McConnell criticized Fox and Tucker Carlson for a Jan. 6 portrayal

Comment on “The Case of Jacob Sicknick” in Washington D.C. Carlson and the February 6, 2011 Capitol Insurrection

Carlson aired never-before-seen surveillance footage that he said showed Sicknick, who died one day after the January 6 insurrection. Carlson said Democrats have turned Sicknick into a prop and a martyr by overstating the links between his death and the insurrection.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy granted Carlson access to more than 40,000 hours of the Capitol security footage from January 6. CNN and other news organizations have also requested access to the security footage. McCarthy’s Office said that they are still working out the process to make the footage more widely available.

Carlson claimed that new Capitol security footage shows Jacob Chansley, known as the Qanon shaman, walking through the Capitol without being stopped by police.

Prosecutors say that Chansley disobeyed that request and walked to the Senate floor. Video from that day shows officers following Chansley around the building, and an officer walks into the chamber with Chansley and continues to ask rioters to leave.

In court documents, however, prosecutors say that Capitol Police officers repeatedly tried to engage with Chansley and others in the crowd, asking them to leave.

Capitol Police testified in several trials on January 6 that after the initial wave of rioters entered the building, they felt outnumbered and were scared of escalating violence by engaging with the mob. The officers say that the crowd were able to walk into the building without any physical resistance.

Carlson tried to undermine the known facts relating to Sicknick’s death in an attempt to argue that it was not as violent as he has been portrayed.

On January 6, Sicknick was attacked by members of the mob with pepper spray. An officer testified that she saw Sicknick distress after he was sprayed. He died one day after suffering a series of strokes. The medical examiner did not rule out the possibility that he died from natural causes but did state that the January 6 events played a role in his condition.

According to Carlson, the new tape of Sicknick was recorded after he was attacked on the frontlines of the Capitol steps, earlier in the day. CNN does not have access to the footage and cannot verify Carlson’s claims, and it’s unclear how Fox News determined that it’s Sicknick in the video.

Two rioters pleaded guilty to crimes related to the pepper spray attack against Sicknick, though neither were accused of killing him. Julian Khater, who deployed the spray, is currently serving a six-year prison term. George Tanios had been in jail for five months.

FOX News and the Capitol Police on Tuesday Night of the January 6, 2021, Insurrection: Tom Manger ripped into Tucker Carlson

“Every time the pain of that day seems to have ebbed a bit, organizations like Fox rip our wounds wide open again, and we are frankly sick of it,” the Sicknick family said in the statement.

According to statistics released by the Justice Department earlier Monday, more than 999 people are facing federal or local charges related to the January 6 attack, 326 of whom have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees.

According to the Justice Department, 140 officers were assaulted at the Capitol that day, including 60 Metropolitan Police officers and 80 USCP officers.

US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger on Tuesday ripped into Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his commentary about footage from the January 6, 2021, insurrection that he aired Monday night, saying the host “cherry-picked” from the footage to present “offensive” and “misleading” conclusions about the attack.

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

The chief also heaped praise on his force for their work defending the Capitol the day of the attack, writing: “You fought like hell on January 6 and risked your lives to protect the Constitution and everything this country stands for. You helped save every member of Congress and their staff.

McConnell said he would associate himself with the views of the Capitol Police about what happened on January 6 after watching the presentation on Fox News.

“It was a mistake, in my view, for Fox News to depict this in a way that’s completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here at the Capitol thinks,” McConnell told reporters.

Earlier Tuesday, Manger asked his statement be read at roll call meetings for rank-and-file and posted on all Capitol Police bulletin boards. In the memo, which was obtained by NPR, Manger listed out a series of falsehoods portrayed by Fox:

“TV commentary will not record the truth for our history books,” Manger said in closing. The justice system will work. The truth is on our side.

McConnell said Manger’s comments are the correct view. But the Senate Republican leader stopped short of criticizing the House speaker when asked if McCarthy made a mistake in giving Carlson access to the security footage. McConnell responded by saying, “My concern is how it was depicted, which is a different issue.”

“Clearly the chief of the Capitol Police, in my view, correctly describes what most of us witnessed firsthand on January 6. “That’s my reaction to it,” he said.

Sen. Schumer and the Dominion Voting Systems: Implications for Fox News and Senate Majority Leader Chuck McConnell

Already, Democrats had warned it was a dangerous move. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer doubled down on those concerns speaking to reporters after McConnell’s remarks.

Alluding to revelations in a case brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, Schumer said the network’s efforts have been outed and that “they’re liars.”