Former President Donald Trump is speaking out against what he believes is unfair treatment of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
During a press conference on Wednesday, a reporter asked Trump what he did to stop the insurrection and why he could not stop it.
Trump mentioned a Congressional report about January 6 and said his name “wasn’t even mentioned.”
The former president explained he was “surprised,” adding, “I would’ve assumed that they would have come up with their typically biased, at least on the Democrats’ side, statement.”
Calling the riot an “unfortunate event,” Trump continued, “People are being treated unbelievably unfairly when you look at people in prison, and nothing happens to Antifa.”
Watch the video below:
Former Pres. Trump: "People are in prison [for Jan. 6th] and nothing happens to Antifa. They burn down cities and kill people. There were no guns in the Capitol except the gun that shot Ashli Babbitt … I believe I know exactly who it is."pic.twitter.com/iEf403mWDR
— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) July 7, 2021
The former president then talked about one of his supporters and Air Force veteran, Ashli Babbit, who was shot and killed by a police officer after storming the Capitol.
“And nobody knows who that man was. If that were the opposite way, that man would be all over, he would be the most well known,” Trump said.
He continued, “I believe I know exactly who it is … But the person who shot Ashli Babbit, boom, right through the head, boom, there was no reason for that.”
According to USA Today, at least 535 people have been arrested since the riot. Of the 535, 165 have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or interfering with police who battled rioters.
Altogether, 140 officers were assaulted. Eighty of them were from the U.S. Capitol Police and approximately 60 from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.
President Joe Biden released a statement on Tuesday exactly six months after the riot.
“Not even during the Civil War did insurrectionists breach our Capitol, the citadel of our democracy,” Biden said.
He added, “But six months ago today, insurrectionists did. They launched a violent and deadly assault on the people’s house, on the people’s representatives, and on the Capitol police sworn to protect them, as our duly elected Congress carried out the sacred ritual of our republic and certified the Electoral College vote.”
Biden argued the events “posed an existential crisis and a test of whether our democracy could survive — a sad reminder that there is nothing guaranteed about our democracy.”