Documentarian Ford Fischer rediscovered some video from the riot on Jan. 6 that’s raising a lot of questions. It also puts a big crimp in the narrative of the Jan. 6 Committee.
He has a picture and video of Capitol Police Lieutenant Tarik Johnson leading Oathkeepers into the building, then wearing a MAGA hat and yelling into a bullhorn, leading more of them out.
Warning for language:
Now, this has been reported before, albeit not widely. But Johnson said he appealed to Oathkeepers who were outside to help get some of his fellow officers out who were trapped in the building.
Where he got the hat is not clear.
So if you take the video at face value, Johnson was appealing to the people the government has painted as terrorists and they without hesitation went to help him to help get the officers out. He didn’t fear appealing to those guys. That sort of blows up a lot of the narrative that has been pitched against the Oathkeepers. Now, I don’t know what the legal status is of the folks who helped him, but if they got charged for going in, that would seem a very significant defense. Plus, it seems to militate against the “insurrection” idea, if they’re trying to help get people out. And they don’t look like “armed terrorists” as the Jan. 6 Committee has tried to paint them when they’re trying to help the police.
Johnson was suspended after the incident for wearing the hat, but he claimed that he had been wearing it to help get the other officers out.
So add another fact that puts a crimp in the failed position of the Jan. 6 Committee. 89 percent of Americans say the Committee hasn’t changed their minds about the incident and 8 in 10 Republicans still have a favorable impression of President Donald Trump.