January 6 U.S. Capitol riot

Rioters outside the U.S. Capitol building during the afternoon rampage which injured 100 Capitol police and severely damaged the building itself.

The January 6 U.S. Capitol riot occurred in 2021 when then-president Donald Trump's supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in an attempt to prevent the U.S. Congress from certifying the electoral votes from the Nov. 2020 presidential election (in which Joe Biden was elected as the next President of the United States of America). Because it was an attempt to prevent a legitimate president-elect from taking office, the attack was widely regarded as an insurrection or attempted coup d’état incited by outgoing president Donald Trump.

In the weeks between the election in early Nov. 2020 and January 6 ('21), Trump had vigorously contested the 2020 election results in a social media campaign called "Stop the Steal", though with no actual evidence (as determined by numerous lost lawsuits). Per the "January 6th Report" later issued by Congress, the riot was the last of multiple futile attempts by Trump to get the 2020 election results overturned, as he also tried to intimidate various state and federal officials (including his own vice-president, Mike Pence) to take illegal actions designed to overthrow valid election results.

Beginning in early afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, an armed mob assaulted the Capitol police force and would injure 140 law officers </references>