No one was charged with insurrection from January 6. Federal prosecutors never brought a case under the federal insurrection statute, 18 U.S.C. § 2383, against any of the roughly 1,500 people arrested in connection with the Capitol breach. They used other criminal laws instead, securing more than 1,200 convictions. On January 20, 2025, President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly every one of those defendants.
Why the Insurrection Statute Was Never Used
The federal insurrection law makes it a crime to incite or take part in a rebellion against the authority of the United States. A conviction carries up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a lifetime ban on holding federal office.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2383 – Rebellion or Insurrection The fine ceiling comes from the general federal sentencing statute, which caps felony fines for individuals at $250,000.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 3571 – Sentence of Fine
The Department of Justice never brought this charge. The statute demands proof of an organized uprising aimed at overthrowing the government or blocking the execution of federal law by force. Prosecutors would need to show not just that a defendant entered the Capitol, but that the defendant specifically intended to participate in a comprehensive rebellion against governmental authority. That is a high bar, and a failed prosecution on such a politically charged statute would risk undermining the broader case effort. Other statutes covered the same conduct with elements that were far easier to prove at trial.
What Prosecutors Charged Instead
Seditious Conspiracy
The most serious charge actually brought was seditious conspiracy. This law targets two or more people who conspire to forcibly oppose the government’s authority, block the execution of federal law, or seize government property, and it carries up to twenty years in prison.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2384 – Seditious Conspiracy
Prosecutors used it against leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who allegedly planned and coordinated the use of force to prevent the transfer of presidential power. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes received an 18-year sentence. Four other Oath Keepers members received sentences of three to four and a half years.4Justice.gov. Four Additional Oath Keepers Sentenced for Seditious Conspiracy Related to US Capitol Breach Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio received 22 years, the longest sentence of any January 6 defendant. Seditious conspiracy was easier to prove than insurrection because it targets the agreement to use force, not participation in a full rebellion. Communications, planning documents, and coordinated actions could all serve as evidence.
Obstruction of an Official Proceeding
The most widely used felony charge was obstruction of an official proceeding under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2). Prosecutors argued that defendants who breached the Capitol corruptly obstructed the joint session of Congress certifying the Electoral College results. The charge carries up to twenty years and was applied to hundreds of defendants.
In June 2024, the Supreme Court narrowed the statute. In Fischer v. United States, the Court held that a conviction under § 1512(c)(2) requires proof that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity of records, documents, or other things used in an official proceeding.5Supreme Court of the United States. Fischer v United States Simply being present in the Capitol or disrupting the proceedings physically was no longer enough on its own. Even so, only about 27 defendants convicted solely on this count were actively serving prison time when the decision came down.6Justice.gov. Fact Sheet – Fischer v United States
Assault on Law Enforcement
More than 600 defendants were charged with assaulting or impeding federal police officers. Of those, 174 faced an enhanced version of the charge for using a deadly or dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury. Defendants convicted of assault at trial received average sentences of roughly six years; those who pleaded guilty averaged about three and a half. Nearly every defendant who went to trial on assault charges was convicted.
Misdemeanors
Most January 6 defendants were not charged with serious felonies at all. The single most common charge was parading, demonstrating, or picketing inside a Capitol building, a Class B misdemeanor. In the first year of prosecutions, this charge accounted for roughly three-quarters of all guilty pleas. More than half of the defendants who pleaded guilty to misdemeanors avoided jail time, though judges imposed jail sentences on almost every misdemeanor defendant who insisted on going to trial and lost.
The January 2025 Pardons and Commutations
On his first day back in office, President Trump issued an executive order that effectively ended the January 6 prosecution effort. The order did two things. It commuted the sentences of 14 named individuals to time served, a list that included every defendant convicted of seditious conspiracy: the Oath Keepers leaders Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, and Jessica Watkins among them, and the Proud Boys leaders Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. It then granted a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to the Capitol breach.7The White House. Granting Pardons and Commutation of Sentences for Certain Offenses Relating to the Events at or Near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021
The distinction matters. A commutation reduces the punishment but leaves the conviction on the record, so the 14 seditious conspiracy defendants still carry felony convictions. A full pardon wipes the conviction, so the roughly 1,200 other convicted defendants had their records cleared. The Department of Justice also moved to dismiss cases that had not yet reached conviction. No one currently sits in federal prison for their role in the Capitol breach.
Insurrection Under the Fourteenth Amendment Is a Different Question
The word “insurrection” also appears in Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which bars anyone who previously swore an oath to support the Constitution from holding office if they later “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”8Legal Information Institute. US Constitution – Amendment XIV This is a constitutional eligibility rule, not a criminal statute. It does not require a criminal conviction, and Congress can lift the disqualification by a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
A New Mexico state court applied Section 3 to a January 6 participant, removing Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin from office after finding that he had engaged in insurrection by participating in the Capitol breach. It was the first time since 1869 that a court had disqualified a public official under Section 3.
Attempts to use Section 3 against federal candidates went the other way. In March 2024, the Supreme Court unanimously reversed a Colorado Supreme Court decision that had disqualified a presidential candidate on Section 3 grounds. In Trump v. Anderson, the Court held that states have no power to enforce Section 3 against candidates for federal office. Only Congress can enforce the provision against federal officeholders and candidates.9Supreme Court of the United States. Trump v Anderson (03/04/2024) State-level enforcement remains available only for state offices.
So while “insurrection” was argued in civil and constitutional cases tied to January 6, and one local official was removed on that basis, no one was ever criminally charged with insurrection for what happened at the Capitol.