Trump and his supporters still repeating lies about who was behind Jan. 6 MAGA riot: NPR reporter
According to NPR's Tom Bowman, the enduring myth that it was outsider agitators who were behind the Capitol riot that followed the "Stop the Steal" rally continues to this day even though it is patently false.
And he should know -- because he was there.
As NPR's Lauren Hodges writes, Bowman described what he saw and heard that day and -- going back and speaking with fans of Donald Trump -- found that they and the former president are still trying to whitewash what happened that day.
According to Bowman, "Some Trump supporters were singing YMCA but using the letters M-A-G-A," at the 'Save America"' rally, however, "things were different at the Capitol building, where I was standing with Hannah Allam, NPR's extremism reporter. The far-right group the Proud Boys had just shown up and were organizing a crowd to head for the rally. We had quietly embedded ourselves with them as they began to walk west on Pennsylvania Avenue."
Arriving nearer the Capitol, Bowman stated he spoke with one man who identified himself as "Joe from Ohio," and asked him what the plan was.
With a replica gallows being built on the Capitol grounds, Joe stated, "The people in this house, who stole this election from us, hanging from a gallows out here in this lawn for the whole world to see, so it never happens again. That's what needs to happen. Four by four by four, hanging from a rope out here for treason."
Natalie O'Brien of Detroit explained her reason for being there, claiming, "The Republic is falling. And becoming corrupt and unmanageable. And our vote not mattering at all whatsoever. Our tax dollars pay for this monument. This is kind of our property."
As NPR's Hodges notes, "Months later, Tom Bowman and I went back to the Capitol grounds in Sept. for the 'Justice for J6' rally. A lot of the people we spoke to had also been there on Jan. 6. And yet, they were echoing the story they had heard on Fox News."
According to Phil from Kentucky, "Those weren't Trump supporters," with Janie from South Carolina adding, "... she saw members of Antifa and Black Lives Matter committing the violence. She also claimed the Trump supporters were actually trying to fight them off. But when we mentioned we were on site that day, she admitted that she never actually came close enough to the Capitol to see any violence," according to Hodges.
With Trump still repeating the lie that it was outsiders who were responsible for the violence, the attorney for several of the Capitol insurgents said his clients have seen the light.
Tampa Bay attorney Bjorn Brunvand explained one of his clients, "...believed in the lies that were being professed by former President Trump and his accomplices," but now knows he was duped.
"It went from 100% support for President Trump and the idea that the election was fraudulent at the beginning ... to the recognition that he was misled. He's sitting in a detention facility here in Washington, D.C. and this big powerful former president who said 'meet me at the Capitol', he's too busy playing golf and has no interest in any of the guys that have been arrested," he explained.
As for Trump, Brunvand added, "Not only did he not show up, he's not there for anyone who were there and supposedly were there to save democracy and save the country. When in fact, they were doing quite the opposite."
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