Issue Brief: Understanding emerging trends in January 6 “Political Prisoners” demonstrations, January 2021 - January 2022

As the first anniversary of the January 6 attacks approaches, national attention has turned to conflicting commemorations of the day itself. A brief period of bipartisan calls for accountability in 2021 ultimately gave way to revisionism, and in some cases outright conspiracy theories, including from some Republican lawmakers looking to maintain favor with former President Trump. One of the most concerning narratives includes framing arrested rioters as “political prisoners” by either denying documented actions or claiming cases are politically motivated. Few if any uses of the “political prisoner” narrative have been linked to wider calls to improve treatment for all prisoners or other criminal justice reform, suggesting attention on prison conditions is being used primarily to amplify divisive narratives and fear — rather than as an opening to engage on a topic with potential to promote bipartisan cooperation. Though currently limited in total number, the migration of these narratives from online discussion to offline demonstrations and activity merit specific attention. BDI reviewed two event-based datasets — The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and Crowd Counting Consortium (CCC) — that monitor offline demonstration and certain political violence, to capture any publically reported events related to “January 6 Political Prisoners” or “Justice for Ashli Babbitt.”