‘Limited, Edited Footage’: Tucker Carlson’s Jan. 6 Narrative ‘Ignores’ Court Filings, Officer’s Testimony and Guilty Pleas, CBS Fact-Check Finds

CBS News Congressional Correspondent Scott MacFarlane joined CBS Mornings on Tuesday to fact-check Tucker Carlson’s airing of new footage from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. MacFarlane reported that Carlson used the footage to “falsely” claim “journalists and lawmakers lied about the January 6th attack on the Capitol” and that he spun a “narrative last night” that “ignores” various facts from the copious amount of court documents, guilty pleas and the heartwrenching under oath testimonies from law enforcement.

“The narrative last night ignores the tens of thousands of pages of court filings we’ve read and the tonnage of footage already released by the Justice Department and shown in open court,” MacFarlane began, adding:

And it ignores the powerful and at times tearful accounts of injured officers who are testifying under oath. Carlson called January 6th, quote, ‘mostly peaceful and meek with a small percent that was violent.’

He showed limited, edited footage Monday night on his program that draws an audience of 3.5 million viewers and pointed to images of a few protesters shuffling through the halls of Congress. But our CBS News review found more than 300 people charged with actually assaulting police amid the mob and body worn camera like this shows attackers using spray sticks and baseball bats, stolen riot shields, sometimes their bare hands to beat police officers and damage the Capitol.

“In the days after the attack. Five officers who served at the Capitol that day died. That includes Capitol Officer Brian Sicknick. Carlson showed video of Sicknick who died one day after the attack walking through the capitol,” MacFarlane added, digging into a particularly controversial part of Carlson’s Monday evening show.

“Carlson saying Sicknick, quote, ‘looked healthy and vigorous.’ But according to the report from the D.C. chief medical examiner, Officer Sicknick died after suffering two strokes at the base of his brainstem caused by a blood clot. He collapsed hours after being assaulted by the rioters,” MacFarlane explained, adding:

His family released a statement to CBS News Monday night saying in part on video, Officer Sicknick looks like he managed to shake off the chemical irritants and resume his duties. His sense of duty sent him back in and no doubt contributed to his succumbing to his injuries.

The chair of the House January 6th committee blasted Speaker Kevin McCarthy for giving the footage to Carlson to, quote, ‘spew lies and propaganda.’ The speaker defended his decision, saying those tapes belong to the American public.

“Scott, you’ve covered this for two years. There have been all these court cases that you mentioned have legal teams, defendants been given access to video like this? What have you learned from the judicial process, I guess, is the question?” anchor Tony Dokoupil followed up.

“Yeah, Tony, this isn’t just the largest criminal investigation in American history. It’s potentially one of the most photographed. There are thousands of hours of footage. Some defense attorneys have said it’s almost too much. Some of the assaults shown are just medieval,” MacFarlane responded.

“But the violence that day came in waves. Tucker Carlson showed some of the walking around and milling about, but the fighting wasn’t constant. It wasn’t everywhere. It just happened at times,” MacFarlane explained, taking aim at Carlson’s claims.

“Carlson also focused on the case of Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon shaman, asking why some of the quieter, moments involving Chansley didn’t surface at trial. Chansley pleaded guilty and didn’t go to trial, and he admitted breaking a police line and riling the crowd. Gale, about 500 people pleaded guilty in their roles that day. And the FBI is looking to arrest 260 more,” MacFarlane concluded.

Watch the full clip above via CBS Mornings.