Whitewashing The Capitol Riot

WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah has been working to minimize political damage on Donald Trump from the Capitol riot, portraying a dead protester as a victim and a dead police officer as a propaganda tool.

By Terry Krepel
Posted 6/14/2021

Joseph Farah

In the same Jan. 8 column in which he threw his own daughter under the bus in order to push election-fraud conspiracy theories, Farah minimized and played whataboutism over the Capitol riot, expressing sadness about the deaths but cheering the idea that politicians are allegedly now "fearful" of far-right activists like himself:

It's very sad that a woman was killed by police fire in the Capitol Wednesday, that a policeman died of his injuries and that three others died during the event. It's a tragedy. But it lasted one day. It was not the kind of tragedy we witnessed as a country when our urban streets were set ablaze, $2 billion in damage done and 30 people killed over months of riots while Biden remained silent, Harris and other Democrats egged the rioters on and even went to the outrageous length of bailing out the violent perpetrators. The hypocrisy is almost too much to bear.

While the Washington establishment may be very eager to be rid of Donald J. Trump, tens of millions of Americans are not eager at all for his departure. They are fearful about the change that has taken place inside America. They see right being called wrong, winners being declared losers and tyranny being called freedom.

Where do we go from here? We continue the fight for truth, liberty and the restoration of our republic. What else can we do? We're Americans, after all.

Farah may fight for things, but the truth is not one of them, as any reader of WND knows.

Farah tried to whitewash the Capitol riot again in his Feb. 28 column, complaining about what the riot was being called:

"The Capitol Insurrection," "the Siege," "the armed insurrection in Washington, D.C." It's also been described as a "military-style formation" of "anti-government right-wing fringe organizations," "the storming of the Capitol," "the Capitol riot," "armed" protests, and even "a medieval battle."

And now it's been called "the Capitol bombing." A bombing! By no less an authority than the next attorney general, Merrick Garland.

This is getting ridiculous.

It was bad enough when someone decided to call it the "Capitol Insurrection." It was not a good choice. I don't know who it was – maybe Nancy Pelosi. But it was not appropriate to call it an "Insurrection." It never rose to the meaning of that word, which conjures up dire synonyms like "Insurgence," "Revolt" and "Rebellion."

Do any of those words sound like a conflict that took just one life – a woman who was gunned down by an as-yet-unnamed Capitol policeman? I hardly think so. Do any of those synonyms suggest a conflict that lasted only a few hours? No.

It was a bad name and we all knew it the first time it was used. It was designed to inflame, to divide, to confuse. And indeed, it has inflamed and confused people to the point that Biden's AG pick rachets up the rhetoric to "bombing."

Oddly, Farah did not offer a word he thinks accurately describes the event.

In his March 17 column, Farah tried to push the idea that Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick really didn't die as a result of the riot because the initial reported cause -- that he was hit by a fire extinguisher -- may not be true. Farah ranted that this was a "lie" promulgated by the New York Times, though he offered no evidence to support his suggestion that the Times or anyone else knowingly "lied" about Sicknick's death. He then complained that two people charged with assaulting Sicknick with chemical spray -- and, thus, perhaps contributing to his death -- may be innocent:

It remains to be seen if Officer Sicknick was exposed to tear gas, widely used Jan. 6 by police that day – as was pepper spray.

Once again, what is the Justice Department doing here? We know they are attempting with their charges to promulgate a "domestic terrorism" case or cases. Will they make a victim of "domestic terrorism" out of a man who was "in good spirits" the night after his "attack"? Has he become the only "convenient" death of a police officer? Death by pepper spray – hardly a deadly weapon when employed elsewhere by civilians or cops?

Officer Sicknick was a good man. He was a supporter of President Trump. He was well-liked by one and all. It's bad enough his death was used in a lie – once – and maybe a second time.

Are they deliberately stacking the deck against [George] Tanios and [Julian] Khater, a couple of fast-food managers? Are these two desperadoes a threat to Americans everywhere?

The next day, Farah tried to whitewash Ashli Babbitt, shot and killed by Capitol Police during the riot:

Babbitt was a 14-year Air Force veteran, an unarmed woman who attended the protest of the inexplicable election snafu. Over two months after her death at the hands of a Capitol police officer, no information or details have been released.

[...]

Maybe there is an explanation of the only shooting death – for that matter, the only shooting incident – in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

It comes from the unnamed officer who shot Babbitt, by way of his attorney, Mark Schamel. It's not much of an explanation given there were hundreds of people at the Capitol, perhaps as many as 1 million for the rally.

Apparently, Babbitt's backpack raised alarms. They compounded the fears of the officers. There were three other officers closer to Babbitt.

But Officer X, we'll call him, decided that his most prudent course of action was to fire a shot at Ashli Babbitt in a crowded room because she wore a backpack. In the off chance it contained a bomb or weapon, Officer X would take her out.

What did Ashli have in the backpack?

It was a wool sweater and a scarf.

We continue to hear horrific tales from Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gen. Russel L. Honoré about that day at the Capitol. We've heard about the "insurrectionists." We've heard about the "domestic terrorists." We've heard about the "white supremacists."

The truth is, at the end of the day, it apparently was a backpack that defined the story for Ashli Babbitt – that took her life.

Farah is not going to tell his readers that Babbitt was a conspiracy kook and a QAnon supporter.

In his Feb. 28 column, he pedantically complained about what the riot was being called:

"The Capitol Insurrection," "the Siege," "the armed insurrection in Washington, D.C." It's also been described as a "military-style formation" of "anti-government right-wing fringe organizations," "the storming of the Capitol," "the Capitol riot," "armed" protests, and even "a medieval battle."

And now it's been called "the Capitol bombing." A bombing! By no less an authority than the next attorney general, Merrick Garland.

This is getting ridiculous.

It was bad enough when someone decided to call it the "Capitol Insurrection." It was not a good choice. I don't know who it was – maybe Nancy Pelosi. But it was not appropriate to call it an "Insurrection." It never rose to the meaning of that word, which conjures up dire synonyms like "Insurgence," "Revolt" and "Rebellion."

Do any of those words sound like a conflict that took just one life – a woman who was gunned down by an as-yet-unnamed Capitol policeman? I hardly think so. Do any of those synonyms suggest a conflict that lasted only a few hours? No.

It was a bad name and we all knew it the first time it was used. It was designed to inflame, to divide, to confuse. And indeed, it has inflamed and confused people to the point that Biden's AG pick rachets up the rhetoric to "bombing."

Oddly, Farah did not offer a word he thinks accurately describes the event.

In his March 17 column, Farah tried to push the idea that Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick really didn't die as a result of the riot because the initial reported cause -- that he was hit by a fire extinguisher -- may not be true. Farah ranted that this was a "lie" promulgated by the New York Times, though he offered no evidence to support his suggestion that the Times or anyone else knowingly "lied" about Sicknick's death. He then complained that two people charged with assaulting Sicknick with chemical spray -- and, thus, perhaps contributing to his death -- may be innocent:

It remains to be seen if Officer Sicknick was exposed to tear gas, widely used Jan. 6 by police that day – as was pepper spray.

Once again, what is the Justice Department doing here? We know they are attempting with their charges to promulgate a "domestic terrorism" case or cases. Will they make a victim of "domestic terrorism" out of a man who was "in good spirits" the night after his "attack"? Has he become the only "convenient" death of a police officer? Death by pepper spray – hardly a deadly weapon when employed elsewhere by civilians or cops?

Officer Sicknick was a good man. He was a supporter of President Trump. He was well-liked by one and all. It's bad enough his death was used in a lie – once – and maybe a second time.

Are they deliberately stacking the deck against [George] Tanios and [Julian] Khater, a couple of fast-food managers? Are these two desperadoes a threat to Americans everywhere?

The next day, Farah tried to whitewash Ashli Babbitt, shot and killed by Capitol Police during the riot:

Babbitt was a 14-year Air Force veteran, an unarmed woman who attended the protest of the inexplicable election snafu. Over two months after her death at the hands of a Capitol police officer, no information or details have been released.

[...]

Maybe there is an explanation of the only shooting death – for that matter, the only shooting incident – in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

It comes from the unnamed officer who shot Babbitt, by way of his attorney, Mark Schamel. It's not much of an explanation given there were hundreds of people at the Capitol, perhaps as many as 1 million for the rally.

Apparently, Babbitt's backpack raised alarms. They compounded the fears of the officers. There were three other officers closer to Babbitt.

But Officer X, we'll call him, decided that his most prudent course of action was to fire a shot at Ashli Babbitt in a crowded room because she wore a backpack. In the off chance it contained a bomb or weapon, Officer X would take her out.

What did Ashli have in the backpack?

It was a wool sweater and a scarf.

We continue to hear horrific tales from Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Gen. Russel L. Honoré about that day at the Capitol. We've heard about the "insurrectionists." We've heard about the "domestic terrorists." We've heard about the "white supremacists."

The truth is, at the end of the day, it apparently was a backpack that defined the story for Ashli Babbitt – that took her life.

Farah is not going to tell his readers that Babbitt was a conspiracy kook and a QAnon supporter.

Even more whitewashing

In his April 19 column, Farah complained that the officer who shot and killed Babbitt not only wouldn't be charged, his name wouldn't be made public:

Even more oddly, we may never know who fired the one and only shot during the so-called "Insurrection." The only thing we know is she was shot in the chest by an unnamed federal officer.

Once again, it's proof that there are two standards of justice in America. One is the kind of justice that's for Ashli Babbitt – someone who was unarmed, not posing a danger to anyone, an Air Force veteran, who was killed in cold blood without a warning shot, without warning words expressed by the federal officer, surrounded by other heavily armed cops without apparently a concern about Babbitt.

That she was summarily shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol defied explanation.

Does it, Joe? She had broken into the U.S. Capitol with hundreds of other insurrectionists who were vandalizing the building, and Babbitt was trying to crawl through a broken window on the door of the Speaker's Lobby outside the House chamber -- a place she had no business being -- when she was shot.

Farah went on to hint that he's concern-trolling the Capitol riot and Babbitt's death as a cudgel for Biden-bashing: 'There are still people who remain in jail for this so-called "Insurrection." They were arrested weeks ago, months ago. They are in solitary confinement. Nobody talks about this in Joe Biden's America. And nobody talks about Ashli Babbitt's killer."

The next day, Farah worked up outrage over another storyline from the riot:

Officer Brian Sicknick died of natural causes, the medical examiner says.

Period. End of story.

The D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner says another desperate theory to blame Donald J. Trump and his "insurrection" at the Capitol Jan. 6 did not play any role in this death. First it was alleged that Sicknick was killed by being bashed in the head with a fire extinguisher. When that was proved to be false, fake and phony, a second cause of death was a "chemical irritant." That, too, was eventually ruled out.

Officer Brian Sicknick died after suffering from two strokes, said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Francisco J. Diaz. In other words, he said, "acute brainstem and cerebellar infarcts due to acute basilar artery thrombosis" – strokes caused by blockages in the arteries in his brain and brainstem.

Except it's not the"end of story" Farah wants you to think it is -- he omitted the fact that the medical examiner also said that "all that transpired" at the Capitol riot "played a role in his condition." That can be interpreted as meaning that while no single incident from the riot directly caused Sicknick's death, the riot did contribute.

Farah then complained that two people who have been charged with spraying bear spray at Sicknick, Julian Kater and George Tanios, are in jail because of it:

Khater and Tanios were the two guys originally fingered in the "bear spray" story. They are lifelong friends who have been in jail since January charged with the above offenses.

Even though the bear spray played no discernable role in Sicknick's death, and even though exposure to it has not been known for causing any human deaths, it may be the only "weapon" the speaker has.

Note that Khater and Tanios are not charged with Sicknick's death. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Most defendants initially plead not guilty, and onetime newspaper guy Farah very well knows that, so that's irrelevant at this point. Farah closed out with some whining:

The Justice Department has charged more than 100 defendants for assaulting officers during the protests – not "insurrection." It is unknown how many remain under arrest. By February, the investigation had stalled because of lack of evidence of any fatal injury, any firearms or any explosive devices connected to protestors.

The death of Ashli Babbitt, the only real victim among the inflated death toll of the protest, was attributed to a shooting by an unnamed federal officer. She was unarmed and received no warnings.

Some "insurrection," huh?

If that mob of insurrectionists had been targeting Trump instead of working on his behalf, Farah would almost certainly have a different take.

It's worth noting that the so-called "news" side of WND echoed Farah's take on Sicknick in an April 19 article, repeating the "natural causes" finding without mentioning the medical examiner's statement that "all that transpired" at the Capitol riot "played a role in his condition." That doesn't exactly build the kind of trust in what WND presents as a "news" product it needs to remain viable after more than three years of financial crises.