The Trump administration has tried to erase records of the Capitol attack. Dozens of prosecutors were fired

The administration of US President Donald Trump has tried to erase the records of the events of January 6, 2021, when, five years ago, a crowd of Republican supporters stormed the Capitol to try to prevent the ratification of Joe Biden's electoral victory, according to an investigation by National Public Radio (NPR).

Attack on the Capitol PHOTO: Archive

Since Trump's return to the White House, a year ago, National Public Radio (NPR) has found evidence that his administration tried to delete or distort official information in the cases of more than 1,500 protesters pardoned by the Republican, including those convicted of subversive conspiracy and accused of attacking and assaulting law enforcement officers, writes Agerpres.

According to the media institution – whose government funding was cut as part of the Trump administration's crusade against the press, writes EFE – the Department of Justice removed from the documents references to January 6, such as the terms “disturbances“or “revolt”and fired dozens of prosecutors who participated in these cases.

The president and his cabinet, on the other hand, present the attackers as “great patriots” which were “attacked by the government” and avoids naming them “insurgents”as the Democrat Biden did.

Trump himself was indicted in a federal case for attempting to subvert the certification of the 2020 election results, a lawsuit that was dismissed after his victory in the 2024 election.

NPR consulted a database of more than 1,500 court records, videos and testimony, which seeks to preserve history with a detailed timeline of events and dismantle the Republican administration's official narrative that the defendants were not violent.

The files compiled by the US Public Radio Network document hundreds of assaults on Capitol Police and Washington DC officers, including blunt force blows, crushing, groping and the use of chemical sprays.

According to the civil rights group CREW, more than 30 of the pardoned attackers have been re-arrested on other criminal charges, ranging from sexual abuse of minors, possession of child pornography, illegal gun possession, disorderly conduct and trespassing to threatening the lives of public figures such as House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

The unprecedented attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 occurred after Trump, at a rally outside the White House, urged the crowd to march on the Capitol and “to fight with all the powers”.

In the first 36 hours, five people died: Ashli ​​Babbit, a protester fatally shot by police inside the Capitol; three other participants who died due to medical emergencies during the riots; and a police officer, Brian Sicknick, who died after suffering two strokes following a confrontation with the crowd.

Four other police officers who committed suicide a few months later are added to this tally.

Five years after the attack on the Capitol, Democrats and Republicans are more divided than ever

Five years after the attack and almost a year after Trump's return to power, events at the Capitol continue to divide Republicans and Democrats more than ever, AFP notes.

Far from the near-unanimous condemnation in the days following the attack, consensus has now disappeared within the political class.

While Democrats continue to decry an attack on democracy, the Republican administration is now devoted to the 79-year-old president, who has consistently refused to condemn the actions of his supporters, calling it a “day of love” and a “outpouring of affection” to his address.

On January 20, 2025, on his very first day in the White House, Donald Trump pardoned everyone involved, virtually canceling the largest investigation ever conducted by the US Department of Justice.

He briefly alluded to Jan. 6 during a speech to Republican lawmakers on Tuesday, again downplaying his role in that day's violence.

But the Democratic opposition had warned that it would insist on Tuesday to keep fresh the memory of the events that shook the American capital in 2021.

During the evening, the Democratic lawmakers gathered on the steps of the Capitol, to commemorate the attack and denounce the reaction of the Republicans since then.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer denounced the White House's release of a website Tuesday accusing Democrats of “staged insurrection” and blaming the Capitol Police for “escalating tensions” on January 6, 2021.

“An Evil Distortion of the Truth”Schumer told reporters.

And Donald Trump's supporters marked the fifth anniversary in front of the Capitol with a march that recreated the route traveled in 2021.

Among them was Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the far-right militia Proud Boys, who, until pardoned by Donald Trump, was serving a 22-year prison sentence for his role, considered key, in the events of January 6.

In an interview given to AFP on Tuesday, he stated that he is “even prouder” to be a member of the Proud Boys today,”because I obtained these pardons”.