The Storming of the Capitol

Why judging January Sixth is a crucial test of history

Do you know what happened one year ago today? Can you honestly say you know who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021? Do you know in what sequence events happened—and where, when, how and why? Do you know the names of those killed or accused? Before answering these basic questions, to use Ayn Rand’s signature phrase, check your premises.

I know more today than I knew when I posted “On When Americans Stormed,” which I wrote in the aftermath of the siege. I know that I do not know every answer and that I think it’s crucial to identify the unknown. That the facts of the nation’s first domestic or citizen attack on America’s Capitol remain either concealed by Congress — film footage should be released, not withheld, for scrutiny — or unreported in the press a year later is fundamentally disturbing. Given the rise of statism and anarchism, it’s another alarming sign that the nation’s in serious trouble.

Occasionally, certain facts come to light from the leftist media establishment. F…