DAVID MARCUS: The January 6th committee was destroyed by a single cable news segment

Over the course of two years, hundreds of witness interviews, and 10 highly choreographed public hearings, Congressional Democrats attempted to create a carefully constructed history of the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill.

How fitting that such an extravagant outlay of government resources be dumped on the rubbish heap by a single cable news segment.

On Monday night, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson aired never-before-seen footage of the Capitol riots. The surveillance tape appears to show the infamous so-called QAnon shaman (aka Jacob Chansley) being escorted through the convention halls by police.

The video has no sound so we can’t hear what the police said to Chansley. But we can see with our own eyes – Chansley didn’t overwhelm anyone.

In fact, it looks like Capitol Police willingly ushered him shirtless and with horns into the Senate chambers for his infamous photo op.

So, for all the effort and expense that went into the January 6th committee, why is America only now seeing this footage?

The answer is obvious. It didn’t fit the Democrats’ narrative, so it was left out.

Democrats, backed by two virulent anti-Trump Republicans, attempted to portray January 6 as an insurrection—inspired, led, and directed by Donald Trump.

They recruited a former top news executive to help build the drama. Democratic allied media compelled millions of Americans to watch. And it all cost US taxpayers more than $3.3 million.

But it was easy to undermine because everything was so obvious and patently insincere.

Democrats, backed by two virulent anti-Trump Republicans, attempted to portray January 6 as an insurrection—inspired, led, and directed by Donald Trump.

The surveillance tape appears to show the infamous so-called QAnon shaman (aka Jacob Chansley) being escorted through the convention halls by police.

They couldn’t release video of the QAnon shaman wandering the Capitol building taking selfies and walking past the police because it clouds the narrative. And as a result, the January 6th Committee, with all its maneuvering and selective editing and feigned outrage, failed.

Any sane, patriotic Republican looks in disgust at the January 6 riots. Those who have committed violence and criminal acts should be prosecuted. And they were. But conservatives and free-thinking Americans also acknowledge what happened here.

Trump’s detractors in Congress and the media wanted to point to him, yell bully, ban him from American political life and return to normal everyday life. It’s convenient for them, but not enough for the rest of us.

Anger in the United States isn’t just a Trump problem — it’s an American problem. And it’s time for the partisan media and political establishment to recognize it as such.

This week, 23 Antifa members were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in a violent attack at a police training facility in Atlanta.

Predictably, the New York Times reported: “Protesters damage property at proposed Atlanta Police Center site?”

“Protesters”? “damage to property”?

Nearly two dozen people have been charged with domestic terrorism for attacking police with rocks, bricks and Molotov cocktails.

Police called the incident “a coordinated attack”. The mayor of Atlanta called it “domestic terrorism.” And the New York Times calls them “protesters.”

This week, 23 Antifa members were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism in a violent attack at a police training facility in Atlanta.

Nearly two dozen people have been charged with domestic terrorism for attacking police with rocks, bricks and Molotov cocktails.

How else to explain this blatant media double standard than to conclude that despite the hand-wringing over the January 6 riots, the left accepts some degree of violence.

For years, Antifa, absurdly calling itself “anti-fascists,” has burned down police stations, attacked journalists and set up degenerate, crime-ridden autonomous camps in our cities. But unlike the Capitol rioters, the media and political class made excuses for them.

Remember when Chris Cuomo, then at CNN, compared Antifa to the troops that stormed Normandy on D-Day? “I assert tonight that all beatings are not morally equal,” he said in 2018 as Americans clashed in the street. “When someone comes to call out fanatics and it gets hot, even physically, are they as wrong as the fanatics they are fighting? I say no.’

Remember when Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler, no less than the senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, dismissed Antifa violence in Portland as a “myth” even after it torched federal officials and buildings in 2020?

The American left has a disturbing history when it comes to acts of violence it believes are just.

Murderous members of the Weather Underground are celebrated professors today. Cop killers like Mumia Abu Jamal and criminals like Angela Davis are quasi-heroes.

In January, an Antifa member was exposed as the transgender son of Democratic house whip Katherine Clark. The younger Clark was arrested for painting anti-police slogans on public property. A police officer was bleeding as an Antifa gang tried to avoid the arrest.

In fact, it looks like Capitol Police willingly ushered him shirtless and adorned with horns into the Senate chambers for his infamous photo op.

One of the Antifa agitators arrested in Atlanta was Thomas Webb Jurgens, who is an attorney for the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center. The irony would be delicious if it weren’t so dangerous. The SPLC claims its primary mission is the fight against domestic terrorism, and this is where one of its own hard-working police officers allegedly attacks.

The sad fact is that Antifa on the left and the Proud Boys on the right are cut from the same cloth. Both groups are disaffected, mostly white, young people disaffected with America and trying to burn its current iteration to the core.

No political committee can heal this gaping wound in the American soul.

Democrats thought they could put a nice slur on the Capitol riots and blame their political opponents — but the reality is far more difficult to confront.

I thank Speakers McCarthy and Tucker Carlson for exposing the superficial, self-serving purpose of the January 6 committee.

And I propose a new starting point in the fight against extremism – treat and address all political violence equally. But please spare us the congress theatrics – you are not deceiving anyone.