Marjorie Taylor Greene: Jan. 6 Defendants Are Being Taught Critical Race Theory In Jail

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) complained about racism in the criminal justice system on Tuesday in reference to the mostly white defendants jailed for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The far-right lawmaker made a series of accusations during a press conference with fellow extremist Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Louie Gohmert (Texas) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) to highlight conditions at the District of Columbia jail where around 40 people charged in the Capitol riot are being held as they await trial.

The Jan. 6 defendants make up a small portion of the roughly 1,400 inmates held at the facility, the large majority of whom are Black .

Local officials and activists have long been aware of the jails inhumane conditions, and Greenes report describes human feces and other bodily fluids on the walls of cramped cells. But notably, these problems only recently received attention after Trump supporters held in connection to the riot and their right-wing allies complained about them.

Greene claimed that this small group of mostly white men is being discriminated against because of the color of their skin.

They were isolated in a separate wing of the jail, where they are abused, where they are ridiculed, where they are mocked because of their political beliefs and because of January 6, and because of the color of their skin, she claimed. So there is a two-tiered justice system, and these are the things that need to end.

She also claimed that the defendants are being forced to undergo critical race theory training by court-appointed lawyers in order to be represented by them.

Theyre being represented by public defenders that call them white supremacists, tell them they have to denounce President Trump, tell them they have to denounce their political views, want them to watch videos and read books that basically is critical race theory training, in order for them to have this public defender represent them, she said.

Its not clear which defendants, attorneys or materials shes referring to. One D.C. defense attorney assigned to represent indigent Capitol defendants, H. Heather Shaner, told HuffPost in June that she had recommended historical books and films like Schindlers List, Just Mercy and Slavery By Another Name to her clients to help educate them on ugly parts of U.S. history some of them said they werent aware of.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says January 6 defendants are getting pumped full of \"critical race theory training\" in jail pic.twitter.com/m3lRLZBnIb

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Aaron Rupar","author_url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar","cache_age":86400,"description":"Marjorie Taylor Greene says January 6 defendants are getting pumped full of \"critical race theory training\" in jail pic.twitter.com/m3lRLZBnIb Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":406,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1468287965168349191/pu/img/_p94WwDJ_c4o8eF4.jpg","thumbnail_width":720,"title":"Aaron Rupar on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1468288013264371720","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"61afdee6e4b07c4c95c459ad","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/marjorie-taylor-greene-jan-6-defendants_n_61afdee6e4b07c4c95c459ad","entryTagsList":"racism,capitol-riot,marjorie-taylor-greene,critical-race-theory","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/2b34aafe-0f00-4799-a0f3-66f2b1e23653/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":13},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"61afdee6e4b07c4c95c459ad","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Racism","slug":"racism","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/racism","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/racism","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/racism"},"relegenceSubjectId":6425097,"department":{"name":"Voices","slug":"voices"},"section":{"title":"Black Voices","slug":"black-voices"},"topic":{"title":"Racism","slug":"racism","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/voices/topic/racism"},{"name":"capitol riot","slug":"capitol-riot","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/capitol-riot","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/capitol-riot","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/capitol-riot"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"Capitol Riot","slug":"capitol-riot","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/capitol-riot"},{"name":"Marjorie Taylor Greene","slug":"marjorie-taylor-greene","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/marjorie-taylor-greene","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/marjorie-taylor-greene","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/marjorie-taylor-greene"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/marjorie-taylor-greene"},{"name":"Critical race theory","slug":"critical-race-theory","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/critical-race-theory","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/critical-race-theory","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/critical-race-theory"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/critical-race-theory"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

Marjorie Taylor Greene says January 6 defendants are getting pumped full of "critical race theory training" in jail pic.twitter.com/m3lRLZBnIb
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2021

In Greenes report , Unusually Cruel: An Eyewitness Report From Inside The DC Jail, her claims about critical race theory did not center on public defenders, but rather, on the reading materials available to inmates.

Other parts of the facility revealed an overt and callous education curriculum which emphasized the supposed cruelty and racial prejudice of the U.S. prison system, the report said, criticizing books appearing to highlight issues similar to the ones she was raising.

The two books cited were The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander, and Unusually Cruel: Prisons, Punishment, and the Real American Exceptionalism by Marc Morj Howard.

The first book explores Alexanders argument that we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it, an assertion that does resemble the tenets of critical race theory that racism is entrenched in U.S. systems and institutions.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

The second book which Greene appears to have titled her report after explores the harshness of the U.S. criminal justice system.

Conservative politicians and media have turned critical race theory, a university-level educational framework that has existed for decades, into a catch-all culture war talking point over the past year. Fox News personalities and politicians like Greene have conflated it at times with any teachings about history and race in America , or even equity and diversity training in workplaces.