Update January 7, 2021: Including comments from MPD
Social media users are sharing posts claiming that Vice President Mike Pence has been arrested after hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol to protest the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. This allegation is untrue: the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has confirmed to Reuters that they did not arrest Pence, and videos show Pence addressing the Senate after the protesters left.
The posts (here, here , here) shared between about 3pm and 7pm ET on January 6, says for example: “Multiple reports of Mike Pence being arrested.”; “Break: Mike Pence was arrested for betraying Donald Trump.”; or “Word on the street. Mike Pence was arrested. ”
Trump, who has repeatedly made unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in the presidential election, has put pressure on Pence to unilaterally reject state election votes to block the election of President Joe Biden by Congress, but Pence has denied saying he does not have the power. not to do so (here).
Hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, with four people dying in the chaos, but hours later a shocked Congress confirmed the Democratic victory of Democrat Joe Biden on Thursday, January 7 (here).
The MPD told Reuters in an email that MPD arrested was untrue: “MPD did not arrest Mike Pence.”
Pence could be seen speaking in the Senate just after 8pm ET on January 6 (after the social media messages falsely reported about his arrest were shared), as shown here in a video by Reuters and with ‘ a timestamp on CSPAN here.
Pence was then in the House of Representatives early on January 7 when Congress resumed its work to ratify the votes of Biden’s Electoral College, as seen in a video by Reuters here.
There is no evidence that Pence was arrested: Pence police officers at Capitol Hill can be seen resigning in his own tweet (here). Pence’s press secretary, Devin O’Malley, tweeted that Pence was inside the building while the Capitol was stormed and kept in touch with police to secure the Capitol (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. MPD confirmed to Reuters that they did not arrest Pence. Photos and videos of Pence after the Capitol were cleared show that he was not arrested.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work here.