The Jan. 6 attack: The cases behind the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Julio Cortez/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Julio Cortez/AP

Editor's note: This story was first published on Feb. 9, 2021. It is regularly updated and includes explicit language.

On Jan. 6, 2021, supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, injuring approximately 140 law enforcement officers, forcing a panicked evacuation of the nation's political leaders, and threatening the peaceful transfer of power.

Five people died during or soon after the riot, and more than $2.9 million worth of damage was done to the Capitol. Rioters brought firearms, knives, hatchets, pepper spray, baseball bats and other improvised weapons to the Capitol grounds and prosecutors say many of those weapons were used to assault police. The Federal Bureau of Investigation considers the attack an act of domestic terrorism. In response, the Department of Justice launched the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.

The FBI has estimated that around 2,000 people took part in criminal acts on Jan. 6. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to pardon some number of defendants charged and convicted in the attack, but he has not provided specifics. In 2024, he told interviewers from the National Association of Black Journalists that he was open to pardoning people convicted of assaulting police, because "they were convicted by a very, a very tough system."

NPR is tracking every federal criminal case stemming from that day's events. This database makes publicly available — and searchable — information on hundreds of cases, including alleged affiliation with extremist ideologies and past or present police or military experience. NPR's database will also track any pardons and commutations issued to Jan. 6 defendants.

Explore the Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases

About this story

This is a project from NPR's Investigations and News Apps teams. NPR's Tom Dreisbach, Meg Anderson, Dina Temple-Raston, Monika Evstatieva, Barbara Van Woerkom, Arezou Rezvani, Barrie Hardymon, Tim Mak, Austin Fast, Emine Yücel, Allison Mollenkamp, Nick McMillan, and Noah Caldwell contributed reporting to this project; NPR's Connie Hanzhang Jin and Alyson Hurt built the database; and NPR's Emily Bogle, Catie Dull, Michele Abercrombie, Di'Amond Moore, and Grace Widyatmadja identified photographs.