CLAIM: Security camera footage from Jan. 6, 2021, shows a federal agent disguised as a supporter of then-President Donald Trump during the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The footage shows Kevin James Lyons, a Chicago man who was sentenced in July to more than four years in federal prison for his role in the attack. Multiple images of Lyons at the Capitol, dressed as he is in the footage, appear in court documents.
THE FACTS: After House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday began releasing thousands of hours of footage from the Capitol insurrection, social media users — including members of Congress — seized on a clip they claimed proved that undercover federal agents participated in the riot.
No. Nobody but the Republicans cares what’s on those tapes, because they’re the only ones attempting to whitewash what happened. There’s nothing about that footage that will be particularly revelatory for the story of what happened that day. Know how I know?
I watched the entire thing unfold from people who were streaming in the crowd. It was horrifying. There were no federal agents, just a bunch of goddamn idiots who can’t tell they’re being played by the biggest grifter in the country.
What the footage will do is let people cherry pick their favorite hits they think exonerate them in the court of public opinion, and it will give the people who want to try Fascist Coup 2.0 an idea of what to expect inside.