Themselves trashing the false claims propagated by the right-wing organisations, almost a dozen Trump supporters, charged in connection with the US Capitol attacks on January 6, have said that Antifa and other left-wing infiltrators weren’t involved in the attack and ‘proudly’ took responsibility for the events that followed, American media reported.
Even during Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, his lawyers accused the left groups of being responsible for the attacks. The same baseless claims have been preached by Republicans and speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday.
Although some of the rioters facing charges reiterated similar claims, after a review of court documents, CNN said nearly a dozen defendants disputed the claims, saying themselves and other Trump supporters deserve the credit for storming the Capitol — not Antifa.
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“There’s a lot of memes and posts flying around saying that the people who were fighting last night were all Antifa provocateurs etc.,” Jose Padilla, who the feds say fought with police during the Capitol attack, posted on Facebook. “I just want to say that as a first-hand observer of every point of last night, that it was not Antifa. They were Patriots who were trying to Restore the Republic.”
Another Trump supporter, charged in connection with the Capitol insurrection, Jonathan Mellis, posted, “Don’t you dare try to tell me that people are blaming this on Antifa and BLM. We proudly take responsibility for storming the Castle.”
He rather mocked the left-wing groups for being too cowardly to pull off an attack.
Prosecutors allege defendant Mellis hit officers with a large stick, and that Padilla used a large metal Trump sign as a battering ram against the police line.
The comments from the defendants bring to the forefront the baseless conspiracy that is being propagated to relief the Trump supporters of the responsibility of the horrific attack.
Meanwhile, Conservative radio host Wayne Dupree at the CPAC said, “Antifa was there, BLM was there, MAGA people were there, everybody was there.”
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At the Senate hearing about the security failures, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin too promoted the false claims that the insurrectionist mob was full of “fake Trump protesters” and “agents provocateurs.”
In a recovered video from the phone of one of the attackers, another defendant was heard implored his fellow rioters to take pride in their actions that day.
“Be embarrassed & hide if you need to — but I was there. It was not Antifa at the Capitol. It was freedom-loving Patriots who were DESPERATE to fight for the final hope of our Republic,” tweeted Brandon Straka, who spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally on the eve of the insurrection.
Man such comments about Antifa from alleged rioters have been previously highlighted by the US media.