President Donald Trump’s assault on American democracy began in the spring of 2020, when he issued a flurry of preemptive attacks on the integrity of voting systems.
The doubts he cultivated ultimately led to a rampage in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. wapo.st/3pTXK0M
As threats mounted after Election Day, Georgia state official Gabriel Sterling had had enough.
“Mr. President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia,” he said on Dec. 1. “Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt.”
Donell Harvin, a D.C. intelligence official, saw signs of violence ahead of Jan. 6, but felt federal law enforcement agencies did not share his sense of urgency.
Forty-eight hours before the attack, he began pressing every alarm button that he could. wapo.st/3pTXK0M
Rep. Liz Cheney was alarmed by Trump supporters' calls to disrupt the Jan. 6 joint session. She hired her own security that day.
“You can't let that sort of threat stop you from doing what’s right," said her father, former vice president Richard Cheney. wapo.st/3pTXK0M
After Clint Hickman and the rest of the Maricopa County board certified Biden’s win, he faced threats and a large protest outside his home.
On Jan. 6, two sheriff's deputies came to his house. You shouldn’t be home tonight, one said.
On Jan. 6, Paul Hodgkins stood on the Senate floor holding his Trump flag. But the next day, he felt uneasy.
He later became the first person to be sentenced for a felony for his role in the siege. wapo.st/3pTXK0M
For weeks after Jan. 6, Capitol Police Capt. Carneysha Mendoza’s face burned painfully. Chemical sprays had seeped into her pores.
Mendoza and another officer tried to console each other via text, sharing their nightmares and fears, often late at night. wapo.st/3pTXK0M
The forces behind Jan. 6 remain potent and growing, sustaining Trump's election-fraud lie and spreading a deep distrust in the voting process.
American democracy had held on Jan. 6. But the events that followed showed that day would not be the last test. wapo.st/3pTXK0M
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