WASHINGTON – On January 6, 2021, a bunch of violent rioters, stoked by Donald Trump’s refusal to simply accept his current defeat, stormed the U.S. Capitol in an try to overturn the 2020 presidential election, delaying the ceremonial Electoral School vote depend.
Now, Congress is about to convene Monday to hold out the identical routine constitutional course of and certify Trump’s 2024 win.
From the rioters who breached the Capitol constructing to the lawmakers trapped inside, from Trump-world turncoats, to the now president-elect himself, many who joined or have been caught up within the riot are nonetheless dwelling with fallout from the January 6 of 4 years in the past.
187 minutes:What Trump did whereas out of view on Jan. 6 as aides urged him to behave
Some have written books about their experiences. Others upended their political opinions. 4 folks died that day and greater than 140 police have been injured.
“Every part that I’ve finished since January 6 is all due to January 6,” Harry Dunn, a former police officer who defended lawmakers in opposition to the assault, informed USA TODAY.
Extra:How a raging mob took over the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
Capitol police officer turns public determine
Dunn served as a Capitol police officer for over a decade, earlier than resigning in December 2023. He then ran for Congress from Maryland, dropping within the Democratic main.
He’s one among many officers who’ve shared their trauma publicly, together with at congressional hearings, and cautioned in opposition to reelecting Trump.
“I imagine we did all that we may do. I do know I did. I exploit a soccer analogy: I left all of it on the sphere,” Dunn mentioned.
“I am not one to say mine is larger than the need of the American folks, however I type of settle for that that is the nation that we dwell in, one which accepts that kind of conduct,” Dunn mentioned, reflecting on Trump’s 2024 victory.
Dunn, who wrote a memoir, “Standing My Floor,” mentioned that day 4 years in the past modified every part for him.
“I truthfully want that I nonetheless was a police officer. If January 6 did not occur, I might nonetheless be a cop. I might nonetheless be on the U.S. Capitol defending and serving my nation,” he mentioned.
Although he misplaced within the main to Consultant-elect Sarah Elfreth, Dunn mentioned he isn’t finished utilizing his voice. “I felt like I simply left my mark, I did what I can do as a police officer, and now it is off to the following calling or problem, which is preserving democracy.”
Rioters jailed, together with ‘QAnon Shaman’
Greater than a thousand defendants have been charged and sentenced in relation to the Capitol riot
Jacob Chansley, dubbed the “QAnon Shaman” and sometimes portrayed because the face of the January 6 assault together with his horned headdress and American flag face paint, obtained one of many longest sentences of any Capitol rioter.
After pleading responsible to a felony obstruction charge in September 2021, Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in jail. He was launched just a few months early in March 2023.
“The toughest a part of all of that is, I do know I’m accountable,” Chalnsley, who additionally goes by the title Jacob Angeli, informed the court docket.
As of final Could, Chansley was dwelling together with his mom whereas beneath supervised launch, in accordance with a motion filed by his lawyer at the moment. In August, a federal decide ordered prosecutors to return Chansley’s now-iconic headdress and and spear.
Regardless of his 2021 responsible plea, in a Dec. 30 podcast interview with the Rand Paul Review, Chansley prompt the rioters have been manipulated. “What you see is the fingerprints of the deep state throughout this factor,” he mentioned.
William Shipley, an legal professional for Chansley, didn’t return requests for remark.
Not an revolt, congressman says
Rep. Andrew Clyde raised hackles lower than 5 months after the riot when he informed a Home listening to that “it was not an revolt, and we won’t name it that and be truthful.”
Whereas Clyde readily agreed that “rioters” and a “disorderly mob” had breached the Capitol − he helped barricade the doorways to the Home chamber − the Georgia Republican mentioned others who entered the constructing have been well-behaved and even respectful.
“In case you did not know the TV footage was a video from January the sixth you’d really suppose it was a normal tourist visit,” he mentioned.
That introduced a rebuke from then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose workplace was invaded that day by a person carrying a stun gun: “It was past denial,” she mentioned. “It fell into the vary of sick.”
Clyde has expressed concern for the civil rights of January 6 defendants held in a Washington, DC, jail whereas awaiting trial or plea agreements on misdemeanor costs, and final June he celebrated a Supreme Court docket ruling that might undo a felony obstruction cost utilized to lots of of riot defendants.
The ruling was a “tremendous victory,” he wrote in a social media put up.
A spokeswoman for Clyde, who trounced his Democratic challenger in November, did not instantly return a request for remark.
Convicted rioter turns Dem spokesperson
Pamela Hemphill, 71, pled responsible and served time for her half within the Capitol assault. Since then, she has publicly denounced Trump, forged a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and referred to as January 6, 2021, “the worst day in our historical past.”
Hemphill had voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, drawn to his aggressive rhetoric on immigration and inspired by her largely Republican-supporting household. The Idaho native attended Trump’s “Cease the Steal” rally in Washington 4 years in the past and entered the Capitol alongside different MAGA supporters.
She was given two months in jail, 36 months of probation and a $500 tremendous for one misdemeanor depend of parading, demonstrating or picketing within the Capitol constructing.
“It’s like a scar that I’ve to hold for the remainder of my life,” Hemphill mentioned in August.
Following Trump’s win in 2024, Hemphill mentioned she was “extraordinarily depressed” however is dedicated to opposing him as a speaker for the Democratic social gathering.
“My objective is to go to each state and share my story and the way I bought out of the MAGA cult, and what we are able to do to maneuver ahead and resist the MAGA cult,” Hemphill informed USA TODAY.
Former Trump staffers flip critics
January 6, 2021, roiled Trump world too, with some members of the Trump White Home leaping ship within the aftermath.
Amongst these MAGA turncoats have been former White Home communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin and former aide Cassidy Hutchinson.
Hutchinson was a star witness for the Home choose committee investigating January 6, 2021, after her bombshell testimony in June 2022 alleging that Trump knew about the specter of violence that day and tried to hitch the mob of supporters on the Capitol.
Creator of her personal January 6 memoir, “Sufficient,” Hutchinson has continued to talk out in opposition to Trump in interviews and public appearances.
She and fellow conservative Farah Griffin mentioned they’d be casting their vote for Harris in 2024.
Farah Griffin has made a platform for herself as a co-host of the speak present “The View” and a political commentator for CNN.
Donald Trump: Comeback king
Fortunes have actually reversed for former president turned President-elect Trump.
4 years in the past on January 6, Trump was a lame duck with weeks left of his presidency, clinging to baseless claims of voter fraud.
Now, Trump is poised to return to the Oval Workplace with a decisive win beneath his belt and a Republican managed Congress at his aspect. Federal costs that he illegally tried to overturn his 2020 loss have been dismissed. An election conspiracy case in Georgia is on the rocks.
“We made historical past for a purpose tonight and the reason being going to be simply that, we overcame obstacles that no person thought attainable,” Trump mentioned in his November victory speech. “And it’s now clear that we have achieved essentially the most unimaginable political factor.”
“Look what occurred. Is that this loopy?”
Contributing: Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
( headline and story edited by our workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
