Even after nearly 1,000 Capitol rioters were charged with murder, Donald Trump this week hailed them as “great patriots” and their prison sentences “a disgrace.”
But he also insisted that “virtually nothing happened” during the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol, so apparently it wasn’t a big deal.
The former president was asked on Friday by the far-right TV show “Voice of the Real America” January 2017 on Friday to say a few words to lift the spirits of the “political prisoners” behind bars in the “gulag”.
“I think it’s a shame what’s going on,” Trump replied. “So many of these people are great patriots and what they’ve been through. So you look at antifa and BLM [Black Lives Matter]. Look at what’s happened there, what they’ve done in all kinds of places in the last…two years, where they’ve set fire to cities.”
However, no cities were torched by Black Lives Matter or antifa activists.
Trump also insisted the insurrection was “non-lethal” – “nobody died” at the scene, apart from the “amazing” Ashli Babbitt, he added. A police officer shot a Trump supporter as she tried to enter the Capitol building through a broken window amid a crowd trying to reach lawmakers.
So, Trump noted, “virtually nothing happened that day.”
According to Justice Department records, 950 defendants involved in the 2021 Capitol storming were charged with crimes ranging from rape and destruction to theft of Capitol property, from assault or carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon to conspiracy to seditious. In addition, approximately 140 police officers were injured while defending the building and the MPs inside.
Trump also saluted the rioters on the day of violence, telling them “we love you, you’re very special” in a video address as he asked them to finally leave the Capitol. “I know your pain,” she said.
Trump said last September that he would “seriously” considerbusiness suit grace — with apologies” for the defendants on January 6 if the president returns. At the time he also claimed to be supporting some of them “financially” and asked for contributions.
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