The FBI Did Not Organize the Capitol Insurrection
The Claim
The FBI orchestrated the insurrection on January 6th at the U.S. capitol, in a conspiracy to defame former President Trump and his supporters.
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Emerging story
In a recent edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson presented a conspiracy theory regarding the insurrection that took place on January 6th in Washington D.C.
He introduced this theory by claiming that the U.S government was hiding the identity of numerous law enforcement officers who were present during the insurrection. He then stated that some of the rioters on January 6th had not been charged to date and that in government court filings, a number of people were listed as unindicted co-conspirators. After this, Carlson claimed that potentially every single one of these unindicted co-conspirators was an FBI operative. Further in the segment, Carlson began claiming that the U.S. government had admitted to partially organizing the insurrection via its FBI operatives.
Carlson used a video clip showing FBI Director Christopher Wray who discussed how his organization was infiltrating a range of domestic terrorist groups.
Republican lawmakers have since repeated these claims on social media. On Twitter, Representative Matt Gaetz posted a clip from Carlson’s segment, which has gained over 300,000 views within 48 hours. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has also repeated these claims on social media, gaining thousands of interactions as a result.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation has found that Tucker Carlson’s accusations regarding the FBI and the January 6th insurrection are baseless. He has neglected to acknowledge a range of vital information.
As Law & Crime states, Tucker Carlson’s conclusions regarding FBI orchestration of the insurrection only make sense by ignoring U.S. laws and common practices. As a 1985 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, states, “Government agents and informants cannot be conspirators.” This means that the people listed in the government documents as co-conspirators that Carlson is referring to are not FBI operatives, as they would not be listed as such in any official government documentation. Doing so would break a precedent that has been established for over 35 years.
Instead of being FBI operatives, The Washington Post lists reasons why the unindicted co-conspirators are likely unindicted and unnamed in the government documentation: 1. The government has yet to identify them. 2. The government lacks the evidence to indict them. 3. They are cooperating with the government in exchange for remaining unindicted. This is the most likely reason.
Additionally, FBI Director Wray’s testimony into the actions of FBI operatives within domestic terrorist groups does not point to the insurrection being the work of the FBI. Instead, these operatives are acting within the organization in an attempt to prevent further domestic terrorism from taking place. This is a common practice for the FBI. In fact, Lawfare highlights that in 2019, the FBI announced that it had focused on arresting and disrupting more domestic terrorism suspects than international terrorism suspects in recent years. The source also states that the use of confidential informants and undercover agents is possibly the most important aspect of investigating domestic terrorism.
Voice of America has noted that the FBI was a key part of ending the riot and identifying its leaders as members of the domestic terrorist groups, such as The Proud Boys. The source also notes that the University of Chicago has identified many of the participants in the insurrection as Trump supporters. Overall, the university concluded that 10% of the rioters were affiliated with domestic terrorist groups, with the rest being unaffiliated Trump supporters. Lastly, this source also highlights the testimony of members of the domestic terrorism groups claiming that they organized and participated in the insurrection. For instance, Jessica Watkins, who belongs to the Oath Keepers, stated the following on social media on January the sixth:
“Yeah. We stormed the Capitol today. Teargassed, the whole, 9. Pushed out way into the Rotunda. Made it into the Senate even. The news is lying (even Fox) about the Historical Events we created today.”
As Tucker Carlson’s assumptions about FBI involvement are disproved with legal common practice, and as there is plenty of information highlighting who the real perpetrators of the January sixth insurrection were, we rate this claim as false.
