Vic Mellor
Role at the time: Republican nominee for Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District, speaking to reporters outside the State House
Defended or excused
Response to this claim
Mellor maintains that his January 6 participation was legitimate political protest and that he did nothing wrong.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, so no, I don’t apologize for anything either.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Rhode Island Current coverage of the Magaziner-Mellor confrontation in ProvidenceOpening account of the State House press conference and the subsequent questions to Mellor about regret, violence and apology
On-scene reporting quotes both candidates and describes Mellor's answers to reporters. It preserves his rejection of wrongdoing and his condemnation of attacks on police.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
Relative to Mellor's own January 6 participation, he says his conduct was acceptable and requires no apology. This is a substantive defense, beyond disputing a label. His rejection of violence by others does not make his defense of his own conduct mixed.