WASHINGTON — At least 28,000 supporters of President Donald Trump flocked to the nation’s capital on Jan. 6, 2021 — many of them carrying weapons ranging from firearms to brass knuckles and screwdrivers, the House select committee investigating the events of that day revealed in its final report.
The 814-page document, released late Thursday, draws the previously unreported crowd figure from data from Secret Service magnetometers stationed at Trump’s pre-riot speech on the Ellipse near the White House — though hundreds of the most hardcore rioters skipped the rally and went directly to the Capitol.
The committee of seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans voted Monday to ask the Justice Department to charge the 76-year-old former president with crimes including inciting an insurrection — and the report suggests many attendees were indeed ready for violence.
“Secret Service confiscated a haul of weapons from the 28,000 spectators who did pass through the magnetometers: 242 cannisters of pepper spray, 269 knives or blades, 18 brass knuckles, 18 tasers, 6 pieces of body armor, 3 gas masks, 30 batons or blunt instruments, and 17 miscellaneous items like scissors, needles, or screwdrivers,” the report says.
Article URL: https://nypost.com/2022/12/23/capitol-riot-report-details-weapons-toted-by-28k-strong-trump-mob