Virginia lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Abigail Spanberger for signature on Tuesday that would prohibit schools from teaching that the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a peaceful protest.
Instead, the curriculum would require the events, if schools choose to teach them, to be described as "an unprecedented, violent attack on U.S. democratic institutions, infrastructure, and representatives for the purpose of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election."
The law, among the first of its kind to be passed, would also prevent instruction suggesting "that there was extensive election fraud that could have changed or actually changed the results of the 2020 presidential election."
"The beginning of dictatorship starts when we tell lies about commonly accepted truths," said Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer in a discussion of House Bill 333 posted on his Facebook page on Feb. 9. Helmer, a Democrat who is running for a U.S. House seat, penned the bill. "It ensures that our public schools teach the truth if school boards choose to teach about Jan. 6."
The Virginia National Guard and state police were among first responders defending the Capitol against insurrectionists on Jan. 6, with some suffering long-term injuries as a result, according to Helmer.
A state bill proposed in New York last year would require all schools to teach about the Jan. 6 attack and its aftermath as part of instruction to "promote a spirit of patriotic and civic service and obligation and to foster in the children of the state moral and intellectual qualities which are essential in preparing to meet the obligations of citizenship in peace or in war."
Even in states without such measures, like Michigan, teachers are weaving Jan. 6 into their lesson plans, including in history classes.
In Virginia, Spanberger, a Democrat, is likely to sign the newly passed legislation into law. The bill passed the state's senate on March 2 in a 21-19 vote, split among party lines, with Republicans voting against the measure. The state's House of Delegates voted to pass the measure in a 63-35 vote in February, also along party lines.
Democrats' version of the events that unfolded on Jan. 6, 2021, stands in contrast to the White House's account, which describes the insurrectionists as "peaceful patriotic protesters" with "no evidence of armed rebellion or intent to overthrow the government."
On his first day back in office in January 2025, President Donald Trump issued sweeping blanket pardons and commutations for nearly 1,600 "patriotic Americans prosecuted for their presence at the Capitol." At least 33 now face other unrelated criminal charges, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit organization.
