CPAC panelist says Trump Capitol mob 'felt hopeless' over 'a rigged election'

A panelist at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday said the Trump supporters who rioted at the United States Capitol building to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory felt hopeless.

During a panel discussion on mob violence, former Republican Oklahoma State Rep. T. W. Shannon said that mobs often occur when people are desperate -- and he used the January 6th MAGA mob was an example.

"You have to understand the mentality of the mob," he said. "There's one way you get to the mob. And I don't care if you're a mob on the left or a mob on the right, or you're a mob in some Middle Eastern country."

"The mob is established when there is a sense of hopelessness," Shannon continued. "And the left, what they do is control the narrative and tell everybody you're hopeless, whether you're a minority, whether you're a white male ... but the reality is this, mobs happen when people have a sense of hopelessness. That's why people were burning down cities around the country in the summer, because those Democrat mayors around the country offered no hope."

"The reason that people stormed the Capitol was because they felt hopeless because of a rigged election. That's where mobs happen," he added.

Shannon went on the blame the government for creating hopelessness.

In fact, the 2020 election was not rigged, and the Trump campaign lost 60 different court cases trying to overturn the results of the election.

Five people died during the Capitol riots, and Trump released a video during the insurrection telling the rioters that "you're very special" and "we love you."