The Program on Extremism at The George Washington University released a new report coauthored jointly by staff titled “This is Our House!” A Preliminary Assessment of the Capitol Hill Siege Participants.” The report offers new details about the individuals alleged to have stormed the nation’s Capitol, as well as a number of recommendations for how to address the events of January 6th.
At the time of writing, 257 individuals have been charged in federal court for their involvement. They represent a heterogeneous group, with individuals as young as 18 and as old as 70 charged. They came to the Capitol from 40 states, and 91% traveled from outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. 33 individuals have known military backgrounds. Some face as many as 17 counts on their indictment, and charges range from trespassing and illegal entry on designated grounds to seditious conspiracy against the U.S. government.
This report categorizes individuals according to three distinct categories: militant networks, organized clusters, and inspired believers. Based on the report’s findings, the report recommends that the U.S. government improve access to data on domestic terrorism investigations, conduct a systematic review of intelligence gathering and policy response to domestic terrorism alerts, and use existing structures to improve information-sharing between the federal agencies tasked with combating domestic violent extremism.
