"Jan. 6, Five Years later" gallery now available.

“Jan. 6, Five Years later” gallery now available.

January 8, 2026

Police officers attacked and injured at the U.S. Capitol on 6 Jan. 2021, L-R: Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, Aquilino Gonell, and Daniel Hodges. All four officers testified to the House Jan. 6 select committee. (A. Kotok)

New photos from an event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 6 Jan. 2021 insurrection on Capitol Hill are now available in a TechNewsLit gallery on Smugmug. The Jim Acosta Show, a Substack and YouTube media operation, organized and produced the event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on 6 Jan 2026.

The event featured two panels moderated by Acosta, a former CNN correspondent and anchor that left the network after a demotion following complaints about his coverage from the first-term Trump White House. The first panel had former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R—IL) who served on the House Jan. 6 select committee, along with four U.S. Capitol and D.C. police officers assaulted by the mob on Jan. 6, 2021. (shown above).

Of the four officers, Michael Fanone made the most searing impression. Fanone was a U.S. Capitol Police officer on 6 Jan. 2021, and was tased, beaten, and chemically sprayed by the mob suffering a heart attack and traumatic brain injuries as a result. He and the other three officers on the panel later testified about their experiences before the House Jan. 6 select committee.

Close-up of Michael Fanone’s arms and hands. (A. Kotok)

Heavily tattooed, Fanone made little eye contact with the audience as he spoke, I was sitting in the front row, a few feet from the panel, and did not recall seeing Fanone smile once during the event. All of the former officers called for renewed criminal prosecution of Donald Trump and others involved with the Jan. 6 insurrection.

In the second panel, four commentators — of which, three were former Republican officials — talked about the legacy of 6 Jan. 2021 and actions to fix the damage done by Trump and MAGA since then. That panel had:

Glenn Kirschner, a U.S. Army veteran, former U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., and a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
Olivia Troye, former national security adviser to vice-president Michael Pence, and earlier served with the National Counterterrorism Center and other intelligence agencies.
Miles Taylor, a lifelong Republican who became chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term.
Tara Setmayer, co-founder and CEO of The Seneca Project, a women's politicial advocacy organization.

Acosta also connected with historian and essayist Heather Cox Richardson for a brief remote interview, and read a statement from academy-award winning actor Robert De Niro.