They have been met with cheers from the media and White House allies, but the long prison sentences given to many of the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters are viewed as “too harsh” by large groups of voters.

And despite the Washington-based news coverage portraying the 2021 protest of President Joe Biden’s election as an insurrection, more of America’s voters than not believe it was a “mostly peaceful protest that got out of control.”

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In fact, the treatment of the hundreds rounded up by the FBI in its Jan. 6 dragnet is viewed by a majority as an effort by Biden and his political “thugs” to warn critics that they will be treated harshly if they oppose his liberal agenda.

Those results in a new Rasmussen Reports survey are the latest example of how the Capitol protests and prosecution of defendants are dividing the nation. The poll showed that there are more who question the portrayal of the riots as an anti-democratic attack and wide division over the treatment of defendants.

Some numbers:

• Asked their opinion on the protest, 49% said it was “mostly peaceful” and 45% called it an “illegal insurrection.”
• Quizzed on the sentences, 42% said they have been “too harsh,” 29% said they haven’t been harsh enough, and 21% called them just about right.
• Asked if they agreed with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that the sentences were “designed to send a loud and clear message from Joe Biden and his thugs … If you oppose us, you’re going to jail for a long time,” 55% agreed and 36% did not.

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There was some bipartisan agreement with the sentencing assessment by Greene, who has led a campaign to draw attention to poor jail conditions of many of the Capitol protesters.

“Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Republicans ‘Strongly Agree’ with Greene’s quote about the harsh sentences for J6 rioters as a ‘message’ to Biden’s opponents, as do 29% of Democrats and 32% of unaffiliated voters,” Rasmussen’s analysis said, shared with Secrets.