Fact Check Team: Sen. Marco Rubio calls for investigation into 2020 protests
WASHINGTON (TND) — Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is up for reelection this cycle and is calling for an investigation into the protests of the summer of 2020.
He says if Republicans win control of Congress, they will work to launch investigations into the protests the nation saw in the summer of 2020 following the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor and the murder of George Floyd.
Members of the GOP are comparing this to the Jan. 6 House committee’s investigation into the Capitol riots. The National Desk’s Fact Check Team is exploring what’s behind Rubio’s calls and what it could mean for protestors.
Rubio says there has been no accountability for who was behind them and “how much political rhetoric lent itself to it.”
A June 2020 data analysis from the Washington Post counted over 17,000 arrests made in the 50 largest cities that organized protests during the first two weeks after Floyd's death.
Based on data from 15 cities, more than 75% of those arrested were accused of non-violent, low-level offenses like violating curfews and obstructing roads.
Meanwhile, almost 22% were charged with more serious crimes including misdemeanor or felony charges related to rioting, burglary, looting, attempted murder, assault on police and arson.
The Post describes it as one of the largest waves of civil unrest — and arrests — in the nation since the Vietnam War.
According to a data analysis from the Courier-Journal between 2020 and 2021, more than 1,000 arrests were made in Louisville following the killing of Taylor but 70% of them were dismissed.
Looking at some specific numbers, 87 people were arrested in July for protesting outside Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s home and more than 125 people were arrested following the announcement of the grand jury’s decision.
As of September, about 170 cases remained open with a third of those involving defendants who failed to appear in court.
At least 928 people have been arrested and charged with crimes in connection to last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol but that number is expected to keep growing.
According to data from the Department of Justice, some of the charges include entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon, destruction or theft of government property and obstructing an official preceding.
So far, only 417 of the federally charged protesters have pled guilty and sentencing includes jail time, home detention and probation.
A congressional investigation gets started through legislation.
A bill was introduced and voted on in the House to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack; we now have that committee.
As far as an investigation by the Department of Justice goes, lawmakers are waiting to hear back concerning an investigation into the summer of 2020 is possible and what it would look like.
