Several people were killed in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the exact number depends on how “killed” and “in connection with” are defined.

Directly during January 6

Most news and official reconstructions draw a line between deaths that happened during the attack and those that happened shortly after but are still linked.

  • Within about 36 hours of the attack, five people died in total.
  • Of those, one person, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer inside the building as she tried to climb through a broken window toward the Speaker’s Lobby.
  • The others included people in the crowd who died of medical emergencies or natural causes (such as heart issues) during the chaos.

So if someone means “killed on January 6 inside the Capitol itself by violence,” the narrow answer is one person (Babbitt).

Broader “in connection with” count

When people discuss the human cost of January 6, they often include deaths that occurred shortly after but are officially connected to that day.

  • A bipartisan Senate report and multiple major outlets describe at least seven deaths as being connected to the attack, counting those who died during the event and in the immediate aftermath.
  • This broader tally can include:
    • Protesters who died of medical emergencies that day.
* A police officer who died of strokes after confrontations with rioters.

Some discussions go even further and mention law-enforcement officers who died by suicide in the weeks and months after responding to the riot, treating them as part of the overall human toll.

Why different numbers appear

Different articles or commentators may say different numbers (5, 7, or “almost 10”) because they are:

  • Using different time windows (only the day itself vs. days or months after).
  • Deciding differently on whether to count suicides and deaths officially labeled “natural causes” as being “killed” by the attack.

In short:

  • Killed by direct use of force on January 6 inside the Capitol: 1 person (Ashli Babbitt).
  • Died during or within about a day of the attack from all causes (violence, medical emergencies, natural causes): commonly cited as 5.
  • Deaths widely described as “in connection with” January 6 in broader official and media tallies: at least 7, with some including additional police suicides in a higher informal count.