In our March 2021 issue, I penned an article describing the January 6th riot at the US Capitol, the dangers posed by a growing violent alt-right movement, and what must be done to protect our democracy. Now in September 2021, we can see clearly the compounding repercussions of the attack on our democracy. 

Qanon and adjacent conspiracy theories have spiraled out of control; dooming the country’s hope at reaching herd immunity as millions of people have flocked to the anti-vax banner fueled by the rhetoric of politicians such as Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Right-wing anchors on Fox invented a new COVID conspiracy that led thousands of their trusting followers to ingest horse dewormer. A man drove a truck bomb to the steps of the Library of Congress, demanding that President Biden stop giving illegal immigrants free healthcare while his family was uninsured; an echo of right-wing talking points. Qanon even has made it to Santa Barbara, when Surf Instructor Matthew Coleman murdered his two young children claiming they were infested with “serpent DNA” and admitted to following Qanon. 

While conspiracy theories radicalize people unchecked, the Biden Administration fails to act decisively to prosecute the January 6th Insurrection. Much of the blame is to fall on Attorney General Merrick Garland. Instead of aggressively prosecuting the insurrectionists who openly advocated for the murder of government officials and organized collectively to plan the attack, the Justice Department is acting so slowly in identifying persons of interest and making arrests the House decided to form a special committee in investigating the attack independent of the administration and wannabe detective groups have taken online to identify rioters who attacked Capitol Police officers and others who broke into the Capitol. 

We cannot allow America to forget the insurrection or the efforts of Donald Trump to overturn a democratic election. The House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack must unearth everything in order to prove the significance of the attack. Without publicity and attention focused on the Republican Party’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the public will become complacent and soon our democratic institutions will fall.