JUDY WOODRUFF: One month ago this Saturday, a mob of Americans stormed the Capitol in
a failed attempt to deny Joe Biden's victory in the November election.
The Department of Justice has arrested and charged rioters, and the Biden administration
has launched a review of what it calls domestic violent extremism.
Nick Schifrin provides an update on the criminal consequences so far and the threat that remains
persistent. And then Yamiche Alcindor has a conversation on the country's seemingly
cavernous political divide.
Let's begin with Nick's report.
NICK SCHIFRIN: They broke through barricades, assaulted police, shattered windows, and,
once inside, destroyed and stole property. Over the past month, the Justice Department
charged more than 180 rioters.
MICHAEL SHERWIN, Acting U.S. Attorney For District of Columbia: The scope and scale
of this investigation and these cases are really unprecedented.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Michael Sherwin is acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
MICHAEL SHERWIN: This is not going to be solved overnight. It's not going to be solved within
the coming weeks. It's not going to be solved within the coming months.
NICK SCHIFRIN: With each new charge, there's a clearer picture of the diverse groups who
attacked the Capitol, longtime conspiracy theorists, like self-proclaimed QAnon Shaman,
who goes by Jake Angeli, as seen in "New Yorker" video.
LARRY RENDALL BROCK JR., Suspect: I understand it's an I.O. war.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Military veterans and law enforcement, including retired Lieutenant Colonel Larry
Rendall Brock Jr., who used a military term referring to information operations.
Trump supporters who say they were swept into the crowd, a 22-year-old care worker, Riley
June Williams, seen here before she allegedly stole a laptop from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's
office.
MAN: Proud Boys.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And law enforcement says, playing a key role, right-wing extremists. Video shows
members of the militia the Oath Keepers, and four January 6 indictments are for members
of the Proud Boys, recently designated a terrorist group by Canada.
They face charges including conspiracy, disorderly conduct, and obstructing or impeding an official
proceeding, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.
MICHAEL GERMAN, Former FBI Special Agent: Many of these groups were very explicit about
their violent intentions.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Since the '90s, retired FBI Special Agent Michael German has tracked white
supremacists and right-wing militias.
MICHAEL GERMAN: There is tremendous amount of public evidence that can be used even today
to target the most violent actors.
I am concerned that the FBI in particular and the Department of Justice are focusing
on January 6 as if it a sui generis event, and not recognizing that many of these people
had been engaging in violence around the country for months or years.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In Charlottesville in 2017, a neo-Nazi plowed his car into an anti-white
supremacy protest, killing one woman. Most recently, at the Million MAGA March in Washington,
D.C., in November, Proud Boys members brawled with counterprotesters. One man was stabbed.
And another D.C. rally in December resulted in more clashes, multiple stabbings, and a
couple dozen arrested.
JANE HOLL LUTE, Former U.S. Homeland Security Deputy Secretary: All the signs were there
that some of the supporters of Donald Trump were serious, they were dangerous.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Jane Holl Lute was deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under
President Obama. She says, even a decade ago, federal reports voicing concern about right-wing
extremism were disparaged, and their authors punished.
Lute says that accelerated under President Trump.
JANE HOLL LUTE: People were reluctant to put out reports of the factors that we knew were
coalescing to cause us to great concern on January 6.
But no formal statement was issued. And the feeling that we hear is that it was not issued
because, when such things were stated publicly, that individuals paid with their careers.
MICHAEL GERMAN: This was repeated activity that was not being addressed by law enforcement,
which conditioned these groups to believe that this was OK, this was something they
could do, which attracts more violent people who just want to commit violence.
And here's a place they can do it and actually get a pat on the back, rather than handcuffs.
NICK SCHIFRIN: What consequences have rioters paid? Many lost jobs. Most face charges of
entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct. Far fewer have been charged with
more serious crimes.
No one has yet to be charged for the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick,
who lied in honor at the Capitol this week.
JANE HOLL LUTE: There is a definition of domestic terrorism, but, perhaps surprisingly to many
of us, it doesn't carry any criminal penalties.
And so if you're charging individuals who are intent on violence, law enforcement is
having to use, as you say, other statutes and other provisions. But you know the old
saying, the wheels of justice grind slowly. But they grind. And that's what's happening
here.
NICK SCHIFRIN: German says the FBI doesn't need to wait for Congress to act.
MICHAEL GERMAN: There's no new legislation that's required. The FBI has ample authority
in its domestic terrorism portfolio. It's just a matter of focusing their attention
and making sure that they have the direction to actually investigate these crimes.
NICK SCHIFRIN: After the attack, social media tried to stop the spread of the kind of misinformation
that incited the rioters. Twitter suspended tens of thousands of accounts. The right-wing-friendly
social media Parler was taken down. And multiple social media platforms suspended former President
Donald Trump.
As the FBI continues its investigation, the nation's capital is slowly returning to normal.
But 5,000 National Guard troops will remain in D.C. through mid-March, and, last week,
the Department of Homeland Security issued a nationwide domestic terrorism bulletin,
warning that extremists could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.
Is there still an ongoing threat moving forward?
MICHAEL GERMAN: It's the same as the threat that existed on January 5, 2021, or 10 years
before that or 10 years before that. These groups are persistently violent against communities
that don't have the kind of public platform that members of Congress have, right?
So it's important, now that their attention is focused on it, that we actually understand
how this impacts all segments of our society, not just the powerful.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And so, today, the concern is not if, but when extremists will plan for
another violent event, and if law enforcement can prevent it.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.