GOP Sen. Ron Johnson falsely described the Capitol insurrection as 'by and large a peaceful protest' on Fox News

• GOP Sen. Ron Johnson falsely claimed the Capitol siege was a "peaceful protest" on Fox News.
• "Calling it an insurrection… it wasn't," Johnson told host Laura Ingraham, adding that it was "by and large a peaceful protest."
• "To say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the capitol, attempting to overthrow the government, is simply a false narrative," he said, despite evidence to the contrary.

Sen. Ron Johnson falsely claimed the January 6 Capitol insurrection was "by and large a peaceful protest" during an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday.

"Calling it an insurrection … it wasn't," the Wisconsin Republican said in an interview with Laura Ingraham. "I condemn the breach, I condemn the violence, but to say there were thousands of armed insurrectionists breaching the Capitol, attempting to overthrow the government, is simply a false narrative."

Five people died in January's insurrection, in which rioters who supported former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol. More than 400 people have been charged with felonies in connection to the siege.

It's not the first time Johnson has amplified lies about the deadly siege. "I knew those were people who love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, so I wasn't concerned," he said of the rioters in March.

Multiple insurrectionists who breached the Capitol grounds were overheard saying they wanted to hang then Vice President Mike Pence because he refused to support Trump's effort to overturn the election results.

"I heard at least 3 different rioters at the Capitol say that they hoped to find Vice President Mike Pence and execute him by hanging him from a Capitol Hill tree as a traitor," Reuters photographer Jim Bourg, who was at the scene, tweeted. "It was a common line being repeated. Many more were just talking about how the VP should be executed."

Insurrectionists who laid siege to the Capitol could also be heard shouting "where's Mike Pence," a source close to the vice president told CNN.

The riot erupted as Congress was counting electoral votes on January 6 and debating Republican challenges to some battleground states' votes for Joe Biden. While counting was underway, the pro-Trump mob breached barriers at the Capitol, broke into the building, and ransacked lawmakers' offices as police officers frantically evacuated Pence and senior lawmakers.

Other members of Congress, Hill staffers, and reporters hunkered down and sheltered in place, behind makeshift barricades, and in offices. An armed standoff ensued at the House chamber, and a Trump supporter was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer.

At a rally before the joint session, Trump whipped his supporters into a frenzy, urging them "to fight," march to the Capitol, and stop Congress from counting the votes and finalizing Biden's victory. In the days before the riot, Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that the vice president had the power to reject or "decertify" electors from battleground states that Trump lost.

Since leaving office, Trump has continued pushing the lie that the election was "rigged" and "stolen" from him. He also recently released a statement urging Republicans to vote against a bipartisan proposal to independently investigate the Capitol siege.

The proposal passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday by a vote of 252-175. GOP leadership urged members to follow Trump's lead and oppose the legislation, but 35 Republicans broke ranks to vote in favor of it.

The measure faces a steep uphill climb in the Senate, where Democrats hold a bare majority. Minority leader Mitch McConnell announced this week that he will vote against the bill.

On Wednesday evening, an anonymous letter circulated in which some self-proclaimed members of the US Capitol Police expressed "profound disappointment" in GOP leadership's opposition to the January 6 commission.

The statement was signed "Proud Members of the United States Capitol Police," and sent on the letterhead of the USCP. It's unclear how many members signed the letter, but the officer who wrote the unofficial statement told CNN's Jamie Gangel that it represents the views of 40 to 50 officers on the force and that the statement "needed to be out there. It needed to be done."

The USCP distanced itself from the statement, saying in a statement to Insider that the agency "does NOT take positions on legislation."

"This is NOT an official USCP statement," it continued. "The Department has no way of confirming it was even authored by USCP personnel."