The fact that Trump affiliated thugs tried to topple a presidential election, is the greatest obstacle against him being elected. Because of the importance of this historical fact and the common knowledge about it, many revisionist disinformation campaigns has been launced to alter the view of the events.
If this story about the FBI playing a role were true, the attempt to overthrow the legal election would not have been a violent attempt to overthrow democracy but FBI trying to «stoke a riot» as Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson claimed, movie presented and reported by CNN.
This narrative claims that the 6. January 2021 riots were a false flag operation instigated by the FBI. The fact-checking Poynter institute reported January 9. 2024 that a poll showed tat 25 % of grown up Americans said «it was “probably” or “definitely” true that “FBI operatives organized and encouraged” the 2021 Capitol attack.» Washington Post also refers to the story
But who were the agents ? There are no witnesses or photos or other proof identifying these alledged FBI agents. Since no verifiable facts are produced, it is up to the audience to decide wether they believe the story or not.
After three years of investigations and hundreds of arrests, no signs have emerged that the FBI played any role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saye Poynter.
More than 1069 people have been arrested and more than 561 received sentences after the Capitol siege according to U.S Atorney’s office, District of Columbia. The origin of narrative about FBI initiating the attack was an unreferenced article in a homepage named «Revolver news» in january 2021, cited by Poynter.
Revolver News, which is not to be confused with the famous Revolver Magazine, is described by New York Times as an obscure right-wing media outlet.
The Revolver News homepage has no reference to who runs and writes it. NBC News have tried to find out who owns and runs Revolver News, but they remain unknown.
Revolver News produced no names or other evidence but claimes that the “unindicted co-conspirators” mentioned in some indictments in the «so-called Capitol siege» «could have been» confidential FBI informants or undercover operatives. The article also questioned whether FBI informants might have been “active instigators” in the attack.
After the narrative was published, many of the insurgents have wrongly been accused by republicans of being FBI agents. Politico and New York Times reports that one of them, Ray Epps, have received death threats because of such false rumours.
Cited from Poynter: «In November 2023, some people — including Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah — promoted the theory that Capitol footage showed a man in a “Make America Great Again” hat flashing a badge, signifying he was an undercover federal agent. NBC News identified that man as Kevin Lyons, a Trump supporter who was convicted and is serving four years in federal prison for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. The alleged badge was likely a vape, NBC News reported.»
Poynter says that the reason why this unsubstantiated tale persists, is that influential people alligned with Trump keep repeating it. The following claims to underbuild the narrative, have all been found too be false by Poynter:
«In November 2021, Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson promoted it in his “Patriot Purge” series for Fox Nation, claiming that federal agents incited people on Jan. 6 and “intentionally entrapped” American citizens.
In June 2022, a Texas businessman and congressional candidate ran a television ad that questioned if FBI agents were “used as political agitators.”
During a House Committee hearing in November 2023, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., claimed that an undercover bus “filled with FBI informants dressed as Trump supporters, deployed onto our Capitol on January 6th.”
Poynter says that republican politicians like Majorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz have spread this false narrative.
AFP factcheck reports that Rogan O´Handley, who earlier has published election disinformation, published a false video on X and Instagram, which he claims show an FBI agent pushing a woman through a window. AFP writes that «The edit has circulated since at least January 2022. But it resurged across platforms after new Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered the release of thousands of hours of security footage from the Capitol riot, prompting a flood of posts recycling long-debunked conspiracy theories blaming undercover FBI agents for the assault.»
Or maybe it was not MAGA, but Antifa ?
There has also been spread conspiracy theories claiming «That the Jan. 6 attack was actually driven by Antifa activists dressed up like Trump supporters, or by federal agents dressed up like Trump supporters, or by some combination thereof.»
«The only trouble with the conspiracy?» the NBC News writes: «The feds keep arresting these supposedly far-left agitators, and the rioters’ own social media posts and FBI affidavits show they’re just Trump supporters.»
There has been a conspiracy theory circulating that suggests the FBI instigated the Capitol siege, while another theory suggests involvement from the Antifa. However, the NBC News has reported that these theories are unsubstantiated, as federal agents have been consistently arresting individuals who identify as Trump supporters.
It is also hard to understand why the ones winning the election should dress up like MAGA militants, and storm the Capitol to overthrow the election they just won.