Keywords
january 6, insurrection, crime, government, capitol
Document Type
Article
Abstract
President Trump, refusing to concede the 2020 Presidential election, claimed that there was election fraud. On January 6, 2021, the date set to finalize the election results by Congress, President Trump implored hundreds of thousands of his followers to march to the Capitol and “Stop the Steal.” Inside and outside the Capitol building, the police were overpowered by a mob of Trump supporters who did not want to have Joe Biden be formally declared the next U.S. President. The siege on the Capitol, in a failed attempted overthrow of the national government, was thwarted later that night. In the early morning hours of January 7th, Congress declared the winner of the 2020 election to be Biden. The consequences of the violence at the Capitol will be felt for many months and years to come. In the immediate aftermath, the F.B.I. began to arrest people involved in the failed attempt to overthrow the American government. They received tips from family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors who helped identify those who participated in the Capitol breach. Together with social media postings, video, and photographs of the people involved in the violence on January 6th, the Department of Justice proceeded to charge people with various crimes. Not one crime to date is for insurrection. Rather, most of the charges are minor offenses. This paper analyzes over 400 arrests of persons charged in the breach of the Capitol in the first few months following the violent attempt to overthrow the American government.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://jcjl.pubpub.org/pub/8dmewbeo
Recommended Citation
Bernat, Frances P.
(2021)
"The Failed Attempt to Overthrow the American Government: Crime and Insurrection,"
Journal of Criminal Justice and Law: Vol. 5:
Iss.
1, Article 1.
DOI: https://jcjl.pubpub.org/pub/8dmewbeo
Available at:
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/jcjl/vol5/iss1/1