WASHINGTON (AP) – Former president donald trump said during his debate with President Joe Biden Last week, the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol involved a “relatively small” group of people who were “in many cases led by police.”
But that’s not what happened. Thousands of his supporters were outside the Capitol that day and hundreds stormed in, many of them beating and wounding police officers in brutal hand-to-hand combat as officers tried to stop them from breaking into windows and doors. There is ample video evidence of the violence, and more than 1,400 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot.
Many of those who stormed the Capitol echoed Trump’s false claims about election fraud, and some menacingly called out the names of lawmakers — especially the then-House speaker. Nancy Pelosi and then-Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to try to challenge Biden’s legitimate victory. Protesters interrupted the certification of Biden’s victory, but lawmakers who evacuated both chambers returned that night to finish it.
Trump, now the presumptive Republican Party nominee to challenge Biden, has not only continued to deceive voters about what happened that day, but also praised the rioters, calling them “hostages” and promising to forgive them if he is elected. A look at some of his false claims:
‘PEACEFUL AND PATRIOTIC’
CLAIM: At the debate, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Trump what he would say to any voter “who believes that you violated your constitutional oath through your actions, inaction on January 6, 2021, and fears that you will again ?” Trump simply responded, “Well, I didn’t tell anyone that. I said it peacefully and patriotically.”
THE FACTS: In a speech at the White House Ellipse on the morning of January 6 to thousands of supporters, Trump told the crowd to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol. But he also used much more incendiary language when speaking extemporaneously in other parts of the speech, such as telling the crowd: “We fought like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore.”
Trump did not respond to Tapper’s question about your inaction as his supporters stormed the building and injured police. More than three hours passed between the moment his supporters violently stormed the Capitol perimeter and Trump’s first effort to disperse the protesters. He released a video message at 4:17 pm that day in which he asked his supporters to go home but reassured them: “We love you, you are very special.”
Some protesters facing criminal charges said in court that they believed they followed Trump’s instructions on January 6. And evidence shown during the trials illustrates that far-right extremists were galvanized by a Trump tweet inviting his supporters to a “wild” protest in January. .6. “He called all of us to the Capitol and wants us to go wild!!!” wrote a member of the Oath Keepers who was convicted of seditious conspiracy.
POLICE ‘LET THEM IN’
CLAIM: Trump said at the debate: “They talk about a relatively small number of people who went to the Capitol. And in many cases they were led by the police.” The next day, Trump said at a rally: “A lot of these people were told to come in, right? The police: ‘Come in, come in, come in.’”
THE FACTS: More than 100 Capitol Police officers and Metropolitan Police officers were injured, some seriously, as they tried to stop rioters from storming the Capitol. In some cases, police retreated or moved away as they were overwhelmed by the violent, advancing crowd, but there is no evidence that any rioters were “led” into the building.
On a internal memo Last year, U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said the claim that “our officers helped protesters and acted as ‘tour guides’” is “outrageous and false.” Manger said police were completely overwhelmed and outnumbered and in many cases resorted to de-escalation tactics to try to persuade protesters to leave the building.
The Capitol Police said in a statement this week that “under extreme circumstances, our officers performed their duties to the best of their ability to protect Members of Congress. With the help of multiple law enforcement agencies and the National Guard, which more than doubled the number of officers on site, it took several hours to secure the U.S. Capitol. Ultimately, because of the dedication of our officers, no one they were tasked to protect was injured and the legislative process continued.”
NATIONAL GUARD RESPONSE
CLAIM: Trump said he offered 10,000 National Guard troops to Pelosi and “she now admits she refused.” Referring to a video Pelosi’s daughter made that day, Trump claimed Pelosi said, “I take full responsibility for January 6th.”
THE FACTS: Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that he offered National Guard troops to the Capitol and that his offer was rejected. He had previously said he signed an order for 20,000 troops to go to the Capitol.
Although Trump was involved in discussions in the days leading up to January 6 about whether the National Guard would be called before the joint session, he issued no such order or formal request before or during the riots, and the guard’s arrival was delayed for hours. as Pentagon officials deliberate about how to proceed.
In a 2022 interview with the Democratic-led House committee who investigated the attackChristopher Miller, acting secretary of Defense at the time, confirmed that there was no order from the president.
The Capitol Police Board makes the decision to call National Guard troops to the Capitol, and two members of that board — the House Sergeant at Arms and the Senate Sergeant at Arms — decide through informal discussions. not calling the guard before the joint session which was eventually interrupted by Trump supporters, despite a request from the Capitol Police. The House Sergeant at Arms reports to the Speaker of the House, who was then Pelosi, and the Senate Sergeant at Arms reports to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. But Pelosi’s office said she was never informed of the request.
The council ended up requesting the guard’s help after the riots began, and Pelosi and McConnell called the Pentagon and begged for military assistance. Pence, who was in a secure location inside the building, also called the Pentagon to demand reinforcements.
On a video recently disclosed by House Republicans, Pelosi is seen in the back of a car on January 6 talking to an aide. In the raw video recorded by her daughter, Pelosi angrily asks her aide why the National Guard wasn’t at the Capitol when the riots began. “Why wasn’t the National Guard there in the first place?” she asks.
“We had no responsibility whatsoever for what was going on there and we should have, that’s ridiculous,” says Pelosi, as her aide responds that security officials thought they had enough resources. “They clearly didn’t know and I take responsibility for not letting them just prepare for more,” Pelosi says in the video.
There is no mention of a request from Trump, and Pelosi never said she took “full responsibility for January 6th.”
In a statement, Pelosi spokesman Ian Krager said Trump’s repeated comments about Pelosi were revisionist history.
“Numerous independent fact-checkers have repeatedly confirmed that Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination on January 6,” Krager said. “The Speaker of the House is not responsible for the security of the Capitol Complex – on January 6th or any other day of the week.”
‘INNOCENT’ RIOTERS
CLAIM: Trump told Biden during the debate, “What they did to some people who are so innocent, you should be ashamed of yourself, what you did, how you destroyed so many people’s lives.”
THE FACTS: Echoing Trump’s false claims of a stolen election, protesters at the Capitol engaged in hand-to-hand combat with police and a number of protesters carried weapons, including firearms, knives, brass knuckle gloves, a pitchfork, a hatchet, a sledgehammer and a bow. They also used improvised weapons, including flag poles, a table leg, a hockey stick and a crutch, to attack the officers. Police officers were left bruised and bloodied, some dragged into the crowd and beaten. An officer was crushed in a door frame and another suffered a heart attack after a rowdy pressed a stun gun against his neck and repeatedly shocked him. One rioter was accused of climbing scaffolding and firing a gun into the air during the melee.
Protesters broke through windows and doors, ransacking the Capitol and briefly occupying the Senate Chamber. The senators had evacuated minutes earlier. They also tried to break into the City Council chamber, breaking glass windows and banging on doors. But the police held them back with weapons drawn.
Around 900 of the protesters were convicted, with around two-thirds of them receiving prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years. Hundreds of people who entered the Capitol but did not attack police or damage the building were charged only with misdemeanors.
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Associated Press writers Barbara Whitaker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Melissa Goldin and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
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