Four Years After January 6, The Threat of Extremism and Political Violence Has Only Grown

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), released the following statement to mark four years since the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Spitalnick previously led the successful legal effort to hold accountable the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the August 2017 Charlottesville violence.

“Four years after the horrific insurrection at the Capitol, the threat of extremism and political violence has only grown.

In so many ways, January 6 was fueled by the same increasingly mainstream conspiracy theories that also inspired a cycle of deadly violence throughout this country: in Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Poway, El Paso, Buffalo, and beyond. The lie that this country is being ‘stolen’ through voter fraud, immigration, and other actions funded and controlled by shadowy actors has led to mass violence targeting the Jewish, Black, Latino, and other communities – and is used to pit communities against one another and fundamentally sow distrust in our institutions and our democracy. In turn, as our democratic norms and values erode, it only allows antisemitism and other forms of hate to flourish.

Yet political leaders continue to normalize these conspiracy theories to justify dehumanizing policies and bigotry, while also valorizing the extremists responsible for this violence. In particular, we remain deeply alarmed by President-elect Trump’s repeated efforts to discount the severity of the January 6 insurrection and his role in it, and his continued promises to issue pardons for those responsible ‘in the first hour’ he’s in office.

Accountability matters. We saw this firsthand in Charlottesville, where our civil lawsuit led to major financial, operational, and legal consequences for those responsible for that violence, and has since become a model for legal accountability post-January 6. 

But this accountability also requires our political leaders to reject such extremism rather than give it cover or license, and to build whole-of-government and whole-of-society efforts necessary to truly combat hate and build democratic resiliency.

JCPA remains committed to working in coalition with our partners to protect our communities and our democracy at this crucial moment – countering the deadly, hateful conspiracy theories and bigotry that have fueled violence like January 6 and advancing the policies necessary for all of us to be safe. Even as the loudest voices tell us otherwise, we know that our safety as Jews is inextricably linked to the health and vibrancy of our democracy and the rights and safety of all communities.”

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