Elected Republican tells podcast Jan. 6 protesters were 'actors' in MAGA uniforms

Minnesota Rep. Drew Roach, R-Farmington, and Sen. Bill Lieske, R-Lonsdale, called the Jan. 6 insurrection a “hoax” and repeated a false conspiracy theory that the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol were “actors,” during a video podcast posted Monday on YouTube and the popular right wing platform Rumble.

Lieske and Roach host a show called “Minnesota Liberty Network.” On Monday, the two discussed the state Senate floor vote on a resolution condemning President Donald Trump’s blanket pardon of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6. insurrection. Lieske was absent for the vote, and all 22 of the Republicans present voted against the resolution.

“If I would have been there, probably would have ended up voting no. I think that was such a stupid resolution,” Lieske said on the podcast.

Roach then launched into an explanation of why he believes the Jan. 6. was a “hoax.”

“You had people that were actors that were wearing the uniform of the Trump supporter that made it look like they were there to support Donald Trump,” Roach said.

MAGA supporters at the time were upset with mask mandates, Roach said, arguing that because some insurrectionists were wearing masks, “those were not real, true MAGA Donald Trump conservative supporters.”

As evidence for the “hoax” hypothesis, Roach cited the timing of the Capitol breach — while Congress was debating whether to certify the election results in Arizona, which Joe Biden won — and floor speeches made by members of Congress immediately after the riot, all using the word “insurrection.”

“It was all prepared,” Lieske said.

“I had never heard the term insurrection in my life until that day,” Roach said.

He continued: “So you’re telling me you were scared for your life, you were in the basement calling your family, but you were rewriting a new speech? I call bullshit.”

Around 140 law enforcement officers were injured in the insurrection, and more than 1,500 people were charged with crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to carrying a weapon on Capitol grounds and assaulting a law enforcement officer. More than 1,000 pleaded guilty, with 281 cases going to trial.

Among those convicted were 14 members of the far-right organizations Proud Boys and Oath Keepers; members of a Telegram group chat called “PATRIOTS 45 MAGA Gang” who brought tactical gear to the Capitol to “violently remove traitors”; and numerous people who posted on their personal social media accounts or livestreamed while breaching the Capitol.

The U.S. Capitol Police chief testified Tuesday that Trump’s pardons had negative repercussions on morale within the department and for police across the country.

“I think there was an impact, not only to the Capitol Police, but an impact nationwide when you see folks that are pardoned — and I’m really referring to the ones that were convicted of assaulting police officers,” J. Thomas Manger said during a hearing on the department’s budget request.