FBI Director on Capitol Riot: We've Found No Antifa Link

Christopher Wray called the attack 'domestic terrorism'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2021 12:48 PM CST
FBI Director on Capitol Riot: We've Found No Antifa Link
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Wray is condemning the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol as “domestic terrorism.”   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

FBI Director Chris Wray categorized the Jan. 6 Capitol riots as "domestic terrorism," but made clear that the bureau has no evidence it came at the hands of far-left violent extremists. "We have not to date seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribed to antifa in connection with the 6th," Wray testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. "That doesn't mean we're not looking, and we'll continue to look, but at the moment we have not seen that," he said. The Hill details some of the instances in which former President Trump's allies pushed the antifa theory, including comments from Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz made on the evening of the 6th, in which he alleged some of those who breached the Capitol were antifa "masquerading as Trump supporters." More:

  • The New York Times digs deeper, with a lengthy look at how the antifa speculation spread like wildfire, beginning with a 1:51pm tweet by a right-radio host with just 13,000 followers that made its way minutes later to Rush Limbaugh's radio show.
  • Wray was also asked about the cause of death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, days after reports emerged that video evidence allegedly shows a person going after Sicknick and other officers with a chemical irritant, possibly bear spray, during the attack. Wray said the FBI is "not at a point" where it can speak to the cause of death.
  • The AP reports it marks Wray's first appearance before that committee in nearly 2 years and has his defending how the FBI handled intelligence it received in advance of the attack. Wray maintains that while he didn't see a Jan. 5 report from the FBI's Norfolk, Virginia, field office on web chatter regarding a "war" in Washington the next day, it was properly shared with Capitol Police and others.
(More Capitol riot stories.)

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