DENVER — Newly-elected Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert has been under the microscope for weeks for being vocal about her choice to challenge Electoral College results and a promise to carry a gun with her to work. She now faces calls for resignation after Democrats said she helped incite the violence at the U.S. Capitol.
But photos of the Rifle Republican have been circulating with inaccurate claims.
THE CLAIM:
The tweet above, which has since been taken down, claims Boebert took a photo with this group before guiding them through the Capitol. The tweet then claims that members of that same group participated in the insurrection at the Capitol the next day and at least one has been charged.
WHAT WE FOUND
The photo associated with the tweet's claim is from 2019.
A reverse Google Image search shows the photo is from a "Colorado Times Recorder" article from Dec. 9, 2019.
The investigative reporter who wrote the 2019 story, Erik Maulbetsch, told 9NEWS he was at the Dec. 8 “We Will Not Comply” rally at Colorado's Capitol. Maulbetsch said Boebert shared the photo on her Facebook page, which has since been deleted, but shared the screenshot he took of that post.
The story reads:
"Approximately two hundred people rallied at the state Capitol Saturday against Colorado’s new “red flag” law, which allows guns to be taken from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Organizers of the “We Will Not Comply” rally included Rally For Our Rights activist Lesley Hollywood, conservative Facebook personality Sheronna Bishop, and gun rights activist Lauren Boebert, who just launched her campaign for Colorado’s Third Congressional District, where she will challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton in the Republican primary."
It's unclear if anyone pictured in the photo with Boebert participated in the Jan. 6 events.
9NEWS also reached out to Boebert's office to ask if she gave any tours ahead of last week's attempted insurrection.
"Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I have not given any Capitol tours except to show my children around where I’ll be working while I’m away from home," she said.
In a release Thursday, Boebert repeated this assertion, saying that any claims that she gave a Capitol tour to insurrectionists before the riot are "categorically false."
"Congresswoman Boebert never gave a tour of the U.S. Capitol to any outside group or “insurrectionists"," the release from her office reads. "In fact, the only people she ever had in the Capitol with her were her young children, husband, mom, aunt and uncle. Her mother was the only one of those family members in Washington D.C. on the 6th. During the riots, the Congresswoman's mother was locked in a secure location, not in the U.S. Capitol, with her staff and never left their sight."
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