ELIJAH MCCRAY
On January 6th,2021, the United States Capitol was overrun by a crowd of former president Trump supporters.
Many of former President Trump supporters headed to Capitol hill to try to overturn the decision of the 2020 presidential election as Congress finished counting electoral votes. This protest was allegedly encouraged by Trump. He claimed that he was cheated out of votes during the election at other rallies.
During the time of the attack of the Capitol, staff and Congress were evacuated . Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and vandalized, taunted and rioted. Many people were injured, including police officers.
There was a viral photo of a man from Arkansas named Richard Barnett, who sat inside of the office of Democrat politician speaker Nancy Pelosi. According to BBC news, he told New York Times that he took an envelope from Pelosi’s office and left her a note. He is facing charges along with others for rioting at the Capitol.
Another man wearing Viking gear and face paint has recently plead guilty to his charges for the Capitol attack. Jacob Anthony Chansley is a conspiracy theorist from Arizona. He was seen posing in pictures with the American flag in his hand and shirtless. He listened to the order from Trump that all patriots should come to the capitol and protest. He faces up to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The FBI has captured a handful of rioters on footage during the riot. They are still looking for individuals that assaulted law enforcement and vandalized property inside of the Capitol. After the riots, former president Trump was banned from social media outlets due to him inciting the riot. In May, a Capitol security bill was passed by the House in response to the riot.