DISINFO: Washington persecutes Capitol protesters on terrorism charges for having different political ideas
SUMMARY
US authorities unleashed a hunt of demonstrators that took part in the 6 January protests in the Capitol, accusing them of terrorism for having different political ideas.
RESPONSE
The claim is false. No individuals related to the 6 January riot in the Capitol have been charged for having different political ideas, but for having taken part in a violent assault on a governmental building in which several people died and more than 150 were injured. This database can be checked for confirmation.
Charges include assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, assaulting a member of the media or destroying their equipment, entering or remaining in a restricted building, entering the Capitol with a dangerous or deadly weapon, destruction and theft of government property, as well as corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding or attempting to do so. The most serious charges, presented against approximately 40 of a total of over 500 defendants so far, are those of conspiracy.
This is part of a long-term pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign to discredit Joe Biden’s electoral victory and undermine the faith in the US electoral system. See other examples in our database, such as claims that US Democrats persecute ideas they don’t back and label Trump supporters as terrorists, that censorship in the US is now almost akin to that of Nazi Germany, that the US system is not democratic because the Deep State makes the big decisions, that the attack on the Capitol was a planned provocation, that the Democratic Party has become a fascist party, or that there was electoral fraud in the US because the Deep State didn’t want Trump reelected.
This disinformation message appeared in the same article as the claim that “The US is trying to unleash a colour revolution in Cuba”.