![On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob[ 39] [ 40] [ 41] of support](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol_DSC09254-2_%2850820534063%29_%28retouched%29.jpg/1200px-2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol_DSC09254-2_%2850820534063%29_%28retouched%29.jpg "January 6 United States Capitol attack")
January 6 United States Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob[ 39] [ 40] [ 41] of supporters of then-president Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup d'état,[ 42] two months after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. They sought to keep him in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. The attack was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the certification of the election results. According to the bipartisan House select committee that investigated the incident, the attack was the culmination of a seven-part plan by Trump to overturn the election.[ 43] [ 44] Within 36 hours, five people died: one was shot by Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer who died of natural causes a day after being assaulted by rioters.[ c] [ 34] [ 45] Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months.[ 35] Damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million.[ 46]
Encouraged by Trump,[ 47] [ 48] on January 5 and 6, thousands of his supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., to support his false claims that the 2020 election had been "stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats",[ 49] [ 50] [ 51] [ 52] and to demand that then-vice president Mike Pence and Congress reject Biden's victory.[ 53] Starting at noon on January 6 at a "Save America" rally on the Ellipse,[ 54] Trump gave a speech in which he repeated false claims of election irregularities[ 55] and said, "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore".[ 56] [ 57] As Congress began the electoral vote count, thousands of attendees, some armed, walked to the Capitol, and hundreds breached police perimeters.[ 58] [ 59] Among the rioters were leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia groups.[ 60]
