Federal prosecutors have made a claim about the January 6 footage that Fox News’s Tucker Carlson recently aired.
They argued in a court filing over the weekend that the footage surrounding Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman,” does not have proper context.
The filing also mentions defendant Dominic Pezzola.
“The televised footage lacks the context of what occurred before and after the footage. Chansley entered the building as part of a violent crowd that gained access as a result of Pezzola’s destruction of a window and he traveled with Pezzola during the initial breach,” the filing states.
According to the filing, “The televised footage shows Chansley’s movements only from approximately 2:56 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.”
It continues, “Prior to that time, Chansley had, amongst other acts, breached a police line at 2:09 p.m. with the mob, entered the Capitol less than one minute behind Pezzola during the initial breach of the building, and faced off with members of the U.S. Capitol Police for more than thirty minutes in front of the Senate Chamber doors while elected officials, including the Vice President of the United States, were fleeing from the chamber.”
Chansley then “entered the Senate Gallery, where he proceeded to scream obscenities while other rioters rifled through the desks of U.S. Senators on the floor below. All these actions were captured by Senate floor and/or CCTV cameras.”
The prosecutors claimed the footage “fails to show that Chansley subsequently refused to be escorted out by this lone officer and instead left the Capitol only after additional officers arrived and forcibly escorted him out.”
Pezzola is a member of the Proud Boys, per Politico.
He and four other members of the group have each been charged with nine counts in connection with the January 6 riot, including seditious conspiracy, obstruction, interfering with law enforcement and damaging federal property.
Carlson has recently received criticism for his handling of the footage.
Comedian and host of the 95th Academy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel, mocked the Fox News host during the show Sunday, as IJR reported.
“Anyone who’s ever received a text message from their father knows how important editing is,” he said.
Kimmel added, “Editors do amazing things. Editors can turn 44,000 hours of violent insurrection footage into a respectful sightseeing tour of the Capitol. Their work is underappreciated.”
The White House also shared a statement on the issue.
“We agree with the chief of the Capitol Police and the wide range of bipartisan lawmakers who have condemned this false depiction of the unprecedented, violent attack on our Constitution and the rule of law — which cost police officers their lives,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said.
He continued, “We also agree with what Fox News’s own attorneys and executives have now repeatedly stressed in multiple courts of law: that Tucker Carlson is not credible.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Carlson the exclusive access to more than 40,000 hours of footage surrounding the riot.
