Harvard Study Concludes There Was Only One Motivation For January 6th Insurrection: Trump
NBC News reports that a newly released study from Harvard University is directly placing all of the blame for the January 6th Capitol insurrection squarely on Donald Trump’s shoulders.
As many witnesses have testified to the January 6th House Select Committee, it was Trump’s infamously tweeted invitation to Washington–“will be wild!”–that encouraged thousands of his supporters to descend on the nation’s capital to do all they could to stop the results of what he kept calling a “rigged election” despite having full knowledge he had lost.
The Harvard study, which was shared with NBC News ahead of its publication, logged and analyzed the motives of 417 Capitol rioters, all of whom have been charged in relation to the attack on the Capitol. Their motives were derived from 469 documents filed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, including charging documents and sentencing memoranda, according to the report.
The report from Harvard, exclusive to @NBCNews, goes through 469 documents filed to D.C.'s U.S. District Court.
The report affirms Rep. Liz Cheney's Jan. 6 hearing statement: “Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.”https://t.co/n9UBuytp8L pic.twitter.com/5dTkEMsbFV
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) July 20, 2022
Researchers from Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy wrote that the documents “make clear” that January 6th House Select Committee member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) “was mostly correct in her assessment” that “Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.”
"Those who invaded our Capitol and battled law enforcement for hours were motivated by what President Trump had told them.
President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack." -Vice Chair @RepLizCheney pic.twitter.com/GOeynxo1Tm
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) June 10, 2022
“Far and away, we find that the two most commonly-cited reasons for breaching the US Capitol were a desire to support Trump on January 6th in DC and concerns about election integrity,” the Harvard report reads.
559 days ago insurrectionists ransacked the US Capitol and *hours later* 68% of House republicans voted to finish the rioters’ job and make trump a dictator. Never forget it.
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) July 20, 2022
Read the full profile at NBC News.