New York public schools will be required to teach lessons on the violent Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building if a new bill goes into effect.
State Sen. John Liu and Assembly Member Charles Lavine, both of whom represent NYC and Nassau County, respectively, called on Monday for the passage of their legislation requiring public schools to teach students about the infamous day in Washington, DC.
The new legislation, known as S6123/ A3966, was introduced just before the fifth anniversary of the insurrection. It would require schools to include the instruction of the event and its aftermath alongside existing required coursework in civic education and other historical events, such as slavery and the Holocaust.
On Jan. 6, 2021, an angry mob of President Trump’s supporters, militia members and white supremacists set upon the U.S. Capitol building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden won, and Trump lost despite his false assertions that the election was stolen from him.
More than 100 Capitol police officers were injured in the violence. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who had been injured on the Capitol steps, died the day after the vicious attack; an autopsy later revealed that he died of natural causes, which led insurrection deniers to downplay the significance of his death. Two other Capitol officers took their lives in the weeks that followed.
The insurrection resulted in five other deaths, including that of Ashli Babbitt, a military veteran and Trump supporter who was shot and killed when the mob, of which she was part, attempted to breach the office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Over 1,000 people were arrested, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned for their roles in the insurrection. President Trump pardoned them all upon taking office on Jan. 20, 2025, for his second and final term after winning re-election in 2024.
Trump has denied being the catalyst for the Jan. 6 events. His speech earlier that day called for his supporters to “walk down to the Capitol” to “cheer on” some Congress members while opposing others; he had also said, “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Despite the violence, Congress was able to reconvene the evening of Jan. 6, 2021 and certify Biden’s electoral victory. However, 147 House Republicans — including Brooklyn/Staten Island U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis — objected to the certification of some swing state results due to Trump’s claims of voting irregularities.
Combating ‘revisionist history’
Liu wants to pass the education bill in order to provide accurate information to students about the headline-making day.
“In an age when conspiracy theories are able to inspire and incite such wanton political violence, it is more important than ever that our schools equip the next generation with the truth, free from bias, and without prejudice, in order to protect our democracy,” the senator said.
amNewYork contacted the U.S. Department of Education for its response to the bill’s introduction, and is awaiting a response. The department is not without its own Trump troubles. Since taking office on Jan. 20, the President has tried to dismantle the education department and allocate its responsibilities to other agencies—something Liu has vehemently opposed.
“Five years after the Donald Trump-led Capitol insurrection, his administration continues to spin revisionist narratives to gaslight the American people into believing the events of that fateful day were somehow not a violent assault on our democracy,” Liu added.
According to Lavine, the bill is necessary due to Trump’s “all-out effort to erase the Jan. 6 insurrection.”
What do New York parents say?
amNewYork spoke to several parents about the bill. One of them, Len, a father of three from Queens, said he is “strongly” against the bill because he denies that the event was an attack on the Capitol of the United States.
“It was not an insurrection,” he claimed. “It was a disorderly group that police and officials let get way out of hand.”
But Sandro Battaglia of Manhattan said he supports the legislation.
“It’s history and important history at that,” he said. “Teach the warts as well as the wins.”
Stacy Cousino, a public school parent of children in eighth and 12th grades, said she supports the bill.
But a Staten Island mother said she is concerned that the lessons would not be fair or accurate.
“I absolutely don’t support this unless they include all the truths coming out,” she said. “How many were walking around nonviolently?”
Lesley Friedman Rosenthal of the Upper West Side said it is important to teach children about the event.
“The breach of the Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power violated basic norms and threatened our democratic order,” she said. “It’s crucial that our children learn about it so that this dark episode never happens again.
Meanwhile, the bill remains in the Senate and Assembly committees. and must progress through the legislative process before it can become law.
