Name: Remembering the Jan. 6 Capitol riots five years later
Uploaded: 2026-01-06T15:51:19.494Z
Duration: 4 min 37 s
Description: It has been five years since a violent mob took over the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. CBS News contributor David Becker has more on how history is being revised.

It has been five years since a violent mob took over the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. CBS News contributor David Becker has more on how history is being revised.

Washington

On the fifth anniversary of the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, CBS News discussed the ongoing impact of the event and the subsequent pardons of all defendants by President Trump. Election law expert David Becker emphasized the importance of accurately remembering the events, warning against attempts to recast rioters as heroes and those defending democracy as villains.

Becker noted that the work of election officials has been repeatedly validated by courts, and efforts to prove the 2020 election was stolen have failed in legal settings. He cautioned that forgetting or distorting the history of January 6th could increase the risk of similar threats to the peaceful transfer of power in the future.

Remembering the Jan. 6 Capitol riots five years later

Now, today marks five years since the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In less than an hour from now, Democrats will hold a hearing on that riot. Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said it will examine, quote, ongoing threats to free and fair elections. The riots led to the largest criminal prosecution in American history. But as you may remember, President Trump pardoned every single defendant on his first day in office. CBS News election law expert and political contributor David Becker joins me now to discuss this. David, good morning to you. What's your overall view of all this? What impact did the riot and the pardons have on the idea in America of free and fair elections? Yeah, I think it's really important on this day in particular and every day to remember where we were on that moment on January 6th, five years ago. And what we saw with our own eyes. The president called people to D.C. He aimed a violent mob at the Capitol. And then hundreds of people attacked the Capitol, destroyed property, threatened members of Congress and attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power. We all saw it with our own eyes. And yet there is an attempt to rewrite history, to recast that violent mob, over a thousand of whom were convicted of crimes, although subsequently pardoned, as you noted, Errol, to recast those people as the heroes in this story, even though we know that's not what happened. And to recast the members of the Capitol Police Force who bravely tried to protect members of Congress in the Capitol building, to recast members of Congress who worked through the night to complete their duty to ensure the peaceful transfer of power, and to recast the thousands of election officials, the public servants whose work has withstood scrutiny for five years now and who correctly determined what the outcome of that election was, and to recast them all as villains in this story. That's just not what happened. And the memory of that day and where we were, all of us as Americans, and how across the political spectrum we were horrified by what we witnessed on that day. It's remarkable, because as you speak, we're looking at footage from that day, and it gives me chills as you lay out the sacrifice that police officers made. Some of them died as a result, taking their own lives due to the trauma they experienced. And it is five years on now, and I want to touch on that note you made about a rewriting of history. Is there... I mean, I think there are people alive today who weren't alive during 9-11 and have different views on its impact. Is there a danger now that the actual events of January 6th, as we witnessed them, as was captured on video, may actually be forgotten? Yeah, not only forgotten, but completely rewritten in a way that is 180 degrees different from reality. I mean, we see the president, we see his Department of Justice attempting to rewrite what happened on that day. It was a shameful moment in American history. It was a shameful moment in world history, and the world was horrified as they witnessed what was happening with regard to American democracy, as for the first time a sitting president was involved in an attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Over those five years, the work of election officials that has been confirmed time and time again by about 100 courts has been confirmed. We know who won the 2020 election. We know who won the 2024 election, as well, although the peaceful transfer of power was not attacked in that election, and the outcomes were correct. Over that five years, there have been so many who've had an opportunity to present evidence that that election was stolen, and yet every single time when they were sued for defamation and could have proven that what they were saying was truthful, they failed to do so. They often conceded liability. Fox News settled for nearly $800 million a defamation lawsuit. We know what really happened on that day, and yet there is a danger in forgetting that. If we forget it or we rewrite that history, there's always the potential for that same kind of thing to happen again, for a lie by a losing candidate to lead thousands or millions of his supporters to attempt to undermine the peaceful transfer of power. The footage is there for all to see. David Becker, great to get your insight on this today. Thanks for being with us. Thank you, Errol.

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