DISINFO: Images and videos prove that left-wing radicals took part in the assault of the US Capitol
SUMMARY
The assault on the US Congress was carried out by a big group of Trump supporters, but also by radicals who only wanted chaos. Donald Trump is being pointed as the instigator of all this, though we have also seen images and videos of left-wing radical groups that were also present in the assault.
RESPONSE
This is part of a pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign to discredit Joe Biden’s electoral victory, undermine the faith on the US electoral system and promote Donald Trump.
The claim is false. Though it was originally made by Republican lawmakers and other Trump loyalists on the same day of the assault, and by President Donald Trump himself days afterwards, it was immediately refuted by the FBI, and some images used as alleged “evidence” were debunked by Reuters. Even after that, pro-Trump channels continued promoting this disinformation message, going as far as to claim that the FBI had confirmed it, which was immediately disproven.
See other examples in our database, such as claims that the US system is not democratic because the Deep State makes the big decisions; that the attack on the Capitol was a planned provocation; that the Democratic Party has become a fascist party; that there was electoral fraud in the US because the Deep State didn’t want Trump reelected; that the cybercracy, the Deep State and the Pentagon subdued Trump; or that the assault on the Capitol was the new 9/11.
This disinformation message appeared in the same article as the claims that “Censorship in the US is now almost akin to that of Nazi Germany”, that “If Trump is impeached, Democrats will have absolute power”, that “Joe Biden starts his mandate with the disapproval of half of the US”, and that “US authorities refuted that the assault on the Capitol was a terrorist act”.