Tonight's theme here at the RNC is make America safe again. But hanging over all of this is the assassination attempt on former President Trump, reminding all of us of a problem this country has faced since its founding, political violence. Certainly wasn't the first time we've seen it. Presidents have been killed and wounded, including Teddy Roosevelt, who survived an assassination attempt just blocks away from here in Milwaukee back in 1912. Then there's January sixth, the day federal prosecutors argue was likely the largest single-day assault ever on US law enforcement. This election, we've seen a culmination of years of work by some to rewrite the history of the capital attack. Abc's J O'Brien spent months investigating that, interviewing former January 6 defendants, some of whom are still in prison and has this report.

For those detained, Dennis Adams, Justin Adams, Tommy Allen, Chris Albert, Joshua Atwood, Francis Azari, We came to this vigil in the shadow of the barbed wire and brick of the Washington DC Jail to see this. Every night when the sun sets and the flags come out, the protesters here sing the National Anthem, unlike you've ever heard it before. Joined on the phone from inmates inside that very same jail who faced charges for their role in the January sixth attack on the US Capitol. A day of violence, an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power. That's now become a cornerstone of former President Donald Trump's re-election campaign. Trump even plays a recording of that Jail house rendition of the National Anthem to kick off his rallies and occasionally, salutes. He's promised pardons for January sixth defendants and said this. The hostages, and that's what they are, is hostages. Thank God, J. M. 6 started because now our eyes are open. That is what Nicole Reffin thinks.

I truly believe my husband is at this point. He is a hostage. He's done his time.

That's Nicole's husband, Guy, seen in the blue jacket in this video, used as evidence by the Department of Justice. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Well, yes, of course. People had every right to be there then.

Over months of reporting, we've met several January sixth defendants and their families, whose feelings about the capital attack echo Trump's.

Cold country and Trump country are one in the same.

We're on the backroads of West Virginia Virginia to meet one of them.

This place is really nice.

He's the man giving us this tour, and he served federal prison time for his role in January sixth. All right. He's Derek Evans, a former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

You guys wouldn't be here talking to me right now if January sixth hadn't happened.

Evans was convicted of truspassing at the Capitol and trying to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election. Stop the steal.

Stop the We're going in.

We're going in. In court, prosecutors use this livestream video Evans shot as evidence.

Derek Evans is in the Capitol.

Evans issued an apology for his actions on January sixth. Let's go. And resigned from the state legislature, which he now says he regrets. The federal agent said in your interview with the FBI, you expressed, quote, great shame.

Well, I don't know about shame.

They said you were apologetic, that you expressed remorse. Do you have remorse?

It depends on in which way you're meaning that by. Do I regret what my family was forced to go through because of my actions? Absolutely. Do I regret that the media, that That I was a part of something that allowed the media to paint this false narrative, to twist this narrative and paint this into something that it wasn't? Absolutely. Do I have shame? No, I do not.

After serving three months in federal prison this year, Evans joined a handful of other January sixth defendants running for Congress, portraying himself as a political martyr, even using this photo from court on his website, and repeatedly insisting the January sixth he saw-Cops are running. Wasn't a violent attack fueled by lies of a stolen election, but a peaceful demonstration. But you were standing right next to rioters who were clashing with police officers.

That's simply I'm not true.

Derek, it's on video. Okay. I'll show it to you.

Do it.

Here it is. Ready? Yeah. This is your video.

Okay. For the record, guys, I'm not touching anything. I'm just here to watch. Oh, that's not up there, the capital building. That's a boss of the record. They're about to break through the first barricade. The Bossible Wrex. Okay. Yeah. I thought you meant up at the Capitol. Right.

But this is the Capitol complex.

Well, for the record, they're not clashing.

They're pushing the barricades.

They are removing barricades, yes. But they're not fighting police officers.

They're removing the barricades, Derek. They're pushing through.

They're not fighting the police officers, though. No one there that- The police are holding the barricades back, Derek. Show me where someone puts their hands on a police officer.

They're putting their hands on the barricade. On the police officer. And on the other side is the police officer.

Can you show me where someone puts their hands on a police officer.

Well, firstly, they're pushing the thing that the officer is-I'm not arguing with you.

I agree with you.

Evans lost his primary this spring.

Stay strong. Never give up.

At her home in South Carolina, Pam Hemphill feels much differently about the Capitol attack.

They said, Well, we got to fight the government and prove to them they're wrong. And I said, But I was wrong. I was guilty.

The 69-year-old cancer survivor. Are you hurt?

Can I go sit down?

No. Shot this video inside the Capitol that day. She was sentenced to two months in prison for her actions on January sixth. She still has the letters Trump supporters wrote to her while she was behind bars. But When Hemp Hill calls any claim that she was a political prisoner, an insult.

That's what gaslighting is. It makes you feel like you're nuts. Oh, Pam, we had the right to be in there that day. It's our house. That's all delusional.

The same day we planned to interview Hemp Hill, minutes before our cameras started to roll, we got an unexpected phone call. I'm putting on my microphone here because I wasn't expecting your call. From who still reveres Trump and believes what he says about January sixth. This call is from a federal prison. On the phone was Rachel Powell, currently serving a four-year sentence.

I don't feel bad about believing that there was election fraud.

That is Powell in the pink hat, fueled by Trump's lies about election fraud, trying to smash through a window of the Capitol. You went through the court system. You're not a hostage, necessarily.

Yeah, I do feel like a hostage. I can't believe that this is happening. I mean, any other protester that... There's been some protesters that have done some terrible, horrible things, and they've gotten slaps on the wrist or they've gotten fined.

But that doesn't necessarily forgive hurting a police officer, right?

Well, none of us in here hurt police officers or went there with that intention.

The The Department of Justice says more than 140 police officers were injured that day. We wondered what Derek Evans thought.

Do I think that anyone should be fighting police officers? No, I do not. I think it's wrong to do that. The police officers are the ones that really started the whole violence over there. Oh, come on. Oh, come on. Nothing.

There are people who were not supposed to be there who broke through the perimeter and the police officers responded.

Come on. If you want to believe that these police officers did no wrong for the first time in history. That's fine.

I think it's interesting that you're taking somewhat of an anti-police stance.

Well, I am. Absolutely.

Multiple accused January sixth rioters have put forward defenses claiming they were incited to violence by police. None have been successful in court. According to the Department of Justice, more than 1,400 people have been charged in connection with January sixth. It's misinformation about that day that concerns John Cohen, an ABC news contributor who handled counterterrorism for the Department of Homeland Security in the months after the Capitol attack. When you have mainstream figures in politics or the media mimicking the same narratives we're seeing on terrorist or violent extremist forums, then that creates the perfect storm for violence. You have to go home now. Trump waited nearly three hours that day to tell mob to go home. Pam Hempel told us she'll never vote for him again.

He started off with fear. They're coming after me, but they're really coming after you.

But she's an outlier. Most former January sixth defendants we met are still deeply loyal to the former President. Like Rachel Powell, who mailed us this photo smuggled out of her federal prison cell, showing her and three other January sixth inmates smiling with the words Trump 2024, scrawled up top.

He's going to burn in us, and that's really encouraging. It gives a little glimmer of hope.

Do you think it's a symptom of the way we're going to handle political disagreements in the future?

I think we're already there. I think this country is more divided than it probably was before the Civil War.

For many, January sixth has created a sense of community, fueled by a deep-seated false belief that they are being persecuted. That's the message at this single night. And that is what Donald Trump has tapped into as he runs for the White House again. Our thanks to J. O.

Brian for that report.