Using memory as a weapon against J6 lies is a moral duty

PLUS: My conversation with the lead investigator for the House J6 Committee

This piece draws on reporting and public records, but it’s informed in part by my conversation with Tim Heaphy, the lead investigator for the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack.

The full audio is of that conversation is here:

Heaphy is also the author of “Harbingers: What January 6 and Charlottesville Reveal About Rising Threats to American Democracy,” available wherever books are sold and an excellent read.

Let’s talk about a story you already know - but you only know it because some very brave and smart people made choices a long time ago that ensured this story would be told.

In 1945, when the Allied forces liberated Nazi concentration camps, they made it a point to photograph everything: the emaciated bodies, the gas chambers, the ledgers of names, the piles of shoes left behind by the dead. Why did they do that? Because they knew the moment the atrocities were over, the same supercharged propaganda machine that led to the creation of those camps in the first place would try to lurch back into gear and claim those atrocities never happened, that those camps never existed, or if they did exist, they weren’t anything like the horror show the Allied soldiers documented.

Those men, those patriots - those guardians of the truth - understood the power and importance of memory, memory as a bulwark against revisionism and denial and subversion and wickedness. This idea was already pretty familiar in 1945 because 40 years earlier a man named Georga Santayana included in his book “The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense” this iconic and prescient quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Some years later on January 6, 2021, I watched the events of that day unfold. You watched it unfold. Millions of Americans saw, in real-time, a violent mob attack the seat of our democracy. It was messy, ugly, horrifying — and it was clear as day what happened and why. Yet almost immediately, those responsible for the attack and their enablers in the media rolled up their sleeves and got to work, throwing shovels of coal into the roaring engine of their propaganda machine to try to make you forget what had happened, or to at least try to make you so confused about it that you’d just stop caring out of sheer exhaustion.

I understand you are probably exhausted from talking about this, and I am sorry. Please don’t be angry at me. Direct your anger at the people that deliberately exhausted you because they were afraid what would happen if you understood the truth.

Lie 1: The rioters were unarmed, so it’s not really an insurrection

To buy into this lie this requires that you first believe that only guns count as weapons. Any law enforcement officer will tell you - the legal definition of a weapon is any object, instrument, substance, or device which is intended to be used in a way that is likely to cause injury or death. Capitol police officers were beaten with flagpoles, sprayed with chemicals, and tased until they suffered heart attacks.

It doesn’t take a genius to understand those rioters were armed with weapons. The Department of Justice charged over 75 people with carrying weapons during the attack, including but not limited to stun guns, mace, knives, clubs, baseball bats and yes, guns. One guy even brought Molotov cocktails. These people have names and their charges are a matter of public record, so if you’re actually interested in this and care about it enough to argue, there’s really no excuse for you to not know it:

Guy Reffitt of Texas carried a loaded semi-automatic handgun onto Capitol grounds and later admitted he planned to physically remove Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell from the Capitol building, presumably with assistance from his gun.

Mark Mazza dropped his loaded revolver during a struggle with police. He later told investigators that he had plans to confront Nancy Pelosi, presumably with assistance from his gun.

Christopher Alberts, a former National Guardsman, carried a loaded pistol into the Capitol while also wearing body armor, suggesting he anticipated being shot at in return. He was one of the few rioters actually arrested that day.

Lonnie Coffman drove into Washington, D.C. with an arsenal that included loaded handguns, 12 Molotov cocktails, and an assault rifle. He pleaded guilty to weapons charges.

We’ll likely never know the true number of firearms and other weapons brought into the Capitol that day because almost none of the people who participated in the riot were arrested on site.

Lie 2: It was mostly a peaceful protest

Peaceful protests don’t leave 174 police officers injured, 15 so badly they had to be hospitalized. Peaceful protests do not require desperate calls for backup, gas masks, makeshift furniture barricades, or for lawmakers to be evacuated.

One of the most chilling elements of January 6th was the direct threat to Vice President Mike Pence. Rioters erected a makeshift gallows on the Capitol grounds, with a noose and everything, and chanted, “Hang Mike Pence!” Why? Because Pence had refused to overturn the results of the 2020 election, a power he didn’t even have under the Constitution.

According to witnesses and reports, Donald Trump was told about these chants and he reacted with a shrug. He allegedly told aides that Pence “deserved” it for not supporting his efforts to overturn the election.

We’ve heard a million times that this wasn’t Trump’s fault because he used the words “peacefully and patriotically” during the Ellipse speech. He also said “We’re going to go to the Capitol and fight like hell or you’re not going to have a country any more.”

What did he think the crowd was going to do? What does that mean, “fight like hell?” Were they going to “fight like hell” in a snap election on the Capitol steps? Were they going to “fight like hell” playing Rock Paper Scissors to determine who would be in the White House for four more years? Were they going to climb on each other’s shoulders and have chicken fights in the Reflecting Pool?

What else could Trump possibly have been talking about when he said “fight like hell” if not violence?

And Trump knew violence was a possibility because he knew the crowd was armed. We know this because it took a long time to get the crowd into the Ellipse to see his speech before the attack, and it took a long time because everyone in attendance was being asked to go through a magnetometer, a metal detector. Trump wanted the crowd to get there more quickly so he ordered the magnetometers removed, saying “I don’t care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me.”

While the attack raged, Trump was glued to the television in the White House, watching events unfold in a manner that was clearly not peaceful or patriotic, and this didn’t bother Trump even a bit. According to multiple corroborating sources, he ignored desperate pleas from lawmakers, staff, and even his own family to do anything to stop the violence. Republican leaders like Kevin McCarthy and media figures like Sean Hannity reached out to Trump and his Chief of Staff urging them to call back their troops and end the riot. Instead, Trump remained passive for hours, refusing to issue a statement until late in the afternoon. When he finally addressed the mob, his message was pretty weak tea: “Go home. We love you. You’re very special.”

This delay was not a lapse in judgment; it was a calculated decision. Trump had the power to stop the violence with a single tweet, but he chose not to act. Anyone who tells you he meant it when he said “peacefully and patriotically” is badly mistaken.

Lie 3: The attack was not organized; it was accidental

This claim suggests that the sacking of the US Capitol was a spontaneous event, fueled by overzealous protesters and a lack of crowd control. The facts tell a very different story.

Court documents and congressional hearings have revealed that groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers meticulously planned their actions. Members of these far-right groups were charged with seditious conspiracy, a rare and serious crime. They coordinated travel, stockpiled weapons, and planned the storming of the Capitol weeks in advance.

Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, were found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Their communications revealed a shared intent to prevent Joe Biden from taking office by force.

The actions of these groups and individuals were neither spontaneous nor disorganized. This was an orchestrated effort to overturn a legitimate election and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.

Lie 4: FBI agents tricked Trump supporters into violence

The narrative in right-wing media claims the FBI had undercover assets in the crowd to incite violence and frame Trump supporters. Tucker Carlson and many others have cited the mention of “unindicted co-conspirators” in court filings as evidence of FBI involvement. The term “unindicted co-conspirators” refers to individuals who may have been involved but haven’t been charged, maybe for lack of evidence or ongoing investigations or some other reason. Whatever it is, “unindicted co-conspirators” is not a secret code for undercover FBI agents.

You may remember Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins sprinting to any camera or microphone he could find to tell you that FBI Director Christopher Wray’s refusal to directly answer Higgins’ questions about whether confidential human sources were present in the crowd was evidence that FBI agents were there, and may have spurred on the riots. Anyone who ever watched “The X-Files” could understand the problem with that.

What Wray said in response to Higgin’s questions is in effect a blanket response that intelligence agencies give out so often it actually has a nickname - it’s called the Glomar Response. You’ve heard it a million times - “we can neither confirm nor deny.” This is how the FBI routinely avoids commenting on ongoing investigations or intelligence operations, especially in public settings. Wray’s refusal to disclose specific operational details is standard practice, not an admission of guilt. It reflects the FBI’s duty to protect sensitive information.

If Wray revealed at that moment whether or not the FBI had confidential human sources in the crowd on January 6 he could compromise sources, methods, or future investigations. Higgins no doubt knows this - he’s not stupid - he just thinks you are.

We now know thanks to a December 2024 report from the Justice Department Inspector General’s office that there were indeed FBI informants (but not agents) in the crowd, but there still is no evidence that the FBI incited or orchestrated the violence that day.

Some people never got the memo about Ray Epps, a former Marine and Trump supporter from Arizona, seen on video on January 5 urging others to march toward the Capitol but has denied encouraging violence. Many people believe that makes him a “Fed” plant. In fact, video evidence from January 6 shows him trying to calm the crowd, saying, “Peaceful, peaceful!” Epps voluntarily spoke with the J6 Committee, denied being an informant, and it took a few years but the Feds eventually hit him with a single charge of disorderly conduct, a charge to which he pleaded guilty and got a year of probation. Case closed.

Lie 5: Nancy Pelosi admitted taking responsibility for the lack of security preparation

This claim bloomed out of a deceptively edited video of Pelosi during the attack, in which she allegedly accepts blame for inadequate security. That’s fiction.

In the video, Pelosi is seen expressing frustration that the National Guard wasn’t present. She says, “Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?” and later says, “Oh my god, I cannot believe the stupidity of this. And I take full responsibility.” That phrase was taken out of context to suggest she accepted responsibility for Capitol police not being prepared, but the Speaker of the House does not have the authority to directly alert the Capitol Police of potential violence, they do not make operational security decisions, such as calling for additional forces, they do not oversee the training and equipping of Capitol Police officers.

That’s the Sergeants at Arms job. There’s two of them, one for each chamber, their names are Paul Irving and Michael Stenger. Both of them resigned shortly after January 6th, acknowledging that acting on intelligence from the FBI and asking for National Guard troops before the event was their responsibility - in the case of the latter, they made a deliberate decision not to do that because they didn’t like the optics of militarized personnel at the Capitol.

The former Chief of the Capitol Police Steven Sund told the speaker’s staff on January 5: “We’re ready for this.” Congressional leadership of both parties in both chambers were told that everything was under control. So if you really want to blame someone besides the attackers for what happened, it should probably be these guys, not Nancy Pelosi. But that doesn’t let the attackers off the hook, much the same way that we don’t let the Bourbon Street terrorist off the hook for his actions, we don’t let the 9/11 masterminds off the hook for their actions - despite security lapses that made it easier for those people to commit their crimes.

I’m not sure why Nancy appeared to fall on her sword like that in that video, but in the end it just doesn’t matter. It wasn’t her responsibility. It’s like me taking responsibility for the fact that my garbage didn’t get picked up this morning. I don’t drive the truck. I don’t pick up the can. I don’t work for the waste disposal company. So the full meaning behind Pelosi’s comment is somewhat opaque in my view, but the bigger point is that this lie is obviously a smokescreen, an attempt to deflect responsibility from those who incited the violence and shift blame to the victims of the attack.

Lie 6: Capitol Police intentionally let protesters into the U.S. Capitol as part of an entrapment scheme

You’re probably seen video of some officers moving barricades out of the way or chatting nonchalantly with intruders. But no investigations anywhere, including those done by the J6 committee, the Capitol Police, the Department of Justice, or independent media found anything to substantiate that the cops were in on the attack, and they’ve all seen the same video we have. What’s more likely is that officers in some instances made tactical decisions in the name of harm reduction to avoid further escalation.

Maybe you remember that one officer Eugene Goodman, who was literally being chased by the mob through the halls of Congress - he deliberately ran into an area where there was nobody to threaten and nowhere to go, because he understood the crowd would follow him there. It’s the same principle. Those officers invited the mob into one area where they believed the crowd could be controlled and contained, rather than have them going into another area where they could not be controlled and contained.. yes, in a few cases, barricades were moved or police appeared to step aside, but this was likely done to manage the chaos rather than to “entrap” anyone. That’s not a conspiracy, that’s just crowd control 101.

Lie 7: Donald Trump offered 10,000 National Guard members to Nancy Pelosi and was turned down

There is testimony that Trump said National Guard help might be needed, his former Acting Secretary of Defense tells us that. But that suggestion was never formalized. The Acting Secretary of Defense is not going to mobilize 10,000 troops on a suggestion - there’s a formal process for actually ordering that, and Trump did not engage in that process.

I can say that I might want to order ten cases of Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut from Amazon, but that doesn’t make the transaction real. If I want the Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut, I have to actually put that in my cart and hit “order now.” If I don’t, no Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut will arrive.

Similarly, Trump never gave an official directive for National Guard support. And without that official directive, the troops were never activated. There’s no evidence that any of these discussions ever involved Nancy Pelosi at all.

I’ll stop there for today - there isn’t even time to get into lies about the fake elector scheme, the pressure on Pence, the pressure on state election officials, etcetera… but these are the lies I hear parroted back to me most often on the radio.

Why does it all still matter?

Memory matters. Truth matters. These lies are not harmless misunderstandings; they’re weapons of division and destruction, deliberately deployed by those in the seat of power, those with the most to gain from us constantly bickering and burning ourselves out trying to keep the truth afloat. And if we’re not vigilant, they’ll rewrite history so thoroughly that one day, something like this will happen again - but maybe next time the good guys don’t win, and we actually do lose our democracy. The same democracy those cops were fighting for at the Capitol four years ago, the same democracy those troops were fighting on behalf of back in 1945.

We can’t afford to let that happen. The stakes are too high. Real democracy depends on accountability, on facts, and on the courage to call out lies, no matter how loud or widespread they are. So let’s be honest. Let’s remember. Let’s document. And let’s make sure that no amount of revisionist garbage can bury the truth. When we sit back and let lies take root, they don’t just muddy up the past; they poison the present and sabotage the future and they make a shared understanding of our own stories impossible.

Those who forget their own past are sure to lose control of their destiny. They’ll be ripe targets for frauds and villains and scammers and snakes. They’ll find themselves unable to listen, unable to learn, and they’ll become helpless in their quest for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Don’t let that happen to you.

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