On January 6, 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump attempted to overturn his November 2020 election loss to Joe Biden by attacking the U.S. Capitol Building, which disrupted the joint session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes to formalize Joe Biden's victory. By the end of the month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had opened more than 400 case files and issued more than 500 subpoenas and search warrants related to the riot. The FBI also created a website to solicit tips from the public specifically related to the riot and were especially assisted by the crowdsourced sleuthing group Sedition Hunters. By the end of 2021, 725 people had been charged with federal crimes. Two years after the attack, that number had risen to 1,000. The majority of cases are federal, and are handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (D.C.). A minority of cases are state cases, and are handled in the D.C. Superior Court.
On January7, 2021, Michael R. Sherwin, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said rioters could be charged with seditious conspiracy or insurrection. Early on, the majority of charges filed were for disorderly conduct and unlawful entry, but eventually, some charges were for seditious conspiracy. He further suggested that Trump could be investigated for comments he made to his supporters before they stormed the Capitol and that others who "assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role" in the events could also be investigated. Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe and inspector general David C. Williams stated Trump could face criminal charges for inciting the riot. In August 2023, Trump was indicted for his actions on and around January6.
The criminal charges against the rioters include assault on law enforcement officers; "violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol ground"; trespassing; disrupting Congress; theft or other property crimes; weapons offenses; making threats; and conspiracy, including seditious conspiracy. Some criminal indictments are under seal.
Criminal investigations
Days after the attack, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said he was specifically looking at whether to charge Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Mo Brooks with inciting the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, and indicated that he might consider charging Donald Trump when he has left office. Calls for Trump to be prosecuted for inciting the crowd to storm the Capitol Building also were made in the aftermath of the event. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, "We saw an unprecedented attack on our American democracy incited by the United States president. He must be held accountable. His constant and divisive rhetoric led to the abhorrent actions we saw today." Legal experts have stated that charging Trump with incitement would be difficult under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the Supreme Court ruling which established that for speech to be considered criminally inciting, it must have been intended to incite "imminent lawless action" and "likely to incite or produce such action".
On January7, 2021, Michael Sherwin, interim U.S attorney for the District of Columbia, expressed willingness to charge any Capitol Police officer found to have assisted the rioters.
On February 10, 2021, CNN reported that the FBI, investigating the death of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, was in the process of narrowing down a list of potential suspects. On February 26, the agency reportedly identified one suspect of focus, according to sources.
By March 11, 2021, when Merrick Garland was sworn in as U.S. Attorney General, investigators had identified 885 likely suspects and charged 278 rioters. At the time, Sherwin said "almost all" of the cases charged in federal court involved "significant federal felonies" with potential sentences between five and twenty years.
In March 2021, The New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating communications between an unnamed associate of the White House and an unnamed member of Proud Boys during the days prior to the incursion. The communications had been detected by examining cellphone metadata and were separate from previously known contacts between Roger Stone and Proud Boys.