9/11 victims' families outraged over media claims Capitol riot was worse

https://www.foxnews.com/media/capitol-riot-9-11-families

9/11 victims' families outraged over media claims Capitol riot was worse 'to score points politically'
'Either they're ignorant or they're just really devious and clever'

When retired New York Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches speaks about it, the anger and sadness in his voice is unmistakable.

It's been nearly 20 years since his son Jimmy was among the 343 New York firefighters to die at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The 9/11 terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people, launched wars, and changed the world.

But since the January 6 Capitol riot, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building to disrupt certification of Joe Biden's election victory, some commentators and reporters have claimed it's not just on par with the 9/11 attacks, but actually even worse.

Riches and other family members of victims told Fox News they're disgusted when they hear of the two events even being compared, let alone suggesting the riot, while stunning and disgraceful, was the darker day.

"It's a shame," he said. "Are they kidding me? 3,000 people died, plus we have more people dying from the air that was down there … They're comparing it to score points politically. The families are really [angry]. When I talk to them, when they compare it to that, they find that outrageous."

It's become a trend in some liberal circles since the riot to liken it to 9/11, citing that it was a direct attack on the democratic process. The widely condemned assault came on the heels of weeks of unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud by Trump and his supporters. Rioters smashed windows, beat law enforcement officers, and were heard voicing threats at Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other politicians.

Democratic lawmakers repeatedly intoned they wanted a "9/11-style" commission to investigate the Capitol attack. Left-wing pundit and former George W. Bush strategist Matthew Dowd recently argued the riot was worse because it's divided the country. Lincoln Project co-founder and Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democratic strategist Steve Schmidt said not only that Dowd was right, but that the riot was worse because it would end up leading to a greater loss of life.

"The 1/6 attack for the future of the country was a profoundly more dangerous event than the 9/11 attacks," Schmidt said at a town hall last week. "And in the end, the 1/6 attacks are likely to kill a lot more Americans than were killed in the 9/11 attacks, which will include the casualties of the wars that lasted 20 years following it."

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The rhetoric about the riot hasn't been confined to political actors. In May, Huffington Post White House correspondent S.V. Dáte said the riot was worse because Usama bin Laden and his gang of terrorists "never threatened the heart of the American experiment."

"The 1/6 terrorists and Donald Trump absolutely did exactly that. Trump continues that effort today," he tweeted.

He later added the riot was "1000 percent worse."

The rant by Dáte was in response to columnist George Will's call for the day to be as burned into the American memory as 9/11.

Don Arias, whose brother Adam died on 9/11 while working on the 84th floor of the South Tower, told Fox News it makes his "blood boil" that anyone of any political stripe would make that comparison.

"Clear thinking people see these inflammatory statements as the bulls--t they are," Arias said. "There’s no comparison."

DePauw University Professor Jeffrey McCall told Fox News such rhetoric was irresponsible.

"Both were shocking, serious and painful, but they were different in so many ways that trying to compare them with a rating of which is worse is a fool's errand," he said. "There is plenty to discuss and criticize with regard to the Capitol riot without rhetoric that lessens the harm and destruction of the 9/11 attacks."