New study shows Trump, election claims were main motivator for Jan. 6 rioters
A new Harvard University study found that people charged for their participation on Jan. 6, 2021 most often cited former President Trump and his unfounded claims of voter fraud as their primary motivator, NBC News reported.
The study, which was conducted by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, analyzed 469 court documents detailing the participation of 417 Jan. 6 participants who have faced criminal charges.
“Far and away, we find that the two most commonly-cited reasons for breaching the U.S. Capitol were a desire to support Trump on January 6th in D.C. and concerns about election integrity,” the report reads.
NBC reported those two reasons comprised the primary motivator for roughly four in ten rioters studied. The study found that 20.6 percent of rioters cited their support for Trump and an equal proportion cited his unfounded belief that the election had been stolen.
The Hill has reached out to the Shorenstein Center for a full copy of the study.
The study’s release comes as the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot prepares to hold its eighth hearing on Thursday evening in prime time. The panel’s members have said it will go through the riot minute-by-minute, up until Trump eventually released a video telling the rioters to “go home.”
The study, according to NBC, concludes that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was “mostly correct” in her assessment that Trump summoned the mob on Jan 6.
Other rioters listed different reasons. The third most common motivator was a belief they were participating in “revolution, civil war or secession,” 7 percent said they attended to “peacefully protest” and 6.2 percent cited a “general interest in violence.”
As the House panel continues its work, a district attorney in Fulton County, Ga. is pursuing a criminal investigation into potential unlawful attempts to overturn the election.
Source: TEST FEED1
