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Assault on the Capitol: five lies that endure about January 6

2022-01-05T09:26:23.131Z


The assault on the Capitol was based on a lie about the 2020 elections. And for a year now, they have lied about the insurrection itself.


New images show severity of assault on Capitol 2:50

Washington (CNN) -

The assault on the Capitol was based on a lie about the 2020 election. And for a year now, there has been a lie about the insurrection itself.

The violent attack by Donald Trump supporters on Capitol Hill has been the subject of a campaign of dishonesty that began amid the January 6 fog and escalated even as the facts became clear.

Trump, some right-wing media figures, and some Republican members of Congress have made a sustained effort to rewrite the history of that deadly day.

  • OPINION |

    The Jan. 6 interim report on the Capitol storming is critical to saving America's democracy.

They have falsely claimed that all the agitators were unarmed.

They have falsely claimed that people on Capitol Hill simply staged a "protest" against an election that they falsely claimed was fraudulent.

They have falsely claimed that the rioters were greeted on Capitol Hill by police officers.

They have falsely claimed that the riots were orchestrated by left-wing groups or the FBI.

And they have falsely claimed that non-violent agitators are being incarcerated as "political prisoners."

Here we verify five of the longest-lasting lies about what happened on January 6.

Lie: the agitators were completely disarmed

Trump and some of his allies continue to claim that all the people on Capitol Hill on January 6 were unarmed.

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List of Trump advisers cited to testify 2:26 increased

In a December 21 statement, Trump called January 6 a "completely disarmed protest."

Similarly, in a Dec. 17 tweet, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote: "One of the biggest holes in the lie that 6E was a planned insurrection is that everyone was unarmed. Anyone with half a brain knows gun owners only leave their firearms at home when they don't feel the need to carry a gun or are obeying the law. "

The facts first:

It is not true that all the people on Capitol Hill on January 6 were unarmed, and the claim remains false even if it specifically talks about firearms. People who entered the Capitol grounds illegally during the insurrection were armed with a wide variety of objects, including stun guns, knives, batons, baseball bats, axes, and chemical sprays. The Justice Department said in an official update last week that so far "more than 75" people charged in connection with the attack "have been charged with entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon."

We may never get a complete inventory of the concealed weapons that the agitators possessed on January 6, as almost all of them were able to leave the Capitol without being detained or searched. But prosecutors have alleged that some of the people present on Capitol Hill were armed with pistols, as were some other Trump supporters who traveled to Washington on January 6.

Mark Mazza of Indiana has been charged with crimes including possession of a firearm on the Capitol grounds; he has pleaded not guilty. According to Capitol Police, Mazza accidentally dropped his loaded revolver during a fight with police on a Capitol terrace. He allegedly told investigators later that if he had visited House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that day, "they would be here for another reason."

Guy Reffitt of Texas has been charged with crimes including illegally carrying a semi-automatic pistol on Capitol grounds; he has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege that Reffitt "specifically targeted at least two lawmakers: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom he attempted to physically remove or displace from the Capitol building. ". And police allege that Christopher Alberts of Maryland was arrested trying to flee the Capitol grounds on January 6 with a loaded pistol; he has pleaded not guilty.

Mark Ibrahim, who was an off-duty Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent at the time of the riot, has been charged with crimes including carrying a firearm on the Capitol grounds. Ibrahim, who has said he was later fired by the DEA (the DEA only confirmed to CNN that he no longer works there), was photographed that day displaying what appeared to be a handgun. He has pleaded not guilty.

Additionally, Lonnie Coffman of Alabama, who pleaded guilty to gun-related charges in November, admitted that he had brought two loaded pistols to Washington on January 6 and that a truck he had parked a few blocks from the Capitol contained additional loaded pistols, cocktails molotov and other weapons. Cleveland Meredith Jr., who pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Pelosi and was sentenced to 28 months in prison, drove from Colorado to Washington with a rifle and pistol found in her trailer outside a Washington hotel. The FBI said Meredith had told agents that she had tried to get to Washington on January 5, but ended up being late on January 6.

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Pro-Trump protesters pushed through barriers along the perimeter of the Capitol building, clashing with police, the full riot gear, and some calling the officers "traitors" for doing their jobs.

Look here some of the most impressive images of that day.

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The protesters pushed the metal fences and the police.

They also used the fences to push the protesters back.

(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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Police officers were seen leaning over metal fences to beat people trying to cross them.

(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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The session to count and certify Electoral College votes for president and vice president was suspended.

This photo shows Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConell before the suspension.

(Credit: KEVIN DIETSCH / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

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A Capitol police officer confronts a horde of pro-Trump protesters as they entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The protesters broke through security barriers and entered Congress debating the certification of electoral votes.

(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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An agitator enters the Senate compound and sits on the main podium.

(Credit: Igor Bobic / Huffington Post)

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Security agents point their weapons at a door that was vandalized in the House of Representatives, during the session to certify the electoral votes of President Joe Biden.

(Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

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A crowd of Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, as seen from inside the building, on the afternoon of January 6, 2021 in Washington.

(Credit: Cheriss May / Getty Images)

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This was the situation in the Capitol on January 6 in the afternoon, when protesters stormed the premises of Congress and confronted the police.

There was tear gas.

(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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A Capitol Police officer wears a gas mask during armed protesters' rampage into Congress.

(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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A protester is seen hanging from the balcony of the Senate Chamber amid riots at the Capitol.

(Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)

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Capitol police officers detained several protesters outside the House of Representatives after they stormed a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021 in Washington protesting Biden's victory.

(Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

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Some people in Congress use plastic bags as armed protesters stormed the joint session of Congress to ratify Biden's victory as president.

(Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

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A man sat on the main Senate podium as the Capitol was closed and police tried to contain the escalation of protests.

(Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)

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Outside the Capitol, pro-Trump protesters continued their protest to prevent the victory of President-elect Joe Biden from being certified.

(Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

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Police throw water at protesters who clashed to try to enter the Capitol in Washington.

(Credit: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP via Getty Images)

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Protesters enter the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021 in Washington.

(Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)

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(Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest in the Capitol Rotunda on January 6, 2021. (Credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

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Demonstrators protest outside the United States Capitol in Washington, after rioters stormed the Congress building.

(Credit: Samuel Corum / Getty Images)

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Trump supporters clash with police and security forces outside the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. (Credit: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP via Getty Images)

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Pro-Trump protesters broke through security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated Electoral College certification.

(Credit: ALEX EDELMAN / AFP via Getty Images)

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Crowds gather outside the United States Capitol on January 6 amid clashes with police.

(Credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

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A Capitol police officer looks out of a broken window as protesters gather at the building on January 6, 2021 in Washington.

(Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

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Pro-Trump protesters gather outside the US Capitol building.

(Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

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The image shows the deployment of tear gas as pro-Trump protesters enter the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. (Credit: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

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Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier in front of the Capitol.

(Credit: John Minchillo / AP)

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One of the most recognizable figures in the crowd was a man in his 30s with a painted face, a fur hat and a horned helmet.

The protester, Jake Angeli - known to his followers as the Shaman of QAnon - quickly became a symbol of the strange and terrifying spectacle.

(Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)

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A Trump supporter carries a Confederate battle flag in the Capitol Rotunda.

During the Civil War, the closest any insurgent carrying a Confederate flag got to the Capitol was about 10 kilometers, during the Battle of Fort Stevens in 1864. (Credit: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images)

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Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier.

(Credit: John Minchillo / AP)

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US Representative Jason Crow, D-Colorado, comforts US Representative Susan Wild, D-Pennsylvania, as she takes cover in the House of Representatives.

(Credit: Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Richard "Bigo" Barnett, leader of a pro-gun group in Gravette, Arkansas, sits in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

(Credit: Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images)

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Law enforcement officers point their weapons at a vandalized door in the House of Representatives after the assault on the Capitol.

(Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

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Trump supporters participate in a rally near the White House.

(Credit: John Minchillo / AP)

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Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi officiate the joint session of Congress early on January 6.

Congress was in session to count and certify Electoral College votes before the Capitol was stormed.

(Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / Pool / AFP / Getty Images)

Lie: the agitators were simply protesting a 'rigged' election

Trump asked his supporters to come to Washington on January 6 for a "savage" protest against President Joe Biden's victory, which Trump falsely claimed was fraudulent.

During his speech at a rally on the morning of January 6, Trump pushed that electoral lie, ordered his supporters to march to the Capitol and urged them to "fight like hell."

Liz Cheney asks if Trump organized attack on Capitol 1:13

After the insurrection, Trump continued to repeat the electoral lie for months and adapted it to minimize what had happened on Capitol Hill.

In an October statement, he claimed that the "real insurrection" was the 2020 elections and January 6 was simply a "day of protest" (he also made similar claims later in the year).

Facts First:

Both parts of Trump's claim are obvious lies. The election was not rigged or fraudulent; Biden won fairly; there were a handful of cases of voter fraud that weren't widespread enough to have changed the outcome in any state, much less to have reversed Biden's 306-232 Electoral College victory. And the insurrection of January 6 - in which approximately 140 policemen were attacked and which violently interrupted the peaceful transfer of power - involved thousands of alleged crimes. Clearly, it was not just a protest.

"This was not a peaceful protest. Hundreds of people came to Washington to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power," Chief Justice Beryl Howell of the Washington District Court said last January.

Howell added in October: "The rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, as part of a large crowd, were not mere trespassers participating in protected First Amendment protests; they were certainly not tourists. I say over and over again because there still seems, in some areas, to be a debate on that topic. "

Lie: the agitators were invited to the Capitol by the police

A common refrain from the January 6 rioters, and some of their Republican advocates, is that they were greeted on Capitol Hill by police officers.

Trump said in a book interview in March that "the Capitol Police were ushering people in" and "the Capitol Police were very friendly. You know, they hugged and kissed." Trump supporters have echoed the claim. For example, Trump-backed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake testified at a Trump rally in October that people who were in jail for the Capitol attack "were invited in by the Capitol Police." .

Facts First:

The claim that the rioters were invited to the Capitol is false.

Once again, around 140 policemen were attacked while trying to prevent the mob from entering the Capitol.

There were hours-long battles between the police and the rioters near some entrances.

CNN obtained police body camera footage showing dozens of officers engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the rioters in a desperate effort to keep them out of the building.

They rule against Trump's lawyers and 7 policemen sue him 2:23

There are many instances where troublemakers entered the Capitol without a fight, but only after breaking through barricades and, in some cases, even breaking through broken windows. In some areas, police officers were so outnumbered by the mob that they withdrew, stepped aside, or tried to politely interact with rioters to ease the situation rather than fight or make arrests, but that clearly did not. it is the same as welcoming agitators into the building.

Since we do not have videos of every encounter between the police and the agitators, it is theoretically possible that a small number of officers invited the agitators.

Capitol Police announced in September that three officers faced disciplinary action for unspecified and non-criminal "misconduct" that day, while three others faced disciplinary action for other violations of the policy.

But to date, no evidence has emerged that even an agent invited an agitator to the Capitol.

And even if a few isolated incidents emerge in the future, it is clear that this was not a widespread or systemic event as Trump and others suggested.

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said on CNN in September: "The officers that we have investigated and disciplined, the cases that we investigate, range from minor infractions to officers who pass very poor judgments for more serious misconduct. But this one. The notion that the Capitol police were somehow allowing these people to enter the Capitol, inviting them, helping them, is just not true. "

Lie: Jailed Rioters Are Nonviolent Political Prisoners

One of the most frequent counter-narratives on January 6 is that large numbers of non-violent people who were present on Capitol Hill are being unfairly prosecuted by liberal extremists at the Department of Justice, and that these non-violent people have now become "political prisoners" while they await a trial in jail. Such claims have emerged as a rallying cry among a small but noisy cohort of Trump loyalists at the House Republican conference.

Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar claimed in July that the jailed rioters who had allegedly spent time in solitary confinement "are not unruly or dangerous, violent criminals" but are "political prisoners now being hunted down";

He suggested there are "nearly 200" nonviolent Capitol participants behind bars.

And the pro-Trump group behind the September rally "Justice for J6" said its event was intended to "raise awareness and attention about the unethical and unfair treatment of non-violent political prisoners. January 6 ".

Ocasio-Cortez says she feared being raped in insurrection 1:38

Facts First:

This "political prisoners" narrative is false. The vast majority of the more than 700 people charged in the Capitol riots to date were released shortly after their arrests. The judges only ordered a few dozen people to stay in jail before the trial, and most of them were charged with attacking the police or conspiring with far-right militias.

It is true that conditions are bad in the Washington jail where the incarcerated rioters are being held.

And it is obviously unpleasant for someone to live behind bars.

But the small subset of the Jan.6 defendants currently in jail are there only because a federal judge has ruled that they are too dangerous to release or pose a flight risk.

The decision to keep them incarcerated was not made by Biden's political appointees or any other Justice Department official.

Some agitators have claimed in court that they are the victims of politically motivated prosecution because they support Trump.

Federal judges, including those appointed by Trump, have rejected these arguments.

Lie: January 6 was a false flag attack

Even before the Capitol was cleared of agitators on January 6, some prominent Trump supporters began trying to deflect the blame, claiming that the left-wing Antifa movement, a loose collection of self-described anti-fascists, was actually behind the violence.

Those "false flag" theories - that the violence was secretly orchestrated by Trump's opponents in an attempt to make the former president look bad - never went away.

And the theories have been expanded to include claims that the violence was orchestrated by the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) or even an arm of the federal government itself, the FBI.

Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson has promoted false flag theories, focusing on the FBI, both in his own comments and in his revisionist documentary series aired on a Fox streaming service in November. Carlson has claimed on his show that government documents showed that "FBI agents were staging the attack on the Capitol on January 6." Former Army Captain Emily Rainey said in the documentary (and in a trailer that Carlson tweeted): "In my opinion, false flags have occurred in this country, one of which may have been on January 6."

And Trump himself has given oxygen to theories, stating in an interview in December with right-wing commentator Candace Owens: "You have BLM and you have people from Antifa, I have very little doubt about that, and they were provoking and they were agitating."

The facts first:

the insurrection on Capitol Hill was not a false flag.

As seen on January 6, a crowd of staunch Trump supporters stormed the building.

They did so after Trump urged his supporters to go to Washington and then, as we noted earlier, delivered a speech urging them to "fight like hell" and march on Capitol Hill.

The agitators' loyalty to Trump has been extensively documented in court proceedings and in their social media posts and media interviews.

They show a new video of insurrection in the Capitol 5:10

Although there are thousands of pages of court documents stemming from criminal cases against protesters on January 6, no defendants in the Capitol riots in late 2021 had a confirmed involvement in the Antifa or Black Lives Matter groups. (A defendant who filmed the riot had voiced his support for Black Lives Matter but was overruled in 2020 by BLM activists, some of whom suspected he was a provocateur linked to the political right.) Rather, hundreds of defendants in the Capitol riots were confirmed to be Trump supporters, and some were members of far-right extremist groups. Members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have been charged with conspiracy regarding January 6; some have pleaded guilty.

Carlson wrongly described the court documents that he inaccurately claimed were irrefutable evidence that FBI agents orchestrated the attack;

you can read more about that claim here.

While it is possible that some of the Capitol agitators were secretly serving as FBI informants - The New York Times reported in October that a member of the Proud Boys who had entered the Capitol on January 6 was an FBI informant. - The presence of a few FBI informants among the more than 2,000 people estimated to have illegally trespassed on Capitol Hill would not make the mob assault a "false flag" operation orchestrated by the FBI.

Republican Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, said on Fox News in November that there is no truth to claims that January 6 was a false flag perpetrated by liberals from the United States. "deep state" trying to set a trap for Trump supporters.

"It's the same kind of thing you hear from people who say 9/11 was an inside job, for example. It's not American to spread those kinds of lies. And they are lies," Cheney said.

CNN's Holmes Lybrand and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this article.

Assault on the Capitol

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-01-05

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