After Fox News host Tucker Carlson pushed the conspiracy theory that the FBI was involved in instigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection, anti-government extremists connected to previous standoffs with the government appear to be using Carlson’s comments to validate their long-standing conspiracy theory that the FBI, not armed militias, was responsible for the Bundy ranch and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoffs, instigating others to commit crimes.
On the June 15 edition of
Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson pushed the conspiracy theory that “in potentially every single case,” those listed as unindicted co-conspirators in January 6 charging documents “were FBI operatives.” The ridiculous claim has been widely debunked, and it’s been highlighted that the conspiracy theory relies on flimsy logic that the term “unindicted co-conspirator” is synonymous with FBI operative (it’s not). On his June 16 broadcast, Carlson doubled down on his baseless narrative, saying events of January 6 were “at least in part organized and carried out in secret by people connected to federal law enforcement.”