Court filings suggest that FBI operatives were among the mob who stormed the US Capitol in January, and may have set up the riot. With the riot used as justification for new terrorism policy, the media is downplaying the story.
Fox News broadcast possibly the most consequential report in recent cable news history on Tuesday night. Fox host Tucker Carlson alleged that the Capitol Hill riot on January 6 – dubbed an “insurrection,” an “assault on our democracy,” and “domestic terrorism” – may have been, at least partly, an inside job.
Carlson’s claims were first made a day earlier by Revolver News, an upstart right-wing news site. Revolver pored over charging documents against members of the ‘Oath Keepers’ and ‘Proud Boys’ militias who took part in the riots, and discovered that alongside the rioters were dozens of “unindicted co-conspirators.” These co-conspirators allegedly committed crimes equal to or greater than those of the militia members, but were kept anonymous in the court documents and not charged.
Some of them allegedly booked and paid for hotel rooms for militia members, others provided transport to Washington DC. They set up communications channels on walkie-talkie-style apps, and used these apps to whip their comrades into a riotous frenzy. “I want to see thousands of normies burn that city to ash today,” one UCC said in a Proud Boys group chat, while another, identified only as “Person 1,” replied, “God let it happen… I will settle with seeing them smash some pigs to dust.”
One alleged member of the Oath Keepers, 65-year-old Thomas Caldwell of Virginia, was charged with conspiracy, obstructing an official proceeding, destruction of government property, and unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds – a rap sheet that could see him face 20 years in prison. However, a certain “Person Two” who took part in the exact same actions as Caldwell was not charged. Neither was a “Person Three” who offered Caldwell a hotel room and spoke of bringing explosives to the riot.