FBI Director Christopher Wray punched a sizable hole in the Democrats’ narrative about the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol complex. He reminded Democrats that the event was nothing like the “horror” of 9/11. He taught them that the word “insurrection” has a precise legal meaning and that he can’t use the term in the same way that Democrats hug the word. He also noted that there were three groups at the Capitol that day, and not all of them were committing violent crimes.
Since Jan. 6, 2021, most Americans have moved on with their lives, trying to deal with newfound inflation, open borders, schools that are still closed, an economy that is underperforming, rioting in Portland on a nightly basis, and the desire to move past the pandemic and return to normalcy.
While Americans are more concerned with violence in their neighborhoods, especially if they live in a Democrat-controlled city trying to defund the police, the leftists in Congress want to focus on the violence at the Capitol that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.
Because the Biden administration and its co-conspirators in Congress (the Democrats) have no policy ideas that will get America back to work, secure our borders, and acknowledge the greatness of freedom in America, they still want to attack anything that they can tenuously associate with President Trump.
In their minds, President Trump is still the president. His policies were successful while theirs have been such dismal failures that they want to focus on division. So, they continue to hyperbolize the Jan. 6 incident.
Republicans have been consistent in denouncing violence of any kind, much like Director Wray did in his testimony. We do not minimize in any way what happened in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Nearly 500 people have been arrested and are being prosecuted for everything from misdemeanor trespass to more serious conspiracy charges.
But Democrats have excused violence and mayhem in American cities for the last year. They have advocated to release leftist rioters from jail. Democrat prosecutors have dismissed charges. Kamala Harris encouraged support for a Minnesota organization that help raise bail for those charged with rioting after the killing of George Floyd.
In that context it must have been jarring to Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee to hear Wray state clearly that the Jan. 6 incident was not comparable to the “horror” of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Democrats’ message is not resonating because they overstate everything. They argue that a very serious incident, organized by a few fanatics, to interrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election is equivalent to the foreign terrorists who hijacked four planes, flew them into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania forest, killed more than 3,000 people, injured thousands more, and caused billions of dollars in damage.
They appeal to the visceral by calling the Jan. 6 incident an “insurrection” even though they know the legal definition is not met.
Democrats, even in the Judiciary hearing, argue that the rioting for the past year is merely a series of peaceful protests and simply an exercise of First Amendment rights, but paint everyone who came to the Capitol on Jan. 6 as “insurrectionists” attempting to take over the government.
Thank goodness that Director Wray reminded Democrats that most people gathered at the Capitol were truly “peaceful protestors exercising their First Amendment rights.” Many others weren’t engaged in violence, they were simply where they were not legally supposed to be, and a number of those have been charged with trespass. And, with justification, the FBI and the DOJ have been investigating and arresting those who attacked police and vandalized the Capitol.
The Democrats must have been shocked to hear the truth. Now, if only we could get the Democrats to admit the truth about antifa and Black Lives Matter rioters — and get federal officials to investigate and prosecute them.
Andy Biggs represents the 5th District of Arizona.