Social media posts with pictures of gas prices and captions urging people to “Never forget January 6th” accurately documented the cost of fuel on the day of the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.

Context

The gas prices pictured in two different shared pictures did not reflect the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline on Jan. 6, 2021. Further, reverse image searches found that both photographs were taken while former U.S. President Barack Obama was in his second term in the White House.

On June 12, 2022, the Cullman Daily Facebook page, which is managed by a self-described “conservative and Christian news organization,” posted a picture of an Exxon gas station sign showing the price for regular unleaded fuel at $1.73 per gallon, with the caption, “We will never forget January 6th, 2021.” At the time that post was published, U.S. gas prices had just reached a record high of $5 a gallon.

The “Never forget January 6th” Facebook post was created when a U.S. House panel was conducting televised hearings to lay out evidence about events leading up to the day of the U.S. Capitol riot. On that day, Jan. 6, 2021, 140 law enforcement officers were injured as a result of the actions of a mob of supporters of then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 U.S. presidential election. According to CNBC, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died the day after the riot, and at least four other officers later died by suicide.

As for the accuracy of the “Never forget January 6th” Facebook post, in reality, the national average price of regular unleaded gasoline on Jan. 6, 2021, was between $2.25 and $2.31, not $1.73, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).