Talk:January 6 United States Capitol attack

Learn more about this page

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the January 6 United States Capitol attack article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22: 30 days

Before requesting any edits to this protected article, please familiarise yourself with reliable sourcing requirements.

Before posting an edit request on this talk page, please read the reliable sourcing and original research policies. These policies require that information in Wikipedia articles be supported by citations from reliable independent sources, and disallow your personal views, observations, interpretations, analyses, or anecdotes from being used.

Only content verified by subject experts and other reliable sources may be included, and uncited material may be removed without notice. If your complaint is about an assertion made in the article, check first to see if your proposed change is supported by reliable sources. If it is not, it is highly unlikely that your request will be granted. Checking the archives for previous discussions may provide more information. Requests which do not provide citations from reliable sources, or rely on unreliable sources, may be subject to closure without any other response.

This page is not a forum for general discussion about January 6 United States Capitol attack. Any such comments may be removed or refactored. Please limit discussion to improvement of this article. You may wish to ask factual questions about January 6 United States Capitol attack at the Reference desk.

The contentious topics procedure applies to this page. This page is related to post-1992 politics of the United States and closely related people, which has been designated as a contentious topic.

Editors who repeatedly or seriously fail to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be blocked or restricted by an administrator. Editors are advised to familiarise themselves with the contentious topics procedures before editing this page.

Current consensus on size and organization:

The specific subjects of international and domestic reactions, the aftermath, the death of Brian Sicknick, the law enforcement response, and the events at state capitols and other cities, are not covered in full detail here but in the linked articles. Portions of those articles are transcluded here, if opportune, per WP:SYNC.
As long as the article is too long (true as of Nov 5) it should be shortened, but the Very long tag should not be used (for the whole article); instead, Very long section tags could be used. An idea to use more refined methods of managing length (copyediting, moving information to notes, refining/trimming transcluded sections, etc.), instead of further splitting and more routine removal was agreed on here and here.

Current consensus on naming and terminology:

The page's title was moved to 'January 6 United States Capitol attack' after this move request.
The decision to not use the word "urge" in the lead, in reference to Trump's actions, was agreed in this subsection.
There is no consensus to call this event Terrorism as per this RFC

WP:ACDS actions:

~~Under ACDS, starting Jan 16, a move request cannot be opened nor be closed to move to a title using the word "insurrection" for a month. See the Arbitration enforcement log (diff) for details.~~ Expired since Feb 16, 2021
Under ACDS, only users who possess the extended-confirmed user right may close discussions for this page. See the Arbitration enforcement log (diff) for details.

A news item involving this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "In the news" column on January 6, 2021.

This article has previously been nominated to be moved.

Discussions:

RM, 2021 United States Capitol protests → 2021 United States coup d'etat attempt, Not moved, 6 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol protests → 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Moved, 6 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → United States Capitol insurrection, Procedural close, 7 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 breach of the United States Capitol, Procedural close, 8 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → The Trump insurrection, Procedural close, 9 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 breach of US Capitol, Not moved, 15 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → Storming of the United States Capitol, Procedural close, 16 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → Insurrection at the United States Capitol, Not moved, 16 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 Terrorist Attack on the United States Capitol, Not moved, 21 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 United States Capitol riot, Not moved, 23 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 United States Capitol attack, Not moved, 4 February 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → Storming of the United States Capitol, Procedural close, 16 February 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → January 6 United States Capitol attack, Moved to 2021 United States Capitol attack, 31 May 2021, discussion
Move Review initiated 1 June 2021. Overturned, moved to 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, 1 August 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 United States Capitol attack, Moved to 2021 United States Capitol attack, 2 August 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol attack → January 6 attack, Not moved, 7 November 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol attack → January 6 United States Capitol attack, No consensus, 8 January 2022, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol attack → January 6 United States Capitol attack, Moved, 28 July 2022, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → 2021 United States Capitol attack, Not moved, 9 January 2023, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → 2021 United States coup d'état attempt, Not moved, 31 January 2023, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack, No consensus, 21 January 2024, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → January 6 insurrection, No consensus, 26 January 2024, discussion

Crime and Criminal Biography Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Crime and Criminal BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyCrime-related articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.

Donald Trump Top‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Donald Trump, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Donald Trump on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Donald TrumpWikipedia:WikiProject Donald TrumpTemplate:WikiProject Donald TrumpDonald Trump articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.

Disaster management Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Disaster management, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Disaster management on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Disaster managementWikipedia:WikiProject Disaster managementTemplate:WikiProject Disaster managementDisaster management articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Law Enforcement Low‑importance

	Law portal This article is within the scope of the WikiProject Law Enforcement. Please Join, Create, and Assess.Law EnforcementWikipedia:WikiProject Law EnforcementTemplate:WikiProject Law EnforcementLaw enforcement articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the importance scale.

Politics: American Mid‑importance

	Politics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Politics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of politics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PoliticsWikipedia:WikiProject PoliticsTemplate:WikiProject Politicspolitics articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by American politics task force (assessed as High-importance).

Sociology: Social Movements Low‑importance

	Society portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sociology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of sociology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SociologyWikipedia:WikiProject SociologyTemplate:WikiProject Sociologysociology articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the social movements task force.

United States: District of Columbia / Presidential elections / Government / History High‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject District of Columbia (assessed as High-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. presidential elections (assessed as High-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. Government (assessed as Mid-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject U.S. history (assessed as High-importance).

U.S. Congress Top‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject U.S. Congress, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United States Congress on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.U.S. CongressWikipedia:WikiProject U.S. CongressTemplate:WikiProject U.S. CongressU.S. Congress articles
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is about one (or many) Events(s).

Guild of Copy Editors

This article was copy edited by Dhtwiki, a member of the Guild of Copy Editors, on February 15–17, 2024.Guild of Copy EditorsWikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsTemplate:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsGuild of Copy Editors articles

Other talk page banners

Text has been copied to or from this article; see the list below. The source pages now serve to provide attribution for the content in the destination pages and must not be deleted as long as the copies exist. For attribution and to access older versions of the copied text, please see the history links below.

Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → International reactions to the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Domestic reactions to the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Death of Brian Sicknick (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Law enforcement response to the 2021 United States Capitol attack (diff)

If you came here because someone asked you to, or you read a message on another website, please note that this is not a majority vote, but instead a discussion among Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia has policies and guidelines regarding the encyclopedia's content, and consensus (agreement) is gauged based on the merits of the arguments, not by counting votes.

However, you are invited to participate and your opinion is welcome. Remember to assume good faith on the part of others and to sign your posts on this page by adding ~~~~ at the end.

Note: Comments may be tagged as follows: suspected single-purpose accounts: {{subst:spa|username}}; suspected canvassed users: {{subst:canvassed|username}}; accounts blocked for sockpuppetry: {{subst:csm|username}} or {{subst:csp|username}}.

This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 2 times. The weeks in which this happened:

January 3 to 9, 2021 (5th)
January 10 to 16, 2021 (7th)

This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Alex Pasternack (2021-01-14). "As a mob attacked the Capitol, Wikipedia struggled to find the right words". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
Alex Hern (2021-01-15). "Wikipedia at 20: last gasp of an internet vision, or a beacon to a better future?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15. At 6.34pm UK time on 6 January this year, one Wikipedia editor, with the username Another Believer, decided that events in Washington looked important enough to warrant an article. Tentatively titled "January 2021 Donald Trump rally", the initial entry was brief: "On 6 January 2021, thousands of Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington DC to reject results of the November 2020 presidential election." {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2021-01-15 suggested (help)
Heather Kelly (2021-01-15). "On its 20th birthday, Wikipedia might be safest place online". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-01-15. This month, the online encyclopedia's strengths and quirks were on full display as hundreds of volunteers furiously worked to create a page for the Capitol riots as events unfolded Jan. 6. As it transitioned from a protest to something more violent, Wikipedia's volunteer editors added key details while debating the article title, as shared by editor Molly White. Was it a protest, an insurrection or a riot? It ended up the "2021 storming of the United States Capitol." Hundreds of people were working on the ballooning document at a time, which has now been touched by nearly 1,000 editors, is more than 10,000 words long and has been viewed nearly 2 million times.
Stephen Harrison (2021-01-15). "To Celebrate Wikipedia's 20th Birthday, Try Editing It". Slate. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-01-15. Take the recent debate over the nomenclature that Wikipedia should use to describe last week's frightening events. Should that destruction and violence be described as President Donald Trump's supporters "storming" the United States Capitol, an "insurrection," or a "coup attempt"? Is it "terrorism"? "The long-standing consensus is that article titles on events, such as this, should reflect how reliable sources have described the event," said Chet Long, one of Wikipedia's long-term volunteer administrators, who edits under the username Coffee. The issue here was that reliable sources have covered the event using all of that nomenclature. At publication time, the Wikipedia article is named "2021 storming of the United States Capitol" based on the consensus of editors that the majority of media sources have also characterized it as a "storming." Of course, reasonable minds can disagree on that decision, which developed after spirited, reasoned debate. One thing is clear: That's not a boring issue. The language that the world's most popular internet encyclopedia uses to describe the events of Jan. 6, 2021, will affect how that day will be perceived by the public in both the short and long term.
Grace Gedye (2021-02-04). "When the Capitol Was Attacked, Wikipedia Went to Work". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2021-02-04. As protestors at the Capitol turned violent, one major debate among Wikipedia editors was how to describe the event in the page's title. Was it a protest? A riot? An insurrection? A coup attempt?
Stephen L. Carter (2022-08-02). "Are We in a Recession? Don't Ask Wikipedia". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-09-02. And nobody will be surprised to learn that the page designated "2021 United States Capitol Attack" is also partly locked. Fierce argument rages even over what the page should be called.

Daily pageviews of this article

A graph should have been displayed here but graphs are temporarily disabled. Until they are enabled again, visit the interactive graph at pageviews.wmcloud.org

Section sizes

Section size for January 6 United States Capitol attack (58 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	80,047	80,047
Background	35	81,043
Attempts to overturn the presidential election	18,714	18,714
Planning of January 6 events	18,815	32,265
Seditious conspiracy by Oath Keepers and Proud Boys	13,450	13,450
Predictions of violence	17,433	17,433
Law enforcement and National Guard preparations	12,596	12,596
Trump supporters gather in D.C.	14,936	49,993
January 5 meetings	3,724	3,724
Bombs placed	5,350	5,350
January 6 Trump rally	12,648	25,983
Trump's speech	13,335	13,335
Attack on the Capitol	3,435	82,256
Proud Boys march to Capitol as mob assembles	4,065	4,065
Bombs discovered near Capitol Complex	168	168
Attack begins near Peace Monument, led by Proud Boys	13,356	13,356
Attackers on west terrace breach Senate Wing hallway	16,499	16,499
Evacuation of leadership amid Capitol lockdown	27,161	27,161
Oath Keepers arrive and breach Rotunda	2,280	2,280
QAnon follower killed by police while attempting to breach Speaker's Lobby	7,551	7,551
Attack on the Tunnel	5,873	5,873
Police clear the Capitol and Congress reconvenes	1,868	1,868
Federal officials' conduct	32	50,864
Trump's conduct	12,091	30,771
Inflammatory speech while knowing of weapons	2,934	2,934
Allegation that he assaulted a Secret Service driver	4,654	4,654
Endangering Mike Pence	8,163	8,163
Failure to end the attack	2,929	2,929
Capitol Police leadership's failure to prepare	2,686	2,686
Department of Defense leadership's refusal to send Guard	12,068	12,068
Congressional conduct	2,885	2,885
Deletion of Secret Service and Homeland Security text messages	2,422	2,422
Participants, groups, and criminal charges	6,836	62,719
Proud Boys	4,027	4,027
Oath Keepers	6,247	6,247
QAnon	8,780	8,780
White supremacists, neo-Nazis, and neo-Confederates	12,285	12,285
Others	8,265	8,265
Police and military connections	6,183	6,183
Analysis	10,096	10,096
Results	13	26,658
Casualties and suicides	14,070	14,070
Damage	8,700	8,700
Laptop theft and cybersecurity concerns	3,875	3,875
Aftermath	17	10,413
Political, legal, and social repercussions	4,600	4,600
Domestic reactions	2,571	2,571
International reactions	131	131
14th Amendment disqualification	3,094	3,094
Analysis and terminology	1,754	12,451
Historians' perspectives	10,697	10,697
See also	1,220	1,220
Notes	31	31
References	14,401	14,401
External links	964	10,478
Federal government	3,127	3,127
Video	2,113	2,113
Timeline	4,274	4,274
Total	482,574	482,574

Did Pelosi get told by Trump to have more guards/police/etc.?

Latest comment: 4 days ago4 comments3 people in discussion

Did Pelosi get told by Trump to have more guards/police/etc.? Seems pretty notable if so. But I saw nothing in the article about it by searching for Pelosi. Misty MH (talk) 04:11, 28 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

This is a common falsehood that has circulated, which is why it's not in the article. See this fact check by the AP. – Muboshgu (talk) 04:24, 28 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

Misty MH (talk) 04:11, 28 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

Or, no he did not. Slatersteven (talk) 12:13, 28 May 2024 (UTC)Reply

Add topic