Jan. 6 Questions
Jan. 6, 2021, was a shameful day in American history, a riot stirred up by sore loser Donald Trump to stay in power. There are also questions about the actions of the Capitol Police that day, and whether some of the people who entered the building were treated unfairly by the courts.
Both things can be true. But it’s a mark of how polarized we are as a society — and the way that elites insult the intelligence of Americans — that such balance is vilified and even censored.
On Monday night, Tucker Carlson aired Jan. 6 footage the public hasn’t seen. Some of it was very familiar: People breaking down windows and doors, flooding into the Capitol to try to stop Joe Biden from becoming president.
But some of the material is frankly bizarre. Why do two cops follow “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley around, even opening the door for him to get onto the Senate floor? Why isn’t he escorted out of the building, or arrested?
The Capitol Police tell The Post that their forces were outnumbered, that they asked Chansley to leave but he wouldn’t. They weren’t trying very hard.
The behavior and effectiveness of the Capitol Police certainly should have been part of the inquiry into that day, but the Jan. 6 Committee didn’t even nod in that direction.
Chansley argued at trial exactly what the video shows — that police aided him. The judge still sentenced him to nearly four years in prison. Is that punishment fair? And were other riot defendants held too long or in questionable conditions?
To ask these questions is not to dismiss what happened on Jan. 6. The people that disgustingly broke into the Capitol or struck police should be prosecuted.
Trump is typically declaring himself “totally innocent,” which is ridiculous. He riled up a mob, set it against his own vice president, then watched the whole thing unfold on TV as he did nothing to stop it. He’s responsible for what happened, and unworthy of a return to elected office.
Yet Democrats and the liberal media believe that once you come to that conclusion, you aren’t allowed to examine anything else about that day. The Twitter hordes descend on anyone who doesn’t stick to “the narrative.”
This happens again and again and again. Take Jeff Zucker, who told CNN reporters not to probe the possible lab leak of COVID-19 because it was a “Trump talking point.” So the truth took a back seat to politics.
Do not question the mental fitness of John Fetterman, lest you jeopardize Democratic chances of holding the Senate. Don’t report on Hunter Biden’s laptop, because it might hurt Biden’s campaign. Better yet, Twitter should censor it.
Reasonable-minded people, shocked by the events of Jan. 6, might look at the video of Chansley and wonder what else was omitted by the committee. Their disgust becomes tempered by distrust. Just as someone who finds out that the lab leak is likely true is curious about what else the CDC isn’t telling us.
What news story being suppressed today will end up being common knowledge tomorrow?
That is the damage done when the public is told not to ask questions.