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TL;DR
Five years ago, a mob breached the Capitol to stop the certification of the election and the lie that fueled it has been rewarded and rewritten repeatedly since. Our response is documentation (with your help) we place the record back into public view, clearly and repeatedly, so revisionism cannot become history.
Five years ago, on January 6, 2021
Congress met in joint session to carry out a constitutional duty: counting and certifying the Electoral College vote. The proceeding was interrupted when a crowd breached the U.S. Capitol, forcing lawmakers to evacuate or shelter and halting the count for hours. Congress reconvened late that night and completed the certification in the early morning.
What makes January 6 historically significant is not that violence occurred, though it did, but that violence was used to impede the lawful transfer of power, at the precise moment the system is designed to conclude an election.
And five years later, the country is not merely “remembering” January 6. It is arguing openly over whether it should be remembered as what it was.
That contest over memory is a measure of whether we can recognize an attack on democratic process when it happens.
“None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.”
-U.S. House Jan. 6 Select Committee (Final Report)
If you selected other from the poll, or have more you’d like to share, let us know in the comments:
The lie infrastructure that preceded the breach
January 6 did not begin at the Capitol steps.
It was preceded by a sustained campaign to convince Americans that the 2020 election was illegitimate despite repeated internal acknowledgments to the contrary from people positioned to know.
In public testimony presented by the House January 6 Committee, former Attorney General William Barr said the fraud claims were not supported, and Ivanka Trump described Barr’s assessment as affecting her view of the claims.
The broader ecosystem that amplified election-fraud claims faced legal exposure as well: Fox and Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787.5 million settlement in Dominion’s defamation suit.
Those facts demonstrate that the “stolen election” narrative was not merely a mistaken belief circulating among strangers online; it was a message pushed at scale and defended even after it collapsed under scrutiny.
That is why January 6 remains politically dangerous: it’s what happens when leaders treat democratic legitimacy as optional when they teach supporters that losing is, by definition, evidence of fraud.
January 6, 2021 Timeline
Times are an indicator of how fast it moved, and how long it took to restore order.
Late morning / midday
Congress convenes for the joint session to count electoral votes.
A large crowd gathers near the Ellipse; the rally is framed as a last chance to stop certification.
Early afternoon
The crowd moves toward the Capitol as the certification process begins. Barriers are pushed, and police lines are overwhelmed in multiple locations.
The Capitol is breached; lawmakers shelter or evacuate; the constitutional process is halted.
2:24 p.m.
With the attack underway, Trump publicly criticizes Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to take the action Trump demanded.
Late afternoon / evening
Trump releases messaging telling people to disperse while repeating the underlying falsehood.
The building is secured over time; the immediate threat to lawmakers is reduced.
Late night / early morning
Congress reconvenes and completes the count.
If you are tempted to “zoom out” until the day becomes abstract, stop here and zoom in: the United States government was physically prevented from completing a constitutional duty. That is the kind of event that, in other countries, becomes a hinge in national history.
The damage: measurable, documented, and still being carried
The Department of Justice has described the January 6 investigation as the largest in its history; public updates have reported approximately 1,583 people charged, including about 608 charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement, and additional charges involving weapons.
Recent reporting has underscored the human consequences for officers who defended the building that day along with the civic injury of watching the event minimized or denied despite extensive documentation.
Revisionism is not an intellectual disagreement.
It is a secondary harm inflicted on the people who stood between a mob and the constitutional order.
“They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”
-Sen. Mitch McConnell
Share your perspective by leaving us a comment below:
Why “memory” becomes a civic act
When an administration can:
incite distrust in elections,
redirect that distrust into pressure against lawful processes,
produce violence aimed at stopping certification,
and then later offer widespread clemency and rhetorical absolution,
…it teaches the next set of would-be imitators that consequences are negotiable.
Communities across the country are grappling with this in local ways people reflecting not just on what happened in Washington, but on the fracture in civic trust that followed.
What is the wildest thing you’ve heard regarding January 6th? Do you remember that day in detail? When did it feel like it was going from bad to worse for you?
Today: The January 6 “Feed Flood”
The goal is not to “win arguments.” The goal is to prevent laundering.
What to do
Post 1 image, 3 facts and 1 sentence of clarity to social media.
Post on every platform you can tolerate
Choose 3 facts
Some examples:
Fox-Dominion settlement: $787.5 million.
Barr and Ivanka Trump testimony acknowledging fraud claims lacked support.
DOJ: ~1,583 charged; ~608 charged with assaulting/resisting/impeding law enforcement.
Congress reconvened and completed the count after the breach.
Add a sentence of clarity
Some examples:
“A democracy that cannot name an attack on its processes will repeat it.”
“This is what political violence looks like when it’s aimed at certification.”
“Memory and education is prevention.”
Here is an easy to copy/paste-ready caption for your social media!
Feel free to directly copy and paste this to your posts:
On January 6, 2021, Congress was carrying out the constitutional count of electoral votes when the U.S. Capitol was breached and the proceeding was halted for hours. Congress reconvened and completed certification that night.
Five years later, we are watching active attempts to minimize and rewrite what happened. Fox settled Dominion’s defamation case for $787.5 million. DOJ reports ~1,583 charged in Jan. 6 cases, including ~608 charged with assaulting/resisting/impeding law enforcement.
Show up for the Free America Walk Out
On January 20, 2026 at 2 PM local time, we walk out of work, school, and commerce. Not as performance. As public noncooperation. As proof of numbers. As a visible refusal to normalize the construction of a coercive state.
Do this today (2 minutes):
Commit here: https://www.freeameri.ca/
Put it on your calendar: Jan 20, 2026 2 PM local time
Text two people (two direct asks). Copy/paste this to them:
“Jan 20, 2 PM local. Free America Walk Out. I’m going. Will you?”Help us get the word out by sharing:
