On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump. Academic debate exists about whether to characterize the event as a coup, an attempted coup, or neither. The attack happened two months after Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Attackers sought to keep him in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of then president-elect Joe Biden. The attack was 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 plan by Trump to overturn the election. Within 36 hours, five people died: one was shot by the Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer who died of a stroke a day after being assaulted by rioters and collapsing at the Capitol. Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months. Damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million.
Key Facts
| Subject | January 6 United States Capitol attack |
| Category | 2021 attack to stop election certification |
| Reading time | 1 min · Intermediate |
| Key date | 2021 |
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