(CNN) — About a dozen Trump supporters indicted in connection with the uprising on the U.S. Capitol have said that antifa and other left-wing groups were not involved in the attack, debunking a false flag conspiracy theory that is gaining popularity in orbit. pro-Trump.
The affirmation unfounded that left-wing infiltrators were responsible for the violent attack has been promoted by lawyers for former President Donald Trump at impeachment, several Republican lawmakers and at least one speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday morning.
Many of the alleged agitators facing charges also embraced this conspiracy. Yet, according to a CNN review of court documents, about a dozen defendants have explicitly rejected it, saying they and other Trump supporters deserve credit for storming the Capitol, not antifa.
“There are a lot of memes and posts out there that say the people who were fighting last night were all antifa provocateurs, etc.,” the defendant Jose Padilla allegedly posted on Facebook a day after the January 6 attack. “I just want to say that, as a first-hand observer of every moment last night, it wasn’t antifa. They were patriots who were trying to Restore the Republic, “he added.
‘We proudly take responsibility’
Another alleged Capitol agitator, Jonathan Mellis, posted: “Don’t you dare try to tell me that people blame antifa and BLM (Black Lives Matter) for this. We proudly assume the responsibility of storming the Castle. He also used a vulgar term to imply that leftist groups were too cowardly to carry out an attack.
Padilla and Mellis are among those charged with assaulting police officers as well as misdemeanor trespassing. Prosecutors say Mellis hit the officers with a large stick and that Padilla used a large metal Trump sign as a battering ram against the police line.
None of them have pleaded guilty and none have a lawyer on the court file.
His comments undermined the unfounded conspiracy that shifts responsibility from Trump’s most ardent supporters to Trump’s opponents. Even some prominent Republicans have rejected the false flag theory, but the narrative is alive and well in some Republican circles.
At least one CPAC speaker this week promoted the lie, though he admitted that some Trump supporters participated in the assault on Capitol Hill. Conservative radio host Wayne Dupree said, “Antifa was there, BLM was there, MAGA people were there, everyone was there.”
At a Senate hearing Tuesday on security breaches, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin blatantly promoted false claims that the mob was full of “fake Trump protesters” and “agent provocateurs.” The majority of Republicans on the panel did not embrace these conspiracies.
A defendant in the Capitol riots criticized Republican lawmakers for blaming antifa. Thomas Robertson, a police officer from Rocky Mount, Virginia, flaunted his ties to law enforcement and conservative groups. He was fired from the police department, according to a press release.
“I was in the Capitol building two days ago,” Robertson posted on Facebook, according to court documents. “I am a (member of the Virginia Citizens Defense League pro-weapons group), a member of the National Rifle Association, a serving soldier and a police officer. Damage control by Republicans in Washington is trying to say it was antifa. It was not. Is it possible that some were there? Of course. Did they cause it? Do not”.
Robertson was indicted along with Jacob Fracker, a Rocky Mount police colleague who was also fired. The Pentagon says Robertson was previously in the US Army Reserve and was in Iraq during the war, and that Fracker is currently a corporal in the Virginia National Guard.
Both men pleaded not guilty Thursday in a virtual hearing in federal court in Washington.
Prosecutors said they recovered a video from the phone of one of the men who was photographed on the Senate camera holding plastic handcuffs.
In the video, the man is allegedly heard saying not to vandalize because they are not antifa.
Another defendant even implored his colleagues to take pride in his actions that day.
Be ashamed and hide if you have to, but I was there. It was not antifa in the Capitol. It was the freedom-loving patriots who were DESPERATE to fight for the final hope of our republic, “tweeted Brandon Straka, speaking at the” Stop the Steal “rally on the eve of the insurrection.
Some of the antifa comments from suspected agitators have previously been highlighted by the Huffington Post and the Washington Post. At least 265 people face charges related to the attack on the Capitol, although prosecutors say more cases are confidential or yet to come.
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