Name: White House rewrites Capitol riot as ‘peaceful, patriotic protest’
Uploaded: 2026-01-07T13:19:17.509Z
Duration: 2 min 17 s
Description: Five years after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, the White House posts a controversial page recasting the January 6 riot.

Five years after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, the White House posts a controversial page recasting the January 6 riot.

Washington

The White House has released a revised account of the January 6 Capitol riot, referring to the event as a 'peaceful, patriotic protest' and disputing widespread descriptions of violence. The official website post, published on the fifth anniversary of the attack, claims that President Trump took decisive action to pardon January 6 defendants, including Enrique Tarrio, and frames previous reports as 'democratic gaslighting.'

Democratic leaders have condemned the White House's portrayal, stating it attempts to rewrite and whitewash the events of January 6. The Congressional Committee previously concluded that Trump helped foment the riot and did little to stop it, while the new White House narrative rebrands convicted and pardoned participants as peaceful protesters.

White House rewrites Capitol riot as ‘peaceful, patriotic protest’

They're getting into the Capitol tonight. The White House is posting a controversial rewrite of the history of the January 6 attacks. More than 1,500 people were arrested for crimes on that day, but in a new post on the fifth anniversary of the attacks, the official taxpayer-funded White House website calls the widespread descriptions of January 6th violence, when one officer was killed, 140 were injured and four later committed suicide, democratic gaslighting. The page reads, President Trump took decisive action to pardon January 6th defendants who were unfairly targeted, overcharged and used as political examples. The word that I'm searching, the thing that I'm searching for is retribution, retaliation. And what is that? It is accountability. The pardon saved Proud Boys' Enrique Tarrio from a 22-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy. Five years later, Democrats held a solemn vigil. Donald Trump and far-right extremists in Congress have repeatedly attempted to rewrite history and whitewash the horrific events of January 6th. We will not let that happen. Demonstrators followed Donald Trump's call to march on Capitol Hill to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. Trump says he did not call for violence. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. But the Congressional Committee on the January 6th insurgency concluded he helped foment the riot and for hours did little to stop it, as the crowd called for the hanging of the vice president, who certified Trump's loss. Five years later, Trump is back in office, and the White House is rebranding convicted and pardoned January 6th participants as peaceful, patriotic protesters. John Hendron, Al Jazeera, Washington.

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