RFK Jr., floating conspiracy theory, says 'reasonable' people say Jan. 6 wasn't insurrection

WASHINGTON – Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued on Friday that the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack might not have been a “true insurrection,” and said that, if elected, he would appoint a special counsel to investigate whether prosecutions related to the attack were “politically motivated.”

“It is quite clear that many of the January 6 protestors broke the law in what may have started as a protest but turned into a riot,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Because it happened with the encouragement of President Trump, and in the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him, many people see it not as a riot but as an insurrection.”

The attack occurred when a mob supporting former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It resulted in numerous deaths, injuries and hundreds of arrests. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,000 people for participating.

In the days after the attack, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for his connection to January 6, which they deemed an “insurrection.”

But Kennedy said that, while he had not personally examined the evidence, “reasonable people, including Trump opponents,” suggested there was little evidence of a true insurrection.

Several rioters, including members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys militia groups, were charged with sedition – acts related to conspiring against the government – for their use of violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. The assault on the Capitol temporarily prevented the certification of President Joe Biden’s win.

Kennedy also originally inaccurately stated that the rioters “carried no weapons,” a comment he later retracted. Multiple mob members have been convicted of carrying weapons into the Capitol.

Kennedy went on to accuse both Democrats and Republicans of using the Capitol attack to sow greater division in America and questioned whether “political objectives motivated the vigor of the prosecution” of Trump supporters who broke into the Capitol building.

Judges, including those appointed by Republican presidents, who have overseen cases against the protesters have vehemently pushed back against similar claims about political motives.

But Kennedy suggested that, if elected president, he would appoint a nonpartisan special counsel in the Department of Justice to “right any wrongs” and examine whether political motives played a role in the cases.

Kennedy’s comments echo rhetoric by Trump and his allies related to the 2020 election. Trump has described people charged with crimes for attacking the Capitol as “hostages.”

They also come just days after the independent presidential candidate suggested that President Joe Biden is a greater threat to democracy than Trump.

The Democratic National Committee harshly rebuked Kennedy’s comments in a statement on Friday, saying that “there aren’t two sides to violent rioters who assaulted police officers and tried to overthrow our democracy.”

Kennedy is running as a third-party candidate challenging Trump and Biden in the 2024 presidential election. He has claimed he has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in six states. So far, though, only Utah has confirmed Kennedy's place on the ballot.

Contributing: Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. floats conspiracy theories about prosecution of J6 rioters