Ted Nugent repeats baseless claims that Antifa and BLM activists were behind Capitol riot

Ted Nugent has repeated the baseless conspiracy theory that January’s riot at the US Capitol was sparked by Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists.

In January, Donald Trump‘s supporters stormed the Capitol, desecrated the building and attacked police officers.

Five people died during the armed insurrection, including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick.

Trump was widely accused of inciting the attack, having addressed the crowd at a Washington rally only hours prior where he told them to go to the Capitol, “show strength” and “fight much harder”.

Speaking during a YouTube livestream on Monday (June 7), Nugent told his viewers: “We know that the January 6th event at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., those weren’t Trump supporters destroying stuff and breaking windows and being vandals.

“Those were Antifa and Black Lives Matter wearing Trump shirts and hats. I wanna be on record right now for that. Insurrection my ass.”

He added: “So let me make it clear: January 6th wasn’t an insurrection. Those were terrorists, like Black Lives Matter and Antifa dressed in Donald Trump shirts doing all the damage. The real Trump supporters were conservatives that believe in God, family, country, law and order trying to stop them.

“And I would ask… So why were the cops waving them in? And here’s the question America demands an answer to: who was the cop that shot the Navy vet? Was it Navy or Air Force? It doesn’t matter, ’cause warriors of the military are all heroes and warriors anyhow. I wanna know the cop’s name that shot the lady, and I wanna know what’s gonna happen to him.”

While Nugent has previously made similar claims, FBI director Christopher A. Wray previously testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that there was no evidence to support claims that Antifa, anarchists or provocateurs who didn’t support Trump were involved in the Capitol siege.

Nugent, meanwhile, previously called Donald Trump “the greatest president in our lifetime,” and said he represents “the heart and soul of the best American families out there”.

The right-wing rocker also contracted Covid-19 in April and said he’s “never been so scared in all my life” as when he battled the virus.