Jan. 6 Hearing Focuses on Extremist Groups

The House Jan. 6 committee focused on the role of extremist groups like the Proud Boys in another public hearing on Tuesday.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) discussed a meeting that previous witness Cassidy Hutchinson called “unhinged,” in which former President Donald Trump met lawyers from outside the White House. Shortly after that meeting, Trump tweeted a call for a “big protest in DC on January 6th” that would “be wild”; Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) argued this tweet was “a call to arms for many of President Trump's most loyal supporters.”

The committee discussed the tweet’s impact on many of Trump’s supporters and extremist groups like the Proud Boys, who began collaborating with other groups following Trump’s tweet, often using violent rhetoric. After Trump’s tweet, a Twitter employee said, “It felt as if a mob was being organized and they were gathering together their weaponry.” The committee also heard testimony from former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove and Stephen Ayres, who participated in the Capitol riot. 

Coverage was widespread across the spectrum on Tuesday afternoon. Major right-rated outlets featured coverage of the hearing less prominently than left-rated outlets, which displayed coverage at the top of homepages. Outside of live coverage, headlines in left-rated outlets were more likely to highlight the hearing's focus on groups like the Oath Keepers.