2021 United States inauguration week protests
Supporters of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, held small-scale armed protests and demonstrations at U.S. state capitols in the five days leading up to the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021, in opposition to the results of the 2020 United States presidential election, which continued after the failure of the violent January 6 attempt to overturn the election in Trump's favor. Pro-Trump groups failed to stage organized dissent or affect the transition of power in an environment of deterrence and heightened security.
Not to be confused with 2020–21 United States election protests.2021 United States inauguration week protests
January 16–20, 2021
(5 days)
- Continued opposition to the results of the 2020 United States presidential election after the failure of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol and the resumption of the presidential transition
- Donald Trump's and his allies' false claims of 2020 presidential election fraud
- Suspensions of Trump's social media accounts and subsequent impeachment of Trump
- Second Amendment issues[1]
- Right-wing extremism in the United States
Interfere with the transition of the presidency to Joe Biden
Armed protests, demonstrations, civil disobedience, civil resistance, police impersonation,[2] threats of violence, bomb threats[3]
- Inauguration of Joe Biden
- Failure of Trump supporters to stage organized dissent or affect the transition of power
- Heightened security at the United States Capitol building and various state capitol buildings[4][5]
- Several arrests of protestors[6]
Fears of violent protests after a January 11 FBI warning led to a drastic increase in security at state capitols and the United States Capitol, which served as the site of the presidential swearing-in ceremony. Increased monitoring and police presence, closures of public buildings, curfews, temporary fencing, and other security measures were employed in response to the security threat. The United States Capitol was put under the protection of members of the National Guard,[7][4] which was additionally activated in at least 19 states, to protect state capitols.[5]
The protests featured the participation of far-right militia groups that follow right-libertarianism, neo-fascism, neo-Nazism, white supremacism, and other ultranationalist or right-wing ideologies, as well as members of the New Black Panther Party, and the QAnon and boogaloo movements.[1][8] On January 31, 2021, detailed overviews of attempts to subvert the 2020 U.S. presidential election and Biden's inauguration were published by The New York Times.[9][10]
