patheur

Prosecutors again damage one of Trump’s key Jan. 6 falsehoods

Sakege November 2, 2024

Donald Trump has spent years rewriting the history of the January 6 attack, but in recent weeks, the former president has leaned toward one specific claim: “None of those people had a gun.” the republican said two weeks ago, referring to the insurgent rioters.

added A couple of days later, “there were no weapons down there; We didn’t have weapons. “The others had weapons, but we didn’t have weapons.” (In context, “we” referred to those who attacked the US Capitol, while “the others” referred to law enforcement.)

Shortly afterward, when Trump sat down with Fox News’ Howard Kurtz, the Republican candidate lied once again on the rioters who were unarmed. When Kurtz referred to reality, the former president was completely incredulous – as if the very idea of criminals carrying guns is ridiculous.

It’s been a tough week for Trump’s talking point. Bloomberg Law reported:

A Texas man was found guilty of two felonies, including carrying a firearm onto Capitol grounds, and two misdemeanors, during the breach of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday. According to the DOJ, Mario Mares traveled to Washington carrying various firearms and ammunition. On the morning of January 6, 2021, Mares and others attended the rally on the National Mall carrying guns. Mares then walked toward the Capitol building, entered the restricted perimeter and remained on the Capitol grounds carrying his weapons.

Federal prosecutors, in addition to issuing a news release about a judge finding Mares guilty, released a photograph of the rioter’s weapons.

Two days before, NBC News reported“A Donald Trump supporter who federal authorities say plotted to kill FBI special agents investigating him on January 6 charges appears to have been armed with a gun when he became the fourth rioter to storm the US Capitol, prosecutors said at trial. Tuesday.”

Unfortunately, this is not the end of the list. It was earlier this year when NBC News reported about John Emanuel Bañuelos, who appeared to have been filmed firing shots at the Capitol on January 6.

The NBC News report added: “While numerous the rioters were armed with firearms On January 6, none were known to have fired their weapons; Bañuelos is the first accused of doing so.”

Despite Republican rumors that rioters were unarmed during the pro-Trump violence, the facts have been evident for quite some time. Remember this Washington Post report from two years ago?

It is unclear how many in the crowd were armed before the riot occurred, but court records, trial testimony and accounts from police officers and rioters have provided mounting evidence that several people brought firearms to Washington. on January 6, 2021. The men were arrested that day for having weapons in the vicinity of the US Capitol, and a seventh who arrived after the riot ended was arrested the next day.

The same report noted that a Jan. 6 defendant explained at his trial that from his vantage point on the west side of the Capitol, he counted eight firearms carried by five people. Other rioters have been accused of bringing weapons onto the Capitol grounds.

A New York Times report highlighted a number of other specific January 6 rioters who were carrying firearms during the attack.

In other words, Trump’s line that “none of those people had a gun” just keeps getting worse.

This post updates our Related Previous Coverage.