After Jan. 6 hearings, what happens to Trump supporters who didn’t join the rioting mob?

Many of the men and women convicted of crimes committed during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot said they showed up in Washington D.C. because Donald Trump “asked us to come.”

We should take them at their word.

As the House committee investigating Jan. 6 has meticulously laid out over its first two public hearings, the former president flagrantly ignored many of his closest advisors in order to promote the lie that he lost the 2020 election because of rampant fraud. Through social media, dog whistles and his infamous Jan. 6 speech near the White House where he incited the mob, Trump urged a frenzied crowd filled with conspiracy adherents and militia members to “take back our country” and stop Congress from certifying the election.

For many of the thousands who stormed the halls of Congress, a violent attack at the U.S. Capitol was the logical next step after years of fact-free indoctrination under Trump. These disaffected citizens, susceptible to social media algorithms, far-right websites and a sense of belonging in an amoral Republican Party, merely did what they were told.

“Trump has only asked me for two things,” said Robert Schornack, a Michigan man who received a lighter sentence in exchange for cooperating with the investigation. “He asked me for my vote and he asked me to come (to Washington D.C.) on Jan. 6.”

The House committee hearings reiterate the stakes for our decaying democracy if we allow the man responsible for the insurrection to go unpunished. But an enduring question is what we do with the cult-like followers of misinformed extremism in our communities, and what blend of fire and forgiveness can bring such lost souls back from the depths.

What do we do with people like 34-year-old Sean Michael McHugh of Auburn, a construction worker who remains in jail because of his criminal history and is awaiting federal trial for eight charges, including assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon?

Of the four Sacramento-area residents charged with crimes after the insurrection, McHugh’s are the most severe. He allegedly toted a bullhorn, urging others to advance on the U.S. Capitol, and used bear spray on police officers, according to federal court records. Police body cameras captured him yelling, “You guys like protecting pedophiles?” and, “There is a Second Amendment behind us, what are you going to do then?”

The only difference between McHugh and others who wrongly believe Trump is president is he answered the call. He turned his undemocratic beliefs into action and traveled across the country to do his part to try and stop the peaceful transition of power.

What about the others who share his views but stayed behind?

What about our neighbors who quietly — or outspokenly — cheer when congressional candidates such as Assemblyman Kevin Kiley refuse to say Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election?

What do we do with those who fell for the Dominion voting machine conspiracy dubiously promoted by the Trump campaign and parroted by Fox News — which former Attorney General Bill Barr described in Jan. 6 testimony as “complete nonsense.”

The legacy of those unfounded claims is present across Northern California. It exists in communities like Shasta where sitting Republicans are replaced with far-right extremists and ballot counters say they feel “intimidated” after right-wing voters descended on election offices, as they did last week after the primary. Or it can be as simple as a voter choosing to cast their ballot at a precinct rather than mailing it because they now question institutions they at one point never doubted.

The worst thing we can do is remain apathetic, dismissing Trump Republicans because they aren’t a threat to California’s Democratic supermajority. Steven Hassan, the founder of the Freedom of Mind Resource Center and an expert in cult mind control, believes basics like engagement, reserving judgment and making appeals to their conscience can start unpacking their indoctrination.

“By getting involved with QAnon, followers feel they are part of an elite community, which gives them a sense of belonging,” Hassan wrote in an NBC News op-ed. “That’s a powerful force — but you can work against it if you take the right steps.”

The House committee hearings pose existential questions that demand an urgent response from every person who cares about democracy. The much more difficult question is how we resuscitate reason in alienated Trump supporters so convinced that Trump’s lies are true that they can’t see the damage they are causing — even after Jan. 6, and even after these hearings conclude.

Abandoning them will only cause more chaos.

This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.