There are a lot of charges of “whataboutism” being thrown around on social media Tuesday as Capitol Police officers testified before Congress about the storming of the Capitol on January 6. Those who wish to use the Capitol riots and the select committee as a political cudgel say there’s no comparison whatsoever between, say, the rioting outside of the White House in 2020 or the siege of the federal courthouse in Portland. But there are those who need to believe that the Capitol riots were worse than 9/11 or Pearl Harbor or the Civil War. We’re not condoning January 6 by disputing all of those comparisons, though.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who created the select committee on January 6, said last week that the violent domestic attack on the Capitol was the worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812.
The violent domestic attack on Congress on #January6th was the worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812 & the worst domestic assault on American Democracy since the Civil War.
The future of our democracy is on the line.
Read My Full Statement:https://t.co/kSOl3ss8PW
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 21, 2021
It really wasn’t:
Jan 6th was the worst attack on the Capitol since 1812? Odd because in 1954, five congressmen were wounded on the floor when 4 terrorists opened fire from the visitor area. (Prez Carter later commuted/reduced the sentences.)https://t.co/RPFr29dvFz
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 26, 2021
March 1, 1971 NYT: “A bomb, apparently planted by a group or person protesting against the Vietnam war, exploded early this morning in the Senate wing of the Capitol, causing extensive damage but no injuries.”
How many bombs went off Jan 6th?https://t.co/iZr42KdGbF
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 26, 2021
Nov 7, 1983: At 10:58 p.m. a thunderous explosion tore through the second floor of the Capitol’s north wing… The force of the device blew off the door to the office of Democratic Leader Robert C. Byrd.
How many bombs went off in the Capitol on Jan 6?https://t.co/dyTtq9T6YI
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 26, 2021
“Shortly before midnight on Friday, July 2, 1915, police responded to the U.S. Capitol where an explosion had just rocked the Senate wing.”https://t.co/pP4EN5tkKA
Haven’t seen anything close to this damage from Jan 6th.
(Photo Source: Library of Congress) pic.twitter.com/809zVMDMV1
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 26, 2021
Oct 2018: Hundreds storm a US Senate building during the sacred work of confirming a Supreme Court Justice for a position that holds longer than a presidential term. 302 were arrested by Cap Hill Police; none by the Feds. https://t.co/M37L6pqm3ohttps://t.co/YDSkjuN3aV
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 26, 2021
Summer of 2020: POTUS & family are rushed to the White House Bunker as insurrectionists scaled fencing trying to overthrow the government. 60 secret service agents were wounded; 11 needed hospital for defending the WH in the worst attack on it since 1812. https://t.co/UjKHkXCNiR
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 26, 2021
July 24, 1998: Two Capitol Police officers, Officer Jacob J. Chestnut, Jr., and Detective John M. Gibson, died in the line of duty. An armed assailant stormed past a U.S. Capitol security checkpoint; he made it deep into the building where he was shot.https://t.co/do8tm82Znd
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 26, 2021
🚨 Video of the insurrection at the White House last summer.
Likely the worst attack since 1812 and appears to be more mayhem than Jan 6th.
I am not aware of a hunt by the Feds for those who stood there (as done to 100s of Jan 6th)
Videos posted by @EvyMages @MrEricAngelo pic.twitter.com/iyI9PmiICF
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) July 27, 2021
Even presented with these events, there are STILL commenters in these comments "whataboutism!","hairsplitting!" These people will not be moved, they will not see 1/6 as anything less as their own personal 9/11.
— woodsy (@serenitynow114) July 27, 2021
You know these people are gonna double down, right?
— Kel Varnsen (@thekelvarnsen) July 26, 2021
Amazing what happens when you revise history
— George B Baccash (@mrgbb) July 27, 2021
Yeah, but @aoc feared for her life.
— EProblem (@EProblem4) July 26, 2021
Dammit man, we have a narrative that we are sticking to. Don’t pester us with facts and history. We believe in approved science!
— Kent (@KMMRepofTexas) July 27, 2021
Please stop refuting hyperbole with facts..
— Brian Reardon (@reardonb) July 27, 2021
Related:
President Biden says it’s ‘not hyperbole’ that we are facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War https://t.co/82klFW3Om0
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 13, 2021
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