Ron Johnson on Jan. 6 Capitol attack: 'This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me'

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This story was republished on Jan. 14, 2022 to make it free for all readers

MADISON - Two days after members of the U.S. Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Wisconsin's senior senator is questioning whether an armed insurrection even occurred.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson toured the state's airwaves on Monday making the claim, despite video footage and photos of the attack showing participants erecting gallows, deploying pepper spray strong enough to repel bears, carrying zip ties, hurling a fire extinguisher, using baseball bats to smash windows, and throwing flags like spears at police officers.

"This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me," the Oshkosh Republican said in an interview on WISN-AM with conservative talk radio show host Jay Weber, after condemning the events at the U.S. Capitol that day.

FBI have identified Edward Lang as the man with the shield and baseball bat in this photo from Jan. 6, in which a pro-Trump mob clashes with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol.
FBI have identified Edward Lang as the man with the shield and baseball bat in this photo from Jan. 6, in which a pro-Trump mob clashes with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol.

"I mean 'armed,' when you hear 'armed,' don’t you think of firearms? Here’s the questions I would have liked to ask. How many firearms were confiscated? How many shots were fired? I’m only aware of one and I’ll defend that law enforcement officer for taking that shot. It was a tragedy, OK? But I think there was only one."

While it's unknown how many firearms were brought inside the Capitol during the attack, police recovered a dozen guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition from seven people who were arrested over their involvement in the Jan. 6 riot that left five people dead, according to NBC News reporting in January.

Rioters also used a stun gun to incapacitate at least one police officer, causing him to suffer a heart attack.

After talking to witnesses, the FBI alleges in a complaint that this photo shows Jordan Mink of Pennsylvania during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
After talking to witnesses, the FBI alleges in a complaint that this photo shows Jordan Mink of Pennsylvania during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

A spokesman for Johnson did not respond to questions about what Johnson was basing his comments on.

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, a Democrat who is running for U.S. Senate in 2022, said Johnson's comments were "unreal."

"They chanted 'Hang Mike Pence!' Five people died, Ron," Nelson tweeted. "Are you that craven & loyal to Donald Trump that you can’t recognize that?"

Johnson, who voted Not Guilty, is up for re-election in 2022 but has not yet said whether he will seek a third term.

Fourteen people tied to the Jan. 6 attack are facing federal charges related to bringing or using dangerous weapons inside the building and two are facing firearms-related charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Among those arrested after the riot was Lonnie Coffman, an Alabama man accused of bringing with him to Washington multiple firearms, 11 Molotov cocktails, a crossbow, smoke bombs and a stun gun — all found in his truck near the Capitol. He brought two firearms to the Capitol area, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

"The amount of weapons suggests an intent to provide them to others, as no one person could reasonably use so many at once," federal prosecutors said.

Samuel Fisher, a New York man who is facing federal charges, is accused of traveling to Washington with multiple firearms and a bulletproof vest. On Jan. 6, he allegedly posted an image of two guns, saying he would take the pistol inside with him and leave the rifle and vest in his vehicle, "and if it kicks off I got a Vest and My Rifle," according to the FBI.

Christopher Alberts of Maryland faces gun charges after police found on him two firearms, both with fully loaded 12-round magazines.

William Watson of Alabama told the FBI he went into the building through a broken window and that he was part of a crowd that used police shields and batons when they encountered officers in the Capitol. Watson also admitted to carrying mace and a pocket knife.

Rachel Powell of Pennsylvania is charged with entering a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon after she was seen using a large pipe to break windows of the Capitol building.

Cleveland Grover Meredith of Colorado missed the riot but allegedly brought an assault-style rifle, a 9mm handgun with high-capacity magazines and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition, including armor-piercing bullets, according to NBC News.

"To call that an armed insurrection, it was the most pitiful armed insurrection anybody could ever possibly imagine," Johnson said in an appearance on WTAQ, one of at least three interviews Monday with conservative radio hosts.

Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, is allegedly the man in photos dressed in all-black, carrying zip ties as he stepped over a row of seats inside the Capitol. He was arrested on Jan 10 in Nashville. In a news release, federal authorities said he appeared to be carrying plastic restraints, an item in a holster on his right hip and a cellphone mounted on his chest with the camera facing outward. A story in the British newspaper, The Sunday Times, said Munchel traveled to D.C. with his mother and was interviewed there after the riot. The story quotes Munchel as saying: "We wanted to show that we’re willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary. Same as our forefathers, who established this country in 1776."

"The one guy in the Senate chambers there, he had plastic wrist ties. What was he expecting to do? Literally go up to Mike Pence and capture him? It’s absurd."

Eric Munchel of Nashville is allegedly the man Johnson is referring to who has been photographed carrying zip ties fashioned into handcuffs inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. He is accused of stashing weapons in a tactical bag outside the Capitol during the attack, according to Nashville's WTVF.

Footage of the Capitol attack shows participants chanting "Hang Mike Pence" while others erected a noose and gallows.

A Trump supporter holds up a noose at the "Stop the Steal" rally outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
A Trump supporter holds up a noose at the "Stop the Steal" rally outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In his interview on WISN, Johnson criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for saying Trump provoked the crowd and was morally responsible for the attack. McConnell made his floor speech after voting against conviction because he said he didn’t think the Senate could convict a president who had already left office.

Johnson said he didn’t appreciate McConnell making his remarks because he didn’t believe most Senate Republicans felt the way McConnell does.

“You’ve got our leader out there really representing himself, and that’s his right to do, but at the same time, he has to realize as our leader, what he says reflects on us,” Johnson said. “I didn’t particularly like it.”

USA TODAY Network and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson questions whether armed insurrection occurred at Capitol