DENVER — A Colorado state representative, who previously asserted that local health officials faked COVID-19 deaths, now claims Antifa carried out Wednesday’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Rep. Mark Baisley (R-Douglas County) posted the conspiracy theory to Facebook after rioters stormed the Capitol as Congress certified the results of the presidential election.
“It does not make any sense to me that Trump patriots would storm the U.S. Capitol to interrupt a Congressional challenge to the Electoral College results,” Baisley wrote. “The violent and arrogant actions of this attack (scaling walls, breaking windows) matches the signature of Antifa rioters. I hope that many arrests are made and identities of the sponsors revealed.”
The mob forced an emergency break from the certification process, which finished early Thursday morning. All-in-all, 147 Congressional Republicans objected to the certification. Among them were two representatives from Colorado, Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn.
Conspiracy theories about election rigging fueled the desire to object, as well as the insurrection at the Capitol. The latest claim, about Antifa, has so far proven to be not credible. Pictures, videos and live streams, however, show supporters of President Donald Trump, including Coloradans, boasting about the events in Washington, D.C.
Self-described tech CEO Chad Burmeister of Littleton posted a photo on Wednesday captioned: "First guy to storm the capital (sic) today."
Thursday, Burmeister changed the caption to read, "Peaceful march to the capital (sic).”
Other posts appear to show that Burmeister traveled to the capital expecting trouble. “Things could get ugly this week,” one post said. In another, he wrote, "We will vote with our voices and ultimately guns."
His page also includes posts about QAnon conspiracies and anti-government militia.
Burmeister told Next with Kyle Clark that he did not breach the Capitol during the riot. In a statement to Next, he said he was there for a peaceful march:
"Thank you for highlighting my peaceful march to the Capitol yesterday. It was an honor to live my First Amendment. Just to clarify, 'storm' for me was to march to the Capitol and be on the grounds. As I mentioned in my posts, I was there for a peaceful march, always respecting the laws of our land."
Thursday, he said he would be flying back to Colorado.
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