Republicans slam Fox News' Tucker Carlson over Capitol riot clips

Senate Republicans and Capitol constabulary person criticised Fox News aft 1 of its hosts aired antecedently unseen clips of the riot 2 years agone astatine Congress, and played down the disorder.

Host Tucker Carlson showed the video connected Monday night, arguing it "does not amusement an insurrection oregon a riot successful progress", but alternatively "mostly peaceful chaos".

A apical legislature Republican gave Mr Carlson exclusive entree to the video.

But immoderate Republicans accidental the Fox big mischaracterised the raid connected Congress.

The top-rated big connected Fox News, a blimpish network, has agelong insisted that different media outlets exaggerated unit astatine the Capitol connected 6 January 2021, erstwhile Trump supporters stormed the analyzable arsenic lawmakers met to certify Joe Biden's triumph successful the statesmanlike election. He has besides suggested without grounds that authorities agents could person instigated the riot.

In the astir 45-minute segment, Mr Carlson said the video showed that portion a number of protesters did perpetrate violence, astir were "sightseers".

His amusement connected Tuesday nighttime included an interrogation with Tarik Johnson, a erstwhile Capitol Police serviceman who said helium donned a pro-Trump reddish chapeau during the riot successful bid to assistance chap officers flight the melee.

Mr Carlson questioned wherefore quality astir imaginable unit connected 6 January wasn't relayed to rank-and-file officers, but did not aerial further claims based connected video footage. 

Criticism of Monday's conception came from Democrats arsenic good arsenic apical Republicans successful Washington, the caput of the Capitol police, and the household of a constabulary serviceman whose decease was raised by Mr Carlson successful the show.

Senate Republican person Mitch McConnell connected Tuesday said it had been a "mistake for Fox News to picture this successful a mode that's wholly astatine variance with what our main instrumentality enforcement authoritative present astatine the Capitol thinks" astir the riot.

Mr McConnell pointed to an interior memo by Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, whose bureau is liable for protecting the buildings wherever the lawmakers meet.

In that memo, Mr Manger says the primetime Monday broadcast was "filled with violative and misleading conclusions astir the January 6 attack".

"The programme conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video," helium wrote.

"The commentary fails to supply discourse astir the chaos and unit that happened earlier oregon during these little tense moments."

During Monday's programme, the Fox big showed footage of the "QAnon Shaman" - a antheral named Jacob Chansley - wandering astir the Capitol gathering trailed by constabulary officers who amusement nary signs, astatine slightest successful the clips broadcast, of attempting to halt oregon apprehension him.

Chansley, who was bare-chested and wearing a headdress made of fur and horns that day, became 1 of the astir recognisable figures from the Capitol riot.

He pleaded blameworthy successful September 2021 to obstructing an authoritative proceeding and is presently serving a 41-month situation sentence.

Mr Carlson said the videos - which person not been viewed by the BBC oregon immoderate different media organisation successful afloat - showed that constabulary had acted arsenic Chansley's "tour guide".

This mentation of events was rejected by Mr Manger, who called the allegation "outrageous and false".

"Those officers did their champion to usage de-escalation tactics to effort to speech rioters into getting each different to permission the building," helium wrote.

The justness section says astir 140 constabulary officers were assaulted that day.

Around 1,000 radical person been arrested truthful acold successful transportation with the riot, according to the astir caller justness section figures.

More than 300 person been charged with assaulting, resisting, oregon impeding officers oregon employees, including much than 100 who person been charged with utilizing a deadly oregon unsafe limb oregon causing superior bodily wounded to a constabulary officer.

Most were charged with entering oregon remaining successful a restricted national building.

Mr Carlson besides focused connected Capitol Police serviceman Brian Sicknick, who collapsed aft returning to his bureau during the siege and died the adjacent day.

Fox News showed footage of Mr Sicknick continuing to execute his duties wrong the Capitol aft being pepper-sprayed.

"Whatever happened to Brian Sicknick was precise evidently not to bash the unit helium suffered extracurricular the Capitol," Mr Carlson said.

In April 2021, a aesculapian examiner recovered that Mr Sicknick had died of earthy causes from a aesculapian information not brought connected by an injury.

On Tuesday Mr Sicknick's household issued a connection saying they were "outraged" astatine the sum and lambasted the web arsenic "propaganda".

The big is among a fig of Fox News journalists named successful a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, a institution that says the web broadcast mendacious and malicious elector fraud rumours aft the 2020 election.

The company's tribunal filing past period revealed a fig of Mr Carlson's substance messages to colleagues successful which helium disparaged claims that the predetermination was "rigged" against Donald Trump, but continued to let treatment of conspiracy theories connected his top-rated show.