Capitol Police Chief Takes Another Swipe at Tucker Carlson During Senate Hearing

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.


Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger took the opportunity during a Senate hearing on Thursday to take another verbal shot at Tucker Carlson, ripping the former top-rated Fox News host for his reporting on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building.

At a budget hearing held by the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) asked Manger about Carlson’s utilization of the January 6 footage in his March 6 program covering the events of that day.

“In I think February or early March of this year, Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy authorized the release of more than 40,000 hours of security footage from the awful events of January 6,” Van Hollen said.

“He released them to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who then used them to create a false narrative surrounding the events of that day, concluding that the attack on the Capitol was quote, ‘mostly peaceful chaos,’ and that, ‘The footage does not show an insurrection or riot in progress.’”

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After noting that Carlson was taken off the air this week by Fox News, Van Hollen claimed, “But a lot of the damage has been done,” before asking: “Can you talk about the impact this false narrative has had on the men and women who work for you?”

Manger responded: “When he did that program, I put out a message to all of my employees, and I talked to them about the narrative that he tried to put forth, how disrespectful it was to the men and women of the Capitol Police. And I think what was fortunate is that that narrative that Mr. Carlson tried to put out had no legs. I think most folks understood exactly what it was, and so I think that was very gratifying to the members of the Capitol Police to see that.”

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“I appreciate that. And I agree with you that despite his best efforts, the American public understood exactly what happened on that day and that it was not the narrative that he put out,” Van Hollen said in response, according to The Epoch Times.

In his message, Manger condemned the comments made during the airing of the footage on Carlson’s program, stating that it was “filled with offensive and misleading conclusions” about the riot of January 6. A group of people breached the U.S. Capitol building, causing disruptions to lawmakers who were in the process of certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

“The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video,” Manger claimed. “The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.”

Manger specifically objected to a segment that featured Capitol Police officers guiding Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman,” through the Capitol building and Carlson’s portrayal of them as “tour guides.”

He also expressed concern about Carlson’s emphasis on Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who a medical examiner found had died of natural causes after suffering a stroke a day after the January 6 incident while protecting the Capitol, the Daily Wire reported.

The New York Times initially reported on January 8 that Sicknick was killed by a rioter wielding a fire extinguisher during the riot. However, the paper retracted the story five weeks later after the D.C. medical examiner stated that Sicknick had died of natural causes a day after the event. Other outlets also erroneously reported that Sicknick was beaten to death.

Nonetheless, both Sicknick’s family and the police believe that his death was related to the riot.

Video of Sicknick appearing to lead people out of the Capitol building after “he was supposedly murdered outside overturns the single-most powerful and politically useful lie the Democrats have told us about January 6,” Carlson noted.

Manger noted that Capitol Police “maintains, as anyone with common sense would, that had Officer Sicknick not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted, Officer Sicknick would not have died the next day.”

In his memo, Manger thanked and praised members of the Capitol Police force, commending their efforts on January 6. “You fought like hell on January 6 and risked your lives to protect the Constitution and everything this country stands for,” he wrote. “You, along with our law enforcement partners, saved every member of Congress and their staff.”


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