U.S. Capitol riot defendant Pam Hemphill poured cold water on claims that Republicans have promoted about FBI agents being involved in the January 6, 2021 attack.
“First they were saying the Truth about January 6, how ‘it’s what really happened on J6’ as if we’re blind; It’s getting more ridiculous and their insanity is screaming louder than ever!” Hemphill, the grandmother who pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful parading, demonstrating or picketing at the Capitol riot, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
Hemphill then directed a message at Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, telling the Georgia Republican, “You @RepMTG can’t gaslight the people anymore, we know what we saw and heard from those criminal J6 defendants, if you’re picking them over honorable Capitol Police officers, I hope you’re thrown out of office as a disgrace to our country!”
Newsweek reached out to Greene via email for comment.
The conspiracy theory that the January 6, 2021 riot was instigated by FBI agents has been promoted by conservative firebrands like Greene and Senator Mike Lee, and surveys show those efforts are resonating among Americans. A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll released last week showed that as many as a quarter of Americans and a third of Republicans believe that the Capitol attack was influenced by the FBI or other government agencies.
Hemphill, who has become a critic of former President Donald Trump since pleading guilty, urged members of Congress to step in and take action against those theories.
Responding to a video of Saturday’s demonstration from Look Ahead America, Hemphill said, “It’s not getting any better, it’s time for Congress @RepSpeier to take action and stop the J6 propaganda by those in office, start with telling people the FBI isn’t weaponized against anyone; before it becomes out of hand!”
Look Ahead America, a conservative political advocacy group founded by former Trump campaign staffer Matt Braynard, held a protest at the Justice Department over the weekend, calling for justice for January 6 defendants.
“This protest is to send the message that patriotic Americans have not forgotten the continuing abuses and injustices suffered by our brothers and sisters at the hands of the DOJ and FBI following their peaceful participation in Capitol protests three years ago,” the event website reads. “We will again raise our voices to tell the DOJ, the FBI, the Biden Administration, and the country that we demand pardons, clemency, and leniency for our fellow Americans who’ve been persecuted not for their actions but for their political beliefs.”
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Former Vice President Mike Pence has also shut down the FBI conspiracy theory, telling CNN on Sunday, “We’ve been assured again and again that it was not the case.”
“They simply need to look to the facts that the Capitol Hill Police endured great hardship and great harm,” Pence said of those boosting the claims.
“I just must tell you, having been there that day, to see people literally breaking windows, ransacking the Capitol, it just infuriated me. I remember thinking, ‘not this, not here, not at the United States Capitol,'” the vice president said, adding that he was “very grateful” for the FBI’s efforts to arrest the rioters who “ransacked our Capitol and did violence against police officers that day.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.