Fact Check: Kamala Harris Claims Trump ‘Sent an Armed Mob’ to U.S. Capitol
CLAIM: Vice President Kamala Harris claimed that former President Donald Trump “sent an armed mob” to the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
VERDICT: False.
While speaking from the Ellipse in Washington, DC, on Tuesday night, Harris delivered her closing statements. In her closing statement, Harris claimed that Trump had “sent an armed mob” to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, though the riot had started even before Trump finished speaking.
“We know who Donald Trump is,” Harris told the crowd. “He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election. An election that he knew he lost.
Harris’s comments come as other Democrats, such as President Joe Biden have also claimed that Trump “encouraged” protesters to go to the Capitol.
As Breitbart News’s Bradley Jaye has previously reported, Trump has previously “countered that not only did he authorize additional security after protesters entered the Capitol but in fact had requested and approved National Guard troops in advance”:
Trump countered that not only did he authorize additional security after protestors entered the Capitol but in fact had requested and approved National Guard troops in advance — information which was omitted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s anti-Trump J6 Committee.
“I was all set to bring in the National Guard,” Trump said, bashing the committee for only releasing information strategically to damage Trump. “They heard that, they say them coming, and they left immediately.”
Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak has previously reported that former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) ended up walking back a claim that Trump “incited” the riot on January 6.
Pollak noted that “the question of incitement” was key to Democrats’ argument against Trump during his second impeachment trial, adding that Trump’s defense team, at the time, pointed out that the riot had already started prior to Trump finishing his speech:
The question of incitement was central to Democrats’ argument against Trump in his second impeachment trial. Trump’s defense team noted that the riot had begun before Trump finished speaking, and that he explicitly told supporters: “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
Byron York, chief political correspondent with the Washington Examiner, wrote in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in October 2021, that of roughly “670 people” who had been charged in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, there were “82” who were facing “weapons-related charges”:
For each charge, prosecutors have specified the weapon the defendant is accused of using. Here is a representative list of those weapons: A helmet. A baton. A crutch. A walking stick. Handgun. Pepper spray. Flagpole. Knife. Baseball bat. Crowd control barrier. Police shield. Hockey stick. Axe. Metal sign. Desk drawer.
Obviously, guns are the most serious concern. Of the 670, five suspects — Christopher Michael Alberts, Lonnie Leroy Coffman, Mark Sami Ibrahim, Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. and Guy Wesley Reffitt — are charged with possessing firearms. But none are charged with using them during the riot.
York continued:
The big picture: Only a small percentage of the people at the “armed insurrection” were armed with anything. And just five of them — less than 1% of those charged — have been charged with possessing firearms, which are the traditional weapon of choice for modern armed insurrectionists. One of them didn’t even arrive until after it was all over. And none fired the weapons. And that is the problem with the “armed insurrection” talking point.
York added in his article that while what occurred on January 6 was a “riot” and “there was fighting” and “property damage,” the Department of Justice prosecutions did “not make the case that” it had been an “armed insurrection.”
In a post on X, Trump also called for protesters to “remain peaceful” and for “no violence.”
“I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful,” Trump wrote. “No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
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