The media’s myths about the Capitol riot

The Capitol riot sent the mainstream press into meltdown. Outlets declared it a terrorist attack and said fascists were trying to seize control of the nation. Commentators made frenzied calls for a ‘domestic war on terror’. In his inaugural address, Joe Biden promised to make security a priority of his administration.

But as journalist Glenn Greenwald has highlighted, key aspects of the media’s Capitol story have fallen apart. In a piece on Substack, he explodes various myths.

For all the talk of ‘armed insurrection’, there is virtually no evidence, he says, that arms were present. Claims that rioters intended to ‘capture and assassinate elected officials’ have also since been rejected by the US attorney general.

Then there’s the story, reported by numerous media outlets, that Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher by Trump supporters. ‘The problem with this story is that it is false in all respects’, writes Greenwald. ‘From the start, there was almost no evidence to substantiate it.’

The Capitol riot risks becoming the founding myth for a new era of surveillance and censorship. Read Greenwald’s full piece here.