Insurrection: One Year Later

By Teddy Grant Published: January 6, 2022

Insurrection: One Year Later

In Summary

BNC is taking a look back at Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and what lies ahead.

It’s been a year since hundreds of protesters, at the urging of then-President Donald Trump, stormed the U.S. Capitol to protest the 2020 presidential election.

Shortly after then-presidential candidate Joe Biden won the election, Trump falsely claimed that the election was stolen from him due to voter fraud. That claim was dubbed the “Big Lie.”

Jan. 6, 2021, was set to be a normal but historic day, as a joint session of Congress gathered at the Capitol to certify Biden’s electoral results. But after months of Trump disputing the election results, his supporters grew furious that lawmakers were going to make official what millions of others already knew: Biden won the election; Trump lost.

At a D.C. rally at noon that day, Trump told his supporters, “We will never give up. We will never concede” and urged Vice President Mike Pence to deny Biden’s win, according to NPR.

“Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country,” Trump said. “And if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you.”

Shortly after his speech, where he said “we’re going to the Capitol,” the former president returned to the White House, while his supporters marched toward the Capitol where the certification process was underway.

Thousands of protesters clashed with U.S. Capitol Police, ultimately overrunning them, and stormed the building where they feverishly searched for members of Congress to not only stop the certification but to harm them.

After hours of calamity at the Capitol and delayed intervention by Trump, it was over. Congress and Pence certified the results and Biden would be the 46^th president of the United States.

However, the scars from that day are still felt today.

Five people died stemming from the events of the day, including Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by Capitol Police; three people who died from “medical emergencies,” according to authorities; and Brian Sicknick, a Capitol Police officer who was beaten by the violent mob and died a day later.

Rep. Clyburn: The Insurrection Was An ‘Ignoble and Disgraceful Day’

Trump became the first president in this country’s history to be impeached twice. A week after the attack on the Capitol, the House of Representatives charged him with “incitement of insurrection.”

The Senate acquitted him, as they did during his first impeachment trial, ultimately leaving the one-term president unscathed in his role in inciting a riot and opening the door for a second run at the White House.

More than 700 people have been charged with participating in the domestic terror attack on the Capitol, according to CBS News.

So far, most have been charged with entering and staying in a restricted space, which has a maximum sentence of 1 year in prison and a $100,000 fine, as reported by CBS. Others have been charged with illegal pocketing and disorderly conduct.

Some people were charged with stealing government property, with one person, Riley June Williams, suspected of stealing a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

Over 40 people were charged with coordinating with others to commit a larger crime and 94 defendants have ties to extremist groups, including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, as reported by CBS News.

While the Department of Justice has prosecuted hundreds and is in the process of prosecuting hundreds more, critics have said it isn’t being aggressive in its approach to prosecuting insurrectionists and politicians, such as Trump, who may have aided in the attack.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a speech on Wednesday, pushed back against those claims, saying, “The actions we have taken thus far will not be our last.”

“The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law—whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy,” Garland said, according to CNN.

Heroes also emerged from that day. A Black Capitol Police officer, Eugene Goodman, was seen on video diverting a mob of mostly white insurrectionists from the Senate entrance, where lawmakers sheltered.

Another video showed Goodman aiding Utah Senator Mitt Romney to safety, alerting him of the violent mob approaching.

“I don’t think my family or my wife understood that I was as close as I might have been to real danger,” Romney told reporters at the time, according to The New York Times. “They were surprised and very, very appreciative of Officer Goodman, in his being there and directing me back to safety.”

Freshman Congressman Recalls ‘Disrespect’ From Jan. 6 Riots

In a unanimous vote, the Senate awarded Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal, its highest civilian honor.

President Biden is the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans from buying into false claims that the election was stolen from Trump.

According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll, two-thirds of Republicans believe that “voter fraud helped Joe Biden win the 2020 election.” Around 64% of Americans believe the country’s democracy is “in crisis and at risk of failing.”

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation on Thursday, delivering a blistering critique about the events of that day, squarely on Trump’s shoulders.

The president said Trump created a web of lies and “values power over principle.”

Harris said the insurrections weren’t only attacking the institution, but the ideals of the U.S.

“What’s at stake then and now is the right to have our future decided the way our Constitution describes it. By we the people. All the people,” Harris said.

While it remains to be seen what the full fallout of Jan. 6, 2021, will be, efforts have been made to get answers.

The House formed a bipartisan committee to investigate the attack, with the majority of the GOP being in opposition.

Federal authorities and law enforcement officials in D.C. have increased security efforts at the U.S. Capitol, ahead of the one-year anniversary

According to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, the department is running at a “heightened level of vigilance, because we are at a heightened level of threat,” CNN reported.

This story will be updated throughout the day to add additional context.