The January 6 insurrection: One year later

Nearly one year ago, a violent mob broke into the United States Capitol in an effort to halt the certification of the electoral vote and overturn the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump. The insurrection was, thankfully, unsuccessful. But its echoes continue to reverberate today: Many in the Republican Party attempt to deny, minimize, or normalize the legacy of the attempted coup, while investigators in both the Justice Department and Congress continue to dig into exactly what happened that day.

On January 6, 2022, an expert panel reflected on the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot and discussed its lasting effects. What have Americans learned over the last year about the causes of the riot and the people who attended and engineered it? How have government institutions responded—or failed to respond—to the violence? And how should we understand what January 6 means for the health of American democracy going forward?

Viewers submitted questions for speakers by emailing [email protected] or by tweeting @BrookingsGov using the hashtag #January6.