Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol

The day after the storming of the Capitol, the FBI and D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department asked the public for help identifying the rioters.[21][22] Within days, members of the public sent the FBI more than 70,000 photo and video tips.[23] One person was harassed after being incorrectly identified as a participant in the riots by members of the public. His personal information had been doxed, and he reported receiving harassing phone calls and posts on social media.[24]

In a press conference on January 12, Steven D'Antuono from the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the agency's expectation to arrest hundreds more in the coming months, as it sorts through the vast amount of evidence submitted by the public. The charge brought against most rioters would likely include accusations of sedition and conspiracy.[25]

On January 8, the Justice Department announced charges against 13 people in connection with the Capitol riot in federal district court; many more have been charged in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.[26][27] The FBI and the Department of Justice were working to track down over 150 people for prosecution by January 11, with the number expected to rise. Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen instructed federal prosecutors to send all cases back to DC for prosecution, in a move that prosecutors across the county found "confounding".[23]

As of January 13, over 50 public sector employees and elected officials and over a dozen Capitol police officers were facing internal investigations to determine their possible complicity in the riot.[28]

Interim United States Attorney Michael R. Sherwin holds a press conference on criminal charges related to the events at the Capitol

As of February 1, 228 people from 39 states and DC have been charged with federal and/or DC offences.[29]

A 70-year-old resident of Falkville, Alabama,[30] who allegedly parked a pickup truck two blocks from the Capitol containing eleven homemade incendiary devices (described as "Mason jars filled with homemade napalm" intended to "stick to the target and continue to burn" in court filings),[31] a M4 assault rifle, a shotgun, two pistols, a crossbow, a stun gun, and camo smoke canisters, was arrested and charged under a 17-count indictment.[32][33][34] Court documents said that upon being stopped by police, the man "asked officers whether they had located the bombs", and prosecutors also "suggest[ed] an intent to provide [weapons] to others".[32] Authorities also found handwritten notes listing "purported contact information" for Ted Cruz (R), Fox News host Sean Hannity, and radio host Mark Levin, as well as a list of "bad guys" including Seventh Circuit judge David Hamilton and Rep. André Carson (D–IN), who was referred to as "one of two Muslims in the House".[34]

The leader of a Proud Boys group in Hawaii was taken into custody.[35]

A man from Colorado was arrested,[30] with prosecutors alleging that he brought a compact Tavor X95 assault rifle, two handguns, a "vial of injectable testosterone", and about 320 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition. He allegedly texted acquaintances that he was "gonna run that cunt Pelosi over while she chews on her gums" or "[put] a bullet in her noggin on [l]ive TV", that he "may wander over to [D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser]'s office and put a 5.56 in her skull",[36] and that he "predict[s] that within 12 days, many in our country will die", as well as later texting a photo of himself in blackface.[31][33] He had previously protested outside of Georgia governor Brian Kemp's home.[31]

A 60-year-old man from Gravette, Arkansas,[30] who was photographed with his feet on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk during the storming of the Capitol, was arrested on federal charges of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry, and theft of public property.[37][38][39][40] He was extradited to DC to face trial and jailed by federal judge Beryl Howell on January 28.[26][41][42][43]

A 36-year-old man from Parrish, Florida,[30] who was photographed carrying a lectern from Nancy Pelosi's office, was arrested[44][45][46] and charged with entering a restricted building, stealing government property, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. The Miami Herald reported he had posted on social media comments that "disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement" and police "who defend First Amendment protected rights".[47]

A 34-year-old man from Boise, Idaho, photographed hanging from the Senate balcony during the rampage, was listed as a person of interest by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia;[48][49][50] he deleted his social media accounts following the riots, and issued an apology.[48]

Jake Angeli,[30] also known as the "QAnon Shaman" and pictured in many widely shared photos shirtless, wearing facepaint and a horned fur headdress, and carrying a spear, was arrested and charged with one count of entering a restricted building and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct.[26] Angeli's lawyer claimed that Angeli believed himself to have acted "at the invitation of our president," since Trump had stated at the rally that he would accompany protesters to the Capitol (though he ultimately did not), and that Trump therefore ought to pardon Angeli directly.[51] In a January 14 court filing, federal prosecutors sought to keep Angeli in detention, alleging that his participation in the riot was part of a failed plot "to capture and assassinate elected officials."[52]

A man seen in video aggressively leading a mob up the stairs to the second floor of the Capitol was arrested by the FBI.[26]

Two men seen carrying plastic handcuffs as they moved through the Capitol were arrested. The first man, a 53-year-old retired Air Force lieutenant colonel from Grapevine, Texas,[30] was wearing a tactical vest and a green combat helmet, and had previously identified himself to The New Yorker and claimed he "found the zip-tie handcuffs on the floor". He was charged with one count of entering a restricted building and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct. The second man, aged 30,[30] was pictured in a black cap and holding a fistful of zip ties as he jumped over railing in the Senate gallery. He attended the riot with his mother. He told the Sunday Times the Capitol storming "was a kind of flexing of muscles" and that "the point of getting inside the building is to show them that we can, and we will." He was arrested in Tennessee and charged with the same crimes.[53]

A man who was arrested on January 6 and charged with "entering the United States Capitol Grounds against the will of the United States Capitol Police" committed suicide at his home in Alpharetta, Georgia.[54]

The 34-year-old son of a Kings County Supreme Court judge was arrested in Brooklyn; he had been seen carrying a Capitol Police riot shield and also told the New York Post "the election was stolen".[55]

A retired Navy SEAL and the director of firearms training business ATG Worldwide, who posted a Facebook video on January 6 in which he described "breaching the Capitol", was questioned by the FBI. On January 12, the ATG Facebook page shared a video message from the man in which he described having participated in a "caravan" to the Capitol on January 6 because he was "angry at the direction of our country."[56] He has expressed regret for his participation and said he is cooperating with the FBI.[57]

A 56-year-old man was arrested in Newport News, Virginia, and charged with unlawful entry and disrupting government business.[36][58] He had been photographed in a sweatshirt with the anti-Semitic words "Camp Auschwitz", a "death's head" insignia, and the slogan "work sets you free", a phrase notoriously placed at the entrances of a number of Nazi concentration camps.[59] He has been described as a long-time extremist who wore the sweatshirt regularly.[60] Footage of him caused worldwide outrage,[61][62] as the shirt he was wearing was the most overt sign of antisemitism seen inside the Capitol during the riot.[63][64] The International Auschwitz Committee, and survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp around the world, welcomed the arrest; Christoph Heubner, the committee's executive director, said that in recent days the man had become the symbol of a political subculture "that glorifies Auschwitz ever more openly and aggressively and propagates the repetition of Auschwitz."[63][65]

Two police officers belonging to Virginia's Rocky Mount Police Department allegedly attended the riot off-duty and posted a picture of themselves inside the Capitol on social media, writing they were "willing to actually put skin in the game and stand up for their rights".[36] They were charged with disorderly conduct and entering a restricted space.

A man from Laurel, Delaware who was photographed carrying the Confederate battle flag through the Ohio Clock corridor and past a portrait of abolitionist Charles Sumner was arrested along with his son. The FBI had previously included him in a public list of wanted people.[26][66]

John Earle Sullivan, the founder of anti-police brutality and pro-racial justice group Insurgence USA, was arrested briefly before being released. He was charged over the content in his videos where he appears to encourage the rioters and excitedly celebrating them advancing through the Capitol. He had previously claimed that he was there to document the actions of the protestors, stating that he was only pretending to be a participant to blend in. Right-wingers like Rudy Giuliani and Mo Brooks seized upon his arrest to amplify claims about the involvement of the left in the riot. Despite being called a Black Lives Matter activist and left-wing activist, Black Lives Matter-Utah has denied he is a member, and some left-wing activists have treated him with suspicion in the past due to him stirring trouble and his brother being a pro-Trump activist.[67][68] The arrest document stated he had made a statement outside the Capitol about "burning this shit down" and "ripping Trump out of office" during a speech he made in August 2020 while pointing to the White House.[69][70]

Klete Keller, a former Olympic gold medalist swimmer, turned himself in to officials. He was charged with obstructing law enforcement engaged in official duties incident to civil disorder, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He was identified by his height, 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), and by wearing an official US Olympic team jacket without obscuring his face.[71][72]

Far-right activist Tim "Baked Alaska" Gionet was arrested by the FBI in Houston, Texas. He is facing charges of violent and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds and knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority.[73][74]

A 43-year-old man from Rochester, New York was charged with illegally entering a restricted building, obstruction of an official proceeding and destruction of government property. A widely circulated video appears to show him using a riot shield to break one of the windows in the Capitol. After the event, he allegedly stated he "would have killed anyone they got their hands on, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Michael Pence".[75] He had previously been seen at Proud Boys protests and is an ex-marine.[76]

A 42-year-old man from Coxs Creek, Kentucky, accused of breaking the window that Ashli Babbit tried climbing through before being shot, was arrested in Louisville charged with assaulting a federal officer, destroying government property worth over $1000, unlawfully entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct.[77] Per the affidavit, he is seen in a video wearing a gray sock cap and a jacket with a red hood, striking at the window with a wooden flagpole.[78] A relative identified him to the FBI, stating that he had gone to a Trump rally in Washington, D.C. in the past too and learnt of his plans for travel through Facebook. The affidavit also states the man admitted to a friend on January 7 that he had broken a window.[79]

Jon Schaffer, co-founder and guitarist of the heavy metal band Iced Earth, surrendered to the FBI in Indianapolis, Indiana. Schaffer is facing six charges related to the Capitol storming and is accused being engaged in acts of physical violence in the building and of being part of a group of people that sprayed bear repellent on Capitol Police officers.[80][81] In the days following January 6, Schaffer was identified by music websites as possibly having been inside the building.[82] The other members of Iced Earth issued a statement on January 10 denouncing the storming of the Capitol.[83] Following Schaffer's arrest, Century Media Records removed both Iced Earth and Schaffer's side-project band Demons & Wizards from the roster section of their website and removed both groups' merchandise from their online store, but no official announcement was made that the bands had been dropped from the record label.[84]

A 22-year-old woman from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania[85][86] was accused of stealing a laptop from Nancy Pelosi's office, with the intent of selling its contents to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia, the country's main spy agency. According to her former partner, the deal did not happen for unnamed reasons, and she may still have the laptop. She has been charged with illegally entering the Capitol and disorderly conduct, but not theft.[87] The FBI is investigating the claims. Pelosi's chief of staff, Drew Hammill, tweeted that "a laptop that was only used for presentations" was taken from a conference room during the Capitol siege.[88] The woman fled her home, telling her mother "she would be gone for a couple of weeks", changed her telephone number, and removed all of her social media accounts.[89] On January 18, she surrendered to authorities in Pennsylvania, facing two misdemeanor charges.[90] In an affidavit updated January 19, she was additionally charged with two felonies. On January 21, she was released from custody to live with her mother while awaiting trial.[91]

Three alleged members of Oath Keepers were indicted for conspiracy for planning their activities. Eight to ten members of the group entered the Capitol wearing paramilitary gear and moving "in an organized and practiced fashion", according to the indictment. The group communicated with portable devices, with one member allegedly receiving a Facebook message reading "All members are in the tunnels under capital seal them in. Turn on gas." That same person allegedly received directions in navigating the Capitol, including "Tom all legislators are down in the Tunnels 3floors down" and "Go through back house chamber doors facing N left down hallway down steps." One alleged participant radioed to others, "We have a good group. We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan."[92][93][94]

In a court filing, federal prosecutors asserted that evidence showed Erik Munchel of Nashville engaged in “obstructing Congress, interstate travel in furtherance of rioting activity, sedition and other offenses.” Munchel had been photographed in the Senate gallery with white plastic handcuffs and a Taser. Federal judge Beryl Howell reversed a previous lower court decision that granted Munchel conditional release and ordered him to be transferred to Washington for further hearings.[95]

Brandon Straka, a 45-year-old man who was the founder of the WalkAway campaign, was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska by the FBI and faces three charges in connection with the Capitol storming.[96] The FBI was sent multiple screenshots from the person's Twitter account, which both endorsed the storming and described his involvement with it, including a video in which he encouraged other rioters to take a shield from a police officer.[96]

Two members of Proud Boys were indicted on federal conspiracy and other charges.[97][98] Additionally, the FBI were arrested two women Pennsylvania. One of the women, Dawn Bancroft, made threats to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.[99]

Wired magazine has reported that numerous crowdsourced open-source intelligence efforts at tracking participants in the storming were underway, including an investigation by the investigative journalism network Bellingcat and the open source intelligence database Intelligence X.[100][101] According to Gizmodo, almost the entire contents of the alt-right social media site Parler have been archived online, including large numbers of photos and video with GPS metadata, and that analysis of the GPS coordinates suggested that numerous Parler users had been involved in the storming of the Capitol.[102]

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said an investigation is underway looking at "potentially members of Congress" who gave tours to pro-Trump rioters prior to the insurrection last week on the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) claimed during a Facebook Live broadcast Tuesday evening that some Republicans in Congress had given groups a "reconnaissance" tour of the Capitol ahead of the insurrection. Sherrill's allegations came the same night that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) addressed constituents on an Instagram Live video expressing her fear that some of her Republican colleagues would have disclosed her location during the insurrection on Jan. 6.[103]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi touched upon the investigations in a speech on January 15, stating that "if, in fact, it is found that members of Congress were accomplices to this insurrection, if they aided and abetted the crime, there may have to be actions taken beyond the Congress in terms of prosecution for that."[104]

In a letter to acting U.S. Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller on January 11, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) asked the Department of Defense to investigate the role of active or retired members of the U.S. military in the attack and for any people identified to be held accountable.[105] Representatives Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Sara Jacobs (D-CA) also called on Miller to work alongside federal authorities to identify members of the military involved in the riot.[105]

After the Capitol siege, the Defense Department intensified efforts to root out far-right extremism among military personnel.[106] In 2020, the FBI notified the Defense Department that it had initiated criminal investigations involving 68 military personnel (many retired or discharged) associated with domestic extremism.[106] The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, enacted by Congress shortly before the attack on the Capitol, directed the Defense Department to create a deputy inspector general for diversity and inclusion and supremacist, extremism and criminal gang activity (within the DOD office of inspector general) and to keep track of gang and extremist activity in the military.[106] Miller directed a strengthening of military policy against service personnel participating in extremist or hate groups,[106][107] an issue to be addressed as part of a wider Defense Department report due on March 31, with a plan of action due on June 30.[107]

On January 11, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) announced that it has launched an inquiry into ex-United States Associate Attorney General Rudy Giuliani for his role in the uprising, which could subject him to expulsion from the association and recommendation for disbarment if he is held liable.[108][109] Giuliani had addressed the crowd before it marched towards the Capitol, saying evidence that the election had been stolen was plentiful and proposing "let's have trial by combat".[110]

Multiple people involved in the riot have been investigated by their workplaces, with some being fired for their participation, as some businesses were identified by social media users who called for negative reviews and comments to be posted or the establishments to be boycotted.

Most businesses who have done so are private businesses, as those who work for the government and unionized workers hold more protections from firing.[111][112] The earliest report of participants being fired was a Maryland man identified in several highly publicized pictures, wearing his work ID badge and fired from his position the next day.[113]

Following the riot, the police departments of Anne Arundel County, Maryland; New York City; Philadelphia; Rocky Mount, Virginia; San Antonio, Texas; Seattle, Washington; Troy, New Hampshire; and Zelienople, Pennsylvania; the Kentucky State Police; the SEPTA Transit Police; and the sheriff's departments of Charles County, Maryland, Bexar County, Texas and Franklin County, Kentucky, all investigated, reassigned or suspended officers for their involvement in the invasion of the Capitol or the preceding events.[114][115] Other law enforcement officers were investigated for making statements in support of the rally and riot.[115]

On December 8, 2020, a French national gave around $500,000 in bitcoin payments to alt-right figures and groups. About half of these funds went to Nick Fuentes, the leader of the online Groyper Army, who denied breaching the building. The day after the transfer, the Frenchman killed himself.[116] The FBI is investigating whether any of this money financed illegal acts.[117]

The FBI is also investigating whether foreign adversaries of the U.S. – governments, organizations or individuals – provided financial support to people who attacked the Capitol.[117]

Separately, a joint threat assessment issued by the FBI, DHS, and other agencies said that "Russian, Iranian, and Chinese influence actors have seized the opportunity to amplify narratives in furtherance of their policy interest amid the presidential transition" and that these governments, through state actors, state media, and their proxies, used the riots to promote violence and extremism in the United States, denigrate American democracy, and in some instance promote conspiratorial claims.[117]

Pro-Trump protesters around the Capitol on the evening of January 6

Law enforcement's failure to prevent the mob from breaching the Capitol attracted scrutiny to the Capitol Police and other police agencies involved.[118][119][120] The Capitol Police, which has jurisdiction over an area of around two square miles, is one of the largest and best-funded police forces in the United States, with around 2,000 officers, an annual budget of more than $460 million, access to a substantial arsenal, and extensive experience of responding to protests and high-profile events; it has more than tripled in size since 1996.[121] Prior to the storming of the Capitol, the barriers erected were low and most officers were in regular uniforms rather than riot gear, aimed at managing a protest rather than deterring an attack.[120] Policing experts criticized the Capitol Police's preparation and initial response, saying the agency had underestimated the potential threat from Trump supporters, unwisely allowed rioters to gather on the Capitol steps, and failed to immediately arrest the rioters, or otherwise respond to the disorder, after the forced entry.[120]

The Washington Post reported that the Capitol Police were caught off guard by an overwhelming crowd whose size more than doubled the FBI's prediction and that the police lacked enough personnel to immediately detain all the intruders; the Post further noted that "some officers were captured on video appearing to stand back as rioters streamed inside."[120][122] Some of the shortfall in staffing was attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, with officers who were quarantined after being infected with or exposed to the COVID-19 virus.[120] Police units were not asked by management to bring protective equipment (such as gas masks) that were issued to them, which left officers ill-prepared to fend off the rioters – among them, a "heavily trained group of militia terrorists" armed with bear spray and stun grenades and equipped with two-way radios and earpieces – and some having to resort to engaging in hand-to-hand combat to defend themselves.[123]

Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who chairs a committee responsible for Capitol security, said Capitol Police chief Steven Sund lied to her before the event about the preparations he had made and the readiness of the National Guard.[124] Representative Maxine Waters said she had raised concerns with Sund on December 31, and was assured by him that "he had it under control".[125] Representative Tim Ryan (D–OH), the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch (which has budgetary authority over the Capitol Police), announced that he would begin an inquiry into security lapses that allowed the violent mob to overrun the Capitol and breach the legislative chambers. Ryan indicated that he expected some officers in the Capitol Police to be fired, and cited a "lack of professional planning and dealing" and "strategic mistakes" ahead of "the insurrection and the attempted coup".[126] Representative Anthony G. Brown (D–MD) called for the establishment of a civilian oversight board for the Capitol Police.[127] On the January 7 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough excoriated the Capitol Police response and accused some officers of enabling the rioters to successfully breach the building with little resistance.[128]

Politico reported some rioters briefly showing their police badges or military identification to law enforcement as they approached the Capitol, expecting therefore to be let inside; a Capitol Police officer told BuzzFeed News that one rioter told him "[w]e're doing this for you" as he flashed a badge.[129] Ed Davis, the former commissioner of the Boston Police Department, suggested Capitol Police leaders may have felt "that well, these are a bunch of conservatives, they're not going to do anything like [the ensuing riot]", leading to "a lack of urgency or a sense that this could never happen with this crowd".[130]

Footage emerged on social media of police allowing rioters through barricades into the Capitol, and one officer was filmed taking a "selfie" with a rioter inside the building.[131][132][133] Footage also showed two Capitol Police officers exchanging a handshake and an elbow bump with a rioter inside the Capitol.[134] Representative Jim Cooper (D–TN) was concerned that Capitol Police could have been complicit in the breach, saying "At worst, [Capitol Police] let this protest proceed unlike any other".[135] One participant in the riot said he and his friends had been given directions to the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer by a Capitol Police officer.[136][127] Representative Pramila Jayapal (D–WA) said she believed the rioters were aided in planning, and guided once inside the Capitol, by Capitol Police officers.[127] Multiple European security officials, including two intelligence officials from NATO member countries, in interviews with Business Insider suggested the breach may have been abetted by "tacit support" of the attackers among members of Capitol Police and other federal agencies assisting with Capitol complex security.[137]

In a letter to acting U.S. Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller on January 11, Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) described the speed with which the District of Columbia National Guard responded to the riot as "totally inadequate", said "serious questions must be answered regarding the ... readiness of our Armed Forces and federal agencies" to respond to similar events, and called on Miller to explain how the Department of Defense could ensure a "significantly faster" deployment in the event of future emergencies at the Capitol.[105]

Police officers before the storming

News outlets fact-checked[138] and described harsher tactics and differential treatment of racial injustice protests in D.C. during the prior summer by law enforcement compared to those used against the protesters who stormed the Capitol, although admittedly with missing context.[139][140][141][142] According to CNN, police had arrested 61 people on the day of the storming; eclipsing all but one day of protests the previous summer, where 316 Black Lives Matter protesters were arrested on June 1, 2020.[143] Protesters who were arrested after the storming tended to be charged with less serious crimes than those arrested in racial injustice protests.[143][144]

The tone, vocabulary, and tactics used by Trump and the White House were highlighted by news outlets. Trump referred to racial injustice protesters as "thugs", "agitators", and "looters" and threatened violence,[145] but expressed his "love" for the Capitol protesters.[146] In 2020, Trump had encouraged states' governors to more aggressively target protesters and used violent rhetoric such as "when the looting starts, the shooting starts".[145] News outlets noted how the White House had used forceful tactics to clear protesters for Trump's photo op at St. John's Episcopal Church but did not employ similar tactics during the Capitol protest.[142][144][147] Similarly, Capitol Police responded aggressively to disabled protesters associated with ADAPT in 2017.[145] During 2020, Trump ordered tough federal law enforcement responses to racial injustice protesters in Washington DC.[138]

Multiple media outlets covered posts from users on social media which made claims that due to white privilege[145] and male privilege,[141] the police treated the protesters, who were mostly white men,[148][149][150][151] with more leniency than they would people of color,[152] with many citing a moment when a police officer took a selfie with a protester.[153]

Many news outlets, including CNN,[154] USA Today,[155] The Guardian,[142] The Washington Post,[156] and CBS News,[157] criticized the police response to the storming of the Capitol in contrast to the police response to the Black Lives Matter protests in the previous year. In June 2020, during Black Lives Matter demonstrations, 5,000 National Guard members guarded the White House;[142] however, in an attempt to avoid inflaming tensions since those protests, Mayor Muriel Bowser opted not to call National Guard members from other states for the January 6 demonstrations, causing the law enforcement presence to be "relatively small" and "not prepared for rioters".[158][159]

Politicians and officials commented on the differential treatment as well. Joe Biden said, "No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, there wouldn't have been – they would have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol".[147] Representative Tim Ryan, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine all noted the differential treatment.[147][126] Representative Bennie Thompson (D–MS), the chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said "if the 'protesters' were Black they would have been shot with rubber bullets, tear gassed, and killed".[127] Citing disparities in the use of force when compared to recent Black Lives Matter protests, first-year Representative Jamaal Bowman (D–NY) proposed legislation to investigate whether members of the Capitol Police have ties to white supremacist groups.[160]

On January 8, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee launched a joint investigation into the Capitol Police's security failures.[161] The law enforcement failures that allowed the storming of the Capitol led the U.S. Secret Service to initiate a review of its security plans for the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.[120]

On January 11, Representative Ryan disclosed that two Capitol police officers had been suspended and at least ten were under investigation following the events of the riot.[162]

Ken Cuccinelli, acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, touring the Capitol after the attack to survey damage

The day after the attack, Pelosi called upon Capitol Police chief Steven Sund to resign, citing a failure of leadership, and said she had been unable to reach Sund since the attack.[163] That day, Sund wrote to the Capitol Police Board saying he would resign effective January 16,[164][124][165] but the next day, January 8, Sund resigned with immediate effect.[165] Yogananda D. Pittman became acting chief.[166]

Also on the day after the attack, Paul D. Irving announced his resignation as Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives. Chuck Schumer said he would fire Michael C. Stenger, Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, upon becoming majority leader later in January.[124] Shortly thereafter, outgoing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for and received Stenger's resignation, effective immediately.[124]

The Democratic leaders in Congress – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi – called upon Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, indicating that they would pursue impeachment of Trump for a second time if he did not.[182][183] Pelosi said Trump "incited an armed insurrection against America" and instigated "the gleeful desecration of the U.S. Capitol [and] violence targeting Congress".[184] The never-before-invoked provision of the 25th Amendment allows the vice president, with a majority of Cabinet secretaries, to declare Trump "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" by written declaration.[185][186]

After the storming of the Capitol, the vast majority of House Democrats (208 Representatives), as well as 38 Democratic Senators, called for the invocation of the 25th Amendment or Trump's impeachment and removal from office in inciting the riot.[187][lower-alpha 1] A single House Republican, Representative Adam Kinzinger (IL), also called for Trump's removal.[187] Among Senate Republicans, only three expressed support for Trump resigning or being removed from office: Lisa Murkowski (AK), Ben Sasse (NE) and Pat Toomey (PA).[lower-alpha 2] President-elect Biden did not take a position on a prospective fast-track impeachment of Trump, saying the matter is for Congress to decide.[192]

Among Democratic governors, calls for Trump to step down or be removed from office were made by J. B. Pritzker (IL),[193][194] Andrew Cuomo (NY),[195] Roy Cooper (NC),[196] and Jay Inslee (WA).[197] Three Republican governors who have been critical of Trump – Phil Scott (VT), Charlie Baker (MA), and Larry Hogan (MD) – also called upon Trump to resign or be removed from office.[198] Conversely, two other Republican governors expressed opposition to Trump's removal: Henry McMaster (SC), who is closely allied with Trump,[199] and Mike DeWine (OH), who opposed invocation of the 25th Amendment, saying that he believed it "would cause more division than healing" and because there were less than two weeks remaining in Trump's term.[200]

Yoni Appelbaum of The Atlantic called for the impeachment of Trump a second time.[201] Several conservative commentators, including Rod Dreher, Daniel Larison, and John Podhoretz, expressed their support for the impeachment and removal of Trump.[202][203][204] The conservative editorial board of The Wall Street Journal wrote that Trump's behavior in the incident "crosses a constitutional line that Mr. Trump hasn't previously crossed. It is impeachable" and that the "best outcome would be for him to resign."[205] Calling the armed storming of the Capitol an "act of sedition", The Washington Post's editorial board wrote that Trump's "continued tenure in office poses a grave threat to U.S. democracy" as well as to public order and national security, and called for Pence to immediately begin the 25th Amendment process to declare Trump "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" so that Pence could serve until Biden's inauguration on January 20.[206]

The National Association of Manufacturers also requested Pence to "seriously consider" invoking the 25th Amendment.[207] On the evening of January 6, some Cabinet members held preliminary discussions about the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to declare Trump "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" and thus transfer his powers and duties to Pence as acting president.[208][209][210]

On January 11, House Representatives David Cicilline (D–RI), Jamie Raskin (D–MD), and Ted Lieu (D–CA) introduced a four-page article of impeachment against Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection. The article states that Trump "demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law"; "gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government"; "inciting violence against the government of the United States"; "threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government"; and "thereby betrayed his trust as president, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States."[211] The article cites Trump's role in inciting the Capitol riot as well as "his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 Presidential election" including the efforts to pressure Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and other state officials and lawmakers. As permitted by the Constitution, the article also seeks to permanently disqualify Trump—who has reportedly considered running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024—from holding any federal office.[211]

On January 12, the House passed, on a 223–205 vote, a resolution formally calling upon Vice President Pence to invoke Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, declaring Trump "incapable of executing the duties of his office" and immediately assuming powers as acting president until Biden is sworn into office on January 20. The resolution passed on a mostly party-line vote, with all Democrats voting yes and all Republicans (except for Adam Kinzinger of Illinois) voting no. The resolution stated that unless Pence responded within 24 hours, the House would proceed with impeachment proceedings against Trump. Ahead of the January 12 vote, Pence sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi saying that he would not invoke the 25th Amendment. Pence's refusal ensured that an impeachment vote would take place.[212][213]

Trump was impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives on January 13, 2021 for incitement of insurrection, on a vote of 232–197, becoming the only U.S. president or other federal official to be impeached twice.[214] All 222 Democrats, as well as 10 Republicans, voted to impeach; 197 Republicans voted against impeachment.[215] Trump's Senate impeachment trial is pending.[216]

Shortly after Trump's January 6 video message was uploaded, the video was removed by Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube for violating site policies on "civil integrity" and election misinformation.[231] Facebook executive Guy Rosen said the video was removed because "it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence."[232] That evening, Twitter locked Trump's account for twelve hours and threatened a permanent suspension for "repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy." Twitter also required him to remove three of his tweets.[233][234] Snapchat indefinitely suspended Trump's account on the platform the same day,[235] while Shopify terminated shops that sold Trump campaign paraphernalia and merchandise from his personal TrumpStore brand.[236]

The following day, Facebook and its platforms, including Instagram, announced they had banned Trump indefinitely, at least until the end of his presidential term. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote, "The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor."[237] On January 7, Twitch announced it had disabled Trump's channel on the platform.[238] TikTok announced it would restrict videos of the Capitol attack and Trump's January 6 address, other than those providing factual information, criticism or journalistic value.[239] Pinterest began limiting hashtags related to pro-Trump topics such as #StopTheSteal since around the November election.[240]

On January 8, Twitter permanently suspended Trump "due to the risk of further incitement of violence" from his tweets, writing that specific tweets by Trump that "are likely to inspire others to replicate the violent acts that took place on January 6, 2021, and that there are multiple indicators that they are being received and understood as encouragement to do so."[241] The company also noted that "Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021."[241] Twitter said it would not ban government accounts like @POTUS or @WhiteHouse, but would "take action to limit their use";[241] the company and that sock puppet accounts created for Trump in an attempt to evade the ban would be permanently suspended "at first detection."[242] Circumventing the ban, Trump blasted Twitter's decision in threads posted from the @POTUS account and @TeamTrump (his campaign account), accusing Twitter without evidence of "coordinat[ing] with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform to silence me" and uploaded an image of Twitter's bird logo emblazoned with the Soviet flag. Twitter removed the @POTUS posts and suspended @TeamTrump for repeated violations of its block evasion policy.[242] Twitter also suspended Trump campaign digital director Gary Coby's account after he forwarded his account information to Trump's deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino, in an attempt to transfer it for Trump's use.[242]

On January 10, the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) exercised its contractual right to terminate its arrangement to host the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, which had been awarded the tournament in 2014.[243] The PGA said that it had "become clear that conducting the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the PGA of America brand"; Trump had spent years trying to land a golf championship at one of his resorts.[244] The next day, the R&A followed suit, saying it would not hold any of its championships "in the foreseeable future" at Trump Turnberry in Scotland.[245] Also on January 10, Stripe announced it would stop processing online card payments to Trump's campaign for violating its terms of service against encouraging violence.[246] Other companies reportedly seeking to cut ties with Trump include Deutsche Bank and Signature Bank.[247]

On January 12, YouTube announced that it had temporarily banned Trump's channel for seven days, restricting it from uploading any new videos or live-streams. YouTube said the decision came after the president violated the platform's policies by posting content that incited violence. All the previous content on the channel was removed. YouTube also said that the ban could be extended.[248]

Twitter also banned accounts deemed to be "solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content", including those belonging to former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his son Michael Flynn Jr., attorneys Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood (both of whom brought failed lawsuits challenging the election results), and former 8chan administrator Ron Watkins.[249][250] Twitter's ban of Trump and others was criticized by some Trump allies, as well as some foreign leaders.[lower-alpha 3]

Also on January 8, Discord banned a pro-Trump server called "The Donald", which had ties to the banned subreddit r/The Donald. Discord cited the connection between the server and The Donald's online forum, which was used in planning the riot.[256] Parler removed several posts from Wood espousing conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric, including a call for Vice President Pence and others to be subjected to firing squads, for violating community rules on speech encouraging violence.[257] YouTube terminated two accounts belonging to former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, including one hosting his "War Room" podcast, for repeated community guidelines violations pertaining to misinformation about widespread fraud or errors that affected the 2020 election's outcome.[258]

On January 12, Facebook and Twitter announced that they were removing content related to the "Stop the Steal" movement and suspending 70,000 QAnon-focused accounts, respectively.[259] Experts at the Anti-Defamation League found that after the suspension of QAnon-related Twitter accounts, the use of QAnon-related hashtags plunged on Twitter by 73%, and as of January 19, were being used at a 97% lower rate than at the height of the spike that followed the Capitol insurrection.[260]

Parler rose to prominence during the 2020 presidential campaign and found renewed attention after the riot. The site, which bills itself as a "free speech social network", has a significant user base of Donald Trump supporters, conservatives, conspiracy theorists, and right-wing extremists, including some who have been banned from Facebook and Twitter.[261][262][263][264] After Twitter permanently suspended Trump, there was a sharp one-day increase in the number of Parler downloads on the Apple App Store[265] and some prominent right-wing politicians advertised their Parler accounts.[266] Apple and Google removed the Parler app from their App Store and Google Play Store, respectively, citing usage of the site to plan and coordinate the insurrection, its hosting of posts inciting violence, and its failure to adopt more robust content moderation.[267][268][269] Amazon also terminated the cloud services that it had been providing to Parler through Amazon Web Services.[270] As a result, Parler's website and apps ceased to be operational at 11:59 p.m. PST on January 10.[271] Amazon said it had sent reports of 98 instances of posts that "clearly encourage and incite violence" to Parler in the weeks preceding the decision.[272] Parler's COO Jeffrey Wernick said that Parler would return in some form.[273]

Parler sued Amazon in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, raising antitrust and breach of contract claims;[274] Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein denied Parler's request for a preliminary injunction that would force Amazon to restore service to Parler, writing that Parler had offered "dwindlingly slight" evidence in support of its antitrust claim and had "failed to allege basic facts" to support its complaint against Amazon.[275]

Airbnb cancelled all reservations in Washington, D.C. for the week of January 20 (refunding affected hosts out of its own money), and deactivated accounts of any users who it found belonged to hate groups and/or participated in the storming of the Capitol.[276][277]

The day of the storming of the Capitol, Cumulus Media, owner of several conservative talk radio programs through Westwood One, sent an internal memo directing its employees to stop questioning the outcome of the election on-air, on threat of being fired.[278]

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in a video conference stated that Trump committed a "criminal act" and as such the city would terminate all contracts with the Trump Organization and would not do any business with them any longer. Specifically, New York City would take steps to terminate contracts with the Trump Organization to operate the Central Park Carousel, the Wollman & Lasker skating rinks, as well as the Ferry Point Golf Course. De Blasio stated that the city was working to find new vendors to take over the facilities to continue to provide services to customers. De Blasio ended that Trump would "no longer profit" with his relationship with New York City.[279]

After the assault on the Capitol, Lehigh University and Wagner College revoked the honorary degrees they had conferred upon Trump in 1988 and 2004, respectively. The revocations of the honors left Liberty University as the only institution that gave an honorary degree to Trump.[280][281] The board of the SAG-AFTRA voted "overwhelmingly" that probable cause existed to expel Trump from the entertainment union, to which Trump had belonged since 1989. The guild cited Trump's role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol, and his "reckless campaign of misinformation aimed at discrediting and ultimately threatening the safety of journalists, many of whom are SAG-AFTRA members."[282] Trump later resigned from the union before the matter of his expulsion came before the union's disciplinary committee.[283]

In response to calls for further protests and violence in Washington, D.C., and states across the U.S., the FBI, Secret Service, and state law enforcement agencies began conducting threat assessments and tracking extremist rhetoric online.[299] CNN reported on January 11 that an internal FBI bulletin warned that "Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and at the US Capitol from 17 January through 20 January," continuing, "an identified group calling for others to join them in 'storming' state, local and federal government courthouses and administrative buildings in the event POTUS is removed as President prior to Inauguration Day. This identified group is also planning to 'storm' government offices including in the District of Columbia and in every state, regardless of whether the states certified electoral votes for Biden or Trump, on 20 January."[300][301] In a January 11 briefing, Capitol Police informed House Democrats they were prepared for "tens of thousands of armed protesters" in the coming days, and that they were aware of and monitoring three separate plots: one in honor of killed rioter Ashli Babbitt, another promoted as the United States' "largest armed protest ever", and a third "would involve insurrectionists forming a perimeter around the Capitol, the White House[,] and the Supreme Court" before "blocking Democrats from entering the Capitol ― perhaps even killing them ― so that Republicans could take control of the government". On January 11, a House lawmaker told HuffPost that insurrectionist groups, now left without sites like Parler to use as recruitment platforms, sought media attention for their planned demonstrations or attacks "as a way to further disseminate information and to attract additional support for their attacks."[291]

Minor protests occurred during inauguration week, which featured the participation of far-right militia groups that follow right-libertarianism, neo-fascism, neo-Nazism, white supremacism, and other ultranationalist or right-wing ideologies as well as members of the New Black Panther Party, and the QAnon and boogaloo movements.[223][302] Multiple people were arrested in D.C. for threatening to commit violence during Biden's inauguration.