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Showing posts with label domestic terrorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label domestic terrorism. Show all posts

08 January 2026

MOTHER JONES DAILY:The Erasure of January 6,A new theory explains why Trump keeps threatening global takeovers, Trump’s Venezuela move could deliver a big win for this MAGA billionaire, Wyoming court stops abortion bans, Trump wants Venezuela’s oil. Getting it won't be so simple., How Trump unleashed a domestic terrorism movement—and how to defeat it 6JAN26



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07 January 2026

VIDEOS & TRANSCRIPTS: Pardoned Jan. 6 rioters return to Capitol on 5th anniversary of insurrection & 5 years later, the fight over how Jan. 6 is remembered continues & How the aftermath of Jan. 6 still challenges the Capitol 6JAN26

 


NOT MY pres drumpf / trump pardoned the treasonous 6 JAN 21 insurrectionist despite the opposition to the pardons by the majority of true Americans and the deliberate insult to the police officers to did their best to defend the Capital, most suffering multiple injuries, some sacrificing their life. drumpf's / trump's actions are not presidential ( actually they never have been, not in his first term and not now ), he is more like a fat, sleezy, corrupt crime family boss, his cabinet sycophants, administration officials and gop /guardians of pedophiles and sexual predators-republican party leadership jostling to be next in line to lick his ass. This might seem to be a disgusting narrative to some but it is not as disgusting as his immoral, illegal, corrupt and anti-democratic actions committed on a daily basis. This on the 5th anniversary of drumpf's / trump's failed attempted coup on 6 JAN 21, from PBS NewsHour.....

PARDONED JAN. 6 RIOTERS RETURN TO CAPITOL ON 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF INSURRECTION

Read the Full Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

It has been five years since a mob of President Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to disrupt the certification of the presidential election that he lost.

Today, a much smaller, but ardent crowd of his supporters returned to the site of the 2021 insurrection, marking the first January 6 since then with Trump back in the White House and most of those involved now fully pardoned for their actions on that day.

White House correspondent Liz lander spent the day covering the demonstration marking this milestone.

Liz Landers:

Hundreds of people reenacted parts of a day that ended in violence and bloodshed...

Man:

Truth matters to this group!

Liz Landers:

... followed by the prosecution and then pardoning of more than 1,500 participants.

Officially, this was a memorial event for Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran shot dead while trying to enter through a broken window in the Capitol, and four others who were lost that day or in the weeks after, including a police officer.

Babbitt's mother, Micki Witthoeft, spoke to the crowd.

Micki Witthoeft, Mother of Ashli Babbitt: So glad that people are not losing sight of the importance of that day. It's a day Congress let us down and continues to let us down.

Liz Landers:

Just after 1:00 p.m. exactly five years after President Trump concluded his remarks at the Ellipse, telling protesters to fight like hell, the crowd set off for the Capitol.

Among those taking part in the day's events was Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges.

Would do you do January 6 over again? I know you weren't here in D.C. that day, but you were considered one of the masterminds of what happened. Would you do it again?

Enrique Tarrio, Former Proud Boys Leader:

I would. I would definitely do everything I did again, because I'm not guilty of that crime. Again, I'm sitting here pardoned. If I wanted -- if I told you, yes, I did it, I wouldn't face the repercussions. But I'd be lying to you. I'd be lying to you.

Liz Landers:

You were found guilty, though, by a jury of your peers, right?

Enrique Tarrio:

Well, they're not a jury of my peers. I mean, they had bias, right? They showed bias.

Liz Landers:

Outside the Capitol, they laid flowers for those who died.

Among those commemorating the day was Guy Reffitt and his wife, Nicole. Guy was a member of the militia the Texas 3 Percenters seen here in 2021 on the steps of the Capitol being sprayed by police officers. He was the first rider to go on trial, sentenced to more than 6.5 years in prison for civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and entering a restricted building with a firearm.

President Donald Trump:

So this is January 6. These are the hostages, approximately 1,500, for a pardon, full pardon.

Liz Landers:

On the first day of his second term, President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of everyone charged, whom he called hostages.

Guy Reffitt, Pardoned January 6 Rioter: I didn't really do anything worth what I got convicted of. That four-year sentence wasn't justifiable. So for going and standing on the steps of the Capitol Building and not going in the building, not breaking anything, not stealing anything...

Nicole Reffitt, Wife of Guy Reffitt: Not assaulting anyone.

Guy Reffitt:

Getting assaulted by police officers that at the top of the stairs 15 feet away and then leaving and going home. Was I trespassing? I didn't see any barriers. When I got there, there was over 100,000 people on the property. Those barriers were nowhere to be seen.

Liz Landers:

What happened on January 6 became a family affair. Reffitt's wife, Nicole, helped lead today's ceremony.

Nicole Reffitt:

Today is the day to honor those that died and to celebrate those Americans that stood up.

Liz Landers:

Guy's arrest and conviction has also caused rifts in his family, including with his son.

Jackson Reffitt, Son of Guy and Nicole Reffitt: It's destroyed my family in a bunch of different ways.

Liz Landers:

Jackson Reffitt tipped off the FBI about his father's actions and told me, while he doesn't regret that difficult decision:

Jackson Reffitt:

We're scattered and apart and it's been really hard to reconnect over these years.

Liz Landers:

Have you spoken with your father since he was released from prison?

Jackson Reffitt:

I have sent him birthday messages and happy Father's Day, but that's been about it. The only time I have really talked to him was when I called him in prison. And that was very brief. But even then, it's just been scary.

It's not -- I'm not worried that he's going to break down my door or strangle me through the phone. It's just a worry that things aren't ever going to get better at this rate.

Nicole Reffitt:

It's been quite a strain. But like Guy said, we have been able to stay strong and we're able to start rebuilding our relationship with our son. I'm waiting for him to be comfortable to come to holidays and things.

He was definitely -- we thought it was going to happen this year, but he had his nerves and everything about it. But it is a work in progress. I think a lot of families are, but there was a lot of love there. So I know it's going to end up OK.

Protester:

Ashli Babbitt!

Liz Landers:

For the Reffitts, today's event was a reminder that many remained sharply divided over the false belief that the 2020 election was stolen, the actions on January 6 and what came after.

Guy Reffitt:

I'm grateful to get out. But I think there's problems with the pardon, but there's also good things with the pardon.

Nicole Reffitt:

The problem with the pardon, though, is that there were bad actors there that day. Some people did really bad things. I don't think everyone should have received the pardon. And I believe there are still some people that are waiting on a pardon that deserve one.

Guy Reffitt:

Yes, we're at 12 or 14.

Jackson Reffitt:

It's the washing of everything. It's just completely validating all of these people. I mean, all of these people, they more or less fell for something, a con, if you want to use that word, I would, with no -- nothing in return, no reward.

But these people have been endlessly validated with a pardon. And that validation, they never really received before. Like, imagine the kind of action that a lot of these people might feel now that they have been pardoned.

By — 

Liz Landers is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers the White House and the Trump administration. Prior to joining the News Hour, she served as the national security correspondent for Scripps News, and also reported on disinformation for the network.

By — 

Sam Weber has covered everything from living on minimum wage to consumer finance as a shooter/producer for PBS NewsHour Weekend. Prior joining NH Weekend, he previously worked for Need to Know on PBS and in public radio. He’s an avid cyclist and Chicago Bulls fan.

By — 

Frank Carlson is the Senior Coordinating Producer for America at a Crossroads. He's been making video at the NewsHour since 2010.

5 years later, the fight over how Jan. 6 is remembered continues

Read the Full Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

In the five years since January 6, there has been a widespread fight over the story of that day.

Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins was inside the U.S. Capitol and witnessed the storming firsthand. She has this look at the half-decade battle over the narrative.

Lisa Desjardins:

In the crowd storming the Capitol on January 6, an unlikely character, an Idaho grandmother, has become one of the most well-known.

Pamela Hemphill, Convicted January 6 Rioter: I was hoping we'd storm the Capitol.

Lisa Desjardins:

That's the voice of Pam Hemphill. You can see her insecurity camera photos of the crowd and inside the Capitol. Prosecutors said she egged on rioters.

Pamela Hemphill:

You just come in.

Lisa Desjardins:

Just days earlier, Hemphill posted on Facebook about the rally: "The fight for America is real." In a photo, she posed with a gun and the caption: "On my way to Washington, January 6."

Now she sees all that as part of a lie.

Pamela Hemphill:

The brainwashing that happens to you, that the Democrats want to turn this into a communist nation. They would always say the same thing. Pam, don't listen to Democrats, whatever you do. They will lie to you about everything.

So you start believing all that. And I got pulled into all the propaganda.

Lisa Desjardins:

But five years out, the battle still rages about January 6, with recent comments like these from some on the right.

Eric Metaxas, Host, "The Eric Metaxas Show": Most people in America are still buying the lie that like, oh, January 6 was a terrible thing. Trump supporters did some bad stuff. No.

Michael Knowles, Conservative Commentator:

You remember what we were told about January 6, January 6, January 6, that it was an insurrection, the worst attack ever on our sacred democracy.

Lisa Desjardins:

And last January 6, Georgia Republican Congressman Mike Collins said: "Thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, D.C., to take a self-guided, albeit unauthorized tour of the U.S. Capitol Building."

Hemphill was that grandmother, part of the mob recording everything she saw, marching up the street, clashes with police, climbing the steps of the East Front, and walking through the halls of the Capitol.

There were a lot of people who, as we have gotten farther from January 6, have said things, including it wasn't violent, no one broke the law. What did you actually see compared to what people are saying?

Pamela Hemphill:

We know they're delusional. Of course it was violent. They all had the attitude, it's our house. We can do what we want. We own it, this arrogant, violent attitude.

Lisa Desjardins:

The video is indisputable. More than 140 police officers were seriously injured on January 6. There were brutal battles on the steps and in the center of the Capitol. Yes, some rioters followed the mob and mostly walked around. But even they, and I spoke with them, were there for an illegal takeover of the Capitol itself.

Initially, some Republicans saw the event as a reckoning.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY):

There's no question done that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.

President Donald Trump:

This is January 6.

Lisa Desjardins:

But in the years since, President Trump personally has worked to recast January 6, pardoning nearly all involved, including many who assaulted police, creating a narrative that they were patriots for believing his lie about the election.

Donald Trump:

We freed the people. They were treated so badly. The people from January 6 who were largely -- and there's always exceptions, but largely great patriots for this country.

Lisa Desjardins:

And Republican leaders now look the other way.

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA):

Everybody can describe this however they want. If you could -- you would argue that those people didn't pay a heavy penalty, having been incarcerated and all of that, that's up to you. But the president's made a decision. We move forward.

Fmr. Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA):

I think it's as dangerous as any narrative we have ever had.

Lisa Desjardins:

Denver Riggleman was a Republican member of Congress until three days before the storming of the Capitol. A former Air Force intelligence officer, Riggleman later served as a staff member on the January 6 Committee and wrote a book, "The Breach," uncovering and detailing what happened.

Fmr. Rep. Denver Riggleman:

I would say 30 to 35 percent of the population who believe the election was stolen, I think they will always be not like that. And I really think, at this point, people like me, who are based in data and facts and who are an expert on January 6, we're trying to reach a smaller and smaller percentage of the population to make them see what happened that day.

It was a multipronged attack of disinformation, radicalization and violence to overturn the election.

Lisa Desjardins:

Why do you think so many Republicans support this idea that it wasn't that bad, however you want to cast that?

Fmr. Rep. Denver Riggleman:

Because they want to win elections. I mean, there's a reason they're having hearings on space aliens, rather than looking at what happened that day or acknowledging what happened that day. Plus, they're looking at fund-raising and polling in their districts. Trump is probably still over 70 to 75 percent and more of the Republican-based districts. It's simply that.

Lisa Desjardins:

Publicly, Republicans in Congress dispute this. They say their view of January 6 is about gathering facts. And, last year, House Republicans did launch a new subcommittee to investigate it. But, privately, many Republicans admit to me that January 6 is something they see as a historic threat.

Today, at the Capitol, Democratic lawmakers who were there spoke to what they saw.

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL):

If I close my eyes, I can still hear the thundering sound of the mob and the pounding of the door of the House chamber. I can still feel the sense of sheer terror as we struggle to fit on our gas masks and crawl on our knees towards the only open door at the opposite end of the Gallery.

Lisa Desjardins:

But Republican Riggleman worries that too many are still ignoring the worst truths of January 6.

Fmr. Rep. Denver Riggleman:

What you're saying is that they want to look to the future. The issue is, is that the past is an incredible indicator of what can happen in the future. And if we're not looking at elections in 2026 and 2028 and what could happen based on these faulty belief systems or that violence can't happen again, you better damn well be looking at it.

Stephanie McCurry, Columbia University:

This is not a minor example of political violence in American history. It's the major one, I would say, after the Civil War itself. How that's going to play out over the long term, I think, is very much still being contested.

Lisa Desjardins:

Stephanie McCurry is a history professor at Colombia University. She says clashing versions of U.S. history aren't uncommon, like narratives about the Reconstruction era of the late 1800s and the actions of the Ku Klux Klan.

Stephanie McCurry:

When I think about that as a kind of cautionary moment for what we're in now, the thing I worry the most about is how I saw that Klan narrative offered as a raw, partisan position in defense of an incredibly violent, racist organization. And then I saw it emerge in film and in written scholarly history.

The Klan version became the history of Reconstruction. That narrative took hold until the civil rights movement displaced it.

Lisa Desjardins:

But McCurry sees something distinct with January 6.

Stephanie McCurry:

I think we're in a dangerous moment because we have never seen a case before, I think, where one side of the contested narrative is being propagated by the president and who has made it a loyalty test for his regime.

Lisa Desjardins:

Which brings us back to the pardons Trump issued for those who stormed the Capitol, largely in his name. Of the more than 1, 500 people whom he pardoned, Pam Hemphill rejected the offer.

Pamela Hemphill:

I would not be a part of that, no way. It would be a slap in the face of the Capitol Police, that's for sure, the rule of law. But I broke the law. You don't pardon somebody that breaks the law.

Lisa Desjardins:

She has gone from MAGA-revered to MAGA-reviled. On social media, Pam now pushes back at Proud Boy leaders who dispute January 6. Some family have disowned her, but the memory of that day and her sense of responsibility have not changed.

Pamela Hemphill:

I spent two months in prison over Trump's lies that the election had been stolen. I have been a little angry that this has even happened. Hopefully, some other people will just maybe listen to my story and say, lookit, she's right. I got to do some research and not just listen to what I'm hearing in media and on Twitter.

And it's part of my amends. It's one thing to say you're sorry for being there, but you have to do the footwork to prove it.

Lisa Desjardins:

Today, Hemphill returned to Capitol Hill, testifying alongside Winston Pingeon, a former Capitol Police officer who defended the building five years ago.

Winston Pingeon, Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer:

I was called a traitor, violently assaulted in the line of duty, punched in the face, pepper-sprayed, and thought, I'm going to die here on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

Lisa Desjardins:

Hemphill addressed Pingeon directly.

Pamela Hemphill:

I am truly sorry from the bottom of my heart for being part of the mob that put you and so many officers in danger.

By — 

Lisa Desjardins is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers news from the U.S. Capitol while also traveling across the country to report on how decisions in Washington affect people where they live and work.

By — 

Sam Lane is reporter/producer in PBS NewsHour's segment unit.

By — 


How the aftermath of Jan. 6 still challenges the Capitol


Five years later, the U.S. Capitol is still living with the aftermath of Jan. 6. Geoff Bennett discussed how the insurrection's impact continues to reverberate in Washington with Lisa Desjardins and Liz Landers.

Read the Full Transcript

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

And Lisa Desjardins and Liz Landers join us now.

Lisa, we will start with you.

The U.S. Capitol is still living with the aftermath of January 6. What does this latest effort by Republicans to minimize what happened on that day, what does that mean for lawmakers and for the Capitol Police officers who protect them?

Lisa Desjardins:

That's right. The Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police of Washington, D.C., are really those caught in this rhetorical crossfire.

A plaque honoring them and commemorating their fight to protect the Capitol on that day by law was supposed to be installed on the West Front of the Capitol. And for years, it has not gone up. Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson, through a spokesperson to us, said that now it cannot go up because of logistics.

They say some 3,000 names would have to go on it. They haven't figured out how to do that. And that may well be a real challenge. However, why has it taken years to even acknowledge that there was a problem here? Why hasn't there been a real effort under way to get that plaque up?

I don't need to remind viewers that Capitol Police faced real hand-to-hand combat for many of those hours on Capitol Hill, some of them by themselves. National Guard backup did not come for a long time. And now they also feel somewhat abandoned by some lawmakers here in the Capitol as well.

Geoff Bennett:

And, Liz, as we saw, you covered that demonstration today. Tell us more about what unfolded and what you saw.

Liz Landers:

Yes, Geoff, there are about 100 or 200 or so of these January 6 defendants, along with their family members and their supporters, who came to Washington today and kind of recreated what had happened on January 6.

They expressed gratitude to President Trump for pardoning them. Of course, that changed many of their lives after some received quite long sentences. Also, both Enrique Tarrio and Guy Reffitt said to me that they do not regret their actions of that day, that they would do it all over again.

And one theme we heard too over and over again, Geoff, is this frustration from these January 6'ers that the Department of Justice and the FBI has not gone after the Biden legal system to prosecute those people that had prosecuted them, a lot of talk of retribution.

Geoff Bennett:

President Trump did not commemorate the day. He mentioned January 6 only briefly in remarks to House Republicans. What did he have to say?

Liz Landers:

Yes, he mentioned this only in passing today. He did not officially commemorate January 6. He mentioned this at the Kennedy Center while he was speaking to House Republicans, complaining actually about the media coverage around January 6.

The White House, though, did launch a new part of their official government Web site today that has a timeline recreation and trying to recreate the narrative around January 6, talking about things like calling the protest here peaceful, also saying that the participants were patriotic protesters, and repeating that false claim that the election was stolen.

Geoff Bennett:

Lisa, how are Republicans on the Hill reacting to this disinformation from the White House, these lies about what transpired on January 6?

Lisa Desjardins:

I can tell you what they're doing today, which is trying to ignore it.

I spoke with the majority leader of the Senate, John Thune, as he spoke to reporters today. He was asked twice, once by me, to react to that Web site, and, in particular, on that Web site, the claim by the Trump White House that Capitol Police were to blame for January 6, that Capitol Police provoked January 6.

He was asked first about it, and Senator Thune just said, well, we -- Capitol Police do a good job on a daily basis. I asked him again, but what do you think about this claim that blames Capitol Police? And he really did not respond to it, instead just saying, we support Capitol Police.

Capitol Police officers I speak to say, that is not support, ignoring that kind of accusation against them.

Geoff Bennett:

Lisa Desjardins, Liz Landers, our thanks to you and the team there outside the U.S. Capitol and inside the U.S. Capitol. Thanks.

By — 

Lisa Desjardins is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers news from the U.S. Capitol while also traveling across the country to report on how decisions in Washington affect people where they live and work.

By — 

Liz Landers is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers the White House and the Trump administration. Prior to joining the News Hour, she served as the national security correspondent for Scripps News, and also reported on disinformation for the network.

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