Three years later, the factors that led to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol have not dissipated, leaving open the possibility of future threats to American democracy, a group of lawmakers, watchdogs and others said Friday.

At a news conference outside the Capitol on the eve of the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said former President Donald Trump and his supporters still have not accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump has falsely claimed widespread election fraud lifted Joe Biden to victory.

“That was the cause of the riots and violent insurrection and the attempted political coup that took place on Jan. 6,” Raskin said. 

The Maryland congressman said, according to political scientists, Trump’s efforts have the “the hallmarks of authoritarian or fascist political party.”

“They reject the results of democratic elections that don't go their way, No. 1, and No. 2 is they embrace political violence as an instrument for attaining political power,” Raskin said.

Meanwhile, Trump is vowing, if reelected, to pardon people convicted of crimes related to Jan. 6, Raskin noted. About 900 people have either pleaded guilty to charges or been convicted at trial, according to the Justice Department.

“There are people who've been convicted of assaulting federal officers, people convicted of seditious conspiracy — which means conspiracy to overthrow the government — people convicted of destroying federal property and so on,” Raskin said. “Donald Trump is saying that he is going to pardon all of these people, and he means it.”

Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was on the force on Jan. 6, said Saturday’s anniversary will be a “solemn day” for him and his colleagues. 

He criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for ordering the faces of people who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 be blurred in released surveillance video. Johnson said the blurring was needed “because we don’t want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ.”

While federal prosecutors have access to the unblurred footage, the unaltered release could have led to members of the public identifying some suspects who have yet to be charged. 

“I risked my life, my colleagues risked their lives protecting them [members of Congress] on Jan. 6, and that's not how you support the police officers,” Gonell said. “That's not how you support us — the law enforcement, all police officers. You claim to be the party of law and order, and you're not proving that you are. 

“When you call those people ‘patriots,’ what [does] that makes us, the police officers? What does that make us, the law enforcement officers? What was our sacrifice for, if you keep calling them ‘patriots’”?

Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said the “hard truth” is that the United States has not done enough to protect democracy since Jan. 6.

She called for adequately funding elections, protecting election workers and officials, fighting disinformation, and holding “the perpetrators of the big lie” accountable.

“Together, we can all make sure that we don't repeat these mistakes, that we have a robust democracy that is backed up by the confidence of the American people, that can hold criminal actors accountable and one where elections are safe,” she said.

Dustin Czarny, elections commissioner in Onondaga County, New York, cited statistics showing that many election officials have reported facing physical threats and harassment. A substantial percentage of lead elections officers have left their positions, leaving newcomers in charge, Czarny said.

“And they've all left because of the harassment, because of the targeting that it's happened because of the big lie,” said Czarny, who said he is pushing for federal legislation to protect election workers. “We have lost hundreds, if not thousands, of years of experience of election officials going into the crucial 2024 presidential election.”

Meanwhile, Donald Sherman, executive vice president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, argued the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, should disqualify Trump from serving as president again.

Two states — Colorado and Maine — have removed Trump from their primary ballots, citing the 14th Amendment, and challenges are pending in several other states. 

Section 3 of the amendment makes ineligible anyone from serving in a wide range of federal and state offices if they have taken an oath of office to protect the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, is appealing the Colorado and Maine rulings, and the matter is expected to ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“Inciting a violent mob to overturn an election and disenfranchise millions of Americans is exactly the kind of undemocratic activity that meets this test,” Sherman said. 

“Section 3,” Sherman said. “was literally built for this moment. The only question is, are we? Are our courts?  If we don't use this tool to defend our democracy now, we may be facing another insurrection a year from now or further into the future."