would create a "January exception" and give presidents impunity for high crimes and misdemeanors committed in their final weeks in office. Trump's defenders, meanwhile, gave a weak, rambling rebuttal that espoused those same spurious arguments and digressed into a myriad of random subjects. The trial moved forward. The prosecution presented even more detailed evidence of Trump's responsibility, using his own words and actions from the election to the day of the riot, and of the danger that the Senators themselves had been placed in by the mob. The defense attempted to downplay Trump's rhetoric by equivocating it with other "robust rhetoric" by Democratic politicians, often out of context, and random civilian celebrities who had expressed antipathy to Trump (ignoring the fact that none of those statements were made to a seething mob of thousands of partisans blocks away from the Capitol while Electoral College votes were being certified).Trump impeachment defense team shows 9-plus minute compilation of Dems using the word "fight". Politico, 12 Feb 2021.
On February 13th, 2021 the trial ended with a Senate vote. While Trump was again acquitted, unlike last time however, 7 RepublicansMitt Romney convicted again with Richard Burr, Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey joining him. chose to convict Donald Trump, resulting in a vote of 57-43.With Republican firewall, U.S. Senate acquits Trump of inciting deadly Capitol riot, Reuters Hypocritically, afterwards, Mitch McConnell, who had chosen to acquit Trump of the actions proceeded to declare him guilty of the accusations, claimed that Trump was still responsible for inciting the attack. One can only wonder why McConnell chose not to convict Trump in the trial.Cause he lacks any moral conviction except the accumulation of power. Trump wasn't even grateful for McConnell's vote.Caroline Kelly and Brian Rokus,Trump rips McConnell in lengthy statement after being acquitted in impeachment trial, CNN 16 Feb. 2021
===The recount that never ends===
Fueled by persistent conspiracy theories and a realization that Trump still owns the GOP, many Republicans have sought ways to appease Trump's ego/grift and Trump's voter base. In May 2021, after nearly all the election-related lawsuits had been settled in Biden's favor, the GOP-controlled Arizona Senate ordered the presposterously-named,Arizona's election audit is a disaster. Hire my company to audit it. by Alexandra Petri (May 21, 2021 at 12:07 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post. inexperienced and biased firm Cyber Ninjas to perform yet another recount of Maricopa County's ballots.Experts or 'grifters'? Little-known firm runs Arizona audit by Nicholas Riccardi (May 23, 2021 at 8:35 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.Arizona Senate hires a 'Stop the Steal' advocate to lead 2020 election audit by Jeremy Duda & Jim Small (March 31, 2021) AZ Mirror. Among the techniques used by Cyber Ninjas are "inspecting" paper ballots for possible bamboo fibers (thinly-veiled Sinophobia; do people not remember that China invented paper!?), looking for "kinematic artifacts" using a purple light, lax security, installing a carnival directly outside the building called "Crazy Times", and putting the ballots on a turntable while counters have to quickly mark what they see spinning before them.The mess in Maricopa: Votes are still being counted in Arizona. It won't change the winner. But it might change America. by Dan Zak (May 21, 2021) The Washington Post.The great bamboo hunt: Arizona's bizarre vote-examination effort gets more bizarre by Philip Bump (May 6, 2021 at 11:22 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.In Arizona, Republicans accidentally created a robust demonstration of the shoddiness of their fraud claims by Philip Bump (May 18, 2021 at 10:22 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. In the end, it turned out that Biden still won the county and that he won even more votes.Jeremy Duda, Arizona 'audit' finds Biden won (by more votes) and no evidence of fraud. AZMirror, 23 September 2021.
Following up on the Maricopa carnival, and also in May 2021, Superior Court Judge Brian Amero of Georgia ordered that plaintiffs and their "experts" could examine copies of all the ballots of Fulton County.In echo of Arizona, Georgia state judge orders Fulton County to allow local voters to inspect mailed ballots cast last fall by Amy Gardner (May 21, 2021 at 3:40 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post. Three separate audits had already been conducted.Amy Gardner, In echo of Arizona, Georgia state judge orders Fulton County to allow local voters to inspect mailed ballots cast last fall. Archived from The Washington Post, 21 May 2021. To note: this is one of the wonderful wastes of taxpayer money.
==Conspiracy theories/fallacious arguments/denialism==
===It wasn't an insurrection attempt because they "weren't smart enough"===
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) maintained:
and
Tucker Carlson of Fox News has downplayed the severity of the riot.Tucker Carlson Thinks Everybody's Too Upset About Trump Supporters Invading the Capitol: Tucker thinks it's silly that everyone is so worked up about the attempt by a conservative mob to seize control of the U.S. government by Phil Owen (January 19, 2021 @ 7:21 PM; Last Updated: January 19, 2021 @ 8:10 PM) The Wrap.
An opinion piece by Kurt Schlicter on Townhall.com claimed that it wasn't an insurrection.Stop Calling It an 'Insurrection' by Kurt Schlicter (Posted: Feb 11, 2021 12:01 AM) Townhall.com (archived from February 11, 2021).
These claims go against the cold hard and substantial evidence of the insurrection attempt: massive photo and video evidence, hundreds of arrests at the Capitol, violent attacks on police, violent entry into the Capitol by the mob, five deaths, two suicides by police officers shortly afterwards, thefts and destruction of government property. However, their lack of intelligence was a reason the incident took place to begin with. 
Furthermore, "Guns, bombs and stun guns were seized from members of the mob, while other rioters used wrenches, clubs and flagpoles as weapons. An officer has said that police 'had been seizing guns all day.'"We got to hold this door': How battered D.C. police made a stand against the Capitol mob by Peter Hermann (January 14, 2021) The Washington Post.
===It was staged===
Yes, just over one month after the insurrection, conspiracy nuts already began making this claim. Perhaps the most notable proponent of this absurd notion would be Mike Shirkey, the Republican former Michigan State Senate Majority Leader.Jaclyn Diaz, Michigan's Top Republican Falsely Calls U.S. Capitol Attack A 'Hoax', NPR 10 Feb 2021 His evidence was that there wasn't enough security involved. He also accused then-US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) of being complicit in it, suggesting that he might have had something to do with the low level of security.
While there is a grain of truth in that many of the Capitol police officers either just stood by or were even complicit in the riots (which led to the dismissal of several officers and the suspension and pending investigation of many more),Gino Spocchia, Six police officers dismissed over Capitol riot, The Independent 19 Feb 2021 to use this as evidence that the riot was staged would be a fallacy. In reality, the poor response was largely due to just poor planning, with the police preparing for a smaller crowd and for stabbings and fistfights rather than the wide variety of weapons that the rioters actually brought with them, despite the rather transparent warning signs from alt-tech social media sites like Parler, already indicating a much more credible threat.Anna North, Police bias explains the Capitol riot, Vox 12 Jan. 2021 Additionally, initial requests to send the National Guard, which would have been better equipped to handle the situation, were denied by the federal government (specifically the Department of Defense).Laura Wainman, Gov. Hogan: Leaders of Congress 'pleaded' with Maryland to send aid to the Capitol, WUSA9 7 Jan. 2021 So while there is some evidence that some parts of the federal government may have been complicit or at least looking the other way, to truly believe the riots were staged, you'd have to believe all the rioters were participants, when there is no real evidence that they are actors and many have ties to the far right or the Republican Party going back years. Also, there's no real motive provided for why they would stage it; if it was to make Trump or conservatives look bad, that wouldn't make sense since the people with evidence of complicities or looking the other way are in the Trump administration or otherwise overwhelmingly conservative.
===But, but, antifadidit!===
To the surprise of no one, Republican allies of President Trump wasted no time propagating the absurd conspiracy theory that the militant far-left movement Antifa was responsible for provoking the mob that attacked the Capitol. 
Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar promoted the conspiracy theory on Twitter on January 6:
On January 7, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) let loose a stream of Twitter nonsense starting with the following:
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) went even further, citing on the House floor a now-recanted article from The Washington Times that made an unsubstantiated claim about a facial recognition firm identifying Antifa supporters among the rioters who stormed the Capitol.Rowan Scarborough, Facial recognition firm claims Antifa infiltrated Trump protesters who stormed Capitol. Archived from the original at The Washington Times, 7 January 2021.
The lie was amplified by the usual crowd of webshites, including ConservapediaLeft-wing violence in the Trump era (2021), Conservapedia. and NaturalNews.First extremist in Capitol building siege is identified as BLM/Antifa activist: "We gotta f***ing rip Trump right outta that office!" NaturalNews, 8 January 2021. Conservative radio blowhard Mark Levin told his listeners, "None of you had anything to do with it." Greg Kelly told listeners on Newsmax, "These people don't look like Trump supporters." On Fox News, Laura Ingraham called out unspecified "reports" of Antifa involvement in the riots. Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Brit Hume also spread the conspiracy theory.David Folkenflik and Tom Dreisbach, After Deadly Capitol Riot, Fox News Stays Silent On Stars' Incendiary Rhetoric NPR, 13 January 2021. on Twitter, 6 January 2021: "Do not be surprised if we learn in the days ahead that the Trump rioters were infiltrated by leftist extremists. Note: this is not to excuse any of them." MyPillow manufacturer Mike Lindell stated on Newsmax that "there were probably some undercover Antifa people that dressed as Trump people." Media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns hundreds of television stations across the country, sent its affiliates a news report by James Rosen suggesting without evidence that the riot was caused by "far-left infiltrators."Jeremy Barr, Not all Trump supporters': Conservative media tries to shift blame, cast doubt on identity of Capitol invaders. Archived from the original at The Washington Post, 7 January 2021.
All of this is bullshit. It was bullshit at first blush, and as the years have worn on even more evidence that it was bullshit has continued to present itself.Ryan J. Reilly (December 22, 2023). "Jan. 6 rioters the far right claimed were antifa keep getting unmasked as Trump supporters". NBC News. The firm cited by The Washington Times has told news outlets that the story is false. The FBI has identified no Antifa presence in the crowd, and many of those identified and later arrested are all Neo-Nazis, QAnon freaks, Proud Boys, and members of other right-wing extremist groups.Holmes Lybrand and Tara Subramaniam, Fact checking Republicans' unsubstantiated claims that Antifa infiltrated Capitol riot. CNN, 8 January 2021. Hell, there were even actual GOP legislators, including the aforementioned Derrick Evans and Rick Saccone, who were in the crowd.
According to The Washington Post's Fact Checker, there is no evidence that Antifa was behind the riot.We looked for antifa at the Capitol — we couldn't find any by Adriana Usero (Jan. 9, 2021 at 12:00 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
One good thing to come out of this claim is that it led to the arrest of Brandon Straka, of #WalkAway fame. Straka wrote a Twitter post in which he admitted his participation in the coup to prove that "It was not Antifa at the Capitol" and that he wasn't ashamed of his crimes.MAGA influencer Brandon Straka arrested in connection with Capitol assault
====But the tattoo!====
One common piece of "evidence" used to paint the crowd as Antifa involves a photograph of a man in a yellow sweatshirt with a tattoo on his left hand. Due to the quality of the image, some viral tweets misinterpreted the tattoo to be a stylized hammer and sickle, thereby proving there were leftists in the crowd. However, the tattoo is actually that of the "Outsider's Mark" from the video game , and not a Communist symbol.Brianna Reeves, "Dishonored Devs Respond To Outsider Tattoo Spotted At US Capitol Riot." ScreenRant, 10 January 2021
====John Sullivan====
In the days after the riot, conservatives on social media began claiming that a "known Antifa member" named had been a member of the mob.Archived Facebook postWho is John Sullivan, accused provocateur charged in Capitol riot? by Lia Eustachewich. New York Post. 15 January 2021. While Sullivan, a political activist and photojournalist, was indeed involved in the riot,Specifically, he shouted encouragement and egged on members of the mob in order to sell the footage to news networks there is no evidence that he is associated with Antifa.Giuliani uses unfounded 'Antifa' argument to defend Trump by Curt Devine and others. CNN. 15 January 2021. Crucially, BLM members told the Washington Post that they suspected Sullivan of association with the Proud Boys, who were involved in the riot.Man who shot video of fatal Capitol shooting is arrested, remains focus of political storm. The Washington Post. 16 January 2021. PolitiFact rates the claim as "mostly false".Facebook posts wrongly claim left-wing activist, antifa 'incited' US Capitol mob by Bill McCarthy. PolitiFact. 8 January 2021.
===QAnon Shaman===
Jacob A. Chansley, aka "QAnon Shaman", aka Jake Angeli, is a far-right conspiracy nut from Phoenix, Arizona, who was at both the Capitol riot and at a BLM rally a few months prior. However, he was also present at many far-right rallies before.Fact check: Man with painted face wearing fur and horns rallied for Trump and QAnon, not Antifa or BLM. Reuters, 6 January 2021. Contrary to what many of his fellow alt-righters like to claim, there is no reason to believe he was at the BLM rally as anything other than a counter-protestor; indeed, he was really upset when he was called a member of Antifa.The 'Q Shaman' who stormed the Capitol is upset Trump supporters are claiming he's 'Antifa' in disguise Yahoo! News, 11 January 2021. Angeli's Lawyer, Al Watkins, said that Chansley was just accepting President Trump's invitation, and asked Trump to pardon him for his actions on January 6, 2021.Ashley Cole, St. Louis lawyer representing Capitol rioter seen in viral photos says Trump should pardon him. fox61.com, 14 January 2021.
===But Trump wasn't responsible!===
During the impeachment debate, Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida) floated the theory that the rioters weren't acting on Trump's behalf or request. This is fallacious however because several of the rioters, including QAnon Shaman, have said that they went to the Capitol on Trump's instigation.The worst defenses of Trump on the Capitol riot by Aaron Blake (Jan. 15, 2021 at 9:53 a.m. PST) The Washington Post. Also, in announcing the event, Trump had tweeted, "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"'No Regrets': A Capitol Rioter Tells His Story From Inside by William Turton (January 12, 2021, 3:00 AM PST) Bloomberg.Peter Navarro releases 36-page report alleging election fraud 'more than sufficient' to swing victory to Trump https://t.co/D8KrMHnFdK. A great report by Peter. Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild! (Dec 19th 2020 - 1:42:42 AM EST) Trump Twitter Archive.
Another argument is that Trump didn't incite the riot from his speech that day because there was preplanning by the rioters. Donald Trump Jr., Representative Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Representative Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), and conservative journalist David Martosko have floated this idea. This amounts to a strawman argument because no one has claimed that Trump incited the riot solely based on his speech that shortly preceded it, but rather that it was the totality of Trump's actions and speech up to and including that day, which included support for violence by his admirers.The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.' 'When the looting starts, the shooting starts.' Twice in 25 hours, Trump tweets conspicuous allusions to violence. by Aaron Blake (May 29, 2020 at 7:10 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post.
Trump's longtime enabler, Mitch McConnell,How Mitch McConnell Became Trump's Enabler-in-Chief The Senate Majority Leader's refusal to rein in the President is looking riskier than ever. by Jane Mayer (April 12, 2020) The New Yorker. is not buying this steaming pile of bullshit. He threw Trump under the bus on this one, and has even said before the Senate, "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people."Trump provoked deadly Capitol riot, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell says by Kevin Breuninger (Published Tue, Jan 19 202112:17 PM ESTUpdated Tue, Jan 19 20211:31 PM EST) CNBC. He later, however, voted to acquit the former President.
And, of course, there was pathetic chatter that Trump specifically intended a peaceful demonstration and discouraged his followers taking violent actions – solely on the grounds that, in the middle of an entire speech of inflammatory rhetoric, he once mentioned "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."
====It was Nancy Pelosi!====
In the first 2024 presidential debate, Donald Trump made the wild claim that the riot was the fault of Nancy Pelosi, who supposedly turned down Trump's offer to send in 10,000 soldiers to the Capitol. Needless to say, this claim is false; Nancy Pelosi does not have the ability to direct the national guard, and she was indeed calling for assistance when the Capitol was under attack.FACT CHECK: Trump’s claim Pelosi turned down his offer to send National Guard members on Jan. 6, 2021, AJC Politics 27 June 2024
===Someone got tased in the balls!===
It was widely circulated that during the protest, one man died of a heart attack after tasing himself in the balls. The man died of a heart attack but did not taser himself.
===Flag torn down===
Another story that was widely spread around were that protesters tore down a US flag and replaced it with a Trump flag. According to Snopes, the evidence for this one is inconclusive.Rumor Alert: Was a Trump Flag Raised To Replace American Flag at US Capitol? The video is real, but it's difficult to tell exactly what it shows. by Dan Evon (6 January 2021) Snopes.
===They were just tourists or petitioners===
A grandmother from Indiana was the first person sentenced in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Representative Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA) compared the January 6 event to a "normal tourist visit", this was despite the fact that there is a photo of Clyde barricading a door to keep the 'tourists' out on January 6.A GOP congressman compared Capitol rioters to tourists. Photos show him barricading a door. by Brittany Shammas (May 18, 2021 at 2:49 p.m. PDT) The Washington Post'.
Vladimir Putin similarly offered the opinion, "These are not looters or thieves, these people came with political requests."Putin questions U.S. prosecution of Capitol rioters, saying mob carried only 'political requests' by Isabelle Khurshudyan (June 4, 2021 at 10:58 a.m. PDT) The Washington Post. Never mind that there were many charges of property destruction and theft, and for assaulting police officers. If the "petitioners" had done that shit at the Kremlin, they'd surely be dead or at best in a gulag. Keep in mind that actual peaceful protesters who opposed the invasion of Ukraine were either arrested or violently beaten by Russian police.
====Ashli Babbitt was a martyr====
Related to this narrative is the idea that insurrectionist and QAnon nutter Ashli Babbitt was somehow a martyr because she was shot and killed by security while entering a broken window of the Capitol. This has been perpetrated by Senator Ron Johnson concern trolling, Congressman Paul Gosar and Tucker Carlson JAQing off. Supporters of her case have actually had the gall to draw false equivalencies with the cases which have inspired the Black Lives Matter demonstrations.Family of Ashli Babbitt, woman shot by officer during Capitol riot, says it was murder and plans to sue for wrongful death (May 5, 2021 / 6:50 AM) CBS News. Ex-President Trump fed into this fallacious narrative by claiming that the officer was "getting away with murder."Internal probe clears Capitol Police officer in shooting of Ashli Babbitt by Justin Jouvenal (August 23, 2021) The Washington Post.
An internal investigation by the Capitol police cleared the officer who shot Babbitt of any wrongdoing. The US Justice Department also stated that they would not be filing any charges against the officer.
===The FBI did it===
Tucker Carlson further claimed on Fox News that the FBI organized the January 6 riot because federal indictments of Oath Keepers included unindicted co-conspirators:
This argument was also parroted by Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz.
This line of bullshit by Carlson shows his willful ignorance of the law – and more shockingly by two lawmakers, Greene and Gaetz. The existence of an unindicted co-conspirator is actually conclusive evidence that the unnamed person is not an FBI agent working undercover. According to Professor Lisa Kern Griffin of Duke University Law School, "An unindicted co-conspirator has committed the crime of conspiracy, and investigative agents doing their jobs undercover are not committing crimes."
===The police let them in===
There have been extremely viral videos on Twitter that purport that the Capitol police cooperated with rioters and let them in, which had the MSNBC host Joe Scarborough deride the police for "politely" "opening "the fucking door for them."Cannon, M. (January 7, 2021). "Joe Scarborough Drops F-Bomb Live on Air in Trump Rant Over Capitol Riots". Newsweek. Accessed July 19, 2021. Indeed, unlike during the widespread BLM protests, the police response was practically a skeleton crew. Due to this, however, the police couldn't hold out against the riot and had to fall back and remove the barricades, thus leaving thousands of private investigative "journalists" on Twitter with a misleading impression that the police were simply letting rioters in. The reality that the police were overwhelmed was supported by the journalist who originally shared the video. This is a standard military practice when outmatched in battle, tactical withdrawal. There are a lot of questions on the police response, exactly why an insurrection incited by the president was met with a disorganized skeleton crew compared to the less dangerous BLM riots and protests, why thirty-five officers are being investigated, and why six police were suspended after the riot; but the idea that the police let them in is not supported. Even some the rioters mistakenly thought they were being let in."Man who said January 6 was ‘magical’ acquitted in US Capitol riot case". CNN. Accessed 15 August, 2023.
==Sedition caucus==
After the rioters were evicted and the security of the Capitol was restored, the House and the Senate reconvened. Eight Republican senators and 139 Republican House members were still in support of objections to certifying the election, thus tacitly supporting the insurrection.The 147 Republicans Who Voted to Overturn Election Results by Karen Yourish et al. (Updated January 7, 2021) The New York Times.
==Setting the stage for 2022 and 2024 elections==
If a situation like this were to have happened in 2000, 2008, or even 2016, such violence would have been seen as unimaginable, and would have destroyed the reputation of whatever party or political movement that instigated it for years if not decades. However, as the 2022 midterms somewhat indicated, such hubris wouldn't matter to most people anymore.
As the months have passed since the January 6 insurrection attempt, Republicans by-and-large have increasingly tried to make it go away, either by trying to recharacterize it with historical revisionism, or by attempting to stymie any chance of an unbiased investigation into the events leading up to and during January 6. The attempt to stymie a non-partisan investigation did not succeed due to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi creating a bipartisan commission even without House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's assistance. The Republican attempts to block a nonpartisan Congressional investigation, as well as state-level Republicans that criminalize teaching about systemic racism represents what historian Timothy Snyder calls "memory laws", laws that intended to guide the public interpretation of the past.The War on History Is a War on Democracy: A scholar of totalitarianism argues that new laws restricting the discussion of race in American schools have dire precedents in Europe. by Timothy Snyder (June 29, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET) The New York Times.American democracy survived its Reichstag fire on Jan. 6. But the threat has not subsided. by Dana Milbank (July 15, 2021) The Washington Post. These actions are akin to George Orwell's concept of the "memory hole" in the book Nineteen Eighty-Four that is used to facilitate propaganda.
Snyder, an expert on tyranny, has said that "a failed coup is practice for a successful coup", and he is not alone in that thinking. Snyder has said of the Republican Party, "One of our two political parties is currently on an undemocratic track. That's just the way it is, I think, for the 2022 and 2024 cycles." A survey of 327 political scientists found that 55% thought that at least some local officials will refuse to certify the 2024 election results; 46% thought that at least one state legislature would pick electors contrary to the popular vote; and 39% thought that Congress would refuse to certify the election.
Many reporters are aware that American democracy is in peril, but American media outlets are not making this a focal point of coverage.If American democracy is going to survive, the media must make this crucial shift: Journalists stepped it up in 2021, but now we need a concerted effort by Margaret Sullivan (January 3, 2022) The Washington Post. Conspiracy theorists harass election officials, death threats against elected officials have become more common, state-level GOP officials have made it more difficult to vote and easier to overturn legitimate voting results,Every Day Is Jan. 6 Now (Jan. 1, 2022) The New York Times.Trump's Next Coup Has Already Begun: January 6 was practice. Donald Trump's GOP is much better positioned to subvert the next election. by Barton Gellman (December 6, 2021) The Atlantic. and it seems less likely that the GOP will ever accept election defeat again.'Slow-motion insurrection': How GOP seizes election power by Nicholas Riccardi (December 29, 2021) AP. Trump's big lie of refusing to accept that his defeat in 2020 was legitimate continues to have resonance among his followers.The clear and present danger of Trump's enduring 'Big Lie' by Melissa Block (December 23, 20215:00 AM ET) NPR. Unsurprisingly, after Trump's 2024 reelection, among his first executive orders was issuing over 1500 pardons to the insurrectionists, showing that no lesson was learnt.Trump issues 1,500 ‘unconditional’ pardons over January 6 Capitol attack The Guardian. 21 January, 2025
==Historical precedents and similar cases==
People with a cursory knowledge of American history are likely to think that the 2021 coup attempt was a black swan, i.e., a rare and unexpected event. That is not the case however, there were several other coup attempts in US history, including the first successful coup in 1898. These occurred most notably during and after Reconstruction when whites in The South eventually wrested control of local and state governments from African Americans.
*New Orleans, Louisiana: the (1874), in which whites attempted to overthrow the Republican state government
*Wilmington, North Carolina (1898): the when ~2000 armed white Democrats violently overthrew the government of African American Republicans.How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America by Heather Cox Richardson (2022) Oxford University Press. ISBN 019758179X.
*Hawaii: the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (1893), led by white sugar barons who wished to have duty free importation of sugar into the US by Hawaii being declared a territory
*The of 1933, which discussed overthrowing Franklin D. Roosevelt's nascent presidency (foiled by Smedley Butler)
===1934 attempted assault against the French parliament by the Leagues===
It turns out that far-righters invading a legislative seat isn't a novelty.Trump, Fascism, and French History
Although the Great Depression came late in France, when it came, it came hard. Political instability, and reports of political and financial scandals, such as the Marthe Hanau Affair or the Albert Oustric case (the Minister of Justice being involved in the latter) didn't help things, with the authoritarian (ligues d'extrême droite) regaining influence. The methods of these leagues involved street demonstrations, often violent, and their ideology included monarchism or authoritarian republicanism, with some younger sectors being fascist.
In this background, the discovery of Alexandre Stavisky, a conman who used his political contacts to have his trial postponed for 19 months before mysteriously dying while on the lam, only added oil on the fire. All the elements were present: Stavisky was Jewish and foreign-born while Camille Chautemps, the head of the government and seated one of Stavisky's friends, was a Masonic official. The far-right couldn't dream a more perfect scapegoat.
And then the Prefect of Paris Pierre Chiappe, accused of being lax against these groups, was dismissed after a socialist government was elected, causing even more anger among these leagues, who called for a demonstration.
On February 6, 1934, several of these leagues such as the monarchist Action française ("French Action"), the authoritarian republican Jeunesses Patriotes ("Patriot Youth"), and Solidarité Française ("French Solidarity"), along with the Croix-de-Feu ("Cross of Fire"),They weren't Klansmen: it was a reference to their military medals. along with veteran groups (including a communist one) angered at fighting World War One for these corrupt officials, marched in Paris, shouting "Down with the thieves, long live France!"; after the veterans' groups departed, more radical elements of the leagues attempted to march on the Bourbon Palace where the French parliament was seated. They converged on the Place de la Concorde, separated from the parliament by a bridge which was heavily defended by police units. Thereafter, 16 people were killed and 2000 injured, most of them belonging to Action française. Meanwhile, the Croix-de-feu limited themselves to surrounding the parliament before dispersing, leading them to be nicknamed the Froides-Queues ("Cold Tails") by the rest of the leagues; they were more mainstream right-wingers and La Rocque, their leader, didn't support the violent overthrow of the regime.
While the socialist government collapsed days after, the aftermath saw the French left-wing fearing a Fascist coup àlà March on Rome, and the communist and the socialist parties finally allied, finally ending in the 1936 Popular Front.
Meanwhile, the right-wing started to radicalize and approach the far-right, which kept regretting these riots as a missed occasion to do away with the hated parliamentarianism.
===2017 storming of the North Macedonian parliament===
On April 28, 2017 a group of Macedonian nationalists stormed the Parliament in Skopje after Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of the VRMO party lost the election to social democrat Zoran Zaev. The VRMO party is well known for being very conservative in nature and holding anti-Albanian views.BBC, Retrieved on May 19, 2022. When the new coalition formed, ethnic Albanian Talat Xhaferi was made the speaker. The long standing issue of marginalization of the Albanian community in North Macedonia was the catalyst for the riot. Specifically, the conservatives opposed a law which made Albanian a co-official language with Macedonian as the national language. President Gjorge Ivanov put fuel on the fire when he expressed so-called concerns about the law as it would "disrupt national unity". Not long after, far-right nationalists stormed the Parliament building and caused major damage. Multiple injuries occurred, including the winner of the election. Eventually the police gained control of the violence. People involved were arrested for various reasons. The assault on democracy was condemned by most Western nations and the EU.Yahoo News, Retrieved on May 19, 2022. Former Speaker Trajko Veljanoski, former transport minister Mile Janakieski, former labor minister Spiro Ristovski, and the former head of the secret police, Vladimir Atanasovski, were arrested for "terrorist endangerment of constitutional order".MSN, Retrieved on May 19, 2022.
===2019 South Korean Capitol riot===
In 2019, there was a riot in South Korea that was very similar to the US Capitol riot. On December 16, 2019, pro- anti-communist and ultra-conservative far-right organizations in South Korea illegally entered the Capitol. They committed physical violence and terrorism against liberal politicians with the aim of blocking liberal reform.보수신문도 국회 난입 한국당 지지자들 비판 by 김용욱 [Kim Yong-wook] (2020.11.11 17:21) 미디어오늘 [Media Today]. English ranslation of title: "Conservative newspapers also criticize Korean Party supporters for breaking into the National Assembly"의회 난입, 미국보다 빨랐던 '태극기부대' by 손원제 [Son Won-je] (2021-01-10) 한겨레, The Hankyoreh. English translation of title: "Taegeukgi Troops' faster than the United States, breaking into Congress" Unlike the United States, this is even more frightening in that politicians have actually been victims of violence. Fortunately, South Korea has not suffered irreversible damage, in part because it has some of the toughest gun control laws in the free world.
According to the Pew Research Center survey, the political conflict between liberals and conservatives in South Korea is almost the same as that of the United States. In the United States and South Korea, 90% of citizens said there was a strong conflict between those who supported different political parties.Diversity and Division in Advanced Economies: Most embrace diversity but see conflicts between partisan, racial and ethnic groups by Laura Silver et al. (October 13, 2021) Pew Research Center.
===2020 Oregon State Capitol breach===
On December 21 2020, just a couple weeks before the coup attempt, a large group of right-wingers began demonstrating outside the Oregon State Capitol to protest the controversial health measures taken against the COVID-19 pandemic. The mob began attempting to force their way into the building, at which point a Republican lawmaker opened the door to the Capitol to allow the mob into the building.Oregon lawmaker who opened state Capitol to far-right protesters faces criminal charges by Conrad Wilson and Dirk Vanderhart. Oregon Public Radio, 30 April 2021. The events that followed closely mirrored what would happen in 2021, with the rioters assaulting Capitol police and journalists and vandalising the building until they were cleared out.
Mike Nearman, the representative who allowed the attackers to enter the building, pleaded guilty to malfeasance in office and was expelled from the House. Notably, even other Republicans were disgusted by Nearman's crimes to the point of voting to expel him - out of the 60 people who voted on the motion to expel, the only opponent was Nearman himself.Oregon lawmaker ousted for allowing rioters into State Capitol, BBC News, 11 June 2021.
The attack was perpetrated by the same groups who carried out Trump's coup: the Proud Boys and QAnon.Lawmakers remove state legislator over Oregon Capitol breach, NBC News, 11 June 2021. Even some of the specific rioters later took part in the unrest in DC.At least 3 men from Oregon protest appear to have joined insurrection at U.S. Capitol by Sergio Olmos and Conrad Wilson. Oregon Public Radio, 10 January 2021.
===2022 German coup===
Mirroring both the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 and January 6th, a far-right party known as the Patriotic Union planned a coup against the German government on December 7th, 2022. The coup would have allowed the group to install a government similar to Nazi Germany and the German Empire, with an ethnostate and a monarchy. Fortunately, all people involved were arrested before they could even put the plan into action. The group also planned on starting a civil war in the country that would allow other far-right parties to rise and take control.Germany arrests 25 accused of plotting coup BBC About 5,000 police officers (1,500 of which were part of the special forces), were engaged in a high search across Germany, searching approximately 130 locations within the country to locate the perpetrators.
===2022-23 Brazilian coup attempts===
In December 2022, Jair Bolsonaro supporters tried to storm the HQ of the Brazilian Federal Police.
Shortly after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in as President of Brazil on January 1, 2023, Bolsonaro supporters attacked and briefly seized the primary buildings of the three branches of government in Brasília on January 8.Global leaders condemn assault on Brazilian government buildings (January 8, 20234:30 PM PST) Reuters. Bolsonaro has been accused by his opponents (including President Lula) of inciting the coup attempt.Pro-Bolsonaro rioters storm Brazil's top government offices by Diane Jeantet & David Biller (January 8, 2023, 11:11 AM) Associated Press via ABC News.
On the same day, Brasília's governor a notorious Bolsonaro supporter, was suspended by the Brazilian Supreme Court for 90 days alleging security flaws that allowed the invasion of government buildings. Some police guards just left the barricades during the riot to buy soft drinks. Over a quarter of the Brazilian police force is composed of radical Bolsonarists.
Due to Brazil's history with coups, the police wasted no time in arresting the insurrectionists. Within less than 24 hours, around 1,200 people were detained in what was called by the Brazilian press and authorities a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, like his inspiration Trump, Bolsonaro was hiding in Florida rather than joining his supporters.Brazil's Bolsonaro lands in Florida, avoiding Lula handover by Ueslei Marcelino (December 31, 202212:50 AM PST) Reuters.
In November 2024, Bolsonaro, along with 36 other people, was indicted for his role in the coup attempt.Brazilian police indict former President Bolsonaro and aides over alleged 2022 coup attempt, Gabriela Sá Pessoa and Mauricio Saverese, AP News 21 November 2024
===2023 Paraguay Coup attempt===
In 2023, after coming out in third at the country's presidential election, the far-right made allegations of electoral fraud. This unsurprisingly led to protests across the country, with the police putting up fences around the electoral court's headquarters and firing rubber bullets at young protesters who were themselves throwing stones. Unlike in other countries, however, the Paraguayan institutions worked remarkably well, and over 100 people were detained in the first days, including Cubas himself.
===2025 (South Korean) Seoul Western District Court riot===
==Gallery of shame==
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol Space Force (50820533308).jpg|Antifa did it, right?
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol DSC09125 (50826361168).jpg|Building the gallows
File:21.ProudBoys.USSC.WDC.6January2021 (50810687422).jpg|Proud Boys assembling near the Capitol
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (50820738468).jpg|Banana Republicans assembled near the Capitol
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol DSC09238 (50826572112).jpg|List of "traitors" with a noose drawing
File:RobertKeithPacker Mugshot.jpg|The face of white "supremacy": Robert Keith Packer. He wore a "Camp Auschwitz" shirt to the Capitol.How the FBI tracked 'Camp Auschwitz' Capitol rioter to Newport News: Robert Keith Packer was seen wearing the same 'Camp Auschwitz' shirt at a store in Hampton Roads. by Dan Kennedy (Published: 7:50 AM EST January 14, 2021; Updated: 9:44 AM EST January 14, 2021) WVEC-TV.
File:MAGA Jesus coup.jpg|White Jesus QAnon MAGA
File:Pipe bomb suspect FBI Jan 2021.png|Person suspected by the FBI of leaving live pipe bombs at DNC and RNC headquarters on the night of January 5
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol DSC09488-2 (50812780957).jpg|Florida man is Antivaxx/Anti-high tech
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol DSC09400-2 (50814067593).jpg|Trump-as- pissing on Biden/Harris
File:Inaugural preparation, January 16th Bus Shelter (50842934328).jpg|Wanted for assault on federal officers
==Symbols of shame==
A variety of far-right symbols were found at the Capitol riot,Identifying far-right symbols that appeared at the U.S. Capitol riot (Updated Jan. 15 at 2:56 p.m.) The Washington Post. including appropriated "American, Confederate, Germanic, Celtic, Greek, and Roman iconography."Here's What the Costumes and Flags on Display at the Pro-Trump Insurrection Mean by Spencer Alexander McDaniel (January 8, 2021) Tales of Times Forgotten.
File:DC Capitol Storming IMG 8026.jpg|Betsy Ross' flag (right) at the Capitol (January 6)
File:TrumpRally10.SenatePark.WDC.6January2021 (50808847673).jpg|The hat of the man on the left has a Three Percenter symbol at the January 6 rally
File:Oath Keepers logo.svg|Oath Keepers logo
File:46.ProudBoys.USSC.WDC.6January2021 (50810872007).jpg|The man in the center has a Three Percenter patch, a Proud Boys chicken-on-a-weathervane patch, and a "taxation is theft" patch
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol 2021 storming of the United States Capitol DSC09265-2 (50821579347).jpg|""WWG1WWGA" (QAnon symbol) on the hat at the bottom at the riot
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol DSC09417-2 (50814530472).jpg|Infowars graffiti on the gallows.
File:DC Capitol Storming IMG 7942.jpg|A co-opted "Don't Tread on Me" flag (Gadsden flag) at the Capitol. It is often appropriated by gun nuts and limited government advocates
File:Seditious rioter carries Christian Flag.jpg|Man (far right) with a Christian flag and a misappropriated Benjamin Franklin quote alluding to "The US is a republic, not a democracy" trope.
File:2021 storming of the United States Capitol DSC09439-2 (50814426406).jpg|Man carrying a WWJD coopted/WWG1WGA (QAnon) sign and a flag with an Ichthys symbol crossed with a US flag design, presumably Christian nationalism
File:DC Capitol Storming IMG 7979.jpg|The flag of South Vietnam (left, 3 red stripes), frequency associated with anti-communism, especially of the extreme hardline variety found amongst some Vietnamese refugees.Why the defunct South Vietnam flag was flown at the Capitol riot: The flag has become a symbol for different things: anti-communism, U.S. imperialism, democracy and recollection of the past. by Claire Wang (Jan. 15, 2021, 8:25 AM PST) NBC News.
File:Before.SenatePark.WDC.6January2021 (50808731733) (cropped).jpg|Thin Blue Line flag (center), held by a Trump supporter, en route to the insurrection 
File:36.East.USCapitol.WDC.6January2021 (50822247337).jpg|A Christian kook with a Jewish shofar horn to beckon the end timesThe education of Adam Kinzinger: He was the face of modern conservatives and beloved by Republican leaders like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. But now he is trying to steer the party toward a new path in politics opposite his once "true friend." by Paul Kane (July 23, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. EDT) The Washington Post.
==See also==
*2018 United States mail bombing attempts
*Authoritarianism of Donald Trump
*Bolshevik Revolution, a more successful overthrow of democracy (Russia in 1917)
*Boogaloo boys
*Militia movement
*Proud Boys
*QAnon
*Q Shaman
*Unite the Right
*Trump-Ukraine scandal
*Tulsa Race Massacre
==External links==
*Fox News host calls Trump supporters at Capitol riots 'freaks' in furious rant
*Trump's speech that 'incited' Capitol violence: Full transcript
*Capitol Hill Siege, a central database of court records related to the events of January 6, 2021
*Seditionist.Info, a central database of "arrested, wanted or known seditionists" involved in the riot
*Incitement Timeline: Year of Trump's Actions Leading to the Attack on the Capitol by Ryan Goodman et al. (January 11, 2021) Just Security
*Investigations regarding violence at the Capitol, United States Department of Justice
*It's Time for Justice, Not Healing. (January 20, 2021) Foreign Policy
*Insurrection Index - naming names and crimes
*Capitol Breach Cases United States Attorney's Office, District of Columbia, Department of Justice – more than 800 people charged as of July 2022 — memory holed under the rapist felon's orders on January 2025,Memory-Holing Jan. 6: What Happens When You Try to Make History Vanish? by Alec MacGillis (Feb. 6, 2025, 6 a.m. EST) ProPublica.Trump pardoned the January 6 convicts. Now his DOJ is wiping evidence of rioters’ crimes from the internet by Donie O'Sullivan & Katelyn Polantz (January 26, 2025) CNN. but mostly available on the Internet Archive Capitol Breach Cases
==Notes==
==References==
Category:2020 election denialists
Category:2020 US presidential election
Category:Alt-right
Category:Anti-vaccination movement
Category:Conspiracy theories
Category:Coups
Category:Crank magnetism
Category:Crime
Category:Denialism
Category:Fascism
Category:Government incompetence
Category:Pseudohistory
Category:QAnon
Category:Racism
Category:Terrorism
Category:Trumpism
Category:United States politics