We are told that the DC riot killed five people. Sometimes seven deaths are linked to the riot. But here’s the truth, as far as we’ve been officially told:

Of seven deaths, two were officers who committed suicide after the riot. We have never been given any evidence or any reason to believe that their suicides had anything to do with the riot. This is simply an assumption that many have made.

Of the five who died in or shortly after the riot, one was a man with a pre existing condition who suffered a heart attack. Another suffered a stroke at some point that day and died in a hospital.

One woman collapsed while in a rush of people outside the Capitol and died. We were told she was “trampled to death.” The medical examiner never confirmed that as the cause of death. We have not been given any additional information.

The fourth civilian death was Ashli Babbitt. She was an unarmed woman shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer inside the Capitol.

The fifth death was Officer Sicknick. We have been given absolutely no official information about his death at all. The only thing they’re telling us is that he was at the riot and later died. The autopsy results are being withheld. Nobody has been arrested for his murder.

So of the five deaths linked to the riot, only one — Babbit — can be conclusively considered a death caused by violence during the riot. Only the violence in this case was done by a cop. That is what we know right now. If anyone knows more, they aren’t telling us.

Does this matter? Yes, because the truth matters. Also because the “deadly riot” characterization is how they’re justifying the military occupation of DC. People died. It’s tragic. But the how and the why really matter. A lot.