By The Washington Times Newsroom – Tuesday, January 13, 2026

TLDR:

• Virginia legislation would mandate public schools describe Jan. 6, 2021, as an “unprecedented, violent attack” on democratic institutions
• The bill prohibits teaching materials from portraying the Capitol riot as peaceful protest or suggesting election fraud changed 2020 results
• Republicans and Democrats continue battling over the historical narrative five years after the event
• The legislation carries no penalties and wouldn’t require schools to teach about Jan. 6 at all

Virginia public schools would be legally required to describe the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as an “unprecedented, violent attack” under legislation introduced by Delegate Dan Helmer ahead of Wednesday’s General Assembly session.

The Fairfax Democrat’s bill would prohibit instructional materials from portraying the event as a peaceful protest or suggesting widespread election fraud could have changed the 2020 presidential election results.

Schools teaching about Jan. 6 must describe it as an attack “on U.S. democratic institutions, infrastructure, and representatives for the purpose of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election,” according to the bill’s language.

Mr. Helmer said the legislation would “make sure that our history is protected” as “Trump and MAGA Republicans across the country are trying to rewrite this history — turning traitors into patriots.”

The bill represents the latest front in a five-year battle between Republicans and Democrats to control the narrative about what happened when pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

A new White House webpage unveiled on the riot’s fifth anniversary states Democrats “reversed reality after January 6, branding peaceful patriotic protesters as ’insurrectionists.’”

The Virginia legislation wouldn’t apply to private schools, wouldn’t require teaching about Jan. 6, and includes no criminal penalties for non-compliance.