Most Americans say it is very important to prosecute Capitol rioters; nearly half expect their penalties will be too lax

March 18, 2021

Large Majority of the Public Views Prosecution of Capitol Rioters as ‘Very Important’

Most Americans say it is very important to prosecute Capitol rioters; nearly half expect their penalties will be too lax

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Most Americans say it is very important to prosecute Capitol rioters; nearly half expect their penalties will be too lax

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Large Majority of the Public Views Prosecution of Capitol Rioters as ‘Very Important’
Majority of Republicans say too much attention is being paid to the Capitol riot and its impacts
Sharp partisan differences on whether right-wing and left-wing extremism are major problems in the U.S.
Black adults more likely than Whites and Hispanics to say too little attention has been paid to the Capitol riot
Most Americans say it is very or somewhat important to find and prosecute the Capitol rioters
Black adults have less confidence in law enforcement to find, prosecute Jan. 6 rioters
About half of Americans say Trump should have been convicted by Senate for his role in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
Fewer than half of Republicans who said previously that Trump had won the 2020 election now say it is very important to prosecute the Capitol rioters
Right-wing and left-wing extremism are viewed more widely as major problems than Islamic or Christian extremism
In both parties, most say right-wing and left-wing extremism are major or minor problems
Republicans and Democrats are divided internally by ideology over political and religious extremism
Republicans more likely than Democrats to say they know ‘nothing at all’ about QAnon
Views of QAnon supporters are overwhelmingly unfavorable, though intensity varies among partisans
Partisan divides on whether it is ‘very important’ to prosecute Capitol rioters and in views of their likely penalties

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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