On January 6, 2021, a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. in an attempt to overturn the incumbent’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election by violently disrupting a joint session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes that would formalize Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over the Republican loser.
The battle was inspired by the verifiably false assertion that Trump was unfairly denied a second term, despite the truth that Joe Biden won 306 votes in the Electoral College, while the incumbent received 232.
In the popular vote, Biden defeated Trump by more than seven million votes. Many in the GOP persist in telling lies and honest Republicans whose sense of patriotism won’t allow them to deny the truth are being driven out of power, while Trump-loving cheaters are pursuing control over public authorities responsible for counting the votes.
Trump called his supporters to Washington on January 6, one year ago, and he incited the mob to violence, which claimed the lives of five people and made criminals out of almost one thousand, although the worst villains have yet to answer for their evil treason and openly plot to try again to destroy our democratic republic.
Five people died either shortly before, during, or following the event: United States Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, 42; Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran who was shot by Capitol Police; Benjamin Phillips, 50; Kevin Greeson, 55; and Rosanne Boyland, 34.
Sicknick was pepper-sprayed during the riot and suffered two thromboembolic strokes the following day. Two men are accused of assaulting Sicknick by spraying a powerful chemical irritant at him during the siege, but prosecutors have not tied that exposure to Sicknick’s death although the medical examiner noted that “all that transpired played a role in his condition.”
During the riot, 138 police officers were injured. Four police officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months. In the 12 months since Jan. 6, more than 700 suspects have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol.
While more than over 220 individuals have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement and the investigation remains ongoing, many of the terrorists involved in the attempted coup d’etat face light penalties for offenses similar to loitering and littering.
Nobody has been accused of seditious conspiracy, felony murder or other serious charges that
Before sending Florida terrorist Robert Palmer to prison for five years and three months, the longest prison term imposed thus far in a Capitol riot case, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan said, “It has to be made clear that trying to violently overthrow the government, trying to stop the peaceful transition of power, meets absolutely certain punishment. Not staying at home. Not watching Netflix.”
In another case, Chutkan determined that Congress had a strong public interest in obtaining White House records related to the violent riot and rejected what she said was Trump’s claim that executive privilege “exists in perpetuity,” adding: “Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.”
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to block the release of his White House records to the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after a federal appeals court unanimously upheld the decision made in November by Chutkan, who rejected Trump’s request to block the National Archives from turning over evidence to the congressional panel.
Justice Department officials have said they are looking at anyone who may have committed a crime in connection with the events of Jan. 6, but there has been no sign of a concerted federal investigation into Trump or numerous allies whose fiery rhetoric and advocacy contributed to the violence.
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