2021 United States Capitol storming

“	What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent — it was disorder. They weren’t protestors — they were rioters, insurrectionists, and domestic terrorists. I wish we could say we couldn’t see it coming, but that isn’t true. We could.	„
	~ President-elect Joe Biden discusses the event.

The 2021 United States Capitol storming was a riot that occurred in Washington D.C. on January 6 2021. During the riot the US Capitol building was stormed by a mob of hundreds of supporters of outgoing US President Donald Trump in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, in which the Democratic candidate Joe Biden won over Trump by 74 votes. The riots were incited by comments made by Trump in which he repeatedly alleged widespread voter fraud during the election, despite little to no substantiated evidence.

The riot was perpetrated by supporters of the Stop the Steal movement, a campaign to overturn the result of the election on the basis of voter fraud. The conspiracy theorist cult QAnon were also present, as well as the Alt-Right group the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters and several people bearing Neo-Nazi and white nationalist emblems such as swastikas and Confederate flags. The attack was reportedly planned on various "Alt-tech" platforms such as TheDonald.win, Parler and Telegram. The group Stop the Steal had also posted about their intention to occupy the Capitol and "escalate" if opposed by law enforcement.

Events

On January 5, thousands of Trump supporters gathered in Freedom Plaza in anticipation of protests, although several were arrested for illegally carrying weapons. The following day a "Save America" rally was held, during which Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Alex Jones, and Rudy Giuliani all gave speeches attacking Congress and the Electoral College. During the rally, hundreds of participants, many of whom were adherents to QAnon and the Proud Boys, left and advanced on the Capitol building, where the final vote on whether to certify Joe Biden's victory was taking place. Barriers were set up to keep the crowds away.

At 2:15 pm, the barriers were breached and Capitol security advised members of Congress to take cover. Several nearby buildings were evacuated as the Capitol building was overrun by rioters. Police and Capitol security were quickly overwhelmed, with several rioters spaying chemical agents at them. Rioters charged through the building, smashing windows, and wrecking Democratic senators offices. Outside a gallows was erected, police cars were smashed and the mob began chanting the slogan "Pelosi is Satan!" in reference to Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Many protestors also chanted "Hang Mike Pence!", referring to Vice President Mike Pence who had failed to back Trump's statements about the election. Some rioters used Boogaloo slogans in addition to this.

At 2:20 pm the Senate chamber was locked down; at 2:30, it was evacuated and was subsequently taken over by rioters. At this point, police deployed tear gas to suppress the rioters. 6 hours later, armed police were then able to re-secure the Capitol. The military and the National Guard subsequently established a cordon round the building. After that, vote results from Congress were resumed late evening and Biden's victory was confirmed by Congress the next day at 3:41 am.

Five people were killed during the riots; rioter Ashli Babbitt, shot by police, three protestors who were fatally injured in the crush and police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who was supposedly bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher by rioters (although it is now believed that he fell ill after being pepper-sprayed). A further 61 people were injured and at least 80 rioters were arrested on various charges, including seditious conspiracy and rioting. A domestic terrorism investigation was launched after explosives were found on the Capitol grounds after the fact, leading to the arrest of Ian Benjamin Rogers.

As a result of the rampage, Donald Trump was permanently banned from using all of his social media accounts, including his beloved Twitter, and on January 13, 2021, he was impeached for incitement of insurrection, thus becoming the first American President to be impeached twice (he had previously been impeached in 2019 for allegedly pressuring the Ukrainian government to rig the 2020 election by investigating Joe Biden). He was acquitted by the Senate for the second time on February 13, 2021 on a vote of 57-43. Seven Republican senators voted to convict, while some that voted not guilty chastised Trump.

A year later, in 2022 on the 6th of January, video clips of the Capitol storming were repeated throughout various news channels. As of February 17, 2022, over 770 participants from every state have been arrested for participating in the Capitol riot.

2021 United States Capitol storming

Events

Individual participants