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By the numbers: The cost and consequences of the Jan. 6 riot

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP/File
Members of the House of Representatives gather in the chamber to vote on creation of a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, at the Capitol in Washington on June 30, 2021.

When a mob stormed the United States Capitol last Jan. 6 – hoping to stop a lost election they claimed was stolen – they were only inside for a few hours. Security forces cleared the building by the early evening.

After hours of debate in both houses of Congress, Joe Biden officially became president-elect the next morning.

The short insurrection failed, but it cast a long shadow. In the year since, the country’s politics have become more aggrieved. Voting rights have been restricted in some states and politicians have adjusted to death threats – which likely reached an all-time high in Congress in 2021. 

The insurrection was short. But as a House select committee investigates that day from Washington, the malaise in American politics speaks to its influence. A year later, Jan. 6 is still with us.

The graphic below charts the quest to unravel details of that day.

SOURCE:

George Washington University Program on Extremism, NPR, U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Congress, Pew Research Center, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CBS News, The Guardian, Ballotpedia, The Atlantic, Senate Committee on Appropriations Chairman Office

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Jacob Turcotte, Noah Robertson, and Nick Roll/Staff

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