By the numbers: The cost and consequences of the Jan. 6 riot
When a mob stormed the United States Capitol last Jan. 6 – hoping to stop a lost election they claimed was stolen – they were only inside for a few hours. Security forces cleared the building by the early evening. After hours of debate in both houses of Congress, Joe Biden officially became president-elect the next morning.
The short insurrection failed, but it cast a long shadow. Nine people died during the attack or in its aftermath, including four Capitol Police officers who were present at the riot and died by suicide in the following months. Nearly $1.5 million was spent on repairs to the Capitol building.
Why We Wrote This
Amid the political rhetoric over the Jan. 6 riot, it can be easy to lose sight of what actually happened that day. Here are some of the hard facts around the attack and its fallout.
In the past year, more than 725 defendants have been arrested for crimes connected to the Capitol riot, and approximately 165 have pleaded guilty. The longest sentence handed down so far has been 63 months in prison for “assaulting law enforcement with dangerous weapons.”
The congressional investigation into instigation of the Capitol riot is ongoing. Though a bipartisan effort to impeach President Donald Trump ultimately resulted in a Senate acquittal last February, a House select committee of seven Democrats and two Republicans is still calling witnesses on the riot.
When a mob stormed the United States Capitol last Jan. 6 – hoping to stop a lost election they claimed was stolen – they were only inside for a few hours. Security forces cleared the building by the early evening.
After hours of debate in both houses of Congress, Joe Biden officially became president-elect the next morning.
The short insurrection failed, but it cast a long shadow. In the year since, the country’s politics have become more aggrieved. Voting rights have been restricted in some states and politicians have adjusted to death threats – which likely reached an all-time high in Congress in 2021.
The insurrection was short. But as a House select committee investigates that day from Washington, the malaise in American politics speaks to its influence. A year later, Jan. 6 is still with us.
The graphic below charts the quest to unravel details of that day.
George Washington University Program on Extremism, NPR, U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Congress, Pew Research Center, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBS News, The Guardian, Ballotpedia, The Atlantic, Senate Committee on Appropriations Chairman Office
