Ex-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, hyping the gravity of the US Capitol riot after Republicans blocked a special probe, falsely claimed that the mob killed a police officer. Twitter users quickly set the record straight.
“An angry mob attacked our Capitol, our lawmakers and our election,” Clinton tweeted on Friday, after Senate Republicans blocked a vote on legislation that would create a commission to investigate the January 6 riot. “They killed a policeman. And Republican leaders would rather we all not know more about what happened.”
Hillary Clinton on X (formerly Twitter): “An angry mob attacked our Capitol, our lawmakers, and our election. They killed a policeman. And Republican leaders would rather we all not know more about what happened. / X”
An angry mob attacked our Capitol, our lawmakers, and our election. They killed a policeman. And Republican leaders would rather we all not know more about what happened.
Clinton is far from the only high-profile Democrat who has dramatized the Capitol attack to demonize former President Donald Trump, whom they accused of inciting the “insurrection,” and portrayed support for him as “domestic terrorism.” In fact, President Joe Biden has repeatedly called the incident the worst attack on the American democracy since the Civil War.
However, her statement was perhaps one of the most blatantly false. The rioters were initially blamed for the deaths of five people, but four of those – including three Trump supporters and US Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick – died of medical conditions.
Contrary to early media reports claiming he was bludgeoned to death, Sicknick died after suffering two strokes in his office, hours after the riot ended. After months of delay in investigating his death, Washington’s chief medical examiner said in April that the officer died of natural causes.
Siraj Hashmi on X (formerly Twitter): “✍🏼uh✍🏼oh✍🏼Hillary✍🏼 pic.twitter.com/P9ZwL5XApA / X”
✍🏼uh✍🏼oh✍🏼Hillary✍🏼 pic.twitter.com/P9ZwL5XApA
As Twitter commenters pointed out to Clinton, the only person whose life was taken during the riot was Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a still-unidentified police officer as she tried to climb through a broken window into the Speaker’s Lobby, a room near the House chamber.
🇺🇸Conservative~Josh🇺🇸 on X (formerly Twitter): “You are a fucking liar! How is this post still up when it is obvious misinformation? Only person killed on the 6th was a American veteran who was shot by a unknown capitol officer! Ashli Babbitt! SAY HER NAME https://t.co/mUmaRj9mpV pic.twitter.com/zCynfbi6VY / X”
You are a fucking liar! How is this post still up when it is obvious misinformation? Only person killed on the 6th was a American veteran who was shot by a unknown capitol officer! Ashli Babbitt! SAY HER NAME https://t.co/mUmaRj9mpV pic.twitter.com/zCynfbi6VY
“You are flat out lying about the murder of a police officer,” Arizona congressional candidate Josh Barnett told Clinton. “That’s not what happened. You disgrace yourself with more lies.”
Josh Barnett-AZ on X (formerly Twitter): “You are flat out lying about the murder of a police officer. That’s not what happened! You continue to disgrace yourself with more lies… / X”
You are flat out lying about the murder of a police officer. That’s not what happened! You continue to disgrace yourself with more lies…
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Kevin Dalton argued that while those who stormed the Capitol were “idiots,” Clinton’s “continuing to perpetuate a lie that has been debunked numerous times” is only “slightly stupider.”
