Consider This from NPR Why did NPR build an archive of January 6th documents?
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Feb 21, 2026 
Tom Dreisbach, an NPR investigative correspondent who led the effort to build a comprehensive January 6 archive. He explains why preserving video, records, and case data mattered. He describes months of obsessive footage review, surprising military and veteran links, and individual human stories. He also discusses how narratives shifted and why a public record was crucial.
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A Public Record To Preserve History
- NPR built a comprehensive archive from thousands of videos, court exhibits and records to preserve January 6th history.
- The project aimed to make primary evidence public as the official narrative risked being rewritten.
Obsessive Video Review Led To Military Findings
- Tom Dreisbach describes obsessively watching video and tracking military ties among defendants early on.
- That reporting found about 20% were veterans, prompting a Pentagon review of extremism in the ranks.
Data From Affidavits Revealed Sentencing Patterns
- The archive included coded data from arrest affidavits to quantify ties to extremist groups and sentencing outcomes.
- That analysis showed median jail time was 30 days and about a third received no jail time.