Coverage of January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill protest

[AgnosticBoy]

For Debate:
Has there been any bias in coverage of the pro-Trump protestors storming Capitol Hill?

Here is more background on this event:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Capitol descended into chaos and violence Wednesday as hundreds of pro-Trump rioters swarmed the building, leaving four people dead and forcing the Senate to evacuate and Vice President Mike Pence to be ushered to safety.

The frenzied scene after rioters broke through barricades forced Congress to evacuate parts of the building and abruptly pause a ceremonial event affirming that President-elect Joe Biden won the November election. In one dramatic moment, police officers drew guns as rioters tried to break into the House chamber.


Pence, who was presiding over the joint session of Congress, could be seen rushing out of the Senate chamber amid the sounds of throngs of President Donald Trump's supporters who surrounded the Capitol. Pence and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Senate president pro tem, were taken to a secure location, a senator told NBC News.

Source: NBC news

 

[AgnosticBoy]

I always make it a goal to watch different stations because they each offer a different perspective, some left-leaning and others lean to the right of the political spectrum. My view so far is that there has definitely been biased reporting.

Make no mistake, storming the Capitol is unequivacably wrong, but it's also wrong to exaggerate the details, perhaps to make it look worse for political reasons. At least on the left-leaning network like CNN, commentators described the pro-Trump mob as being an "armed" mob trying to storm the US Capitol. Now there may have been a few people armed with water bottles and other objects, but isn't it a stretch to call that "armed" especially when it's only a few people? Compare that to how they reported on the BLM protests where they called it peaceful while buildings were being burned down. This is no different than the Seattle mayor who referred to BLM/Antifa related protestors taking over a blocks of Downtown Seattle as a being a "peaceful expression" or even a "summer of love" (source: here and here).

The tactic is simply to paint protestors in the worst light when they are not from your political side, but then try to paint a good picture when they are for your political side.

If anyone wants to post biased reporting on this event that comes from right-leaning news networks then I look forward to seeing that, as well. I suppose it's easier to notice the Left's bias because they dominate mainstream media.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

It would seem that when BLM protests were going on, the left-leaning media made distinction between peaceful protestors and the non-peaceful ones. They even went as far as saying that most protestors were peaceful. Now when it comes to Trump supporters on Jan. 6, suddenly all of them are "insurrectionists". Where is the distinction? If not every single pro-Trump protestor broke into the US Capitol so why are we painting all of them with a broad brush? Was it the majority of the protestors or just a small percentage that caused mayhem? I certainly see no problem standing outside the US Capitol and making your voice heard as opposed to forcibly entering and vandalizing the place.

 

[TracyRN]

Hi AB. I usually watch ABC for local and national news. I was waiting for the senate race results in Georgia and then came the breaking news about the protestors. The reporting was straightforward and nothing dramatic. George Stephanopoulos was the main host and he and his reporters did a good job describing the scene.

I caught a glimpse of NBC news from a patient's room and the reporters sounded very upset at what they were witnessing. That should be expected given the serious events. Hopefully no one was killed.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Hi AB. I usually watch ABC for local and national news. I was waiting for the senate race results in Georgia and then came the breaking news about the protestors. The reporting was straightforward and nothing dramatic. George Stephanopoulos was the main host and he and his reporters did a good job describing the scene.

I caught a glimpse of NBC news from a patient's room and the reporters sounded very upset at what they were witnessing. That should be expected given the serious events. Hopefully no one was killed.

Tracy, there are 5 reported deaths.

Here's another interesting angle. According to CNN and Politico, some Democrats are looking into if the pro-Trump protestors were aided by US Capitol police, or at least some of them.

A growing number of House Democrats say they’re concerned that tactical decisions by some Capitol Police officers worsened Wednesday’s riots and have raised the possibility that the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol might have had outside help.
...
Many officers suffered injuries defending members, aides and journalists from the onslaught and one, Brian Sicknick, died late Thursday. But videos have also surfaced showing a small number of officers pulling down barricades for the rioters and, in another instance, stopping for a photo with one of them.

Sources: ‘Inside job’: House Dems ask if Capitol rioters had hidden help - POLITICO
And CNN reporting Officer appears to pose for selfie with rioter (cnn.com) (watch at :40 to 1:10)

In the next post, I'll post two videos that might show that the Democrats claims have some validity.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Here is one raw video that appears to show US Capitol police actually removing barricades to allow protestors to pass:

Here's another video of an big sized Officer pushing a protestor in the weakest way possible. Then it appears as though he is leading the protestors up to the 2nd floor:

Look at the video at the 11 to 13 second mark. Did you see how weak that push was? Would a protestor take you seriously after you push them back in the most passive and weak way, and that coming from a big guy?

Yet another piece of evidence... police taking a selfie with a protestor:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1346920198461419520