Talk:January 6 United States Capitol attack

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Current consensus on size and organization:

The specific subjects of international and domestic reactions, the aftermath, the death of Brian Sicknick, the law enforcement response, and the events at state capitols and other cities, are not covered in full detail here but in the linked articles. Portions of those articles are transcluded here, if opportune, per WP:SYNC.
As long as the article is too long (true as of Nov 5) it should be shortened, but the Very long tag should not be used (for the whole article); instead, Very long section tags could be used. An idea to use more refined methods of managing length (copyediting, moving information to notes, refining/trimming transcluded sections, etc.), instead of further splitting and more routine removal was agreed on here and here.

Current consensus on naming and terminology:

The page's title was moved to 'January 6 United States Capitol attack' after this move request.
The decision to not use the word "urge" in the lead, in reference to Trump's actions, was agreed in this subsection.
There is no consensus to call this event Terrorism as per this RFC

WP:ACDS actions:

~~Under ACDS, starting Jan 16, a move request cannot be opened nor be closed to move to a title using the word "insurrection" for a month. See the Arbitration enforcement log (diff) for details.~~ Expired since Feb 16, 2021
Under ACDS, only users who possess the extended-confirmed user right may close discussions for this page. See the Arbitration enforcement log (diff) for details.

A news item involving this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "In the news" column on January 6, 2021.

This article has previously been nominated to be moved.

Discussions:

RM, 2021 United States Capitol protests → 2021 United States coup d'etat attempt, Not moved, 6 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol protests → 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Moved, 6 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → United States Capitol insurrection, Procedural close, 7 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 breach of the United States Capitol, Procedural close, 8 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → The Trump insurrection, Procedural close, 9 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 breach of US Capitol, Not moved, 15 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → Storming of the United States Capitol, Procedural close, 16 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → Insurrection at the United States Capitol, Not moved, 16 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 Terrorist Attack on the United States Capitol, Not moved, 21 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 United States Capitol riot, Not moved, 23 January 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 United States Capitol attack, Not moved, 4 February 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → Storming of the United States Capitol, Procedural close, 16 February 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → January 6 United States Capitol attack, Moved to 2021 United States Capitol attack, 31 May 2021, discussion
Move Review initiated 1 June 2021. Overturned, moved to 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, 1 August 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 storming of the United States Capitol → 2021 United States Capitol attack, Moved to 2021 United States Capitol attack, 2 August 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol attack → January 6 attack, Not moved, 7 November 2021, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol attack → January 6 United States Capitol attack, No consensus, 8 January 2022, discussion
RM, 2021 United States Capitol attack → January 6 United States Capitol attack, Moved, 28 July 2022, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → 2021 United States Capitol attack, Not moved, 9 January 2023, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → 2021 United States coup d'état attempt, Not moved, 31 January 2023, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack, No consensus, 21 January 2024, discussion
RM, January 6 United States Capitol attack → January 6 insurrection, No consensus, 26 January 2024, discussion

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Text has been copied to or from this article; see the list below. The source pages now serve to provide attribution for the content in the destination pages and must not be deleted as long as the copies exist. For attribution and to access older versions of the copied text, please see the history links below.

Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → International reactions to the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Domestic reactions to the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Death of Brian Sicknick (diff)
Copied 2021 storming of the United States Capitol (oldid, history) → Law enforcement response to the 2021 United States Capitol attack (diff)

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This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report 2 times. The weeks in which this happened:

January 3 to 9, 2021 (5th)
January 10 to 16, 2021 (7th)

This article has been mentioned by multiple media organizations:

Alex Pasternack (2021-01-14). "As a mob attacked the Capitol, Wikipedia struggled to find the right words". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
Alex Hern (2021-01-15). "Wikipedia at 20: last gasp of an internet vision, or a beacon to a better future?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15. At 6.34pm UK time on 6 January this year, one Wikipedia editor, with the username Another Believer, decided that events in Washington looked important enough to warrant an article. Tentatively titled "January 2021 Donald Trump rally", the initial entry was brief: "On 6 January 2021, thousands of Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington DC to reject results of the November 2020 presidential election." {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2021-01-15 suggested (help)
Heather Kelly (2021-01-15). "On its 20th birthday, Wikipedia might be safest place online". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-01-15. This month, the online encyclopedia's strengths and quirks were on full display as hundreds of volunteers furiously worked to create a page for the Capitol riots as events unfolded Jan. 6. As it transitioned from a protest to something more violent, Wikipedia's volunteer editors added key details while debating the article title, as shared by editor Molly White. Was it a protest, an insurrection or a riot? It ended up the "2021 storming of the United States Capitol." Hundreds of people were working on the ballooning document at a time, which has now been touched by nearly 1,000 editors, is more than 10,000 words long and has been viewed nearly 2 million times.
Stephen Harrison (2021-01-15). "To Celebrate Wikipedia's 20th Birthday, Try Editing It". Slate. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-01-15. Take the recent debate over the nomenclature that Wikipedia should use to describe last week's frightening events. Should that destruction and violence be described as President Donald Trump's supporters "storming" the United States Capitol, an "insurrection," or a "coup attempt"? Is it "terrorism"? "The long-standing consensus is that article titles on events, such as this, should reflect how reliable sources have described the event," said Chet Long, one of Wikipedia's long-term volunteer administrators, who edits under the username Coffee. The issue here was that reliable sources have covered the event using all of that nomenclature. At publication time, the Wikipedia article is named "2021 storming of the United States Capitol" based on the consensus of editors that the majority of media sources have also characterized it as a "storming." Of course, reasonable minds can disagree on that decision, which developed after spirited, reasoned debate. One thing is clear: That's not a boring issue. The language that the world's most popular internet encyclopedia uses to describe the events of Jan. 6, 2021, will affect how that day will be perceived by the public in both the short and long term.
Grace Gedye (2021-02-04). "When the Capitol Was Attacked, Wikipedia Went to Work". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2021-02-04. As protestors at the Capitol turned violent, one major debate among Wikipedia editors was how to describe the event in the page's title. Was it a protest? A riot? An insurrection? A coup attempt?
Stephen L. Carter (2022-08-02). "Are We in a Recession? Don't Ask Wikipedia". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-09-02. And nobody will be surprised to learn that the page designated "2021 United States Capitol Attack" is also partly locked. Fierce argument rages even over what the page should be called.

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Section sizes

Section size for January 6 United States Capitol attack (58 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	79,492	79,492
Background	35	81,043
Attempts to overturn the presidential election	18,714	18,714
Planning of January 6 events	18,815	32,265
Seditious conspiracy by Oath Keepers and Proud Boys	13,450	13,450
Predictions of violence	17,433	17,433
Law enforcement and National Guard preparations	12,596	12,596
Trump supporters gather in D.C.	14,936	49,763
January 5 meetings	3,724	3,724
Bombs placed	5,120	5,120
January 6 Trump rally	12,648	25,983
Trump's speech	13,335	13,335
Attack on the Capitol	3,435	82,045
Proud Boys march to Capitol as mob assembles	4,065	4,065
Bombs discovered near Capitol Complex	168	168
Attack begins near Peace Monument, led by Proud Boys	13,356	13,356
Attackers on west terrace breach Senate Wing hallway	16,288	16,288
Evacuation of leadership amid Capitol lockdown	27,161	27,161
Oath Keepers arrive and breach Rotunda	2,280	2,280
QAnon follower killed by police while attempting to breach Speaker's Lobby	7,551	7,551
Attack on the Tunnel	5,873	5,873
Police clear the Capitol and Congress reconvenes	1,868	1,868
Federal officials' conduct	32	50,657
Trump's conduct	11,884	30,564
Inflammatory speech while knowing of weapons	2,934	2,934
Allegation that he assaulted a Secret Service driver	4,654	4,654
Endangering Mike Pence	8,163	8,163
Failure to end the attack	2,929	2,929
Capitol Police leadership's failure to prepare	2,686	2,686
Department of Defense leadership's refusal to send Guard	12,068	12,068
Congressional conduct	2,885	2,885
Deletion of Secret Service and Homeland Security text messages	2,422	2,422
Participants, groups, and criminal charges	6,836	62,714
Proud Boys	4,027	4,027
Oath Keepers	6,250	6,250
QAnon	8,780	8,780
White supremacists, neo-Nazis, and neo-Confederates	12,277	12,277
Others	8,265	8,265
Police and military connections	6,183	6,183
Analysis	10,096	10,096
Results	13	26,658
Casualties and suicides	14,070	14,070
Damage	8,700	8,700
Laptop theft and cybersecurity concerns	3,875	3,875
Aftermath	17	10,413
Political, legal, and social repercussions	4,600	4,600
Domestic reactions	2,571	2,571
International reactions	131	131
14th Amendment disqualification	3,094	3,094
Analysis and terminology	1,754	12,451
Historians' perspectives	10,697	10,697
See also	1,220	1,220
Notes	31	31
References	14,401	14,401
External links	964	10,457
Federal government	3,127	3,127
Video	2,113	2,113
Timeline	4,253	4,253
Total	481,345	481,345

What is a "method"?

In the infobox, some "methods" are listed that were employed in the January 6 attack. It is a tragic property of this infobox design that it's never really clear what's supposed to be included here due to methods and goals often times being one and the same, but this specific instance also suffers from the infobox seemingly not being aware of the article's scope.

What is the article is about? The January 6 US Capitol attack. It is not about the broader efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Here is a list of entries that I take issue with then:

"Far-right terrorism". What exactly is this supposed to denote? It could be argued that the January 6 attack was an act of terrorism, yes. But to then say that it employed terrorism in order to accomplish terrorism is absurd. Acts of terrorism employ violence. That is what should be listed, and it already is. "Terrorism" is vague and question-begging in this context.
"Political subversion: propaganda (big lie)". Propaganda is hardly a method for attacking a building. The most that could be argued is that propaganda was used in order to recruit the people who participated. But this is far too removed, and more fitting of the broader efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
"Conspiracy". So what if the attack was planned? This isn't a method for the attack, but for organising the attack. We don't list "conspiracy" as a method for every single mass movement just because some of the participants conspired, and we shouldn't.
"Incitement of insurrection". Beyond having more to do with the events preceding the attack than the attack itself, this is also uncited.
"Attacking a legislature". This is obvious. The infobox already calls it an "attack", and it was directed against the legislature. The reader should not have it spelled out for them that and those engaging in an attack on a legislature are "attacking a legislature".

Dieknon (talk) 18:57, 30 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]