6 january 2021 (13. 062)

On this day five years ago, a mob of Donald Trump supporters descended on the Capitol in an abortive self-coup to prevent a joint-session of the US congress from tallying and certifying the 2020 presidential election, formalising the victory of then president-elect Joe Biden. Instigated by Trump himself to “stop the steal” with false claims of widespread voter fraud and election irregularities, a “Save America” rally (in parallel to pressing vice president Pence to overturn the results) was held at the Ellipse at noon ahead of proceedings, the park south of the White House, gathering a crowd of thousands of MAGA members, whipped into a frenzy and dispatched to the Capitol. “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Some two thousand individuals forcibly entered the building, occupying the vacant senate chamber while authorities evacuated representatives amid vandalism and violence. Though repeating false claims, Trump told the mob to go home in peace. Certification resumed and by the next morning, Biden was declared the winner. Whilst not acknowledging defeat, under pressure from his cabinet, Trump conceded to an orderly transition of power in a televised statement. A week later, congress voted to impeach Trump for a second time but the senate failed to convict him, allowing the out-going president to run for public office again. Over fifteen hundred rioters were charged with federal crimes for the insurrection but as the culmination of the revisionist narrative that was presented regarding the event, all were granted clemency under the presidential pardon power by Trump just after re-taking office in 2024.  A full-time and archived news reports (a bulwark against memory-holed resources) from NPR at the link up top.