Americans will never forget the date January 6th, 2021: the day when supporters of former president Donald Trump stormed the capitol fueled by anger caused by election results they believed to be fraudulent. Towards the end of December 2022, the House committee finally released its full report on this event. According to NPR, these reports recommend criminal charges to be placed on Trump, preventing further political involvement due to the controversy of the event. “President Trump had summoned a mob, including armed extremists and conspiracy theorists, to Washington, DC on the same day the joint session of Congress was to meet. He then told that same mob to march on the US Capitol and ‘fight.’ They clearly got the message,” the committee stated, according to NPR. It is described in the report that Trump had been aware of the attack three hours before intervening. It was also mentioned that his aides were aware that the election fraud could not be proved, but collected money from supporters for lawsuits.
The report also made recommendations for changes that the committee believes should be made for the establishment of a safer future for the United States. Their recommendations include “clarifying that the role of the vice president in the transition of power is purely ceremonial and a new federal law enforcement emphasis on anti-government extremist groups” according to NPR. They also suggested creation of federal punishments for threatening election workers. Though the lawmakers recommended these changes, it is not guaranteed that they will go into place, as the Department of Justice is not required to do everything that the House committee recommends.
The events of January 6th revealed many security flaws at the American capitol, resulting in efforts to improve it by the police forces stationed there. “…[W]e looked at failures on the sixth and we said what do we need to do to make sure they don’t happen again,” said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, according to ABC News. Some of these changes included the addition of a new special events coordinator and intelligence information coordinator, an increase in the number of officers positioned at the capitol, the development of connections and communication with nearby law enforcement agencies, and the ability for Manger to call the National Guard and declare an emergency in a situation such as what occurred on January 6th.
President Biden recognized this anniversary with a ceremony honoring those who risked their lives to protect the capital and American democracy. According to an article by ABC News, early on the morning of January 6th, he held a moment of silence for the 140 officers who had been injured where the families of those who died of related injuries read their names. All members of the House were invited to attend, but the attendance was largely Democratic. At the ceremony, Biden presented the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest civilian honor in the United States to thirteen people, including officers, state and local officials, and election workers targeted by the conspiracies that motivated the attack. According to ABC News, during the ceremony, Biden said “…on this day two years ago, our democracy held because we the people, as the constitution refers to us, we the people did not flinch. We the people endured. We the people prevailed.”
The attack on the U.S. capitol on January 6th, 2021 has had a resurgence in popularity in the news not only because of its anniversary, but also because of its similarity to a violent protest in Brazil that occurred on January 8th of this year. According to the Associated Press, both attacks were driven by rumors spread via social media platforms that accused of inaccurate results being drawn in presidential elections and were characterized by break-ins into government buildings where protestors fought with security and invaded desks of lawmakers. The two candidates that these violent displays supported also had political connections. For example, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil worked with Trump’s advisor who later helped to spread rumors that claimed that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election in the U.S. Additionally, Bolsonaro himself was one of the last world leaders to recognize Joe Biden’s victory after that election.
Still, there are important differences between the American and Brazilian events. For example, at the time of the Brazilian event, Bolsonaro had already given up his power and fled to Florida, while in the American event, Trump was still in power as it had taken place just after the election and in the process of Biden being accepted as the victor. Additionally, Bolsonaro was more nervous than Trump about the idea that he might be banned from running again by the Brazilian Supreme Court, who were vigilant about the spread of misinformation about the election on social media. Brazilian democracy is also significantly younger than American democracy, having only been put into place in the late 1980s, which makes such a display of distrust in the system more dangerous to its foundation.