U.S. Capitol Attack

WBUR stories, analysis and commentaries related to the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump extremists.

Joseph Robert Fisher appears inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (Justice Department via AP)

Former Boston police officer indicted for role in U.S. Capitol insurrection

Joseph Fisher pleaded not guilty to a slew of federal charges, including assaulting a police officer and committing physical violence in the Capitol.

N.H. secretary of state won't block Trump from ballot in key presidential primary state

New Hampshire’s top election official says he will not invoke the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to block former President Donald Trump from the ballot. New Hampshire will hold...

Pittsfield man gets 14-month prison sentence for role in Jan. 6 attack

A Massachusetts man was sentenced Monday to 14 months in prison on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Former Natick official to serve 15 days in jail for her part in the Jan. 6 attack

Suzanne Ianni, ex-Natick town official, pleads guilty to U.S. Capitol riot charge

Before her guilty plea, Suzanne Ianni had argued in February that federal authorities had selectively targeted her for prosecution based on her political beliefs. A judge rejected Ianni's request to...

Local Coverage

Sep 14, 2022

Thousands of Donald Trump supporters storm the United States Capitol building following a "Stop the Steal" rally on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

New York Times' 'Day of Rage' documentary dives deep into the events of Jan. 6

The film culls thousands of hours of videos from protestors and police body cams as well as archived audio to tell the story of the storming of the Capitol on...

10:44Jan 7, 2022

Capitol Hill reporters remember Jan. 6 riot, assess state of politics 1 year after

Axios' Alayna Treene and The Hill's Scott Wong discuss whether Democrats will be able to pass voting rights legislation in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

10:47Jan 7, 2022

Rep. Pete Welch. (Lauren Victoria Burke/AP)

Vermont Democrat reflects on fleeing the Capitol on Jan. 6 riot, one year later

Vermont Democrat Peter Welch was among the lawmakers stuck in the House balcony as the angry mob approached.

05:57Jan 6, 2022

On Jan. 6, 2021, rioters break into the Capitol in Washington. (John Minchillo/AP)

NPR reporter in the thick of Jan. 6 riots reflects on the attack

NPR's Tom Bowman was in the crowds that turned violent at the Capitol last year.

05:12Jan 6, 2022

Members of the Oath Keepers on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

Extremists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 turn their attention from national to local politics

NBC senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny explains what's happened to the extremist groups and their online networks in the past year.

06:56Jan 6, 2022

The voices of those who experienced the Jan. 6 Capitol attack firsthand

The insurrection affected many people — residents, elected officials and their staff, journalists, and the police who were called in to protect them.

06:20Jan 6, 2022

Security fencing has been reinstalled around the Capitol on Sept. 16, 2021, ahead of a planned Sept. 18 rally by far-right supporters of former President Donald Trump who are demanding the release of rioters arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

'Dark day on the calendar of American history': Historian explains how Jan. 6 will be remembered

Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley reflects on how history will view the Capitol attack.

09:40Jan 6, 2022

Tucker Carlson (left), host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Laura Ingraham (center), host of "The Ingraham Angle," and Sean Hannity (right), host of "Hannity" on Fox News. (AP Photo)

How conservative media came to discount and deny threats from Jan. 6 insurrectionists

Fox News hosts pleaded with Trump and his chief of staff to tell Jan. 6 rioters to go home. But within days, the hosts had already started to diminish the...

09:34Jan 5, 2022

The American flag flies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP)

U.S. experiencing 'steady assault' on fragile democracy

According to a new NPR/Ipsos poll, 64% of Americans think that U.S. democracy is in crisis and at risk of failing.

09:35Jan 5, 2022

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., attends a Democratic event ahead of a House floor vote on the Health Care and Prescription Drug Package, at the Capitol in Washington in 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Delaware congresswoman whose Jan. 6th prayers went viral looks back at the trauma of that day

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware called out prayers when she was trapped in the balcony on Jan. 6 as rioters stormed the Capitol.

04:34Jan 4, 2022

A mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Intelligence analyst Malcolm Nance says Jan. 6 rioters' movement will 'lose steam or explode'

Malcolm Nance, an expert on extremism, has been closely following the aspirations of those who falsely believe that the 2020 election was illegitimate.

09:26Jan 4, 2022

Rioters on the West Front at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (John Minchillo/AP)

White, employed and mainstream: What we know about the Jan. 6 rioters one year later

Political scientist Robert Pape has found that unlike other extremists he's studied, most of the Jan. 6 rioters were older, employed, and few are members of hate groups.

09:24Jan 3, 2022

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Rolling Stone report links Congress, White House to Jan. 6 protest organizers

The report is based on the allegations from two of the rally's organizers, who are also communicating with House investigators.

05:45Oct 27, 2021

U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell testifies during a House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 27, 2021. (Jim Bourg/Pool via AP)

Capitol Officer Aquilino Gonell Reflects On The Jan. 6 Insurrection

A Capitol officer shares his experience of January 6th, and how he sees his country and its leaders now.

47:32Aug 5, 2021

My Dad Was A Political Extremist. The 'Big Lie' He Believed Hurt Us All

Each time I watch footage of the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, I do not see the armed and enraged insurrectionists as much as I envision...

Cognoscenti

May 19, 2021