Despite ample evidence, Christian nationalism mostly absent from final Jan. 6 report

Asked by lawmakers earlier this year to describe those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, District of Columbia police officer Daniel Hodges told the House select committee tasked with investigating the insurrection that “it was clear the terrorists perceived themselves to be Christians.” Two members of that same committee, Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, also independently noted in conversations with the press the incidence of Christian nationalism. “Had there not been some of these errant prophecies, this idea that God has ordained it to be Trump, I’m not sure January 6 would have happened like it did,” Kinzinger, an evangelical Christian, said on a Christianity Today podcast episode in March. Indeed, the influence of Christian nationalism among the Jan. 6 rioters was clearly evident in the flags and banners they waved.

In the days before the assault, “Jericho Marches,” based on the Bible’s Book of Joshua, circled Capitol Hill praying for the election results to be overturned. When rioters stormed into the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, they huddled in prayer. Yet the committee’s final report, released late on Thursday (Dec. 22), an 845-page document, mentioned Christian nationalism by name exactly once, and only in passing. Some prominent Christian leaders have pressured the committee to examine Christian nationalism, sending a letter to the members earlier this year urging lawmakers to investigate the ideology’s impact on Jan. 6. On Friday, the Rev. Nathan Empsall, head of the group Faithful America and a signer of the letter, released a statement in reaction to the report, saying, “The January 6 committee only giving only passing mention to the pivotal role of Christian nationalism in its final report is a missed opportunity to fully understand what led to violence at the Capitol — and to prevent future political violence.” The report’s one overt reference to Christian nationalism came when describing supporters of Nick Fuentes, a right-wing Catholic who was in Washington, D.C., the day of the insurrection but has not been accused of entering the building itself. The report notes that Fuentes’ followers, often self-described as “Groypers,” have “repeatedly promoted white supremacist and Christian nationalist beliefs,” but did not elaborate in detail as to how.