Last month, comic Robert Smigel and members of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert team were arrested at the Capitol. It was likely a misunderstanding: The crew were filming a segment for Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Smigel’s long-running stogie-chewing puppet, and reportedly stayed a bit longer than they were allowed. The incident prompted predictably hysterical coverage from Fox News, who now look even sillier than they did already.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Capitol police declined to prosecute the case. At the time of the staffers’ arrest, it was reported that they could face misdemeanor charges for unlawful entry. But after a review of the evidence, they decided that such punishment did not fit the crime.
Smigel and team spent two days on Capitol Hill, filming interviews that had been pre-arranged. On the second day, they stayed to film some additional bits and other comedy elements in the halls, and at some point their escort on the premises left them to their own devices. They stayed anyway, and Capitol Police, they said, asked them to leave multiple times. Eventually they detained them.
Fox News made a mountain out of the to-do. Tucker Carlson compared them, absurdly, to the Jan. 6 rioters, arguing that they should face the same consequences. Capitol Police — many of whose members were violently assaulted by Trump supporters, whose actions both Carlson and Hannity have downplayed — clearly did not agree.
(Via THR)