Five months later: what we know about the Capitol riot
By Tatiana Prophet
The truth is bad enough. It doesn’t need embellishment. That’s why we’re taking a look at how reporting has changed about the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, and what we now know.
We’ve all seen the videos and photos, especially of the violent entry by some of the participants, and most noticeably, the man who pinned a police officer with a riot shield, causing the officer to cry for help. We know that the day spiraled into bedlam and chaos. We know the police were not adequately supported; and we also know that there were certain individuals with a history of inciting violence who were not Trump supporters, doing that very thing on that day. And we also know that the American public was shaken by these images and events. It felt like a violation to all of us. Metro Police Department chief Robert Contee reported that 56 officers were injured in the day’s events.
Initial reporting, and for many months after the event, repeatedly called the event “deadly” and an “insurrection,” even before it was over. This was based on the death of five people: Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, Trump supporter Ashli Babbit (who was unarmed), as well as three others who collapsed due to medical emergencies and were transported to the hospital, but did not survive. We now have their names.
Officer Sicknick lost his life at 9 pm Jan. 7, a fact that was known at the time. Live reports had claimed he had been hit in the head with a fire extinguisher. However video shows two men spraying “bear spray” at Sicknick, but D.C. chief medical examiner Francisco Diaz ruled he died of two strokes the day after the riot. The cause of death was not reported by mainstream media until late April, and even then it had some heavy spin.
NPR intoned: “In a call with reporters, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, didn't rule out charges of rioting, insurrection and seditious conspiracy.”
Meanwhile, more than a few participants in the Capitol breach are still in jail. Twelve are charged with unlawful entry; 283 with entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; ten are charged with entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; 228 are charged with disorderly and disruptive conduct in various places on the property, 155 are charged with violent entry; 11 charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; three with obstruction of Congress; 29 of conspiracy (preparing ahead of time with gear etc); three people were charged with possessing a firearm which was either improperly registered or simply not allowed on the restricted grounds.
But there are zero charges for insurrection, seditious conspiracy, or even rioting! Is that why the DOJ web page now calls the event “The Capitol Breach”? Who knows. But it is remarkable that a group of Trump supporters, widely reported to be the biggest threat to the country in the history of the world, would descend on the Capitol and create chaos, with no loss of life related to premeditation or even an accidental firearm discharge.
A 20-year-old Maryland man who was captured on video punching an officer and hitting another with a metal baseball bat is still in jail. In spite of asking the judge to place him in a High Intensity Supervision Program due to mental health challenges, Emanuel Jackson has been in jail since his arrest on January 18. Ironically, he is one of the few people of color observed at the Capitol that day. And he’s still in jail.
Where is the support for this misguided young man?
