FBI Director Christopher Wray is denying reports “fake Trump protesters” planned the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked Wray during a hearing about the riots, “Do you have any evidence that the Capitol attack was organized by ‘fake Trump protesters’?”
Wray replied, “We have not seen evidence of that at this stage certainly.”
Durbin also asked Wray if he believes the attack on the Capitol involved white supremacists and other violent extremists.
“Certainly the Capitol attack involved violent extremists. As I said we, the FBI, consider this a form of domestic terrorism,” Wray explained.
Watch the video below:
.@SenatorDurbin: "Do you have any evidence that the Capitol attack was organized by 'fake Trump protesters'?
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 2, 2021
FBI Director Wray: "We have not seen evidence of that at this stage certainly."
Watch LIVE here: https://t.co/esEn8ebvzG pic.twitter.com/gsmiL4SnvX
“We’ve got a number who self-identify with the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, things like that,” he continued.
Wray explained, “We also have a couple of instances where we’ve already identified individuals involved in the criminal behavior who we would put in the racially motivated, violent extremists who advocate for what you would call white supremacy.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) defended raising claims that “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters” planned the attack, as IJR reported.
When asked about why he read a piece from The Federalist by J Michael Waller making those claims during a Senate hearing, Johnson told The New York Times, “I’m not questioning his veracity. I believe he’s probably telling the truth. That’s what he saw. I’m not agreeing with any conclusions.”
Johnson added, “I’m not sure he’s really making too many conclusions, other than he concluded he saw four individual types of groups that stood out from the crowd.”
The Times questioned the senator about his efforts to make sure Waller’s claims were accurate.
“What do you mean, checked out? It’s his eyewitness account. What else is there to check out about it?” Johnson said. “I read what his credentials were, where he was teaching, at Fort Bragg. I mean, you can see in the article what his credentials are. He seemed to be pretty solid.”