Monthly Archives: January 2022

When I sat down at my computer on the morning of Jan. 6, 2022, I was at first tempted to write a few words about the sorry state of political discourse in the United States today given that, exactly a year ago, I was riveted to the TV news. I watched something never before seen in the US, not even during the Civil War: a confederate flag being carried proudly through the halls of the very Capitol building I walked many times during my life. I was shocked then and am saddened now by the events that unfolded that day, and perhaps even worse, the political brainwashing the national GOP has undergone to purge actual facts from memory.

But when I turned to Colorado Politics that morning, I found my fellow essayist Eric Sondermann had already written a fitting and powerful column on that very subject. I dont always agree with Eric, but his thoughts about Jan. 6 are well worth reading.

And so I wont write directly on the attempted coup or insurrection, or whatever term you wish to use, as my eyes were drawn to another story that I found both powerful and touching, and which does help us reflect on the events of that January day in 2021: the passing of Lawrence Brooks.

Mr. Brooks was, at 112 years of age, the oldest veteran of World War II. He died on Wednesday after an exceptionally long and well-lived life. He was drafted into the Army at the relatively old age of 31. And that age being old is one of the things that time does to fool us.

Mr. Brooks spent the war mostly in the 91st Engineering Battalion, a largely black unit. After his service he returned to his home in Louisiana and worked for decades and raised his family. He did not seek out the status of oldest vet, but he held that position with honor, until his passing on Jan. 5.

And you know what Mr. Brooks was during WWII?

He was antifa.

That term, misused by the far right, doesnt name an actual, organized clique. There is no ordered and structured antifa group like there are formal organizations like the Proud Boys and the KKK. Rather, to be antifa is to be, well, anti-fascist. You know, against things like Hitler and his goal of a thousand-year Reich. Fascism is a school of thought that believes in a far-right, very authoritarian dictatorial government where they suppress differences of opinion, a free press, and they try to convince folks that only they are right and anyone with any alternative point of view is not only wrong, but unpatriotic. Ring any bells for anyone?

When did it become wrong to be antifa? Mr. Brooks went to war to stop fascism, as did my dad and millions of others. We are all, or at least all of us should be, anti-fascist.

While honoring Mr. Brooks, there is another WWII veteran out there that comes to my mind. We dont know his or her name now, and we wont for a while. That person will eventually be, not the oldest, but rather the very last living veteran of the war.

That person likely lied about his or her age to enlist, later in the war, and was born in the late 1920s. Of the approximately 16 million Americans who served in WWII, roughly 240,300 are still alive. We lose about 245 each day and that last survivor will find him or herself utterly stripped of brothers and sisters in arms over the next 20 years, or so.

And that last person will be, of course, antifa in its actual meaning, anti-fascist.

So it is with a heavy heart that I note the passing of Mr. Brooks, and my mind turns to whomever is now the oldest living WWII veteran. And then that person will pass, as will his or her successor, and on and on until there is only one.

When we lose that last member of the greatest generation, I hope we find ourselves in an America where the events of Jan. 6, 2021, are noted with scorn in our history books as a failed attempt, by a failed leader who was way too comfortable with the instrumentalities of fascism, to steal an election in the name of saving it, and not as a new normal for the nation.

Millions went to war in the 1940s to fight an idea so evil that it had to be put down at a massive cost in blood and suffering. I hope that when that final veteran, looking back over his or her five score-plus years, can know that our own embracing of a man who would be a tyrant, was a brief flirtation and that we awoke from a national nightmare wherein a Capitol was despoiled.

In the meantime, Salute, Mr. Brooks.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

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BIDLACK | Remembering the Big Antifa | Opinion | coloradopolitics.com - coloradopolitics.com

The surface-level facts of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021 are not very complicated. Trump hosted a well-attended rally in Washington, D.C. to stoke anger over Congress certifying the results of the previous Novembers election. After weeks of telling his supporters that the election had been stolen, he gave a speech near the White House where he told his supporters to fight like hell and said he expected them to head to the Capitol. Some of them did, and some of them were already there, and together the two groups coalesced into a mob that broke into the building, resulting in five deaths and dozens of injuries.

In realty, this is all indisputable, but the American right-wing has been, at best, distantly orbiting reality for a while now, and over the past year conservative media, politicians, and everyday Americans have methodically constructed an alternate history of what happened on Jan. 6, one in which a deadly attempt to overthrow American democracy either wasnt that big of a deal, or it was a big deal but it was perpetrated by a combination of left-wing activists, federal law enforcement, and Democratic politicians anyone but Trump and his supporters, really.

These alternative facts, to borrow a phrase from the early days of the Trump administration, are immutable in the eyes of their adherents. The lack of evidence supporting them is entirely irrelevant. In a way, its the whole point, allowing believers to transmute what happened as they see fit, tailoring it to elude any inconvenient actual facts that may arise. As long as they keep their claims vague and difficult to disprove unequivocally can we ever be totally sure absolutely nothing untoward took place during the 2020 election? theyre as good as gospel.

Conspiracy theories are powerful because they introduce premises that prevent evidence-based falsification, Dolores Albarracn, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist who studies conspiracy theories, tells Rolling Stone. For a realistic style of thinking, if there is no evidence for a belief, the lack of evidence invalidates the belief. Conspiracy theories undermine this logic and make it so that lack of evidence or evidence to the contrary proves the belief.

Its a fancy way of saying that conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 are here to stay. Below is a breakdown of how right-wing media and conservative politicians planted some of the most pernicious among them in the minds of millions.

The pictures, video, and testimony from defendants arrested for breaking into the Capitol dont lie: The mob was made up almost entirely of Trump supporters. The idea that members of antifa infiltrated the crowd to start causing mayhem was pushed early on by a right-wing media apparatus desperate to deflect blame from the president and his supporters.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham did it on the day of the riot. Ingraham tweeted that Trump should call off the rioters, but also suggested that antifa supporters may have been responsible for the violence. Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends a day later expressed disbelief that Trump supporters were behind the violence. I do not know Trump supporters that have ever demonstrated violence that I know of in a big situation, he said, tempering his acknowledgement that Trump supporters were involved.

The House committee investigating the attack revealed in December that both Ingraham and Kilmeade on Jan. 6 texted Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to get the president to call off the violence. The text, along with a similar pleas from Sean Hannity, imply that Trump would have been able to influence the violent mob.

Republican politicians pushed the unfounded claim, too. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) took to the House floor on the morning of Jan. 7 to claim that some of the people who breached the Capitol were members of the violent terrorist group antifa. He cited a since debunked and corrected Washington Times article, noting that he didnt know if the reports are true. He made the claim anyway, as did Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who tweeted on Jan. 6 that the riot has all the hallmarks of Antifa provocation. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) told Lou Dobbs that there is some indication that fascist antifa elements were involved, that they embedded themselves in the Trump protests. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) later said that fake Trump protesters were responsible for the violence.

The list goes on, and despite a total lack of evidence, the belief that left-wing agitators were responsible for the attack became orthodoxy among Trump supporters, and a go-to defense for anyone trying to defend Trump or Republicans in the wake of the insurrection.

Its hard to parse how a siege that left five dead and dozens upon dozens of law enforcement officers injured could be framed as a peaceful protest, but it was.

It started immediately, too. Fox News anchors were tripping over themselves to describe the in-progress riot as peaceful. Its not like its a siege, it doesnt seem. It seems like they are protesting, said Bret Baier, one of the networks relatively respectable news anchors. Another one, Martha MacCallum, said the riot remains peaceful, adding that it was a huge victory for the protesters. Griff Jenkins, who was on the scene, echoed this sentiment. It has been peaceful, everything we have seen so far has been nothing but peaceful, but they are definitely fired up, he said. The chants I heard the most today was, Fight for Trump. That is what many feel they are doing here, protesting, we will see where the day goes. Mike Tobin, Fox News on-the-ground protest correspondent, even said that aside from the things that were broken getting into the Capitol they say there is no vandalism.

These comments may have been made before the full extent of the violence was understood, but the fact that this initial softening of what actually happened was being done by Fox News news side in addition to its propaganda-spewing primetime anchors was crucial in laying the groundwork for conspiracies to take hold, as Angelo Carusone, CEO of the media watchdog group Media Matters, explained to Rolling Stone.

The idea that people like Brett Baier were starting to question this or downplay it was, to me, the real fulcrum point, he says. They softened the ground early on, and I really think that that part is very significant. Its not that I think that the right-wing fever swamps in the rest of the right-wing media would not have done what they did. They certainly would have. But that audience is always going to be lost. Its the second, third, and fourth rings within the conservative circles that really define where the lines and the boundaries are in Republican politics and then in the larger conversation.

The idea that the mob was made up people who were simply protesting persisted throughout right-wing media and among Republicans in Congress. The most shameless promoter of the idea that the riot was no big deal may have been Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), who said in May that while some were violent, many walked through the Capitol in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos and pictures. He then likened the deadly siege that left the Capitol ransacked to a normal tourist visit.

Photos from inside the Capitol show a panic-stricken Clyde helping barricade the doors of the House chamber and taking cover behind an officer with a gun drawn and aimed at the barricaded door as rioters tried to muscle their way inside.

Sure, antifa infiltrated the crowd of peaceful Trump supporters and started wreaking havoc, but did you also know that the entire siege was a false flag operation orchestrated by the FBI? It took a little longer for right-wing media to come around to the idea that the whole thing was a Deep State conspiracy, but thats where it is now.

The most notable pusher of the FBI theory has been Tucker Carlson, who in November released a documentary on Fox Nation teasing that the riot was a false flag and a plot against the people. The documentary features Darren Beattie, a former Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 after he appeared on a panel with a white nationalist. PolitiFact credits Beattie with originating the false flag idea, citing a purely speculative article published in June by his Revolver News website. Carlson seized on the ideatwo days later, and even invited Beattie onto his show to push it on multiple occasions, according to The Washington Post.

The mainstreaming of the idea that the FBI orchestrated the riot epitomized how quick conspiracy theories could bubble up from the fringes and find their place in national conservative media. There was this cauldron in the fever swamps churning out plausible alternatives, say Carusone. It was antifa. This was a setup. This was the FBI. This was a false flag. You beat that drum that enough and you get from the fever swamps to Steve Bannons program to then Tucker Carlson and Fox News documentary about Jan. 6. Theres a straight line between the primary and principle promoter of that conspiracy theory about the about the FBI and the infiltration, and Tuckers documentary.

Conspiracy theorists in Congress like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz quickly followed Carlson in pushing the false flag theory, which then spread like wildfire through right-wing circles in the ensuing months. It made its way to Trump himself in December, when he co-signed the idea during an appearance on Candace Owens podcast.Right, it seems like that, Trump said after Owens posited that FBI informants urged people to storm the Capitol. And you have BLM and you had antifa people. I have very little doubt about that and they were antagonizing and they were agitating.

The most important part of all of this, and every other bad thing that happens in this country as a result of the former president, is that Trump bears no responsibility. In reality, Trump was the tip of the spear of disinformation about the election results and spent the months preceding the riot riling up anger in his supporters. He promoted Jan. 6 in December and told supporters: Be there, will be wild! Once theyd arrived, Trump told supporters at the rally to fight like hell to reclaim the country, concluding his speech by saying he expected attendees to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. Were going to the Capitol, he said. Were going to try to give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones dont need any of our help, were going to try to give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.

Trumps rhetoric is indisputable. So is its impact. Many of the defendants on trial for their role in the riots have pointed their finger at Trump. Trump called us, rioter Danny Rodrigues told investigators in March. Trump called us to D.C. If hes the commander in chief and the leader of our country, then hes calling for help. I thought he was calling for help. I thought we were doing the right thing.

So too have the Capitol Police officers who have sued Trump for physical and emotional damages, the latest lawsuits coming on Tuesday. So too has Sandra Garza, the partner of Brian Sicknick, the officer who died after engaging rioters during the attack. Garza says both she and Sicknick supporter Trump before the attack. No longer. I hold Donald Trump 100 percent responsible for what happened on Jan. 6, she told PBS this week. I think he needs to be in prison.

The texts Ingraham, Hannity, and Kilmeade sent to Meadows on Jan. 6 suggest they believed Trump had something to do with it, too, and at the very least that the rioters were beholden to him. It would be sacrilege, however, for any of them, or anyone else on Fox News or another outlet down the right-wing media food chain, to broadcast that Trump was culpable. He sat and watched the riot unfold on television, something the Jan. 6 committee says it has first-hand evidence of, hearing pleas to intervene from Don Jr. and Ivanka and whomever else, and doing nothing.

It wasnt his fault, though. It was the Democrats.

The American people deserve to know the truth that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as Speaker of the House for the tragedy that occurred on Jan. 6, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said in July. Rather than providing [the Capitol Police] with the support and resources they needed and they deserved, she prioritized her partisan, political optics over their safety, the number-three Republican in the House added of the House speaker. The number-one Republican in the House agreed. If there is a responsibility for this Capitol, on this side, it rests with the Speaker, said Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

The biggest lie of them all, the whopper that fueled the plan to overturn the election results, that brought Trump and thousands of his supporters to the Ellipse as Congress certified those results, and that inspired many of those supporters to then storm the Capitol in an unprecedented effort to subvert democratic process, is that the election the incumbent president lost by 74 Electoral College votes, over seven millions actual votes, and over four percentage points was somehow stolen. There is not evidence that anything resembling significant fraud occurred, despite audits, lawsuits, and the desperate efforts of Trump and his cronies to uncover something anything to suggest the vote was rigged.

The problem is that millions of Americans simply dont care about the absence of evidence. They wanted Trump to win, Trump is telling them he did win, Republicans who know better arent correcting him, and so theyve joined the Stop the Steal party. Theyve bought all the merchandise, theyve memorized the talking points beaten into the discourse by everyone from Trump to right-wing YouTube hosts, and theyre calling for an authoritarian takeover of the United States to avenge a Democratic coup that never happened.

The party has grown bigger than most could have imagined, and by proxy has absorbed mainstream conservatives. An ABC/Ipsos poll released this week found that a whopping 71 percent of Republicans believe Trump was the rightful winner of the election. Another from the University of Massachusetts found 71 percent of Republicans believe Bidens election was illegitimate. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll put the number at 58 percent, but its hardly encouraging that a simple rather than overwhelming majority of one of the nations two major parties has bought into what might be the most outlandish, pernicious conspiracy theory in American history. Unfortunately, such is the state of things in the United States in 2022.

It wasnt always like this, though. Carusone, who has been tracking right-wing media misinformation for years, remembers how back in 2009 the only real examples of right-wing media pushing reckless conspiracy theories were Glenn Beck talking about FEMA death camps and Obama hacking into GMs OnStar system. It was such a big deal when it happened that I remember it a decade later, he says. But its happening multiple times a day now. The audience has more kinetic energy and theyre scraping increasingly what used to be the fringes to keep that cauldron swirling.

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A Guide to the Rights Unhinged Conspiracy Theories about Jan. 6 - Rolling Stone

Daryl and Daniel Johnson pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one felony count each of civil disorder.

WASHINGTON A father and son who bragged they were among the first to enter the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6 will face up to 5 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to one felony count each.

Daryl Johnson, of St. Angsar, Iowa, and his son, 29-year-old Daniel Johnson, of Austin, Minnesota, appeared before U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich this week to enter pleas of guilty to civil disorder.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in federal court, the Johnsons were identified by multiple tipsters, including a St. Angsar police officer who knew the senior Johnson because his father had previously been the towns mayor.

A subsequent investigation by the FBI allegedly turned up videos of the Johnsons rushing the police line inside the riot as part of the crowd that opened the rotunda doors. Investigators also found multiple posts on their social media accounts in which they claimed to have been in attendance.

In one post on Facebook, the FBI says, the younger Johnson wrote that, I was one of the first ones inside the capitol building.

In multiple posts on his page, obtained via a search warrant, Daryl Johnson reportedly claimed damage to the Capitol on January 6 was actually caused by Antifa.

What the media is saying is completely false. It was Antifa causing the damage. I was there! Daniel Johnson reportedly wrote. Trump supporters were restraining the Antifa people.

On Tuesday, the Johnsons said in federal court that they were actually the ones committing civil disorder inside the Capitol. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison and a maximum fine of up to $20,000.

The Johnsons arent the first father-son pair arrested in connection to the case. Two Delaware men Kevin Seefried and his son Hunter Seefried were indicted in April on charges of entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A photograph of Kevin Seefried carrying a large Confederate battle flag through the U.S. Capitol building became one of the most recognizable images of the Capitol riot.

A sentencing was scheduled for the Johnsons in front of Friedrich on April 12.

We're tracking all of the arrests, charges and investigations into the January 6 assault on the Capitol. Sign up for ourCapitol Breach Newsletterhere so that you never miss an update.

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Father and son face 5 years in prison for rushing police inside US Capitol - WUSA9.com

It hasbeen almost one year since a mob supportingnow-former President Donald Trump fueled by baseless voter fraud claims stormed the U.S. Capitolon Jan. 6 in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

The attack led to deaths, injuries andmore than700 arrests, and it temporarily halted Congress' certification of President Joe Bidens Electoral College win. In the following months, a flurry of falsehoods and conspiracy theories about the riot were promoted online, where debunked claimscontinue to circulate.

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With the first anniversary of the Capitol riot approaching, heres a roundup of USA TODAYs fact checksrelating to theinsurrection that touch on election misinformation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's role in the attack, misleading images and videos, claims about politicians, comparisons to past demonstrations and even false claims that reports predicted the attack.

Capitol rioters charged in the Jan. 6 attack have cited the baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Democrats.The myth waspromoted by Trump, his closest allies and conservative media personalities, all of whom relied on false claimsabout election technology, vote counting, mail-in ballots and voter turnout.

Biden legally won the presidential race by more than 7 million votes, and his victory was certified by the Electoral College. Hand recounts and independent audits across the country did not change the election's outcome and failed to turn upany evidence of widespread wrongdoing by poll workers or voters.But that still didnt stop people from claiming otherwise.

The claim: The 2020 presidential election was 'rigged'

Our rating: False

A mountain of evidence including lawsuits, recounts, forensic audits and partisan reviewshave all affirmed the election results. Officials from both parties have repeatedly debunked claims of widespread voter fraud. With 306 electoral votes, Biden beat Trump in the election. Read more

The claim: Dominion Voting Systems deleted votes for Trump, switched votes to Biden

Our rating: False

There is no evidence Dominion, a private company supplying voting systems in 28 states, deleted or changed votes in the 2020 election, according to a national coalition and election law experts. A few counties experienced minor technology issues on Election Day, but the errors did not affect the vote counts. Read more

The claim: Several key states had more ballots cast than registered voters

Our rating: False

Data and individual state reporting reviewed by USA TODAY shows no state in the U.S. had more than 100% voter turnout in the 2020 election. Posts claiming differently are using improper data sets or flawed data analysis techniques. Read more

The claim: Nevada's presidential election included duplicate voting, dead voters, fake addresses, noncitizens voting andout of state voters

Our rating: False

Claims about widespread voter fraud in Nevada's 2020 election stem from a failed lawsuit, and a district court concluded that no illegal votes were cast and counted. Biden won Nevada's six electoral votes. Read more.

The claim: An audit 'conclusively shows'voter fraud affected Arizona's election outcome

Our rating: False

An audit of Arizona's 2020 election results conducted by cybersecurity firm Cyber Ninjas did not surface any evidence of widespread voter fraud that changed the election's outcome. The review, along with other handrecounts,confirmed Biden won Maricopa County. Read more.

The claim: An investigation found more 'illegal votes'cast in Wisconsin in 2020 than Joe Biden's margin of victory

Our rating: False

A report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty investigating the integrity of the 2020 election found no evidence of widespread fraud, and the group's findings were misstated online. A hand recount, audit and lawsuits confirmed Biden's victory in Wisconsin. Read more.

Here are more fact-checksanalyzingwhats true and false about the 2020 electionand voting by mail.

Just hours after rioters breached the Capitol, misinformation about what happened spread rapidly on social media, and a false narrative blaming anti-fascist activists for inciting the violence made its way to the House floor that same evening. Many such claims circulated throughout 2021.

The claim: A facial recognition firm claimed Antifa infiltrated pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol

Our rating: False

Claims that members of Antifa disguised as Trump supporters orchestrated the insurrection are baseless and stem from a rumor that a facial recognition company identified left-wing activistsamong the rioters. The technology firm mentioned in the claims refuted the story, and there is no evidence Antifa was responsible for the attack. Read more

The claim: The shirtless man pictured in the Capitol breach is with Antifa and Black Lives Matter

Our rating: False

Jake Angeli, a man who was pictured at the Capitol shirtless wearing a fur hat with horns, is a well-known Trump and QAnon supporter he is not tied to Black Lives Matter or Antifa. The claim is part of the false larger conspiracytheory that Trumps supporters were not actually behind the riot. Read more

The claim: A "known Antifa member"was paid $70,000 for his video of the riot

Our rating: Partly false

News outlets paid Utah activist John Sullivan roughly $90,000 for video footage he captured during the Capitol riot, but he is not linked to any anti-fascist groups and has denied being associated with the movement. Read more

The claim: FBI operatives organized the attack on the U.S. Capitol

Our rating: False

Theres no evidence unindicted co-conspirators listed in federal charging documents related to the Jan. 6 attack are undercover FBI agents or federal informants. Legal experts say the term cant be used to describe undercover government operatives. Rioters have been identified by authorities as Trump supporters, conspiracy theorists and members of far-right groups. Read more

The claim: CNN employees took part in the riot

Our rating: False

Posts claiming CNN employees were among the Capitol rioters are unfounded. Jade Sacker, mentioned in the claims, is a freelance journalist and has never worked for the cable news outlet. Read more

The claim: A man died froma heart attack after accidentallyusinga stun gun on himself at the Capitol riot

Our rating: False

Kevin Greeson of Alabama died on the Capitol grounds after a heart attack, and his wife told USA TODAY he had a history of high blood pressure. He did not accidentally stun himself.Read more

The claim: The FBI told a Senate committee that the FBI did not recover any guns at the riot

Our rating: Missing context

Jill Sanborn, assistant director of the FBIs counterterrorism division,said the FBI did not recover any firearms at the Capitol riot. But she also noted that she cannot speak for other law enforcement agencies. The Department of Justicecharged rioters with bringing firearms to the Capitol grounds. Read more

Social media users have triedto shift blame by spreading false claims aboutPelosi in the wake of the Capitol attack.

The claim: Pelosi rejected Trump's request for 10,000 National Guard troops to be deployed before Jan. 6

Our rating: False

Trumps claim that Pelosi blocked his formal request for 10,000 National Guard troops ahead of the "Stop the Steal" rally isfalse. The Pentagon said there is no record of the request, and Pelosis office said she was not contacted about deploying the National Guard. Testimony and a Department of Defense memo about Jan. 6 also confirms that. Read more

The claim: Nancy Pelosi was in charge of Capitol Police on Jan. 6

Our rating: False

Pelosi was not in charge of the Capitol Police at the time of the riot. The agency is overseen by the Capitol Police Board, which is made up of the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms and the Capitol architect. Read more.

The claim: Nancy Pelosi refuses to take responsibility for causing the insurrection

Our rating: False

In short, Pelosi wasn't responsible. Capitol Police told USA TODAY that committees from the House and Senate and a Capitol Police Board are responsible for overseeing operations, not Pelosi. Read more

The claim: Pelosi won't let Capitol Police testify about what happened on Jan. 6

Our rating: False

The claim that Pelosi is blocking testimonyis a reversal of what actually happened. Republican lawmakers tried to stop a hearing from taking place, while Democrats pushed for one. Read more

The claim: Special forcestook Nancy Pelosi's laptop during the riot

Our rating: False

A laptop belonging to the House speaker's office was stolen by pro-Trump rioters, not special forces. Read more

Photos and videosof the Capitol riot went viral online. But in many cases, the footage was doctored, outdated or unrelated to Jan. 6.

The claim: Police officer is the man who carrieda Confederate flag during the Capitol riot

Our rating: False

An image purporting to show a police officer carrying a Confederate flag during the attack is false. The man in the photo was identified by the FBI as Kevin Seefried, who was charged in connection with the riot. He is not a police officer.

The claim: Capitol workers threw away an American flag as they prepared for the transition of power

Our rating: Missing context

Capitol employees did not throw out an American flag in preparation for Bidens inauguration. The photo was captured in the aftermath of the riot. Read more

The claim: Video shows Trump family celebrating the riot from a nearby tent

Our rating: False

Days after the riot, a video went viral purporting to show the Trump family celebrating amid the attack. But monitors seen in the clip as well asa timeline of the events on Jan. 6 prove the video was captured before Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.Read more

The claim: Chuck Norris was at the Capitol riot

Our rating: False

Martial artist and actor Chuck Norris did not take part in the riot. His manager told USA TODAY he was on his ranchin Texas on Jan. 6 and confirmed that a photo on social media of a man resembling Norrisis not actually him. Read more

The claim: Images show pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., in January

Our rating: False

Photos of crowds at the 2018 March for Our Lives rally and 2017 Womens March were passed off on social media as pro-Trump demonstrations on Jan. 6. Read more

The claim: Image shows a caravan of Trump supporters traveling to Washington

Our rating: False

A photo purporting to show dozens of vehicles heading to Washington to protest the presidential election results on Jan. 6 was actually taken in San Francisco at a pro-Trump truck rally inOctober 2020. Read more

The claim: A viral video shows a man screaming about being placed on the no-fly listbecause of the riot at the Capitol

Our rating: False

A video shows a man being asked to leave an American Airlines flight for a mask violation, not for being placed on the no-fly list because of the Capitol riot. Read more

The claim: Demonstrators erected a cross in front of the Capitol

Our rating: Missing context

A photo showspro-Trump demonstrators erected a cross in front of the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, not in Washington.Read more

The claim: The insurrection was an event hosted by the Stanford Federalist Society

Our rating: Satire

An image of an event flyer claiming the Capitol riot took place during astudent-run Stanford Federalist Society meeting with guest speakers Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is fake. Read more

A number of hoaxes concerning the whereabouts of politicians during the Capitol riot and their responses circulated online afterthe insurrection.

The claim:Acting Pardon Attorney Rosalind Sargent-Burns said Trump was "strongly considering"pardoning Capitol rioters

Our rating: False

Trump didnt pardon Capitol rioters during his final days in office. At the time, the Justice Department issued a statement saying it was not involved in efforts to pardon people involved with the heinousacts" that took place at the Capitol. Read more

The claim: Rep. Lauren Boebert took a photo with rioters before a tour of Capitol on Jan. 5

Our rating: False

An image claiming to show Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., with rioters at the Capitol a day before the attack was actually captured in December 2019 at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. She was posing with members of several pro-Trump groups. Read more

The claim: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that Capitol rioters stole her shoes

Our rating: False

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Fact check roundup: Debunking false narratives about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot - USA TODAY