Georgians testify in front of Jan. 6 committee on anniversary of riots

Caption

On Jan. 6, 2026, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (far right) speaks to the U.S. House panel remembering the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Credit: PBS Newshour livestream

Tuesday marked the five-year anniversary of the deadly Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Democratic House members held a special hearing and heard testimony from Georgians.

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan testified in front of a Democratic panel and said his family received death threats in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

“Within hours of the polls closing and Donald Trump started spreading lies, I stood up to him," Duncan said. "And make no mistake about it: It instantly put a target on my back." 

Then-Republican Duncan famously clashed with President Donald Trump when Trump called into question the legitimacy of the 2020 election results. There is no evidence of mass voter fraud in 2020 in Georgia.

Georgia U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson also testified about his experience in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

"I felt like a sitting duck," he said. "In those moments of self-preservation mode, I thought about jumping from the gallery to the House floor so that I could be evacuated."

The panel consisted of members of the Jan. 6 Committee and other House Democrats. The committee shut down in its official capacity at the beginning of 2023 after completing its investigation, but members reconvened to remember the anniversary of the riots and hear experiences.