Where Jan 6. prosecutions stand two years after Capitol attack

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• Geoff Bennett:

  Two years on from the deadly January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Justice Department officials continue to work to hold those responsible to account.

  Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins is back with a report on where those prosecutions stand.

• Protesters:

  USA! USA!

• Lisa Desjardins:

  An attack on the U.S. Capitol now simply known by the date it happened, January 6.

  Exactly two years ago today, thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump, encouraged by his words…

  Donald Trump, Former President of the United States: We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  … violently disrupted the counting of electoral votes for the first time in our nation's history.

  Judy, there are protesters. Protesters have now broken into the U.S. Capitol.

  It would take six hours for law enforcement to secure the building and grounds and another nine for Congress to finish certifying the 2020 election results. An estimated 250 officers were injured that day. And a 2021 bipartisan Senate report found that at least seven people, including three police officers, lost their lives in connection with the attack.

  Since that report came out, two more officers who served on January 6 have died by suicide. At least 15 people were arrested in the Capitol on January 6. Most rioters simply returned home, kick-starting the largest investigation in FBI history.

• Mary McCord, Former Justice Department Official:

  It's really an enormous, enormous undertaking.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Mary McCord heads Georgetown University's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and is a former Justice Department official.

  More than 950 people have been charged with crimes related to January 6.

• Mary McCord:

  The scope of the charges coming out of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 is very broad. We have everything from misdemeanors, such as trespassing on federal property, all the way up to felony offenses that carry a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.

  Derrick Evans served three months behind bars.

  Derrick Evans (R), Former West Virginia State Delegate: I don't really know how I feel about everything right now, to be honest with you. I really don't.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  This was him that day. Livestreaming on the Capitol steps, he entered the Capitol with the crowd. For that, Evans pleaded guilty to felony civil disorder, a charge he sees as grossly harsh, because he committed no violence.

  He shows how the ideas, tensions and resentments of January 6 remain. Evans still defends the people who were there.

• Derrick Evans:

  I think it was a group of patriotic Americans who were frustrated with what's been happening in this country.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But do you understand that, as being part of that mob, that was a threat to democracy?

• Derrick Evans:

  Well, first of all, I'm still wasn't a part of a mob. I was part of a group of patriotic Americans who were exercising their natural God-given rights to free speech.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Some might say you sound unrepentant. Is that right?

• Derrick Evans:

  No, that would not be accurate. I'm not going to regret my actions on that day. I do regret that I was part of a crowd that has now been labeled as people who are violent, even though I didn't do those things.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Not everyone was violent, but the crowd overall was very violent.

  According to the FBI, so far, nearly 200 people have been arrested for assaulting police officers. That is more than one in five of all charged. Rioters have been arrested in 48 states.

• Protester:

  Proud Boys.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  According to a recent study, about a third of them have connections to extremist organizations. That include two leaders of the far right Oath Keepers. Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in November. It was the first conviction that charge in almost three decades.

• Mary McCord:

  So, seditious conspiracy is a charge that's fairly rarely brought in the U.S. But, here, it really does fit what happened. It is a conspiracy to violently hinder or delay the execution of U.S. law.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  More than 500 people have been convicted of various crimes. The vast majority of them pleaded guilty.

  The FBI is still seeking tips from the public about hundreds of other people involved in January 6, including the person who planted two pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee's headquarters the night before the riot.

  Meanwhile, hovering over it all have been questions and charges related to former President Trump's involvement. One week after January 6, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the then-president, charging him with incitement of insurrection. A month later…

• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA):

  Laid upon the table.

• Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT):

  The Senate will come to order.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  … Mr. Trump's team defended him in the U.S. Senate.

• David Schoen, Impeachment Attorney For Donald Trump:

  President Trump did not incite the horrific, terrible riots of January 6.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Where a majority found him guilty, a figure short of the required two-thirds. He was acquitted.

• Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY):

  President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  That summer, a House select committee launched what would become an 18-month investigation into January 6 focused on former President Trump.

  After interviewing more than 1,000 witnesses, the committee aired testimony in 10 public hearings, from those close to Trump.

  Cassidy Hutchinson, Former Aide to Mark Meadows: The president said something to the effect of: "I'm the effing president. Take me up to the Capitol now."

• Lisa Desjardins:

  And those who bore the brunt of the violence.

• Caroline Edwards, U.S. Capitol Police Officer:

  Never in my wildest dreams did I think that, as a police officer, as a law enforcement officer, I would find myself in the middle of a battle.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Last month, as it finished its work, the committee referred Mr. Trump to the Department of Justice on four criminal charges, including aiding or comforting those involved in an insurrection.

  For his part, Trump and his allies have stressed these words of his to the crowd on January 6:

• Donald Trump:

  I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol Building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  He has decried accusations against him and insisted he is a political victim.

• Donald Trump:

  Why aren't they investigating November 3, a rigged and stolen election?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  To this day, the former president continues to lie about his 2020 election loss. He has repeatedly praised rioters and condemned their prosecution.

• Donald Trump:

  What they have done to torment people and go after people like never before, I don't think anything like this has ever happened in our country.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Two years on, despite the mayhem and bloodshed, the danger of January 6 lingers. It is a powerful political device for some on the right.

  Remember Derrick Evans? He's now running for Congress and says the actions that got him prison time help with many voters.

• Derrick Evans:

  Honestly, the biggest response I get from the people of Southern West Virginia when it comes to January 6 is: Thank you. Thank you for having the enough courage to go do what so many people wanted to do.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  In November, Trump kicked off another presidential campaign for 2024. Days later, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to continue investigations into the former president's actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

• Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General:

  I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Earlier this week, as trials and investigations into the January 6 attack on the Capitol continue, the people's house once again opened its doors to visitors.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins in Washington.

• Geoff Bennett:

  On this anniversary of January 6, correspondents Laura Barrón-López and Nick Schifrin also took a look at the domestic and international consequences of that day.

• Nick Schifrin:

  How was January 6 changed the way the United States is perceived around the world?

• Derek Mitchell, President, National Democratic Institute:

  Well, there's no question that January 6 was a shock to the system, the biggest headwind to our work in trying to support those who are seeking democracy for themselves and having a more democratic world, is what happens in the United States.

• Daniel Twining, President, International Republican Institute:

  We can look at the fact that our system worked. It was, for sure, a propaganda gift to authoritarian adversaries.

  What those countries can aspire to do is to weaken us internally, to cause us to further divide ourselves, including through misinformation and propaganda and influence operations.

• Laura Barrón-López:

  Are you concerned about voter suppression, gerrymandering when it comes to where the U.S. democracy stands?

• Yascha Mounk, Johns Hopkins University:

  I am very worried about the state of our politics. I'm very worried about what's happening in Congress. I'm worried about the state of the Republican Party.

  But I am more optimistic about the ability of Americans to sustain this diverse, maddening, complicated democracy we call our own.

• Geoff Bennett:

  You can find both Nick's and Laura's interviews at PBS.org/NewsHour.