Ron Johnson Promotes Conspiracy Theory During Senate Hearing Blaming ‘Fake Trump Protesters’: They ‘Probably Planned This’
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) read a report blaming “agent provocateurs” and people who “obviously didn’t fit in” for the attack on the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 — concluding that they “probably planned this.”
The senator read experts from a report by J Michael Waller, a senior analyst for strategy at the Center of Security Policy, entitled I Saw Provocateurs At The Capitol Riot On Jan. 6 and published by The Federalist.
“At about 11:30, I walked from near Union Station … and noticed a small number of Capitol Police dressed in full riot gear, with shin guards and shoulder guards,” he read, adding that he then saw a “positive and festive” crowd leaving Trump’s “Save America” to walk down Constitution Avenue.
Johnson went on to read that Waller had noticed four types of people that “stood out” in the MAGA crowd, adding that they “obviously didn’t fit in” with the families in attendance or with those in “pro-police shirts”
“Although the crowd represented a broad cross-section of Americans, mostly working-class by their appearance and manner of speech, some people stood out,” he read. “A very few didn’t share the jovial, friendly, earnest demeanor of the great majority. Some obviously didn’t fit in.”
He went on to describe the four groups he noticed stood out: “Plainclothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake Trump protesters, and then disciplined, uniformed column of attackers.”
“I think these are the people that probably planned this,” Johnson said.
Johnson continued to read the report, which noted that D.C. Metropolitan Police seemed to be acting normally on that day, but also claimed there was no law enforcement at the Capitol.
“Several marchers expressed surprise,” Johnson read, adding, “The openness seemed like a courtesy gesture from Congress, which controls security.”
The claim that Antifa or outside provocateurs were responsible for the riot has been repeatedly fact-checked, especially after The Washington Times published a report that falsely claimed a facial recognition firm said Antifa infiltrated and posed as pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol.
Watch above, via CNN.
