Claim: Jan 6th was an insurrection.

Claim: Jan 6th was an insurrection.

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Falsify

Opinion peiece that claims the Jan 6th riot didn't meet the criteria as an insurrection as no one has been charged. I couldn't read this paywalled OP, but pleanty of other people did and there's a competing OpEd saying this one is wrong from ./Jonathan Chait of the NYMAg.

On January 5, Jeffrey Scott Shapiro wrote for The Wall Street Journal op-ed page, “Words have to have meaning, and the continuous mislabeling of the U.S. Capitol breach as an ‘insurrection’ is an example of how a false narrative can gain currency and cause dangerous injustice … Of the hundreds of ‘Capitol Breach Cases’ listed at the Justice Department’s prosecution page, not one defendant is charged with insurrection under 18 U.S.C. 2383. That’s because insurrection is a legal term with specific elements.”

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Deaths from Jan 6:

-Ashli Babbit (rioter) shot by Capitol Police Officer
-Rosanne Boyland (rioter) crushed in stampede of fellow rioters
-Officer Brian D. Sickick (Capitol Police) attacked by the mob; death was ruled "of natural causes" because he had multiple strokes, but the medical examiner added that "all that transpired played a role in his condition."

Another officer who committed suicide was allegedly hit in the head during the riot, began exhibiting symptoms he had never exhibited before, and committed suicide 9 days later.

The rest of the 5 associated deaths were suicides or death by natural causes such as strokes or heart attacks.

The low number of deaths seems to point towards a riot, rather than an insurrection.

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WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - The FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.
Though federal officials have arrested more than 570 alleged participants, the FBI at this point believes the violence was not centrally coordinated by far-right groups or prominent supporters of then-President Donald Trump, according to the sources, who have been either directly involved in or briefed regularly on the wide-ranging investigations.

Article claims Jan 6th wasn't coordinated, not sure that rules out an insurrection as it's not clear (to me) an insurrection needs to be coordinated.

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The word insurrection is a legal term. Under federal law it’s a crime to incite or engage in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the U.S. or its laws. Black’s Law Dictionary defines insurrection as “a violent revolt against oppressive authority.” It is to be distinguished from a mob or riot based on organization of an armed uprising. Mobs and riots can involve unlawful and violent acts, but they aren’t necessarily insurrections. A revolt is an act to overthrow the government. Insurrection, therefore, requires an organized group that plans an attack to overthrow the government.

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s_e_t_h
To date, a small percentage of the approximately 725 charged have been accused of violent crimes, and no charges of rebellion or insurrection have been filed. Around 165 have pled guilty to charges — mostly to misdemeanors. Only 30 were given jail time. The FBI investigation has yielded little evidence of a coordinated and organized attack. Instead, 95 percent of the participants were acting individually.

An AP story intending to link Trump to the riot published some of the comments made by participants during court appearances. None of them stated that the event was planned. Indeed, most indicated they didn’t really know why they did it. They said they felt inspired by Trump’s comments and believed the election was fraudulent, but there was no organized or coordinated plan to attack the Capitol.
Lays out Republican claims that it wasn't an insurrection because no charge under 18 U.S. Code §2384 had been made. Then shows that the Oath Keepers were charged with sedition:

"A few hours later, the Justice Department charged 11 members of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing paramilitary group, with seditious conspiracy under, yes, 18 U.S. Code §2384."

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Weak evidence against 'Insurrection' claiming 'word choice bias' and that all parties agree this was a 'riot'.

"Left-rated voices and media outlets generally believe that it was an insurrection, and use the words “insurrection” and “attack” to describe the event. Conversely, many right-rated outlets and voices don’t use the word “insurrection” to describe Jan. 6. What results is a case of word choice bias: a type of media bias in which a publication or writer reveals their political perspective through the words or phrases they choose."

"The words used to describe certain events can be politically polarizing. Using the word “riot” is typically agreed on on both sides, considering property desctruction and the breacheing of the Capitol. As mentioned earlier, “riot” has been used by both the left and right."

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FactChecking Claims About the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot. Never calls it an insurrection.

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This is a 14 minute documentary by John Strand, who entered the Capitol on Jan 6th and was later sentenced to 32 months in prison.

It provides a firsthand explanation of how many of the people who entered the Capitol on Jan 6 may have experienced it--though there were surely different motivations and experiences amongst different people on that day.

In the documentary he claims that his actions were "lawful and reasonable to the best of his knowledge and ability at the time they occurred."

The documentary shows:

A police officer falling and being picked up/assisted by the crowd.
A flashbang exploding, agitating the crowd (he seems to imply it was the police who used the flashbang, though I'm not sure if he can know for sure)
The Capitol doors being opened from the inside by police.
John entering the building seeking safety after the flashbang and being pushed along with the tightly packed crowd.
He says he received no directions from officers inside the Capitol--he says they were surely surprised and overwhelmed by the events, just as he was.
He says he thought the police had opened the building for people to pass through.
He says the people in the building that he saw were calm and respectful, though some were shouting and chanting (he says this seemed like typical protest activity)
It shows them wandering around looking for an exit, since all the exits they found had people streaming in.
When a police officer gave them directions on where to exit they thanked him and followed his instructions.
Once outside, there was a clip of John clapping for the officers and fist pumping in support (which was misrepresented as aggression in the trial)

He says he had no thought or desire to interfere with any congressional proceeding.

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6 Violent Uprisings in the United States
Get the facts on six of the most famous domestic disputes in American history.

This article describes a number of insurrections in the US. It does not list Jan 6th. I don't think it particularly supports or refutes the Jan 6th claim, but is important for deriving a definition of the term. Since it doesn't list Jan 6th I'll put it under 'Falsify' but it probably should be in a "definitions and examples" category...or something. 

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Support

Interview with Nick Quested who's documentary makes the case the riot was planned and supported by Trump

"CHANG: Quested is an award-winning documentarian. In January 2021, he was filming the violent extremist group the Proud Boys and was with them before and during the riots. Representative Bennie Thompson is chair of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection. And last night, he said Quested's footage and information are crucial because...
(SOUNDBITE OF HEARING)
BENNIE THOMPSON: A central question is whether the attack on the Capitol was coordinated and planned. What you witnessed is what a coordinated and planned effort would look like. It was the culmination of a months-long effort spearheaded by President Trump."

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An “insurrection,” by definition, is a “violent uprising against an authority or government.” It is clear that Capitol stormers who dissented against the election outcome, or even sought to obstruct Congress’ certification of the election, were rising up against the government. The crux of the contention among commentators, though, lies in whether the crowd was truly violent—an attribution that has faced resistance. This distinction determines whether those who breached the Capitol are to be accurately described as “rally goers” or “rioters,” “patriots” or “terrorists,” “peaceful protestors” or “insurrectionists.”

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Some quotes from the article which support the argument that people brought weapons to the Capitol on Jan 6, potentially for the purpose of carrying out an insurrection:

The chatter included reports of a man with an AR-15 in a tree on Constitution Avenue who was accompanied by two men with pistols on their hips. Another officer radioed, “I’ve got three men walking down the street in fatigues carrying AR-15s, copy, at 14th and Independence.”

the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, a Washington Post reporter watched as a group from Broward County, Fla., was stopped by D.C. police because people in the group were carrying large assault rifles. They said the guns were not loaded and were “just a symbol” of their Second Amendment rights. They were briefly detained but released once the guns were handed over to police.

officers were confiscating weapons illegally brought into the District starting Jan. 5 and encountered people brandishing gun parts in an intimidating manner. Accounts from police officers and rioters indicate that many firearms were spotted on Jan. 6 but were not seized as law enforcement focused more on defending the Capitol than on arresting gun-law violators. The alleged rioters who approached the Capitol on Jan. 6, four have been charged with taking guns onto the Capitol grounds, and two of those have been convicted.

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman... has said that but for police restraint in the use of force, the riot “could have easily been a bloodbath,” a sentiment echoed by several officers on the witness stand in Jan. 6 criminal trials.

Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes told his followers in a recorded online meeting in November 2020, according to court documents. “Pepper spray is legal. Tasers are legal, and stun guns are legal. And it doesn’t hurt to have a lead pipe.” An armed group would stay in Virginia “awaiting the President’s orders ... then D.C. gun laws won’t matter,” Rhodes said in the meeting, according to court documents. Attorneys for Rhodes, who has pleaded not guilty to seditious conspiracy and other charges, said he and other defendants staged firearms hoping Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act, transforming the Oath Keepers into a kind of militia to keep Trump in office.

a devoted follower of the radical QAnon ideology, drove toward the nation’s capital from Colorado on Jan. 6 with a rifle, a 9mm handgun, 2,500 rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines. In one text message, he told his family he was “gonna collect a … ton of Traitors heads.” But his truck broke down and he didn’t arrive until after the riot had ended. The next day, Meredith texted his family that he was considering “putting a bullet in her [Nancy Pelosi’s] noggin on live TV.”

Alt link to access article: https://web.archive.org/web/20220712043304/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/08/jan6-defendants-guns/

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Smooth Brain Ape
If it was an insurrection, why weren't any of the guns used. Why were people carrying around unloaded assault rifles? Here's one potential explanation from this same article:

"At 15th Street and Independence Avenue the morning of Jan. 6, 2021... a group... was stopped by D.C. police because people in the group were carrying large assault rifles. They said the guns were not loaded and were “just a symbol” of their Second Amendment rights."
Facts First: While it’s impossible to know precisely how many firearms were brought to the Capitol on January 6, it’s already clear that at least some of the people present were carrying guns that day. And as the police officers who testified at the committee on Tuesday made clear, rioters also used numerous other objects as weapons such as knives and bats.

This is a highly partizan CNN article released a few days after the event. It relies on determining the 'armed' status of the protestors to make the case that the mob was violent and (somehow) attempting to stop the election and was therefore an insurrection.

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Craig Carroll
This link provides no evidence that there were guns. The "Facts First" line uses biased framing ("how many guns" vs. "presence of guns"; presuming their presence when the question is about their presence in the first place).

The police testimony provides accounts of many improvised weapons and knives, but no guns.

The gun charges mentioned were not in the Capitol.

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