Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) is demanding an apology from Democrats and journalists who falsely claimed that he incited the Capitol riot with his speech at the “Save America Rally,” noting that evidence had shown the violence was pre-planned.
Brooks gave what was described as a “fiery” speech on January 6:
Brooks never called for violence, though he used strident language, such as “The 2020 election is behind us. Today is a time of choosing, and tomorrow is a time for fighting.”
He said Americans would learn, by their votes on the Electoral College results, which Republicans preferred the perks of office to the principles of freedom. He never suggested disrupting the proceedings.
Instead, he focused on the 2022 and 2024 elections, donning a cap that read “Fire Pelosi.” He added: “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.”
“Are you willing to do what it takes to fight for America?” he asked the crowd — referring, in context, to the next elections.
Numerous media outlets and Democrats claimed that Brooks had encouraged violence, quoting his remarks out of context.
In a statement Wednesday, Brooks said:
As a former prosecutor, I understand the difference between speculation and evidence. Soon after the January 6 Capitol attack, I urged letting the investigations of the Capitol attack play out before drawing conclusions about what happened. The Fake News Media (looking to increase their ratings, readership, and profits), Socialist Democrats (looking to capitalize politically on the tragic events), and RINO ‘Surrender Caucus’ Republicans (looking to improve their past dismal showings in GOP primaries) refused to heed my advice. With a reckless disregard for the truth, they pushed the false narrative that demonstrators were whipped into a fervor by Save America Rally speeches at the Washington Mall Ellipse. They maliciously took statements out of context that I made in my Save America Rally speech and intentionally distorted them to make it seem like I encouraged violence. I did no such thing. President Donald Trump did no such thing.
Media attacks on Brooks included the New York Times, who used Brooks’s “kicking ass” line to link hm to the Capitol riot. However, Brooks noted, they did not wait for the facts, which showed that the Capitol riot was pre-planned, and which have yet to produce any evidence that rioters were incited by a speech, or that they had links to any members of Congress.
Brooks continued:
The media and publishers have a duty to uncover and report the truth. In this instance they acted with a complete disregard for the truth by reporting scurrilous, slanderous and libelous accusations against myself and President Trump with no due diligence to uncover the truth, and with malice toward my good name. Federal investigations and Congressional committee hearing evidence establishes the Capitol attack was preplanned and coordinated. The attack was in no way, shape or form spontaneous. America now knows the Capitol attack was not caused by speeches at the Ellipse Save America Rally because the criminals who attacked the Capitol planned and prepared for them days and even weeks before the Ellipse speeches were even given. Any good faith examination of the facts related to the Capitol attack would have led one to quickly discover the attack was preplanned. Sworn law enforcement testimony and findings confirm just that.
Democrats introduced a resolution to censure him, claiming that “his words helped spark chaos, destruction, injuries and death.” The Associated Press reported the story if the resolution had actually passed: “Mo Brooks won’t apologize despite resolution for his censure.”
(The sponsor of that resolution, Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), is now under fire for allegedly conducting at least $671,000 worth of stock transactions without proper disclosures.)
Now Brooks is demanding an apology, though he also says he does not expect one to be forthcoming. His statement continued:
In order to restore my name against the malicious attacks, I demand that each and every Socialist Democrat, Fake News Media outlet, and RINO ‘Surrender Caucus’ Republican who sullied my good name by accusing me of inciting violence, publicly apologize and retract their statements. If any of these defamers are honorable and honest, they will do just that. However, for obvious reasons, I will not hold my breath awaiting their apology. Socialist Democrats, their Fake News Media allies, and RINO ‘Surrender Caucus’ Republicans must be held accountable for their defamation, slander and lies. The evidence is overwhelming and vindicates me and President Trump. The Capitol Attack was preplanned and coordinated by militant elements of various political groups. These were not peaceful protestors. No one saw the scale of the attack coming (not even the Capitol Police, with all of their intelligence resources). And, it was not the spontaneous result of my rousing political rally speech that occurred hours before and a mile and a half away, a speech, I might add, that contributed to the Alabama Republican Party recently honoring me with the title of a “rare true statesman.”
During the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, lawyers for the defense produced video evidence of Democrats using fiery, strident language identical to that used by Trump and other speakers at the “Save America Rally.”
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.