On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol was attacked by rioters supporting United States President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Pro-Trump rioters stormed the United States Capitol after assembling on the Ellipse of the Capitol complex for a rally headlined as the "Save America March".
At the rally, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, and several Republican members of Congress addressed the crowd and repeated Donald Trump's false claims that electoral fraud affected the 2020 election outcome. In his hour-long speech, President Trump suggested marching towards the Capitol, assuring his audience he would be with them, to demand that Congress "only count the electors who have been lawfully slated", and "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard". Towards his conclusion, he said "we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore."
The demonstrations turned violent with attendees breaching multiple police perimeters; assaulting Capitol police officers; and occupying, vandalizing, and ransacking parts of the building for several hours.
Four people died that day: rioter Ashli Babbitt was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer; two died of heart conditions; another died of an amphetamine intoxication. The next day, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died after suffering two strokes, having been physically attacked and pepper sprayed during the riot.
All times are specified or approximated in Eastern Time, or UTC-5:00.
Preceding events
July–October 2020 July 30: Trump casts skepticism on mail-in ballots at a press briefing. "I don't want to see [a term like 'projected winner']...a week after November 3rd or a month or, frankly, with litigation and everything else that can happen, years. Years. Or you never even know who won the election," he says. He adds: "I want an election and a result much, much more than you." September 23: Asked at a press briefing if he'll commit to a peaceful transfer of power, Trump responds: "The ballots are a disaster…Get rid of the ballots and you'll have a very — we'll have a very peaceful — there won't be a transfer, frankly. There'll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control." September 29: During a presidential debate, Trump orders members of the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by." This direction by the President is well-received by the Proud Boys, and white nationalist men begin to join in record numbers. Their membership will triple by January 6. October 31: Steve Bannon explains to associates that Trump has a "strategy": "What Trump's gonna do is just declare victory. Right? He's gonna declare victory. But that doesn't mean he's a winner. He's just gonna 'say' he's a winner."
November 2020 November 3: Election Day. On Election Night, 15–20 people in the White House move to the Green Room where Trump will wait for results. One of these people tells Trump loudly that the election was stolen. Others say: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, just let's go out and say there's still time, we need to do this count, we'll see you in the morning", as recalled by a guest in the residential part of the White House who spoke to investigators. November 4: Trump addresses supporters at the White House and references the ongoing count of ballots, alleging an attempt to "disenfranchise" people who voted for him. He declares: "We won't stand for it ... We'll be going to the US Supreme Court; we want all voting to stop. We don't want them to find any ballots at 4 in the morning, and add them to the list ... We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election." A Trump campaign employee learns that the ongoing vote count at TCF Center in Detroit suggests that Biden has won that region. The campaign employee texts an attorney and suggests rioting at the center; around that time, Trump supporters approach the center, challenging the vote count, according to prosecutors in December 2023. November 5: Roger Stone dictates a message saying that "any legislative body" that has "overwhelming evidence of fraud" can choose their own electors to cast Electoral College votes. Trump falsely claims that illegitimate ballots were dumped at a vote counting center in Detroit. November 7: The Associated Press, Fox News, and the other major networks call Pennsylvania for Biden, thus putting him above the required 270 electoral votes to be named President-elect. Senior staffers on the Trump campaign tell Trump that unless the election results are flipped in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin, an event they assign only a 5–10% chance, he has lost. Kenneth Chesebro tweeted (through an anonymous Twitter account) that "the big picture" was that "Trump doesn't have to get courts to declare him the winner of the vote. He just needs to convince Republican legislatures that the election was systematically rigged, but it's impossible to run it again, so they should appoint electors instead." November 9: Trump fires Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and replaces him with Christopher C. Miller as acting Secretary. Oath Keepers member Jessica Watkins sends text messages inviting people to the Oath Keepers' basic training in Ohio. One message says, "I need you fighting fit by innaugeration." November 10: Reacting to the firings of Esper and other top officials, CIA Director Gina Haspel privately tells Chair of the Joint Chiefs Milley that "we are on the way to a right-wing coup". November 13: Trump's campaign manager tells him that a claim that many non-citizens have voted in Arizona is a false rumor. Trump campaign attorneys concede in court that he did not win Arizona. This means he has lost the election for the presidency. Sen. Lindsey Graham calls Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger regarding absentee-ballot procedures. Raffensperger later said he interpreted Graham's questions as suggesting legally cast absentee ballots might be excluded. November 14: Trump announces that he is putting Rudy Giuliani in charge of challenging the election results. Over 10,000 people gather in Freedom Plaza for the Million MAGA March in support of Trump's election fraud claims. Speakers include Alex Jones and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Trump circles Freedom Plaza in his motorcade. Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and Three Percenters are in attendance. Proud Boys skirmish with counter-protesters throughout the day. At least 20 people are arrested and two D.C. police officers are injured. That evening, Trump praises his supporters who fought with counter-protesters. Near midnight, a massive "TRUMP LAW AND ORDER" banner is laid atop Black Lives Matter Plaza, then moved close to the White House. November 16: Sidney Powell wrote that allegations against a voting machine company must be added to lawsuits in Georgia and Pennsylvania, alleging fraud that "REQUIRES THE ENTIRE ELECTION TO BE SET ASIDE". In an internal communication with a Fox News producer, Tucker Carlson said he didn't believe the election fraud claims as presented by Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani. "Sidney Powell is lying," Carlson said, calling her "dangerous as hell" and "a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy." Three days later, he wrote in an article that "we took Sidney Powell seriously... We've always respected her work and we simply wanted to see the details. ... So we invited Sidney Powell on the show. ... But she never sent us any evidence... When we checked with others around the Trump campaign ... they also told us Powell had never given them any evidence... We are certainly hopeful that she will [provide it]." He added that "this country will not be united" until everyone agreed on whether fraud had occurred. November 17: At a meeting of the Wayne County, Michigan, election board, canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann initially refuse to certify Biden's victory, but faced with public opposition to their choice, they back down. At 9:53 p.m. and 10:04 p.m., with Trump on the line, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel calls Palmer's phone. Hartmann is also on the call. Trump tells the canvassers they'll look "terrible" if they certify the election results. McDaniel promises them: "we will get you attorneys." (Palmer publicly acknowledges the call at the time, but the recording is not published until three years later.) November 18: Palmer and Hartmann try to take back their support for certification. Their request is denied. Kenneth Chesebro sends his first memo on strategy. Focused on challenging the Wisconsin vote, Chesebro argued that "the Presidential election timetable affords ample time for judicial proceedings." He asserted that January 6 was the only deadline that mattered for settling a dispute over a state's legal slate of electoral votes. Citing the 1960 United States presidential election in Hawaii as an example of a competing slate of electors, Chesebro suggested that the Trump campaign should submit their own electoral certificates in Wisconsin on December 14 in preparation for the scenario that a court decision, or a "state legislative determination", is made in their favor. November 21: Women for America First files a permit application for a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on December 12. The group's original application for a rally in Freedom Plaza was denied because of inauguration preparations. November 22: Trump and Giuliani call the Arizona House Speaker and make false claims of election fraud. November 23: White House Counsel Pat Cipollone tells U.S. attorney general Bill Barr that Trump wants to speak to him. It is the first time Barr has met face-to-face with Trump since the election. The U.S. Attorneys' Offices had searched for fraud for two weeks and found none. In the meeting, Trump maintains falsehoods about the election. Barr tells Trump that his claims of sweeping fraud are "just not meritorious" and "not panning out." Barr reminds Trump that DOJ "is not an extension of your legal team." After the meeting, Mark Meadows tells Barr that he believes Trump "knows that there's a limit to how far he can take this." However, over the next week, Barr comes to believe that Trump is "maneuvering" in his meetings with state legislators. (Barr will have two more face-to-face meetings with Trump.) November 25: Trump tweeted in favor of suing the governor of Georgia for election fraud, despite previously admitting in private that Powell sounded "crazy". Sidney Powell then filed the lawsuit.
December 2020 December 1: Giuliani meets with the Arizona House Speaker. Asked for evidence of election fraud, Giuliani says roughly: "We don't have the evidence, but we have lots of theories." U.S. attorney general Bill Barr says, in an interview published on this day by the Associated Press, that there is no evidence of election fraud on a scale that would change the election outcome. When Trump hears that Barr has publicly contradicted him, he is so angry that he throws his lunch at the wall, according to a White House aide's testimony to the January 6 house committee on June 28, 2022. Trump and Barr meet in person for the second time since the election. Trump "was as mad as I've ever seen him," Barr later recalls. Barr offers to resign, and Trump accepts, but White House lawyers Pat Cipollone and Eric Herschmann follow Barr into the parking lot to persuade him otherwise. Barr ends up staying on for two more weeks. December 2: Facebook disbands its Civic Integrity team, including the Group Task Force, after employees' vocal internal complaints about lack of action leaked and caused embarrassment. This slows enforcement against Facebook Groups and users spreading election misinformation and calling for political violence. The company also drops other emergency measures put in place for the election season. On Facebook, Trump posts his speech about election fraud.