Does the Military Have an Extremism Problem?

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🗓️ 5 January 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

As Congress meets tomorrow to certify the results of the 2024 election, it also marks the 4-year anniversary of the attack on the Capitol. The participants of the riot on January 6, 2021 intended to disrupt the certification process of the 2020 election results. When it was all over four people were dead, 140 law enforcement officers were wounded and there was nearly $3 million in damage.

There were people from all walks of life at the Capitol that day, but one thing that many of them had in common? Military ties. That reality is something that the military is still grappling with today. On this episode of The Sunday Story from Up First, we are joined by NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and producer Lauren Hodges, who were both at the Capitol reporting that day. Last year they released a new investigation with NPR's Embedded podcast called "A Good Guy," about an active duty Marine who participated in the Capitol riot.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is a Sunday story from Up First. Every Sunday, we do something special,
0:07.7	going beyond the news of the day to bring you one big story. Tomorrow marks four years since the
0:13.9	attack on the U.S. Capitol as Congress attempted to certify President Joe Biden's win in the 2020
0:20.1	election.
0:27.9	On January 6th, 2021, then President Donald Trump, now President-elect once again,
0:31.4	held a rally to dispute the election results.
0:35.3	And then thousands of people charged into the Capitol.
0:38.1	Many were chanting, stopped a steal.
0:40.8	Some broke windows and damaged property.
0:46.4	Others called for the hanging of public officials, like then Vice President Mike Pence and then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
0:49.5	When all was said and done, four people died.
0:53.0	140 law enforcement officers were wounded, and there was nearly $3 million worth of damage.
1:01.2	And the FBI soon opened what would become its biggest criminal investigation in history.
1:07.7	And as the arrest began, something became clear. There were a lot of people with military
1:14.0	ties in the capital that day. It's a fact that continues to have a ripple effect for the Pentagon,
1:20.4	especially now on the eve of another transfer of presidential power. And as Trump continues to
1:26.8	set up the cabinet for his second administration,
1:30.2	Trump recently said that he might pardon some people who were convicted for crimes on January 6th
1:36.6	on his first day in office.
1:39.6	Today on the show, we want to dig into the continued legacy of January 6th, 2021.
1:45.9	Does the military have a problem with political extremism in the ranks?
1:50.6	And what does that mean with Trump returning as commander-in-chief?
	...

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