The statement: ‘There is no evidence that white supremacists were responsible for what happened on January 6. That’s a lie. ‘ – Tucker Carlson, host of Fox News.
During the segment, Carlson, whose first time was among the most-watched cable news programs, interviewed the author of a blog post claiming the riot was not an armed uprising. PolitiFact previously rated Pants on Fire.
Fact rating: Untrue. Law enforcement officials said the attack involved extremist and white supremacist groups. Not all the rioters at the Capitol were extremists or white supremacists, but there were several people with well-known ties to white supremacist groups involved, including some people now conspiring against conspiracy.
Discussion
Carlson is responding to the pledge of Attorney General Merrick Garland during his confirmation hearing to oversee the prosecution of ‘white supremacists and others’ involved in the riot.
Experts on extremism have described white supremacists as a top domestic terrorist threat, and so has FBI Director Christopher Wray. In 2019, Carlson called white supremacy a farce.
PolitiFact is a fact checking project to help you locate facts in politics. Truth O-meter ratings are determined by a panel of three editors. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and PolitiFact judges statements based on the information known at the time the statement was made.
It is difficult to say how responsible someone or group was for what happened. In addition to public records and documentary evidence showing that some rioters corresponded with white supremacist groups, many symbols of white supremacy were displayed during the uprising.
“White supremacists and converted all-right rioters were certainly there, but there were also a wide variety of other insurgents present who share a set of unifying grievances with hardened adults, who do not necessarily buy a full-white white supremacy,” Brian said. said. Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
On Feb. 23, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., During a Senate hearing on the security failures of the Capitol, asked the acting chief of police of the DC, the former chief of police of the Capitol, and the former weapons sergeant. attack “involved white supremacists and extremist groups”.
All the officials replied, “Yes.”
Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.
Carlson’s claim comes hours after Capitol police officer Harry Dunn described being repeatedly called a racial call while defending the complex.
Substantial evidence shows that extremist groups, including those who publicly supported white supremacist ideals, were among the people in the crowd.
The New York Times reported on February 21 that although most of the rioters were supporters of former President Donald Trump, members of right-wing extremist groups played an extraordinary role in the riot and that they are charged with the most serious crimes, including conspiracy charges. , which indicates a level of planning and coordination.
Of the more than 230 people charged so far, it was known that 31 had ties to a militant extremist group, the Times found. This is in line with what Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League Center for Extremism, told PolitiFact.
“The emerging snapshot of the insurgents shows a series of right-wing extremists united by their anger with the alleged large-scale betrayal by ‘unprincipled’ legislators,” Segal said.
Extremist figures at the Capitol included members of the Proud Boys, a far-right organization that celebrates Western culture and male superiority. The group gained notoriety after Trump said in a debate that his members “should stand back and assist”.
The group rejected allegations that it promoted white supremacy. But Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland, said that some members know ties to other white supremacist groups or that they expressed white supremacist views in public. .
A video poll by the Wall Street Journal found that Proud Boys members were “at the forefront” of very important moments during the January 6 siege.
Other figures in the riot had explicit white supremacist ties. Some, for example, are associated with the Groypers, a white supremacist group defined by a loose network of people who support the far-right activist and podcast, Nick Fuentes, or the Nationalist Socialist Club, a neo-Nazi group. said Segal. Others, such as the far-right media personality Tim Gionet, or Baked Alaska, have expressed white supremacist views but are not affiliated with any particular group.
The ADL has identified 212 of what they say were about 800 people who violated the Capitol, Segal said. Among the people identified, Segal said the ADL counted 17 Proud Boys, six people associated with a military group against the government known as the Oath Guards, and ten people with ties to the Groypers or other white supremacist groups.
“They were definitely present at the Capitol on January 6, and several took part in storming the building,” Jensen said, pointing to people like Gionet and Bryan Betancur, a self-confessed white supremaker seen with a Proud Boys shirt on and pose. with a Confederate flag.
The presence of white supremacists has also been marked by symbols displayed prominently, including some that are “openly racist” and others that are coded or co-opted but resonate among supporters of extremist extremist groups, Levin said.
One man, Robert Packer, was seen in a “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt, a reference to a complex of concentration camps used during the Holocaust. Others waved Confederate flags, flashed “white power” symbols, displayed “Pepe the frog” images and more, Levin said.
Rebels also erected a hanging gallows, which according to Levin is a symbol for white supremacists and other far-right figures that mark a day when ‘government leaders and minorities are hanged’.