State Sen. John Liu has called on the state Legislature to pass legislation requiring New York public schools to teach students about the “true history” of the Jan. 6 United States Capitol attack, when thousands of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol in a bid to prevent the counting of electoral college votes to formalize the victory of then-President-elect Joe Biden.
Liu introduced S6123/ A3966 alongside Assembly Member Charles Lavine during the 2025 legislative session, responding to what Liu described as President Donald Trump’s attempt to “spin revisionist narratives” about the Jan. 6 attacks. Ahead of the fifth anniversary of the attacks on Tuesday, Liu and Lavine once again called on the state legislature to pass the legislation.
Trump pardoned almost 1,600 individuals convicted of or awaiting trial for offenses related to the attack on the first day of his second term in office last January. He also described the riot as a “day of love” during the 2024 presidential election campaign.
Hundreds were injured during the attacks, including 174 Capitol Police officers, while the riots were estimated to have caused $2.7 million in damages to the Capitol. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died within 36 hours of the attack after he suffered two strokes during the riots. Sicknick had been pepper-sprayed by two rioters during the Capitol attacks, but the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia later ruled that he died due to natural causes.
Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was also fatally shot by police officers after repeatedly ignoring warnings not to climb through a window of a barricaded door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby in the House Chamber. Babbitt and Sicknick were two of five individuals to die within 36 hours of the Capitol attacks, including two Trump supporters who died of natural causes and one who died of a drug overdose.
Trump was later impeached by the House of Representatives for “incitement of insurrection” for allegedly rallying his supporters to storm the Capitol.
Earlier on Jan. 6, Trump had repeated false claims about a stolen election and told his supporters to “fight like hell.” Trump also delayed deploying the DC National Guard until after 5 p.m., when most of the rioters had dispersed.
He was subsequently acquitted after the Senate failed to reach a two-thirds majority.
Liu said his legislation would combat Trump’s efforts to “gaslight the American people.”
“Five years after the Donald Trump-led Capitol insurrection, his administration continues to spin revisionist narratives to gaslight the American people into believing the events of that fateful day were somehow not a violent assault on our democracy,” Liu said in a statement.
“In an age when conspiracy theories are able to inspire and incite such wanton political violence, it is more important than ever that our schools equip the next generation with the truth, free from bias, and without prejudice, in order to protect our democracy.”
The legislation would require New York public schools to include instruction on Jan. 6 alongside existing coursework civic education, such as slavery and the Holocaust.
Lavine, who represents New York’s 13th Assembly District in Nassau County, said the legislation was necessary because of the President’s “all-out effort to erase the January 6th insurrection.”
Lavine further accused the Trump Administration of moving the United States toward an “autocracy” by whitewashing parts of the nation’s history. He added that the US has a “solemn obligation” to teach its children the truth.
“Without it, our struggle to establish a more perfect union and ability to remain, as Lincoln put it, ‘earth’s last best hope,’ is in mortal peril,” Lavine said.
The Trump Administration has not yet responded to a request for comment.
