Debunking American Election Myths, Part 1: The Capitol Siege

Whether or not you believe the 2020 United States presidential election results are legitimate, and whether you support President Donald Trump, President-Elect Joe Biden, or neither, we can all agree that there’s been a lot of fake news floating around. Having sat on my thoughts (well, apart from on Facebook and Twitter – I’ve stated my opinions there multiple times) for over 2 months now, with Biden’s inauguration approaching and Congress being overrun recntly, I’m finally going to share my observations.

And I’m going to do it backwards, starting with the mob at the Capitol.

For starters, THE POLICE DID NOT JUST LET THEM IN! A common misconception – somewhat understandable given some of the early viral footage – proven wrong (thankfully) by other, earlier footage.

The following is from a tweet by Elijah Schaffer (warning: disturbing footage):

IMPORTANT: this is exact moment the siege of the Capitol building began as the two men in front ripped down a preliminary barrier & rushed officers who were behind a 2nd barrier

They then encouraged others to follow their lead. Officers appeared to be taken completely off guard

Originally tweeted by ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) on January 6, 2021.

Another one, from Matt Jones:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1347031398176223233

Now compare that to the video that went viral:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1346924307692318723

The video was taken by someone who had already broken through the line, and there were others with him. This is AFTER AT LEAST two parts of the police barrier had been broken through – as seen in the first two videos above – and people were swarming in. There wasn’t much point in continuing to hold their part of the line. (Not saying it was necessarily the right thing to do, but the narrative circulating among both Democrat and Republican circles – variously spun as “They’re soft on the protestors because they’re white!” or “They let them in because it’s an Antifa false flag!” or simply that the police are incompetent – about the police is simply false.)