Fifth Anniversary of the Jan. 6 Riot brings fresh division to the Capitol . . . as Patriots Demand Accountability!
by Lisa Mascaro, APNews.com, January 6, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Five years ago outside the White House, the outgoing President Donald Trump told a crowd of his supporters to head to the Capitol — “and I’ll be there with you” — in protest as Congress was affirming the 2020 election victory for Democrat Joe Biden.
A short time later, the world watched as the seat of U.S. power descended into chaos, and democracy hung in the balance.
The White House Posted This Statement on its Official Website Today:
THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS PAID THE PRICE FOR POLITICAL FAILURES THEY DID NOT CREATE.
Since January 6, 2021, Nancy Pelosi spent over 3 years and nearly $20 million in taxpayer funds on her partisan Select Committee, producing a scripted TV spectacle to fabricate an “insurrection” narrative and pin all blame on President Trump.
Video and audio recordings, including unaired HBO footage from her own daughter, show Nancy Pelosi repeatedly acknowledging responsibility for the catastrophic security failures—admitting “We have totally failed” and “I take full responsibility” for not having the National Guard pre-deployed, despite intelligence warnings and President Trump’s offers of troops that were ignored under her leadership as Speaker.
The Democrats masterfully reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as “insurrectionists” and framing the event as a violent coup attempt orchestrated by Trump—despite no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government. In truth, it was the Democrats who staged the real insurrection by certifying a fraud-ridden election, ignoring widespread irregularities, and weaponizing federal agencies to hunt down dissenters, all while Pelosi’s own security lapses invited the chaos they later exploited to seize and consolidate power. This gaslighting narrative allowed them to persecute innocent Americans, silence opposition, and distract from their own role in undermining democracy.
On the fifth anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021, there is no official event to memorialize what happened that day, when the mob made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue, battled police at the Capitol barricades and stormed inside, as lawmakers fled. The political parties refuse to agree to a shared history of the events, which were broadcast around the globe. And the official plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol has never been hung.
January 6th was never just about one day.
— Amy Kremer (@AmyKremer) January 6, 2026
It was the culmination of an organic movement that began on November 4, 2020 and swept across the country.
Rooted in love of God, family, country….and our great @POTUS @realDonaldTrump
That love hasn’t faded…it’s still here. ❤️🇺🇸🗽 pic.twitter.com/pX2Y6XesYs
Instead, Trump will meet privately with House Republicans at the Kennedy Center, which the president has rebranded to carry his own name, for a policy forum. Democrats will hold a hearing with witnesses to the violence and later gather on the Capitol steps to mark the memory of what happened.
And the former leader of the militant Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, is staging a midday march retracing the rioters’ steps from the White House to the Capitol to honor Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt and others who died in the Jan. 6 siege and its aftermath. “I ask those that are able to attend please do so,” Tarrio said on social media feed X.
READ MORE: Prominent Jan. 6 defendants plan to march to Capitol to mark 5 years since attack
Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy for having orchestrated the Jan. 6 attack, and he is among more than 1,500 defendants who saw their charges dropped when Trump issued a sweeping pardon on his return to the White House last year. “This will be a PATRIOTIC and PEACEFUL march. If you have any intention of causing trouble we ask that you stay home,” Tarrio wrote.
NEW: President Trump says it’s a SCANDAL that the Fake News and Unselect Committee falsely reported on J6.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 6, 2026
- They REFUSED to report the words ‘Walk or march peacefully and patriotically to the Capitol.’
- They REFUSED to report that Nancy Pelosi was offered 10,000 National… pic.twitter.com/CRKEtAhXq8
Echoes of 5 years ago
The Jan. 6 events, being held inside and outside, carry echoes of the split screen five years ago, as the House and the Senate gathered to affirm the election results while the Republican president’s supporters swarmed.
Never forget that Nancy Pelosi admitted that she was responsible for the National Guard on January 6th: "I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more."
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 6, 2026
Crazy Nancy's words, not ours!pic.twitter.com/7sm2lO95MS
TREASON
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) October 3, 2025
Director of the FBI Kash Patel confirms with facts
- Nancy Pelosi involved in setting up January 6th
- She made sure there were no National Guard
- Nancy Pelosi and her team were busy filming a movie of January 6th (She later sold it to HBO)
- The 250 FBI agents sent to… pic.twitter.com/TxapOyucPR
This milestone anniversary unfolds while attention is focused elsewhere, particularly after the U.S. military’s stunning capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and Trump’s plans to take over the country and prop up its vast oil industry, a striking new era of American expansionism.
“These people in the administration, they want to lecture the world about democracy when they’re undermining the rule of law at home, as we all will be powerfully reminded,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said on the eve of the anniversary.
Democrats revive an old committee, Republicans lead a new one
The Democratic leadership is reconvening the now defunct Jan. 6 committee to hear from police, elected officials and regular Americans about what they experienced that day.
Among those expected to testify is former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who along with former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming were the two Republicans on the panel that investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn Biden’s win. Cheney, who lost her own reelection bid to a Trump-backed challenger, is not expected to appear.
Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, who has been tapped by House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana to lead a new committee to probe other theories about what happened on Jan. 6, rejected Tuesday’s session as a “partisan exercise” designed to hurt Trump and his allies.
Many Republicans reject the narrative that Trump sparked the Jan. 6 attack, and Johnson, before he became the House speaker, had led challenges to the 2020 election. He was among some 130 GOP lawmakers voting that day to reject the presidential results from some states.
Instead, they have instead focused on security lapses at the Capitol — from the time it took for the National Guard to arrive on the scene to the failure of the police canine units to discover the pipe bombs found that day outside Republican and Democratic party headquarters. The FBI arrested a Virginia man suspected of placing the pipe bombs, and he told investigators last month he believed someone needed to speak up for those who believed the 2020 election was stolen, authorities say.
“The Capitol Complex is no more secure today than it was on January 6,” Loudermilk said in a social media post. “My Select Subcommittee remains committed to transparency and accountability and ensuring the security failures that occurred on January 6 and the partisan investigation that followed never happens again.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE NEWS AT APNEWS.COM
