tarrio proud 4
---
see tarrio proud 5 2 25
head of latinos for trump fla?
see drag
see school board takeover local
see jericho march 21 21 violence
see joe biggs pb 3 (had to take over jan 6 after tarrio arrest]
see militia
see rhodes 3%
trump coup
---
shock troops, disinfo psych war operatives?
xian nat'l?
no bak?
===
AN 3 25
Former CIA analyst Holly Berkley Fletcher spent many years studying governments in Africa, and she paid close attention to the tactics used in the more undemocratic ones — tactics that included using violent groups to bully, strongarm and intimidate political opponents.
In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on March 14, Fletcher warns that the methods she observed in Africa are now being employed in the United States during President Donald Trump's second term.
Fletcher argues, "One of the great heartbreaks of the Trump era for me is seeing my expertise as an Africa analyst become relevant for understanding political trends in America…. As I was waiting for police to respond to a bomb threat at the Principles First conference last month in Washington, D.C. — the source of which is yet to be determined — I thought of yet another growing parallel: What technically would be called 'informal security forces' but what I, during my time as a CIA Africa analyst, colloquially called 'guys.'"
READ MORE:'A stupid fight': Conservative blasts Trump for action 'too absurd to believe'
The former CIA analyst notes that in the African countries she analyzed, "guys" weren't shy about using violence against political opponents.
"When assessing risks to a country's political stability or the endurance of a dictator's power," Fletcher explains, "one of my first questions was always, 'Does he have guys?' They can be anything from a hyper-loyal faction of regular security forces to a specially commissioned 'presidential guard' recruited from a particular ethnic group to a rag-tag gang of young men armed on the cheap and on the down-low. Most recently, they could include hired mercenaries from Russia or other countries."
Fletcher cites specific examples of how "guys" were used in Africa — and could now be used in the U.S. under Trump.
"Most successful African political leaders in less-than-democratic systems have guys, from current dictators to wannabe dictators," Fletcher observes. "Any dictator worth his salt will cultivate independent armed factions to counter any threats from the military or other potential challengers' guys."
READ MORE:**'Discontent': Trump in big trouble with majority of voters — here's why**
Fletcher continues, "Such groups have the added potential advantage of preserving the reputation of formal security forces in the eyes of the international community…. Sudan's former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, created the janjaweed in the early 2000s in an ultimately failed effort to distance his regime from genocide in Darfur…. Across the border, South Sudan is awash in militias formed by various aspirants for President Salva Kiir's job…. The late dictator of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, had his Presidential Guard, but he also had his mob of 'war veterans' who terrorized his opposition in exchange for license to forcibly seize whatever farms they wanted."
The former CIA analyst fears that in the U.S., far-right groups like The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers could be used as "guys" by the MAGA movement.
"The most obvious blinking red light is Trump's mass pardon of the January 6th insurrectionists, including members of organized militias such as the Oath Keepers, the Three Percenters, and the Thugs Formerly Known as the Proud Boys," Fletcher observes. "A court recently awarded their name to a black church they vandalized. Fresh out of jail, Enrique Tarrio showed up at the Principles First conference last month to menace former police officers Harry Dunn, Michael Fanone, Aquilino Gonell, and Daniel Hodges, who have been outspoken about their experiences fighting the mob on January 6th and who have been the targets of constant harassment ever since…. I was similarly horrified by reports that Elon Musk's private security force now has federal law enforcement authority via the U.S. Marshals Service."
READ MORE:**'Our cushion is gone': Ohio farmers worry Trump won't pay up on promised funding**
*Holly Berkley Fletcher's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.
===
---
politico
it was supposed to be a defiant return to the Capitol for the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and their far-right allies who were pardoned by Donald Trump for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the halls of Congress.
It ended with the arrest of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio for allegedly assaulting a protester who got in his face.
Tarrio and other prominent former Jan. 6 defendants had gathered at the Capitol on Friday for a press conference, pledging to seek legal revenge against the government that jailed them. But a handful of demonstrators was also nearby, loudly heckling the group.
After the press conference, one of those demonstrators put her hand near Tarrio’s face as he was speaking with a photographer. Tarrio swatted it away. Capitol Police officers quickly surrounded him, handcuffed him and took him into custody. The police later described the incident as a simple assault, a type of misdemeanor.
The episode provided a moment of historical symmetry for the Capitol Police, who arrested Tarrio four years after he helped organize a group of Proud Boys that formed the vanguard of the riot that injured 140 law enforcement officers and threatened the transfer of power. He was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison but was freed by a Trump pardon as part of the president’s grant of mass clemency to Jan. 6 defendants.
Minutes before the scuffle — which a POLITICO reporter witnessed — Tarrio was flanked by dozens of other newly pardoned Jan. 6 defendants, including several other Proud Boys like Seattle’s Ethan Nordean and Oath Keepers leaders, like Stewart Rhodes, who were similarly convicted of seditious conspiracy. Richard “Bigo” Barnett, who infamously propped his feet on a desk in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Capitol suite, was there. So was Guy Reffitt, who carried a pistol onto Capitol grounds and helped the mob advance to the foot of the building. New York Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola, who stole a police riot shield and smashed a Senate-wing window with it, stood alongside Tarrio.
Others who played memorable roles in the mob were on hand as well, including Jake Lang, who escaped an imminent trial on assault charges, and Couy Griffin, the head of Cowboys for Trump.
The group recreated the route around the Capitol they took on Jan. 6, 2021, ending at the grass on the Capitol’s East Front. There, they posed for photos and chanted “Whose house? Our house,” a reprise of the chants that echoed through the halls of the Capitol while lawmakers and staff fled for safety.
At the press conference, arranged while many of the former Jan. 6 defendants were on a break from visiting the CPAC conference in Maryland, the former defendants pledged to sue the Justice Department. They hope the department welcomes their claims, given its leadership’s embrace of Trump’s assertion that the prosecutions were a “national disgrace.”
Tarrio seemed amused and bewildered by the arrest, grimacing as officers swarmed him and set up an impromptu perimeter. The woman involved in the incident had been trailing the group for an hour, shouting them down during the press conference, calling them “Nazis” and placing herself in front of their group photos while flipping them off.
After arresting Tarrio, the police interviewed the woman, who appeared to be uninjured.
Tarrio stood silently as police quickly put him in cuffs, patted him down and set up a perimeter in the shadow of the Capitol. He was then ushered into a police van and taken into custody.
===
an 2 25
On September 5, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) — led by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland — announced that Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio had been sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on seditious conspiracy and other charges.
Garland, appointed by then-President Joe Biden, said, in an official statement, "The Justice Department proved in court that the Proud Boys played a central role in setting the January 6th attack on our Capitol into motion. Over the past week, four members of the Proud Boys received sentences that reflect the danger their crimes pose to our democracy."
Similarly, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray stated, "Today’s sentencing demonstrates that those who attempted to undermine the workings of American democracy will be held criminally accountable."
READ MORE: 'Not going to be replaced': Reformed white supremacist met with protest from extremists
But after Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, 2025, he pardoned over 1500 defendants involved in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building and commuted the sentences of 14 other people — including Tarrio and other members of the Proud Boys. The Oath Keepers' Stewart Rhodes received a commutation from Trump as well.
Tarrio was released from federal prison. And USA Today's Will Carless, in an article published on February 8, describes life after prison for Tarrio and other Proud Boys members.
"After President Donald Trump commuted their sentences last month for various serious crimes connected to the insurrection," Carless explains, "Tarrio and the other top leaders of the Proud Boys find themselves contemplating the future…. And now, they are making plans."
USA Today interviewed Tarrio and three other Proud Boys members who were released from prison after Trump commuted their sentences: Joe Biggs (who was serving an 17-year sentence), Ethan Nordean (serving 18 years) and Zachary Rehl (sentenced to 15 years).
READ MORE:[How Michigan would pay bigly for Trump's trade war
"Their hopes and dreams are as lofty as they are hazy," Carless explains. "Tarrio speaks vaguely about entering politics. He doesn't want to abandon the Proud Boys. But he also seems to recognize the limits of the group, which alienated swathes of America by associating with white supremacists and participating in violent street brawls with leftist counter-protesters and pro-LGBTQ+ groups."
The USA Today reporter continues, "Nordean talks cryptically about starting an organization that will 'reclaim” American masculinity for young men. Rehl wants to run for Congress, but he doesn't know what seat yet. And Biggs wants to reform the American justice system — with the help of Kim Kardashian."
Cassie Miller of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project argues that Trump's efforts to mainstream the Proud Boys don't erase the group's history of violence.
Miller told USA Today, "This is a group that's foundation is violence and that believes that violence is a way of pursuing their political goals, and now Trump has signaled to them that he approves of those actions."
Similarly, Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told USA Today, "The GOP has had incredible success rewriting the history of January 6, regardless of the facts. It's not surprising to hear these guys glomming on to the same narrative, that this wasn't an insurrection."
READ MORE:[Americans' 'legally protected' info now 'exposed' as Trump budget chief gets new powers: union
===
02/06/2025 rww
by
- Katherine Long @ The Wall Street Journal: DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts
A staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge on Thursday has links to a deleted social-media account that advocated for racism and eugenics.
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Why Pam Bondi’s first day as attorney general was such a mess
The attorney general had all kinds of first-day moves, but the creation of the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group” was the most ridiculous.
- Matt Gertz and Ben Van Bloem @ Media Matters: The idiotic meltdown over Politico Pro subscriptions is a perfect case study for the right's broken information ecosystem
The right-wing disinformation machine on Wednesday transformed the banal reality that the federal government purchases subscriptions for news outlets into what President Donald Trump described as potentially “THE BIGGEST SCANDAL OF THEM ALL, PERHAPS THE BIGGEST IN HISTORY.”
- Hannah Gais @ The Baffler: Unhuman Resources
The many grievances of Jack Posobiec.
- Aneela Mirchandani @ The Daily Dot: A constitutional sheriff led a campaign to take over a whole county—and won
A small Idaho county is the blueprint for the future of America’s burgeoning constitutional sheriff movement.
- Charlie Nash @ Mediaite: Pardoned Ex-Proud Boys Leader Announces He Will Run for Office: ‘Two Weeks Ago I Was in Prison … Last Night I Was in Mar-a-Lago’
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio revealed on Wednesday that he would run for office after going from prison to Mar-a-Lago in the space of just two weeks.
===
rww
02/05/2025
by
- Kate Riga @ Talking Points Memo: Senate Republicans Shrug As Unelected Musk Seizes Their Power
In the early days of the second Trump administration, those “practical limits” are not to be found in Congress, where most Republican senators, to hear them tell it, are delighted with Musk’s unprecedented appropriation of the legislature’s power of the purse.
- Nicole Narea @ Vox: Elon Musk’s secretive government IT takeover, explained
Musk’s growing influence over the government’s digital infrastructure raises concerns about privacy and overreach.
- Jason Kandel @ Law & Crime: ‘Retribution is inevitable’: Proud Boys leader plans to defy judge who stripped group of trademark in fight with vandalized Black church
The far-right Proud Boys extremist group has lost control of its trademarked name, which has now been handed over to a historically Black church in Washington, D.C., that members of the group vandalized in 2020.
- Angry White Men: Joel Webbon: Indigenous People ‘Lived In Tents,’ ‘Worshiped Demon Gods,’ And ‘Used Drugs’
In a Feb. 2, 2025 sermon, racist, antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ, and misogynistic Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon declared that “there were no civilized people” in America when white Christians arrived. He also said that Indigenous people “lived in tents,” “worshiped demon gods,” and “used drugs.”
- Edith Olmsted @ The New Republic: Republican Congressman Issues Unhinged Call to Deport Ilhan Omar
Representative Ilhan Omar’s Republican colleagues are once again calling for her to be deported because they don’t understand U.S. law.
---
rww
02/04/2025
by
- Dan Friedman @ Mother Jones: It Sure Looks Like Kash Patel Lied to Congress
Patel appeared to mislead senators about the “J6 Prison Choir.” Republicans don’t care.
- Diana Falzone @ Mediaite: RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vaxx Group Paid Nearly $1 Million to Woman Who Accused Him of Sexual Misconduct
A woman who worked with the anti-vaccine nonprofit run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accused him of sexual misconduct and was paid a nearly $1 million settlement as part of a nondisclosure agreement in late 2020, multiple sources told Mediaite.
- William Vaillancourt @ The Daily Beast: Pete Hegseth’s New Press Sec Has His Own Alarming Backstory
A Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, [Sean] Parnell dropped out of that race in late 2021 after it became known that his estranged wife, Laurie Snell, had accused him of spousal and child abuse.
- Mikael Thalen @ Daily Dot: ‘Proud Boys’ no longer allowed to be ‘Proud Boys’ after name rights given to Black church
The Proud Boys lost the rights to their name on Monday after a judge ruled that it now belongs to a Black church in Washington, D.C.
- Rebecca Hopkins @ The Roys Report: IHOPKC Founder Mike Bickle Sexually Abused 17 Women, Investigation Finds
Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer-Kansas City (IHOPKC) groomed and sexually abused 17 women, some of whom were minors, according to an independent investigation released tonight. In some cases, the abuse constituted rape, the investigation found.
---
HE HAS NAMED FBI? PROSECUTOR CALLED FOR RETALIATION?
GUK 2 25
In his first interview after his release from prison, Enrique Tarrio thanked Donald Trumpfor pardoning him for his role in planning the January 6 riot, saying he “literally gave me my life back”.
Now that he is out, the Proud Boys leader wants revenge, he told Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist host of Info Wars.
“The people who did this, they need to feel the heat, they need to be put behind bars, and they need to be prosecuted,” Tarrio said.
:{“Success is going to be retribution,” he added. THEN SAYS THAT RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO HIM?!
“We gotta do everything in our power to make sure that the next four years sets us up for the next 100 years.”}:
In the days since the leaders of far-right militia groups were freedfrom prison, they and their organizations are regrouping and figuring out how to build back momentum now that Trump is back in office. They are emboldened by the mass pardons for the insurrectionists and are planning their next moves.
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, showed up at the US Capitol this week, dining at a Dunkin inside the Longworth House office building. The Associated Press reported that Rhodes “met with at least one lawmaker during his visit and chatted with others” while on Capitol Hill.
He gave interviews outside the DC jail, where he said he wanted prosecutors to be tried for their “crimes”. Rhodes was not pardoned – his sentence was commuted, and he was released early. He wants a full pardon.
Rhodes suggested January 6 should be remembered in history as “patriots day”. He has not expressed regret for his role in the riots, saying his members were entrapped and their responses to police force were understandable. “We were there to protect Trump supporters from Antifa,” he said in a video after his release.
When Rhodes was sentenced in 2023, the judge in his case said: “You are smart, you are charismatic and compelling and frankly that’s what makes you dangerous. The moment you are released, whenever that may be, you will be ready to take up arms against your government.”
Tarrio and Rhodes had some of the longest sentences given to January 6 defendants, at 22 years and 18 years, respectively. Both were charged with seditious conspiracy for their roles helping plan the attack. Members of both the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers infiltrated the Capitol on January 6, and some of them engaged in violence. The Oath Keepers “plotted for months to violently disrupt the peaceful transfer of power” and the Proud Boys “played a central role in setting the January 6 attack on our Capitol into motion”, attorneys for the government said during the cases against group members.
At the time of Tarrio’s sentencing, federal prosecutors said: “No organization put more boots on the ground at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 than the Proud Boys, and they were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol’s defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government.”
The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism has tracked Proud Boys’ channels online since Trump’s pardons and seen the group “fantasizing about being ‘deputized as ICE under Trump’s second term’ to aid in Trump’s mass deportation plan” and encouraging members to report people who could be in the country illegally.
Tarrio, often referred to in the media as a “former” or “ex” leader of the Proud Boys, recently said that characterizing him as a former member was not accurate.
===
mma
January 22, 2025, edition of OANN's The Matt Gaetz Show
MATT GAETZ (HOST): The Proud Boys. You've probably heard the media describe this organization as militants, insurrectionists, and dangerous. I've met a few Proud Boys, and they mostly seem like a lonely group of young men who sought association with fellow misfits and rejected social mores. Not all, but most. Every group of humans that reaches a certain size probably has some bad people, among them, even Congress or the Catholic Church. More on both of those organizations later in the show. The Proud Boys, though. They even took center stage in a presidential debate.
===
mma
January 21, 2025, edition of Infowars' The Alex Jones Show
ENRIQUE TARRIO (GUEST): I'd like to thank again President Donald J. Trump for helping us through these difficult times and releasing me, Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola. Right? And all the J6ers. We went through hell, and I'm gonna tell you, it was worth it, because what we stood for and what those guys stood for was what we've been fighting for and what we saw yesterday on the inauguration stage. I can't tell you it's been easy, but I will tell you it's been worth it.
And, Alex, I mean, everything that they concocted. Even you, everything that they concocted against you, I mean, we see how this system could be weaponized, and we need people like Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and the rest of Trump's cabinet to right all these wrongs. I'm happy in my heart. I love what's transpired in the past just couple hours, and there's a couple J6ers that are still in prison, that are waiting to be released.
...
TARRIO: They didn't care about the evidence. They cared about putting Trump supporters in prison. Well, now it's our turn. Now it's our turn. I'm happy that the president's focusing not on retribution and focusing on success, but I will tell you that I'm not gonna play by those rules. The people who did this, they need to feel the heat. They need to be put behind bars, and they need to be prosecuted. They pardon the J6 committee? Fine. In this country, our case proves that you could be put in prison for anything. They need to be imprisoned. We need to find and put them behind bars for what they did. They need to pay for what they did.
ALEX JONES (HOST): Well, I mean, let's be clear. Trump talked about getting the economy going and success. That's key to keeping his support to do the rest. But to have our success, we have to put the deep state in prison. Fauci, the traitor Milley, the J6 people.
//
Newsmax host defends Proud Boys and Enrique Tarrio: “They have been so lied about and maligned”
09/06/23 9:46 AM EDT
07/19/18 2:58 PM EDT
- ### Gavin McInnes And Alex Jones Discuss Whether Women “Deserve” To Be Attacked When They Stay Out Late
05/09/1x
===
proud boys parade at inaug
List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the president of the United States - Wikipedia
on January 20, 2025, Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons and 14 commutations to people charged in connection to the January 6 United States Capitol attack.[109] This included former leader of the Proud BoysEnrique Tarrio and founder of the Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes.[110]
===
1 25 no vids
wASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday issued roughly 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 of his supporters in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of them stormed the building amid his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him.
Trump commuted the sentences of individuals associated with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy. He then issued "a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021," a category that included people who assaulted law enforcement officers.
Capitol riotTrump's Jan. 6 pardons face pushback from Republican senators
"This is a big one," Trump said in the Oval Office while signing the document, adding, "We hope they come out tonight, frankly."
The family of Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy, said in a media statement Tuesday that he was released late Monday from FCI Pollock, a medium-security federal prison in Louisiana, and expected to arrive in Miami on Tuesday.
Tarrio was serving 22 years in federal prison after he was convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was speaker of the House during the attack, called Trump's actions "an outrageous insult to our justice system" and the law enforcement officers who protected the Capitol that day.
"It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power," she said in a statement. "Despite the President’s decision, we must always remember the extraordinary courage and valor of the law enforcement heroes who stood in the breach and ensured that democracy survived on that dark day.”
The pardons fulfill one of Trump's central campaign promises.
Immediately after the Jan. 6 attack, Trump sought to distance himself from the attack, saying those who broke the law should be held accountable. But over the next few years, a new narrative emerged, and Trump soon began openly signaling his support for Jan. 6 rioters, calling them "hostages."
The unprecedented attack on the Capitol, when the peaceful transfer of power was interrupted, was one of the most significant moments in American history.
It resulted in the largest FBI investigation ever, with criminal charges against more than 1,500 people and criminal convictions against more than 1,100 defendants. Many low-level riot defendants were sentenced to probationary periods after having been convicted of misdemeanor offenses, like unlawful parading inside the Capitol.
But hundreds of others who committed serious felonies, such as assaulting police with deadly or dangerous weapons, got significant prison sentences.
At the time Trump issued the pardons, there were about 700 defendants who either never received prison sentences or had already completed their sentences, meaning pardons or commutations would have little practical impact on them, beyond restoring voting rights and gun rights for those who were convicted of felonies.
More than 600 people were sentenced to incarceration, but only a small fraction of them are still behind bars. Many of those who are in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons were convicted of violent attacks on police officers protecting the Capitol during an assault in which Jan. 6 defendants were armed with firearms, stun guns, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, bike racks, batons, a metal whip, office furniture, pepper spray, bear spray, a tomahawk ax, a hatchet, a hockey stick, knuckle gloves, a baseball bat, a massive “Trump” billboard, “Trump” flags, a pitchfork, pieces of lumber, crutches and even an explosive device.
More than 140 police officers were injured and several Trump supporters died during the attack, including one who was shot trying to breach the House Speaker's Lobby and another who died in the middle of a brutal battle at the lower west tunnel, where some of the worst violence of the day took place.
Trump did not speak about Jan. 6 in his inauguration address, in which he said he hoped he would someday be remembered as a "peacemaker and unifier."
But shortly thereafter, he spoke to an overflow crowd of supporters in the Capitol and addressed the Jan. 6 defendants, once again airing his baseless claim that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged."
"I was going to talk about the J6 hostages," Trump said in that speech, using the term "hostages" to refer to criminal defendants, including hundreds who admitted to their criminal offenses under oath and others who were convicted by either judges or juries of their peers. "But you’ll be happy because, you know, it’s action, not words, that count. And you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages."
An attorney who worked on Jan. 6 cases as a federal prosecutor told NBC News that it was always possible that Trump would return to power and pardon Capitol riot defendants but that the Justice Department "pressed ahead anyway" because "political considerations should not play any part in the Justice Department’s evaluation of facts and law, which showed that these were crimes — some of them terribly serious crimes — that warranted prosecution.”
The source said that they and, they suspected, many of their colleagues "have no regrets about having pursued these cases" and that the effort remains highly consequential because it created "a definitive, public factual record of what actually transpired" on Jan. 6.
"These cases assured police officers and civilians who were assaulted at the Capitol that there were people, and there was a Department of Justice, who recognized what they endured and sacrificed. These cases led to hundreds of defendants' acknowledging their crimes by pleading guilty in open court and hundreds of others' being found guilty at trial," the source said. "The work is likely be terminated before it can be fully completed, most significantly by the abrupt termination of the special counsel’s work. But the record stands
===
rww
01/06/2025
by
- Thomas Joscelyn and Norman Eisen @ The Bulwark: Kash Patel Believes the FBI Planned Jan. 6th
“WHAT WAS THE FBI DOING PLANNING January 6th for a year?” Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as FBI director, asked that question during a November 25, 2022 episode of his Kash’s Corner podcast for the Epoch Times. It was no slip of the tongue. As the title of that episode suggested—“What Did the FBI Know Before Jan. 6?”—Patel spent considerable time trying to cast the FBI as a villain responsible for January 6th.
- Jason Wilson @ The Guardian: Key Oath Keepers leader revealed as former Las Vegas police detective
Details about Utah-based Robert Kinch, who backed ‘race war’, suggest rightwing militia has retained links with police.
- Joshua Kaplan @ ProPublica: The Militia and the Mole
A wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover, climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell his family or friends.
- Alex DeLuca @ The Miami New Times: Former Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio Asks Trump for Jan. 6 Pardon
In September, Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the January 6 insurrection.
- Spencer Sunshine @ The New Republic: Donald Trump Is Building a New Army of Foot Soldiers
Neo-Nazis and white nationalists have been emboldened by Trump’s reelection.
- Fiona Morgan @ The Roys Report: Morningstar Ministries Faces Backlash for Platforming Disgraced Preacher Todd Bentley
Embattled MorningStar Ministries is facing backlash for platforming disgraced preacher Todd Bentley at their recent Vision conference. Bentley was disqualified from ministry in 2020 by a panel of charismatic Christian leaders. The panel made the decision based on numerous firsthand reports of Bentley’s “steady pattern of ungodly and immoral behavior” over the course of almost 20 years, including reports of sexual abuse. Despite the reports, MorningStar gave Bentley a platform at their Vision conference Dec. 29-31.
- Brian Kaylor @ Public Witness: The Surprising Story of How Speaker Johnson Read a Fake Jefferson Prayer
On Friday (Jan. 3), Speaker Mike Johnson stood before the U.S. House of Representatives on the opening day of the 119th Congress and read what he called “Thomas Jefferson’s prayer.” However, as first reported by A Public Witness, that’s not true. Other outlets followed in noting the problem with Johnson’s claim, which Monticello deems as “spurious.”
===
12 24
[Washington Post Ex-D.C. officer concedes giving inside information to Proud Boys head
Former D.C. lieutenant Shane Lamond acknowledged sharing inside police information with Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right Proud...
.
2 days ago](https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2024/12/06/shane-lamond-proud-boys-enrique-tarrio-leak-trial/)
[
AP News](https://apnews.com/article/shane-lamond-enrique-tarrio-proud-boys-trial-8ea23f131424dc705b13c5b5bc588c7c)
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12 24
former Army captain and Proud Boys member from Florida was sentenced to one year behind bars for his role for helping organize the Jan. 6 riot and for storming the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson also sentenced 43-year-old Gabriel Augustin Garcia to two years probation and ordered him to pay $2,000 in restitution. Garcia was convicted of two felony charges of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding. The obstruction charge was later dismissed as part of the Supreme Court’s decision in Fischer v. United States.
According to prosecutors, Garcia was a member of the Proud Boys’ “Ministry of Self Defense” that was hand selected by leader Enrique Tarrio, the man currently spending a 22-year-prison sentence for his role in the riot. The group discussed about the potential for violence in a group text. Three days before the assault, Garcia texted “1776 flag flying over the White House last night” and then later added, “time to stack those bodies in front of Capitol Hill.”
Around 1 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, Garcia received a message from fellow Proud Boys that they were “storming” the Capitol. Garcia went to the Capitol and joined the mob.
As Law&Crime previously reported, prosecutors said Garcia was at “the very front of the crowd” that violently rushed a line of Capitol police on Jan. 6. Once the crowd broke through that line, Garcia recorded himself calling out for then-House Speaker Pelosi.
“Nancy, come out and play,” Garcia said loudly while inside the Rotunda, according to the complaint. Later in the video, he again calls for “Nancy” before turning the camera on himself and saying “Free Enrique,” an apparent reference to Tarrio who had been arrested days earlier for burning a Black Lives Matter flag.
Garcia, a former captain in the U.S. Army and failed 2020 candidate for local office in Florida, uploaded multiple videos to Facebook that day.
Another video is around “five and a half minutes long and depicts an aggressive confrontation with U.S. Capitol Police officers, who are trying to prevent the crowd from advancing,” the complaint says.
“We just went ahead and stormed the Capitol,” Garcia says on the video. “It’s about to get ugly.”
Garcia also yelled at police officers.
“F- you guys, you f-ing traitors,” he said. Garcia then exclaimed: “You ain’t stopping a million. You ain’t gonna hold a million back today”
Cops wound up kicking Garcia out of the building after about an hour. The FBI arrested him on Jan. 19, 2021.
Jackson placed Garcia on house arrest after he attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) without the court’s permission.
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an 11 24 badash
donald Trump over the past few weeks has occasionally been discarding his iconic blue suit, red tie, and red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap, and instead wearing a black suit, gold tie, and black and gold MAGA hat. Black and gold are the colors of the far-right group the Proud Boys, who “instigated critical breaches of the Capitol” during the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was handed a sentence last year of “22 years in prison for orchestrating a failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 election.”
Months before the insurrection trump had infamously signaled, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
“The Proud Boys are back in the news today,” wrote Rolling Stone senior writer Tim Dickinson. “Trump is not only bat signaling to the fight club with a black and gold MAGA hat — he’s campaigning for a far-right congressional candidate who had a Proud Boy on payroll.”
READ MORE: ‘Dire Implications’: Trump’s Possible Vaccine Ban Could Spark US, Global Health Crisis
Dickinson pointed to his reporting on Republican Joe Kent, a “far-right candidate for the House, with connections to white nationalists,” who has “extremist views and affiliations, including reportedly paying a Proud Boy as a consultant.”
Attorney Tristan Snell, who helped lead New York’s successful $25 million prosecution in the Trump University case, warns: “MAGA’s colors have always been red and white. Yet Trump is suddenly wearing black and gold MAGA hats — and even wore a black suit and gold tie the other day, rather than his habitual blue suit and red tie. The Proud Boys colors are black and gold. THIS IS NOT A COINCIDENCE.”
Calling it “a harbinger of potential chaos,” The New York Times on Monday reports: “Groups backing former President Donald J. Trump recently sent messages to organize poll watchers to be ready to dispute votes in Democratic areas. Some posted images of armed men standing up for their rights to recruit for their cause. Others spread conspiracy theories that anything less than a Trump victory on Tuesday would be a miscarriage of justice worthy of revolt.”
READ MORE: ‘She Kills People’: Trump Amps Up Attack on Cheney After Violent ‘Nine Barrels’ Rhetoric
One post, “from an Ohio chapter of the Proud Boys, the far-right organization that was instrumental in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol,” read: “The day is fast approaching when fence sitting will no longer be possible.”
“You will either stand with the resistance or take a knee and willingly accept the yoke of tyranny and oppression.”
Pointing to “the growth and increased sophistication of the election denialism movement,” The Times reports its “analysis of more than one million messages across nearly 50 Telegram channels with over 500,000 members found a sprawling and interconnected movement intended to question the credibility of the presidential election, interfere with the voting process and potentially dispute the outcome.”
Posts from groups like the Proud Boys, “questioned why states might not be able to fully tally election results on election night and repeated misleading claims about voter registration numbers in Michigan. In one video, a truck with a Confederate flag chased after immigrant children, with a caption reading: ‘1/20/25: Trump is sworn in as President. 1/21/25: Me and the Proud Boys begin the deportation.’”
Watch the videos above or at this link.
REF
NYT
NO LNX
On Telegram, a Violent Preview of What May Unfold on Election Day and After
Right-wing groups, which use Telegram to organize real-world actions, are urging followers to watch the polls and stand up for their rights, in a harbinger of potential chaos.
Telegram played a small but significant role in the 2020 election as an organizing tool for planners of the Jan. 6 attack.Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York Times
By Paul MozurAdam SatarianoAaron Krolik and Steven Lee Myers
Paul Mozur, Adam Satariano, Aaron Krolik and Steven Lee Myers analyzed more than 1 million posts from election skeptics and right-wing extremist groups on Telegram.
Nov. 4, 2024
:{Updated
Groups backing former President Donald J. Trump recently sent messages to organize poll watchers to be ready to dispute votes in Democratic areas. Some posted images of armed men standing up for their rights to recruit for their cause. Others spread conspiracy theories that anything less than a Trump victory on Tuesday would be a miscarriage of justice worthy of revolt.
“The day is fast approaching when fence sitting will no longer be possible,” read one post from an Ohio chapter of the Proud Boys, the far-right organization that was instrumental in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. “You will either stand with the resistance or take a knee and willingly accept the yoke of tyranny and oppression.”
The messages were all posted on Telegram, the lightly moderated social media platform with nearly one billion users, which has become a harbinger of the potential actions and chaos that could unfold on Election Day and after. More so than other social apps, Telegram is a prime organizing tool for extremists, who have a tendency to turn digital coordination into real-world action.
A New York Times analysis of more than one million messages across nearly 50 Telegram channels with over 500,000 members found a sprawling and interconnected movement intended to question the credibility of the presidential election, interfere with the voting process and potentially dispute the outcome. Nearly every channel reviewed by The Times was created after the 2020 election, highlighting the growth and increased sophistication of the election denialism movement.
The Times reviewed messages from “election integrity” groups across a dozen states, including battlegrounds like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Michigan. Their posts overwhelmingly spewed disinformation and conspiracy theories and featured violent imagery.
More than 4,000 of their posts went further by encouraging members to act by attending local election meetings, joining protest rallies and making financial donations, the analysis found. Posts from other right-wing groups reviewed by The Times urged followers to be prepared for violence. These calls to action extended the right-wing language typically found on other major social media sites into the physical world.
In New Hampshire, one Telegram channel instructed people to question local officials in person about absentee ballot tallies. In Georgia, followers of a local Telegram channel were urged to attend election board meetings to argue for limits to absentee voting. In New Mexico, people were told to monitor voting stations with cameras, file police reports if necessary and be ready to “fight like hell.”
“If you have ever said, ‘What can I do?,’ this is your opportunity,” said one post from a Telegram group focused on Pennsylvania.
Katherine Keneally, a former intelligence analyst with the New York Police Department, said views shared on Telegram should not be dismissed as the musings of a fringe minority but rather seen as a warning about what could happen on Election Day and beyond.
“Telegram is very often central to actually organizing people to engage in offline activity,” said Ms. Keneally, who now works for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a research firm that monitors Telegram. She recalled attending a meeting in 2022 of election skeptics in Montana, where participants taught one another how to use Telegram. Among more extreme movements, she said, Telegram is used “very strategically to radicalize and recruit.”
In a statement, Telegram, whose founder was arrested in France in August on charges related to the spread of illicit material on the service, said it had ramped up content moderation leading up to the election. The company added that it would cooperate with the authorities to remove “criminal content.”
“Telegram does not tolerate content that encourages disrupting legal democratic processes through violence or destruction of property,” it said.
Telegram played a small but significant role in the 2020 election as an organizing tool for planners of the Jan. 6 attack. Today, its influence is greater and potentially more ominous, according to The Times’s analysis.
Right-wing media channels post a stream of news, memes and misinformation about perceived voting irregularities, which are then picked up by other groups that use them to argue that the Democrats have begun to steal the election. Mixed in are calls for citizens to show up at the polls and to monitor and report irregularities — or fight if necessary.
Image
Right-wing media channels on Telegram post a stream of disinformation about perceived voting irregularities, which other groups pick up to argue that Democrats have already begun to steal the election.Credit...Bing Guan for The New York Times.
“While other platforms are primarily about self-expression, ‘owning the libs’ and hateful buffoonery, Telegram often generates an ambience of ‘let’s get something done,’” said Paul M. Barrett, the deputy director of the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University.
The “election integrity” movement on Telegram includes a loose network of accounts devoted to “auditing” the vote and amplifying election malfeasance theories, such as false claims that election workers are giving Republican voters Sharpies that are incompatible with voting machines.
One channel focused on election auditing in New York featured recruitment ads from United Sovereign Americans, which calls itself a national “election validity” advocacy group. One of its lawyers is a former solicitor general of Pennsylvania who defended Mr. Trump during his second impeachment in 2021 after Jan. 6.
Under an image of Uncle Sam and a bold red “WE NEED YOU!” banner, the group recently claimed, without any credible evidence, that 2022 voter records showed “millions of ‘irregularities’ which, when ignored, are election fraud.” Many claims about voter fraud have been debunked. The group did not respond to a request for comment.
Another group, focused on vote auditing in Pennsylvania, offered paid compensation for election monitors but only if they worked in the traditionally Democratic stronghold of Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is.
“Fill out your information, and we’ll contact you to get you trained and ready for Election Day!” the group said.
Another Telegram channel run by a group called the People’s Audit posted a video that offered a “hypothetical situation that is totally possible,” in which the Department of Homeland Security used the driver’s licenses of undocumented immigrants to cast votes en masse for the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. The video floated the scenario even though it is illegal and rare for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.
“Yes, they would be engaging in ID theft, election interference and treason, which is punishable by death,” the video concluded.
Kris Jurski, who posted the video, said on Telegram that it had been taken down from X. He said he was grateful that the video had remained on Telegram, which he used later to advertise a webinar teaching people how to secure voter rolls and deter fraud. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Image
Trump supporters wore attire associated with the Proud Boys — the group’s colors are yellow and black — at a rally in December 2020.Credit...Luis M. Alvarez/Associated Press
Many posts casting doubt on election reliability made their way into the channels of extremist groups like the Proud Boys, which has preferred Telegram to other platforms after being restricted by sites like Facebook, Instagram and X.
The group’s posts questioned why states might not be able to fully tally election results on election night and repeated misleading claims about voter registration numbers in Michigan. In one video, a truck with a Confederate flag chased after immigrant children, with a caption reading: “1/20/25: Trump is sworn in as President. 1/21/25: Me and the Proud Boys begin the deportation.”
“When you look at the postings, even if it’s not actually calling for violence or even if it’s not saying we need to get whoever, there’s a very ugly tone to it,” said Wendy Via, a founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, which tracked a 317 percent spike in election denialism on Telegram in October. There was no significant left-wing movement like this, she said.
In recent months, many Telegram channels run by chapters of the Proud Boys have celebrated a return to relevance, including perceived attention from Mr. Trump and his allies. Several accounts pointed to the black-and-yellow ties and hats — which are Proud Boys colors — worn by Mr. Trump in the days before, and the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson during, a recent rally at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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Recent posts on Telegram channels associated with the Proud Boys celebrated a perceived show of support from Mr. Trump.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times
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Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, at a recent Trump rally at Madison Square Garden.Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times.
Asked whether Mr. Trump had intended to send a signal, a spokeswoman for his campaign responded, “Lol. No.” Mr. Carlson did not respond to a request for comment but posted on X that The Times “knows a Proud Boys necktie when they see one.”
“They feel activated,” said Michael Loadenthal, who researches political violence at the University of Cincinnati, adding that Proud Boys groups had assembled publicly less often than they had before the 2020 election. “There’s a feeling they are in the right.”
Recruitment messages on the public Telegram accounts of various Proud Boys chapters have sought to capitalize on the perils of election fraud, often implying a need for violence. One popular image showed an armed man wearing a balaclava.
“Free men do not obey public servants,” it read.
Another portrayed a tit-for-tat with “leftist Democrats” going back to Mr. Trump’s presidency.
“Enough is enough!” read a part of the post. “Be ready for anything and everything!”
Methodology
The Telegram channels reviewed in this article were provided in part by researchers at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. The Times used software, including large language models, to organize and analyze the posts and to identify messages with calls to action.
A correction was made on Nov. 4, 2024: An earlier version of this article misstated the year in which Katherine Keneally of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue attended a meeting of election skeptics in Montana. It was in 2022, not this year.
When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more
Paul Mozur is the global technology correspondent for The Times, based in Taipei. Previously he wrote about technology and politics in Asia from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul. More about Paul Mozur
Adam Satariano is a technology correspondent for The Times, based in London. More about Adam Satariano
Steven Lee Myers covers misinformation and disinformation from San Francisco. Since joining The Times in 1989, he has reported from around the world, including Moscow, Baghdad, Beijing and Seoul. More about Steven Lee Myers
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buzzfeed
Barton Shively, a former Marine from central Pennsylvania, had been living at home awaiting trial in the nearly year and a half since he was charged with assaulting police at the US Capitol on Jan. 6. That changed Monday, when a judge ordered him jailed after probation officers reported that he’d reached for a loaded shotgun — which he wasn’t allowed to have — during an unannounced home inspection.
Besides the 12-gauge shotgun, the probation officers saw “in plain view” hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a sword, knives, and body armor as they walked around Shively’s home, according to an order from US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Shively’s motion toward the shotgun prompted one of the probation officers to draw his own weapon, the order stated. Shively “displayed an alarming lack of candor” with the court officers monitoring his compliance with his release conditions, the judge wrote.
Shively isn’t the first person charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack to get in trouble for having guns when they’re not supposed to. In cases where judges found that defendants charged with storming the Capitol violated pretrial release conditions, unauthorized access to firearms has been a common issue.
Most of the nearly 800 people charged in connection with Jan. 6 have been allowed to go home after making their first appearances in court. They’re required to follow rules set by the judge while they wait for a trial or try to negotiate a plea deal; a prohibition on firearms and other weapons is often a standard condition. Under federal law, the bar is supposed to be high for a judge to put a person in jail before they’re convicted of a crime, even if they’re charged with violence or other serious felony offenses.
Thomas Robertson, a former police officer from Virginia charged with interfering with law enforcement at the Capitol, was ordered to report to jail last summer after prosecutors alerted the judge that Robertson had been trying to order firearms online and had a loaded assault rifle in his home; he hasn’t faced any additional charges in connection with that. A jury last month found Robertson guilty of obstructing Congress, interfering with police, and other crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack; he’ll remain in jail until he’s sentenced.
Not all gun-related violations automatically mean jail. In another Jan. 6 case, a judge accepted a deal that defendant Patrick Montgomery reached with prosecutors for home confinement after he used a handgun to kill a mountain lion. But cases like Shively’s illustrate the potentially high stakes of breaking the rules.
Mindful of the consequences of violating court orders, a few Jan. 6 defendants have argued this year to have judges officially reinstate their ability to access firearms. Defense lawyers have invoked the US Supreme Court’s expansive interpretation of gun rights under the Second Amendment, as well as arguments specific to their clients.
Tina Logsdon and Loruhamah Yazdani-Isfehani, each facing misdemeanors for being in restricted areas at the Capitol, raised similar concerns about wanting to be able to protect themselves and the children in their homes when they moved to have their firearms restrictions lifted; their cases aren’t related but they share a lawyer. Both women are licensed to have guns. Prosecutors didn’t oppose the requests as long as they were limited to a personal firearm for protection and a general weapons ban otherwise remained in place. Judges signed off.
Another defendant, Stephen Horn, successfully argued to get his firearms access back over an objection from the prosecutor. Horn is also charged with misdemeanors in connection with Jan. 6 and has a gun license, and his lawyer argued that a pretrial ban was “punishment without due process of law.” The prosecutor broadly defended judges’ authority to impose pretrial limits on firearms access and argued that Horn was already under the least restrictive release conditions. US District Judge Timothy Kelly sided with Horn in March, with the condition that he report whatever kind of gun he planned to have to the court officer overseeing his pretrial compliance.
Last month, US District Judge Trevor McFadden agreed to lift a firearms restriction for Jenny Cudd while she spends the next two years on probation after pleading guilty to illegally entering the Capitol. Cudd’s lawyer argued that she needed protection because she’d been threatened and harassed — Cudd is one of the most high-profile defendants — and that the judge should have to make a specific finding that a ban was necessary and related to the nonviolent crime she admitted committing. The prosecutor opposed the request.
Not all requests have been successful. US District Judge Royce Lamberth last month denied Glenn Brooks’ motion to remove a firearms ban from his pretrial release conditions. Brooks had argued that he wasn’t charged with violence at the Capitol, but Lamberth noted there was evidence that Brooks sent texts in the days after Jan. 6 that referenced “civil war” and being “the 2nd Amendment side with guns and tactics,” suggesting an “indicia of violence.” Brooks argued that he needed a gun for protection in his job as a general contractor and for when he made judge-approved trips to Haiti to do humanitarian work.
Lamberth wasn’t persuaded that Brooks needed a gun as a general contractor, and wrote that if Brooks believed he needed a gun to visit Haiti, “he is welcome to simply not visit Haiti.”
Meanwhile, Shively — the man who probation officers say reached for a loaded shotgun last week — will stay in custody while his case goes forward. He doesn’t have a trial date. As of February, he was open to plea talks with prosecutors, according to his docket. His attorney, Edward Ungvarsky, declined to comment.
Shively contacted the FBI to self-surrender just over a week after the Jan. 6 attack after learning his photograph had been on the news, according to his charging papers. He’s accused of pushing, punching, and kicking at police officers on Capitol grounds and faces multiple felony charges. In a voluntary interview with the FBI before he was officially charged, he admitted having physical confrontations with police, explaining, “I got caught up in the moment.” He was granted pretrial release but had to follow the rules of home detention, which meant he could only leave home for work, medical appointments, religious services, meetings with his lawyer, and a handful of other approved reasons.
Late last month, with the support of his probation officer and the prosecutor, Shively asked Kollar-Kotelly to approve having his ankle monitor removed. Ungvarsky wrote at the time that Shively had been diagnosed with cancer and the monitor would interfere with his treatment. The judge granted the request.
Alleged Capitol Rioters Are Getting In Trouble For Guns And Other Violations After Going Home
A Former Cop Charged In The Capitol Attack Has Amassed An Arsenal Of Weapons Since Jan. 6
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Barton Shively 55-AFO #missingtoothmarine - Sedition Hunters
Barton Shively 55-AFO #missingtoothmarine Criminal Record, Sentenced, Pennsylvania, Arrested, Three Percenter by Sedition Hunters February 13, 2021
- ### Assault on the Capitol, The First 15 - Sedition Hunters Among them, Barton Wade Shively #MissingToothMarine who commits his third assault on a Federal Officer. 1:00:50 PM Barton Wade Shively #MissingToothMarine pushes on to the stage area on the Upper West Plaza 1:02 PM Barton Wade Shively #MissingToothMarine continues to push against officers attempting to get around them and urging people forward.
Barton Shively charged on January 19, 2021 | Sedition Tracker
Barton Shively #MissingToothMarine Residence: Pennsylvania Age: 53 Occupation: U.S. Marines (Former) Affiliations: Proud Boys Jurisdiction: Federal Docket Number: 21-cr-0151
Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Officers During Jan. 6 ...
Sep 21, 2022Barton Wade Shively, 55, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers. According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Shively attended a rally at the Ellipse and then walked to the U.S. Capitol, where he unlawfully entered the grounds.
A Jan. 6 Defendant Is Going To Jail For Having A Loaded Shotgun And A ...
Barton Shively, a former Marine from central Pennsylvania, had been living at home awaiting trial in the nearly year and a half since he was charged with assaulting police at the US Capitol on Jan. 6. That changed Monday, when a judge ordered him jailed after probation officers reported that he'd reached for a loaded shotgun — which he wasn't allowed to have — during an unannounced ...
District of Columbia | Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for Assaulting ...
Jun 2, 2023Barton Wade Shively, 55, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, for two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers.
MissingToothMarine - jan6attack.com
#MissingToothMarine. Summary of Observed Actions Major figure in PA walkway breach, at front of breachers. On W. Plaza is right on front lines, shouts to crowd and urges them on, pushes officers and incites violence - starts action on West Plaza. ... Defendant name: SHIVELY, Barton Wade Arrested: 1/18/2021 Case #: 1:21-cr-151 State: PA Military ...
Capitol rioter who fought police and later pulled shotgun on his ...
Sep 22, 2022Barton Wade Shively, 55, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, the Department of ...
Mechanicsburg man pleads guilty to assaulting officers during Jan. 6 ...
Sep 21, 2022Barton Wade Shively, 55, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, the U.S. Dept. of Justice said.
#SeditionHunters on Twitter: "Assault on the Capitol #TheFirst15 12:57: ...
Assault on the Capitol #TheFirst15 12:57:22 PM Barton Wade Shively #MissingToothMarine begins the first of assault an officer at the black railing located on the lower West Plaza. This is his second assault on a Federal Officer.
SHIVELY, Barton Wade | USAO-DC | Department of Justice
Sep 21, 2022Grounds or Buildings; Act of Physical Violence in the Capitol Grounds or Buildings. Location of Arrest: Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. Case Status: Arrested 1/19/21. Indicted 2/24/21. Superseding indictment filed 11/10/21. Pleaded guilty 9/21/22.
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an 7 24
After the attempted assassination (https://www.nationalreview.com/news/explosives-found-in-car-of-would-be-trump-assassin-thomas-matthew-crooks/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=article) of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon, July 13, a long list of prominent Democrats — including President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) — forcefully condemned the attack, emphasizing that such violence has no place in U.S. politics.
Regardless, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) — once a scathing critic of Trump but now a devoted loyalist and possible running mate — blamed Democrats for the assassination attempt. Some other Republicans have pointed the finger at Democrats as well.
During an MSNBC segment on July 14, national security reporter Ken Dilanian warned that the Proud Boys and other far-right extremist groups have responded to the attack by calling for a civil war.
READ MORE: See it: Blood-stained Trump whisked off stage by Secret Service after apparent gunshots at rally (https://www.alternet.org/trump-blood-secret-service/)
(https://youtu.be/eYfvEBLDohI), "Several Republican members of Congress have directly blamed President Biden, the Democrats and the media for the assassination attempt. They claim it was a result of overheated rhetoric about Trump and part of a campaign to jeopardize his safety. So, for example, Georgia Republican Congressman Mike Collins posted, quote, 'Joe Biden sent the orders.'"
Dilanian continued, "And Trump campaign surrogate Nick Adams posted, on social media, quote, 'Joe Biden's rhetoric is directly responsible. There can be no discussion. This is a fact.'"
The that although Democrats have "called Donald Trump an authoritarian and a threat to democracy," they "have never hinted that violence was an appropriate response to that."
(https://youtu.be/eYfvEBLDohI), vid?]
"After this shooting, Democrats, including President Biden, have condemned it in the strongest possible terms, and they've called this political violence a threat to democracy…. And experts are worried that this kind of rhetoric increases the risk of more violence."
READ MORE:'I don't want to go down that road': Lindsey Graham ducks question on JD Vance’s rhetoric (https://www.alternet.org/Bank/lindsey-graham-jd-vance/?utm_source=push_notifications)
The MSNBC reporter warned that according to national security experts, "extremists" are "seizing on this incident.
"Telegram channels for branches of the Proud Boys militia group have been calling for civil war and violence,"
(https://youtu.be/eYfvEBLDohI). "According to Advance Democracy — that's an NGO that tracks this stuff — a user on one forum wrote that the Democratic National Committee, RINOs, and the feds, quote, 'should all be hung in the streets of D.C.' And users on a pro-Trump platform, Patriots.Win, are calling for violence and civil war. One user wrote, 'War now. They don't want to live and let live.' Some really dangerous rhetoric coursing around out there, Kate."
Dilanian observed that although some members of Congress are trying to calm the situation down, "flame-throwing politicians" are "not doing that at all."
"As long as there is some group of people who are throwing gasoline on the fire,"](https://youtu.be/eYfvEBLDohI), "there are sort of a group of deranged individuals out there that are listening to it, paying close attention, and think they are essentially in a civil war."
READ MORE:Historian recalls bipartisan unity after 1981 Reagan assassination attempt: 'We came together' (https://www.alternet.org/beschloss-trump-assassination-attempt/)
Watch the full video below or at this link (https://www.alternet.org/ken-delanian-trump-proud-boys/).
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// mark robinson gov cand
nazi cow 3 24
Republican public schools nominee supports political killings and ‘death’ to Bill Gates
Michele Morrow official campaign photo
Jordan GreenandRaw Story
March 08, 2024
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Michele Morrow, the newly minted Republican nominee for superintendent of public instruction in North Carolina, wishes “death” on Bill and Melinda Gates.
She’s advocated killing people she considers “traitors.”
Despite seeking to oversee public education in a state of 10.5 million people, she is herself a homeschooler.
She has no prior political experience.
She attended the Jan. 6 rally to support Donald Trump’s quest to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
She received candidate training alongside a Proud Boys member.
And yet, Morrow upset incumbent Catherine Truitt in the Republican primary on Tuesday.
ALSO READ: Inside the neo-Nazi hate network grooming children for a race war
Morrow, who rallied for Trump in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, has repeatedly made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, while calling for death to Trump’s political enemies — and to former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and his former wife Melinda Gates for promoting vaccines.
Morrow could not be reached for comment for this story.
In a post on Twitter (now X) on Dec. 29, 2020, Morrow wrote: “I do support death to vaccine mongers like Bill and Melinda Gates.” (Raw Story reviewed the post on Wednesday, but it has since been removed for violating X’s rules. The post has been archived.)
In another post the same day, she wrote: “We need to follow the Constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!!!”
Morrow livestreamed herself with other Trump supporters walking to the Ellipse on Jan. 6.
“We are here to take back America,” she said. “We are here to stop the steal. We are here to ensure that President Trump gets four more years.”
Morrow, who has worked as a Christian missionary, exhorted her livestream followers: “We need to fight back with prayer… May the people of God arise. May the Holy Spirit descend on D.C., and may souls be saved. And may the United States once again return to one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.”
In the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Morrow rebuked a call by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to prosecute those involved. Four people died during the attack — all Trump supporters — and dozens of police officers were injured.
“We do not condone violence and destruction,” Morrow wrote. Nor will we stand for treason and cowardice. Did anyone offer to talk with those entered? Or only force them out and threaten them? Thousands of us were here in Nov & Dec. We never heard from ANY Congressmen. Now you want to talk?”
Following President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, Morrow took part in the far-right shift towards focusing on public schools as sites for cultural and political struggle.
A post in the private Facebook group Education First Warriors shows Morrow attending a candidate training with a member of the Proud Boys in January 2022. The photo was posted by Sloan Rachmuth, the president of the Education First Alliance.
Proud Boy member John Fischer, who like Morrow would go on to lose a local school board race that year, later attended a rally with other Proud Boys wearing masks and paramilitary gear who harassed patrons at a drag show in Sanford, N.C.
Public schools are 'greatest threat to humanity'
Truitt, who Morrow defeated Tuesday to win the Republican nomination for superintendent of public instruction, has held the post for the past four years.
The person in this position is responsible for developing curriculum and administering state and federal funds in North Carolina K-12 schools.
Morrow’s primary win sets up what’s likely to be a spirited general election fight with Maurice “Mo” Green, formerly the superintendent of Guilford County Schools — the third largest district in the state — who won the Democratic primary.
Green received the endorsement of the NC Association of Educators, whose president declared the election to “be critical to the future of public education in North Carolina” while warning that “anti-public school politicians want to tear down our schools.”
Some of Morrow’s views on public education are outlined in a 2023 Newsmax opinion article that promotes a Christian nationalist vision for education, while claiming that preserving traditional gender roles is a matter of national security.
Morrow wrote that “government-run (read public) schools and medical systems” are “the greatest threat to humanity,” while arguing that removing God “from the classroom, the courtroom, and the public square” is opening “ourselves up to chaos and confusion.”
ALSO READ: Feds gave classified information to neo-Nazi defendant: lawyer
In the same article, Morrow claimed that the American soldiers who liberated France during World War II are being demonized as “toxic.” She also complained that society is “filling our children’s minds with the lie that gender roles are an oppressive, social construct to be rejected” and “telling them that it is ‘heroic’ to block the natural processes of development.”
Green, the Democratic nominee for superintendent of public instruction, is largely refraining from commenting on his opponent.
In a statement to Raw Story, Green said he will work to make the North Carolina public school system the best in the country by advocating for full funding, ensuring staff receives adequate pay and “celebrating the good in public education.”
Morrow, in contrast, has a history of negatively framing public education.
Speaking at a candidate forum during her unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Wake County Board of Education in 2022, Morrow said her children have been educated in public, private and home schools.
“And what worked best for my kids in preparing them to be critically thinking, hardworking and intelligent adults and prepared for entering into the adult world and following and pursuing a career that they are passionate about was homeschooling,” she said.
Morrow added: “I would be more than happy to put my last child, who is in fifth grade now — 10 years old — to put him in the public school system if I believed that the public education system was focused on academic excellence and preparing our children for the career of their choice.”
https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/michele-morrow/
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TPM 1123
The photo is chilling in light of what transpired 26 days after it was posted. It shows a member of the militant Proud Boys standing inside the White House and wearing a mask less than a month before members of that same group helped lead the crowds that broke into the U.S. Capitol as they sought to reverse Trump’s loss on January 6, 2021.
It was previously known that former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio toured the White House on December 11, 2020. However, based on the picture, Dion Cini, a far-right activist who has described himself as a member of the far-right militant group, was also on the tour. The fact that Tarrio wasn’t the only Proud Boy to make it inside the presidential residence during the final days of Trump’s administration isn’t the only notable aspect of the photo. It was posted on Facebook by Tina Forte, a Republican House candidate whose activism has brought her in touch with Cini, Tarrio, and other extremists.
“Dion in the White House this morning,” Forte wrote when she posted the picture on Facebook on December 11.
:{Forte followed that caption up with two American flag emojis and a social media handle: “@officialoperationflagdrop.” The handle was one of several Cini ran as he made it his mission to wave massive Trump banners at sporting events and other public spaces during Trump’s administration, the 2020 election, and its contentious aftermath.
Forte and Cini’s ties go beyond the Facebook post. Forte helped Cini lead and administer the “OperationFlagDrop” channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram— a chat filled with Proud Boys, people who posted neo-Nazi slogans and symbols, and racial slurs. Her involvement in the group, which has not been previously reported, occurred at the same time she was running as the Republican candidate against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), one of the country’s most high-profile House Democrats. And, Forte was not the only aspiring Republican politician who participated in the extreme encrypted chat.}:
A handful of longshot GOP candidates at every level of government joined in the discussion even as members of the group shared neo-Nazi symbols and Proud Boys iconography. Right-wing influencers like Roger Stone and MAGA rapper Forgiato Blow made appearances along with multiple users who shared content promoting QAnon conspiracy theories.
The Proud Boys who participated in the channel included two of the group’s most prominent leaders; Enrique Tarrio and Ethan “Rufio” Nordean. Both Tarrio and Nordean were convicted this year of seditious conspiracy for their roles in organizing the breach of the Capitol. Tarrio received a sentence of 22 years in prison, while Nordean was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The group chat provides a vivid example of how the MAGA movement is encouraging people who are comfortable with the violent fringe, and who see it as part of their base, to run for office.
The “OperationFlagDrop” Telegram channel was nominally focused on Cini and his banner displays. Those “flag drops” gained some mainstream media coverage and led Cini to proudly declare that he had been banned from Major League Baseball stadiums, two Disney theme parks, Sea World, and Sesame Place. Cini’s demonstrations were cheered on by Trump and his sons, Don Jr. and Eric. Powerful Republicans were also associated with the group chat. Stone, who was a member of the channel, dubbed Cini his “protégé.” Cini suggested on multiple occasions that he had been in touch with Trump himself and, during one late 2021 flag drop, posed for photos with the former president’s son alongside a Proud Boys member who was prominently wearing the group’s gear.
Cini responded to TPM with an email where he laughed off the Nazi symbols posted in his group. He did not address questions about his relationships with the Proud Boys or Trump.
“Neo Nazi content …LOL,” Cini wrote. “The story is a illegitimate before pen goes to paper. I make flags I hang flags, that’s my story.”
In a brief phone conversation on Wednesday, Forte declined to comment before hanging up the phone.
“I might be an administrator, but I didn’t make that channel,” Forte said, adding, “You can write your story, and you can write whatever you’d like about me. It won’t be the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time, and I’m still going to run with my head up high against AOC and decline your questions. Have a good day.”
‘Where can we hang Nancy ??’
TPM has been reviewing the “OperationFlagDrop” channel since late last month. Several of the accounts that participated in the group appear to have been deleted and conversations there indicate that some individual messages were removed. We endeavored to reproduce all of the posts quoted in this story as close to their original format as possible, which includes some spelling and grammatical errors.
The earliest visible messages in the “OperationFlagDrop” Telegram channel date back to Jan. 10, 2021. At the time, Trump supporters and far-right activists were being driven from mainstream social media sites. They were also processing the failure of various schemes to keep Trump in office, which culminated in the Capitol attack. Members of “OperationFlagDrop” coped with this by, among other things, discussing plans to stockpile guns and ammunition.
Multiple messages posted to the Telegram channel indicate that Forte herself was posting under the main “OperationFlagDrop” account in those early days. On January 11, 2021, the account shared multiple pictures of Forte in Washington D.C. five days earlier. While Forte has been adamant that she did not break into the Capitol, she did attend the Jan. 6 protests against Trump’s loss where she carried a large banner showing a painting of Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who was House speaker at the time.
“Where can we hang Nancy ??” OperationFlagDrop asked in a message beneath the picture of Forte and her Pelosi banner.
Over the next few hours, users asked who was responsible for posting as the main OperationFlagDrop account. Cini posted from his personal Telegram page and seemed to confirm it was Forte.
“Tina = OperationFlagDrop she’s an admin,” Cini wrote. Forte replied to the message with two emojis: an American flag, and an arm flexing.
Forte also talked about her role helping to lead the Telegram group when she launched her own individual page on the encrypted messaging platform on Jan. 14, 2021.
“I’ve been on Telegram for a while. My friend Dion has an Operation Flag Drop group that I am administrator of,” Forte said in a brief clip posted on the app.
At the time, Forte had not yet set her sights on elected office. However, she had become something of a MAGAworld influencer, building a social media following throughout 2020 by posting profane, pro-Trump, and anti-COVID restriction video rants. As she ramped up her activism during the 2020 election, Forte openly associated with the Proud Boys. On her Facebook page in November and December of that year, she posted pictures while attending protests against Trump’s loss in Washington D.C. In multiple shots, Forte posed with Cini and Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman who had also toured the White House.
In her Facebook posts, Forte discussed participating in events with the Proud Boys.
“Last night we did a flag drop in the middle of riots to support our Blue and our PB’s that were protecting us !!!” Forte wrote on November 15, 2020.
The following day, Forte posted one of her trademark Facebook video rants wherein she declared, “God bless our proud boys for having our back.”
Members of the Proud Boys were a prominent part of the “OperationFlagDrop” Telegram channel from the early days of the group. On Jan. 13, two different accounts that have since been deleted and no longer have visible usernames posted Proud Boy slogans. One deleted account declared, “UHURU!” another wrote, “Poyb,” which stands for “Proud of your Boy,” as they asked, “So whats this chat all about?” A since-deleted user responded with a message that identified Cini as a member of the militant group.
“Support for our brother he is a PB from NYC,” the person wrote. “He drops the big ass flags all over our country.”
Forte, who also posted to the group using her personal Telegram account, was evidently comfortable with the Proud Boys’ presence. She enthusiastically responded to the conversation that described Cini as a “PB” by declaring, “the big flag drops everywhere!! Biggest flag was 75 x 50. We walked everywhere with it !”
‘Ultra-Villain’
Along with Proud Boys members and iconography, the “OperationFlagDrop” Telegram channel also included multiple users who displayed neo-Nazi symbols. One of these people was apparently Jovi Val, who the Anti-Defamation League has described as a “Telegram troll” and prominent attendee of white supremacist events. Some members of the “flag drop” group bristled at Val’s presence. Cini, however, repeatedly defended him.
On Feb. 24, 2021, Cini got into an extended argument about Val with Tarrio, who was also a participant in the “OperationFlagDrop” group. While Tarrio used a pseudonym on the app, he was identified by name by Cini and his biography on Telegram listed him as, “ProudBoy Florida Chairman. Ultra-Villain. 4th Degree. Chieftain SFLPB.” Tarrio was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6 because he had been arrested two days earlier for burning a Black Lives Matter banner that hung on a Downtown D.C. church during one of the December 2020 protests. His various legal troubles figured into the argument with Cini, who consistently accused Tarrio of cooperating with law enforcement to receive a lighter punishment.
“Excuse me….did you just call me a traitor?” Tarrio asked Cini. ”We had this conversation over the phone…and now you stab me in the back in public?”
Cini responded with a series of messages indicating that he left the Proud Boys due to issues with Tarrio.
“Don’t worry I’m out and not coming back. Not that I was ever really participating,” Cini wrote, later adding, “I’m not willing to go down with the captain who’s driving a ship straight down. … I just would never touch a church and then boast about it. I’m not saying that my methodology is the best, or even the worst. But if you have a problem with BLM why don’t you go after the source and not the church. The church isn’t evil, BLM is evil. It really bothered me Enrique.”
Tarrio, whose attorney did not respond to a request for comment, countered by standing by his actions and arguing the stiff penalties he faced proved he wasn’t cooperating with federal prosecutors.
“A church that preaches Marxism is Evil period. You can defend them all you want. But I won’t ever bend a knee to no stinking communist…even if those communists hide behind a cross,” Tarrio wrote, before adding, “I’m facing two years for burning a BLM banner and you’re here stating I’m working with the Feds? … The prosecutor wants my head on a pike.”
As the pair fired messages back and forth, Cini incorrectly predicted Tarrio would not do time in prison and declared, “I used to be a drinking proud boy!”
Tarrio countered with a picture of Val giving a Nazi salute in front of a swastika flag.
“Remember you chose this over your own brotherhood,” Tarrio said.
“If Jovi is a Nazi, then I’m a fire truck,” Cini replied.
At this point, another member of the group piped in to ask, “The man’s got a point Dion. Is Jovi a real Nazi?”
Cini responded by pointing to “freedom of speech” and indicating he did not “approve” of everything Val did.
“I’m used to being called Nazi, so that sound kind of nice,” Cini added.
On Feb. 27, three days after his argument with Tarrio, Cini made a post indicating he was going to start a “three percenter” militia group in the New York area. When the month drew to a close, Cini commemorated the start of March with another inflammatory message.
“Happy White History 11 Months!” Cini wrote.
Roger Stone, Rufio, And ‘That Rat Who Ran The PB’s’
Along with heated rhetoric and personal beefs, Cini used the Telegram group to promote his businesses, like the websites where he sold the Trump banners he displayed during the “flag drops.” Cini also promoted several events including a “Trumparilla” boat parade and a cruise around New York harbor. The “Trumparilla” event, which initially took place in the Tampa, Florida area before expanding to other venues, featured appearances from Forte and Stone, who joined the Telegram group on March 5, 2021.
Despite Cini’s dispute with Tarrio and indications he broke with the Proud Boys, the “OperationFlagDrop” Telegram continued to feature Proud Boy memes and recruitment bulletins.
On May 26, 2021, the main “OperationFlagDrop” account posted a picture of a “PROUD BOY” tattoo on someone’s forearm. Forte, who was using her personal account, responded with a pair of fire emojis. Less than a month after cheering on the Proud Boys tattoo, Forte would announce her longshot congressional campaign against Ocasio-Cortez following alleged encouragement from none other than George Santos.
Forte’s statements in the group, on social media, and on the campaign trail cast her as a right-wing archetype: tough and patriotic, a lover of the 2nd Amendment and law enforcement, and a Queens native. Forte, however, has lived in suburban Nanuet, located in Rockland County, since 2003. Her spokesman confirmed to TPM that she no longer resides in AOC’s district, where she is once again running against the congresswoman in 2024.
Forte’s first candidacy — and her involvement in “OperationFlagDrop” — came at a difficult time in her home life. At the time, court records show, her husband and son were facing federal firearms charges, brought in part because Forte’s husband had a prior state-level assault conviction. A man who identified himself as the victim in that case wrote a letter asking a federal judge for leniency, explaining that he had an affair with Forte. The man wrote that the affair, combined with his own threats towards the husband, led Forte’s spouse to hit the man over the head with a bat.
Forte kept up her activity in the OperationFlagDrop group after she started her House bid. She continued to post in the Telegram group and both she and Cini shared promotional materials for her race.
Roger Stone, the on-again-off-again Trump adviser who has been scrutinized by investigators for his involvement in the Jan. 6 protests, used the group to advertise for his legal defense fund and, on one occasion, to mount a vendetta. On June 2, 2021, Stone was sparring on Twitter with journalist Zachary Petrizzo, who was working for Salon at the time. Stone shared some of the tweets in “OperationFlagDrop” along with Petrizzo’s email address.
“This little asshole at Salon magazine is harassing me,” Stone wrote. “Please feel free to email this little jerk off right now and tell him what a complete piece of shit he is.”
Petrizzo and Stone did not respond to requests for comment.
Over the next few months, Stone repeatedly made posts praising Cini. On September 16, 2021, Stone shared a picture of him posing with Cini and a “TRUMP WON” banner.
“If Trump doesn’t run in 2024 maybe the ticket is Stone-Cini !” Stone wrote in the group.
The main “OperationFlagDrop” account responded with a message that encouraged users to give money to Stone and bashed Tarrio.
“Please donate to the man that didn’t rat on the President, unlike that rat who ran the PB’s,” the post said.
Other senior Proud Boys appear in the chat as well. Ethan “Rufio” Nordean was one of the first members of the group to be charged for his actions at the Capitol, where he helped breach the initial barricades which surrounded the building. In a Jan. 14, 2021 audio message, Nordean identified himself as “Rufio.” his Proud Boys callsign. Nordean also referred to his connection with another Proud Boy, the former lead singer of the punk band The Misfits.
While the Proud Boys were the most prominent militant organization in the “OperationFlagDrop” Telegram channel, other extremist groups also had a presence in the chat. For example, on Oct. 24, 2021, a user forwarded along a message fundraising for an alleged “militia” operation along the southern border.
“Me and my team of about 30 guys are heading to the border of Texas to meet up with other Militia down there getting ready for this massive incursion of migrants. We are running Private security in disclosed locations,” the post said. “This is a heavy cost out of our own pockets. Im asking anyone that can assist with even 5$ donation for gas and food for my men to lend a helping hand.”
This extreme content did not dissuade multiple Republican candidates from regularly posting in the channel. In addition to Forte, who has already announced her second House campaign after failing in her initial challenge to Ocasio-Cortez, the group featured multiple messages from other GOP hopefuls at every level of government. In a phone call with TPM, Peter Boykin, the founder of the group Gays For Trump, who is running for lieutenant governor in North Carolina, said he had participated in an Operation Flag Drop event. Boykin also said he posted in multiple Telegram groups that had offensive content that he himself does not agree with.
“I see a lot of anti-Jewish stuff on there. It’s like oh boy,” Boykin said with a laugh. “That’s pretty much all over Telegram. Jeez. I’ve made the joke before, It’s like, can I go into a chat room where somebody doesn’t bring up the Jews, somebody doesn’t post Nazi symbols, or somebody has to talk about everybody being gay? That’s about pretty much everybody that you have to deal with on Telegram.”
At least three New York City Republicans were members of the OperationFlagDrop group: Daby Carreras, who has run for multiple offices, Mark Szuszkiewicz, an unsuccessful Senate and City Council hopeful, and Helen Qiu, who lost an election for Council on Tuesday after a failed state legislature bid in 2022.
Carreras confirmed he was part of the group in phone conversions with TPM while insisting he was not aware of any content involving Nazism or the Proud Boys. Szuszkiewicz responded to a request for comment with an email blasting the “fake news.” He also attempted to plug and promote a “Fake News” song that he recorded. Qiu similarly tried to claim she was unaware of “OperationFlagDrop’s” content in a phone conversation with TPM. However, she directly and enthusiastically engaged with posts that explicitly referred to the Proud Boys’ activities and also wrote her own posts that echoed the extreme conspiratorial views of some of the members in the channel including one message on the first anniversary of the January 6 attack.
“Happy January 6th, Patriots!!! January 6 2021 was bright because of patriots believing in America and believing in God. We still do,” Qiu wrote, adding, “January 6 2021 was dark because of spineless GOP led by mike pence betrayed America and betrayed God. January 6 2021 was darkest because traitors of America solidified their steal of 2020 election.”
Ties To Trump
“OperationFlagDrop” provides a vivid example of how, in the current Trumpified Republican Party, fringe candidates are literally mingling with militants and members of the former president’s inner circle. In addition to his clear connection to Stone, Cini has boasted of his interactions with Trump and his family. Cini posted an interview he did with a Russian television station in January 2021 in which he claimed that Trump had called him. “Russia loves OperationFlagDrop!” Cini wrote. He repeated the claim in a 2021 interview with Insider in which Cini said the former president is the one who encouraged him to keep going after an initial flag drop.
“After I did Yankee Stadium three years ago, which is Trump’s favorite stadium, he called, and he tweeted, and he Instagrammed, and he said, ‘Thank you, please don’t stop,'” Cini said. “I’ve interacted with the Trump family multiple times. I’m not directly part of the Trump Organization, but they know who I am, they know what I’m doing, and they like it.”
On his Telegram channel, Cini shared videos of Trump’s son, Don Jr., cheering on a flag drop outside of the former president’s Manhattan headquarters, Trump Tower, in March 2021. In a video posted on his social media pages, Don Jr. shared footage of his father admiring the demonstration from his office window. The clip included footage of the event taken from the street.
“I pointed it out to my father … he walked over to check it out. He’s aware of what you guys are doing,” Don Jr. said.
On Telegram, Cini shared Don Jr.’s video and said he planned to return to the Tower for another flag drop.
“The President will be waiting for us again if you want to join,” Cini said.
In late May 2021, the main “OperationFlagDrop” account shared a photo of a “TRUMP WON” banner along with a letter from Cini describing the flag as one he displayed at Yankee Stadium that year and offering it as a gift to Trump.
“Hand delivered Monday nite :),” OperationFlagDrop wrote.
Forte answered the post with a pair of hearts and an emoji American flag.
Trump’s re-election campaign did not respond to a request for comment. In May 2022, Cini was interviewed by investigators from the House select committee on the January 6 attack. The investigators asked Cini about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, as well as his ties to Trump, the former president’s family and campaign, Stone, Tarrio, and the Proud Boys. Apart from denying that he entered the U.S. Capitol as it was breached during the violent protests, Cinipleaded the Fifth to nearly every question.
Cini was apparently back at Trump Tower in late 2021. On Nov. 11, the OperationFlagDrop account posted a picture from the building’s bar where he was standing with the former president’s son, Eric Trump, and a large group as they displayed a “Let’s Go Brandon” banner. The group included a man in a beanie that featured a Proud Boys logo. Eric stood next to the man giving a thumbs up and smiling.
*Eric Trump, “Pot Roast,” Dion Cini and others at Trump Tower. OperationFlagDrop Telegram. PIX
Eric Trump did not respond to requests for comment. The man who was photographed alongside the former president’s son appears to be a frequent participant in the Telegram channel who used the handle “Pot Roast” and identified himself as Joe Reilly. “Pot Roast” regularly shared posts to the channel featuring photos of himself in Proud Boys regalia and described himself as a member of the group.
On Nov. 29, 2021 amid reports of leadership changes at Twitter, the main “OperationFlagDrop” account and “Pot Roast” discussed the news on the channel.
“Can we still say white power on Twitter? That’s all I need to know…” OperationFlagDrop asked.
“White Power,” replied “Pot Roast.”
Posts from “Pot Roast” that were explicit about his Proud Boys affiliation drew compliments and encouragement from the Republican candidates in the group. On Dec. 10, 2021, OperationFlagDrop shared a tweet from the “NYCAntifa” account that mocked, “Joe Reilly, an especially cringe Proud Boy from NYC.” The tweet included a photo of Reilly in Proud Boys regalia. Helen Qiu, whose username on the channel identified her as a state Assembly hopeful, responded admiringly.
“We are proud of you Joe,” Qiu wrote.
Later that month, both “OperationFlagDrop” and “Pot Roast” posted about a Proud Boys toy drive.
“The NYC and LI Proud Boys delivering toys today, please share tweet and post to FB,” OperationFlagDrop wrote.
Forte quoted the message and responded with a heart emoji.
“NYC and Long Island Proud Boys raised over $9000 . We delivered $9000 in Toys to a hospital in Port Jefferson Long Island great day. NYC Proud Boys Five Points great pack of Men,” wrote “Pot Roast” before adding a string of emojis.
Qiu was effusive.
“Wowowow!” the Republican candidate wrote. “What have you accomplished!”
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florida public school students start learning about communism in 7th grade. That’s too late for some Republicans in the Florida House, who want teachers to instruct students as young as kindergarteners on concepts such as “cultural Marxism.” But what is it?
The House bill moving in the Legislature doesn’t provide a definition for the term, raising questions about how little kids could understand cultural Marxism.
The Senate version of the bill doesn’t include cultural Marxism in its legislation.
Nevertheless, HB 1349, passed in a House committee on Feb. 1. The bill analysis says that starting in the 2026-27 school year, the history of communism must be included in instruction in grades K-12 in Florida’s public schools. (Currently, there are no standards for the history of communism from kindergarten to 6th grade.) The legislation would include “the philosophy and lineages of Communist thought, including cultural Marxism.”
The bill involves a task force — the governor would appoint the members — to come up with age-appropriate curriculum and academic standards for K-12 instruction of the history of communism and its dangers. The task force would report its findings no later than July 1, 2025, and it “must also make recommendations to the Legislature regarding the creation of a Florida Museum of Communist History,” according to the legislative staff analysis.
The House proposal, from Republican Reps. Chuck Brannan and James Buchanan, gained enough support last week to move forward in the Legislature. But Democrats criticized the inclusion of cultural Marxism as one of the things students will learn about. Brannan represents North Florida counties and a part of Alachua, and Buchanan represents part of Sarasota.
From terrorist manifesto to K-12 curricula
Democratic lawmakers pointed to far-right groups’ usage of cultural Marxism in relation to antisemitic beliefs.
“If you look up the term cultural Marxism, what comes up is the term cultural Marxism refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory, so that’s also concerning to me,” Palm Beach Democratic Rep. Katherine Waldron said during the Choice and Innovation subcommittee meeting last week. “I’m all for kids learning about government and political systems. But I would be against this very specific terminology in training or in trying to educate them on this.”
Marilyn Mayo, a senior research fellow with ADL’s Center on Extremism, said in a statement to Florida Phoenix that antisemites also use the term to reinforce their longstanding antisemitic trope that communism is “Jewish.”
“‘Cultural Marxism’ is a term, typically used by right-wing ideologues, to attack an array of ideas and concepts they oppose, including multiculturalism, globalism, feminism, and LGBTQ+ rights, among others. The term often functions as an antisemitic dog whistle or codeword,” Mayo wrote in the statement.
“Promoters of the term often invoke a conspiracy theory that falsely claims such progressive ideas originated with the so-called Frankfurt School, a leftist intellectual collective active in Germany between the two World Wars. Exploiting the fact that a number of the Frankfurt School intellectuals were Jewish, antisemitic versions of this conspiracy theory link the Frankfurt School, and thus ‘cultural Marxism’ itself, to Jews, claiming that Jews seek to subvert and weaken Western (and Christian) society by imposing their left-wing and politically correct (or ‘woke’) views.”
Over the years, cultural Marxism has gone from being linked with the far-right through terrorists’ manifestos to seeping into the vocabulary of mainstream politicians, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has said he views wokeness as a form of cultural Marxism.
“Most of the most violent, the deadliest acts of hate, perpetrated against Jewish people especially in the United States in the last 10 to 15 years have been by far-right extremists. We don’t have cultural Marxists shooting up synagogues. If it were the case, then we should talk about it, but it isn’t,” said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. “You have white supremacists, anti-government extremists who are embracing antisemitism. Of course, antisemitism is on the far-left as well. There has been a rapid, marked increase in antisemitic rhetoric coming out of the far-left as well.”
The terrorist who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011 and another who killed a woman in the attack at the California Chabad of Poway synagogue in 2019 left manifestos denouncing cultural Marxism’s effect on Europe and blaming Jews for coming up with it, respectively.
Groups like the Proud Boys have also used cultural Marxism as a catch-all term for anyone they view as an enemy, Lewis said.
“What we’ve seen in recent years has been an intentional effort, by far-right extremists to launder antisemitism, launder white supremacy, launder anti-LGBTQ narratives and hate speech against everyone who’s not effectively in this in-group, which is largely white, largely Christian,” he said.
Dangers of communism
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, published a 45-page report in 2022 about how cultural Marxism threatens the U.S. In it, the think tank states cultural Marxists have infiltrated the country through college campuses and public schools. They also credit DeSantis for showing a path to dismantle cultural Marxism.
“Today’s cultural Marxists believe that the reason economic, social, cultural, academic, and health outcomes (to name just a few) show persistent racial disparities is because of a pervasive, systemic racism that can only be eliminated by smashing the system itself,” the report states.
Subcommittee chair Republican Rep. Alex Rizo of Miami-Dade, last week defended the bill, stating that students don’t learn enough about communism.
“When we talk about antisemitism I equate antisemitism a lot with communism. … I love that this bill will come up with some sort of curriculum to start teaching what communism really does other than an economic theory that was brought up by Marx and Engels, two philosophers, and I use that term very loosely, in the 19th century. Because we do have curriculum in almost every single grade level K through 12 that talks about the sins of slavery, that talks about the horrors of the Holocaust, but does not yet really address the over 100 million people who were victimized, murdered, displaced in about 100 years worth of communism in our society,” he said.
The Florida Department of Education standards related to communism include the evaluation of economic systems in seventh grade and the identification of political ideologies (communism and totalitarianism) that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy in high school.
Lawmakers also discussed last week how the material would be taught in an age-appropriate manner to younger students. Republican Rep. Thad Altman of Brevard said his wife, a first-grade teacher at a Catholic school, teaches kids through hands-on simulations.
“I think these kids understand capitalism and communism more than a lot of college students, especially if they go to an Ivy League,” he said.
Other things students would learn about through the House bill or analysis include atrocities committed in foreign countries under the guidance of communism, the Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China, the communist policies of Cuba, and the spread of communist ideologies throughout Latin America.
AP 923
wASHINGTON (AP) — Two former leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group were sentenced to more than a decade each in prison Thursday for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.
The 17-year prison term for organizer Joseph Biggs and 15-year sentence for leader Zachary Rehl were the second and third longest sentences handed down yet in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
They were the first Proud Boys to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who will separately preside over similar hearings of three others who were convicted by a jury in May after a four-month trial in Washington that laid bare far-right extremists’ embrace of lies by Trump, a Republican, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
enrique Tarrio, a Miami resident who was the Proud Boys’ national chairman and top leader, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday. His sentencing was moved from Wednesday to next week because Kelly was sick.
Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6. He had been arrested two days before the Capitol riot on charges that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier rally in the nation’s capital, and he complied with a judge’s order to leave the city after his arrest. He picked Biggs and Proud Boys chapter president Ethan Nordean to be the group’s leaders on the ground in his absence, prosecutors said.
Rehl, Biggs, Tarrio and Nordean were convicted of charges including seditious conspiracy, a rarely brought Civil War-era offense. A fifth Proud Boys member, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a 33-year prison sentence for Biggs, who helped lead dozens of Proud Boys members and associates in marching to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Biggs and other Proud Boys joined the mob that broke through police lines and forced lawmakers to flee, disrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying the electoral victory by Biden, a Democrat.
Kelly said the Jan. 6 attack trampled on an “important American custom,” certifying the Electoral College vote.
“That day broke our tradition of peacefully transferring power, which is among the most precious things that we had as Americans,” the judge said, emphasizing that he was using the past tense in light of how Jan. 6 affected the process.
Defense attorneys argued that the Justice Department was unfairly holding their clients responsible for the violent actions of others in the crowd of Trump supporters at the Capitol.
Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, acknowledged that he “messed up” on Jan. 6, but he blamed being “seduced by the crowd” of Trump supporters outside the Capitol and said he’s not a violent person or “a terrorist.”
“My curiosity got the better of me, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life,” he said, claiming he didn’t have “hate in my heart” and didn’t want to hurt people.
During the trial, jurors saw a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders privately exchanged in the weeks leading up to the Capitol riot, including Biggs encouraging Tarrio to “get radical and get real men” after Trump announced plans for a rally on Jan. 6.
That day, dozens of Proud Boys leaders, members and associates were among the first rioters to breach the Capitol. Before the first breach, Biggs used a megaphone to lead rioters in chants of “Whose Capitol? Our Capitol!”
Biggs “acted as the tip of the spear” during the attack, prosecutors said in a court filing. He tore down a fence and charged up scaffolding before entering the Capitol. He left the Capitol but reentered the building and went to the Senate chamber.
“There is a reason why we will hold our collective breath as we approach future elections,” prosecutor Jason McCullough said. “We never gave it a second thought before January 6th.”
For Rehl, who also helped lead Proud Boys, prosecutors asked for a 30-year prison sentence. He was seen on video spraying a chemical irritant at law enforcement officers outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, but he repeatedly lied about that assault while he testified at his trial, said prosecutor Erik Kenerson. “He tried to craft a narrative to fit the evidence and he was caught,” Kenerson said.
Rehl also led at least three other men into the Capitol and into a senator’s office, where he smoked and posed for pictures while flashing the Proud Boys’ hand gesture, prosecutors said in court documents.
“Rehl led an army to attempt to stop the certification proceeding, was proud that they got as close as they did, and his only regret in the immediate aftermath was that they did not go further,” they wrote in a court filing.
Kelly read from some of the “chilling” messages Rehl sent after Jan. 6, including one, the judge said, that read, “Everyone should have showed up armed and taken the country back the right way.” The judge shook his head and said, “I mean, my God.”
Rehl sobbed as he told the judge he deeply regretted being at the Capitol that day.“I’m done with all of it, done peddling lies for other people who don’t care about me,” Rehl said. “Politicians started spreading lies about the election, and I fell for it hook, line and sinker.”
Defense attorney Norman Pattis, who represents Biggs and Rehl, said they are “misguided patriots,” not terrorists, and said long sentences would fuel division.
Rehl and others who rioted at the Capitol that day were following Trump’s urging, and genuinely believed that something was fundamentally wrong with the election when they took to the streets, he said. “What they’re guilty of is believing the president who said the election was stolen from him,” Pattis said.
Kelly acknowledged that was a factor, but a “very modest one.”
Prosecutors have also recommended prison sentences of 33 years for Tarrio, 27 years for Nordean and 20 years for Pezzola. Nordean and Pezzola are scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
More than 1,100 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 600 of them have been convicted and sentenced.
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an 8 23 $ no lnx
'I was in the eye of the storm': Inside Roger Stone's plan to help Trump overturn the 2020 election
Charges may be near for Roger Stone over Jan. 6 Capitol riot: legal expert
Jordan Green
andRaw Story
August 23, 2023
Former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants — many of them relatively obscure figures involved in the fake electors scheme — were indicted in Georgia last week, while top leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militias have been convicted of seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
One person linked to the fake electors scheme, as well as to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers has not faced any charges to date over Jan. 6. That would be political operative Roger Stone, who has been Trump’s friend and adviser for more than three decades.
Stone’s role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election is increasingly coming into focus through the halting, start-stop release of the new documentary “A Storm Foretold” by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen. Footage shot by Guldbrandsen’s crew showing Stone dictating a plan to an assistant named Enrique de la Torre that calls for lobbying Republican-controlled state legislatures to send Trump electors on the basis of claims of fraud before Joe Biden was declared the winner was shown by MSNBC host Ari Melber last week.
On Aug.18, Guldbrandsenreleased the film on Vimeo, and then pulled it back while negotiating a deal for U.S. distribution. On Monday, Melber again showcased footage from the film on his MSNBC show.
One scene from before the election that was reviewed by Raw Story shows Stone vociferously articulating a strategy for Trump to use the authority of the office of president to prevent legitimate Biden electoral votes from being counted.
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“Oh, these are the California results? Sorry, we’re not accepting them,” Stone says, jabbing his index finger for emphasis. “We’re challenging them in court. If the electors show up at the Electoral College, armed guards will throw them out. I’m the president. F--- you. You’re not stealing Florida. I’m challenging all of it. And the judges we’re going to are judges I appointed. F--- you.”
De la Torre was deposed by the January 6th House select committee in May 2022. A senior investigative counsel asked him about Stone’s tirade, in one of at least three instances they referenced footage from Guldbrandsen’s film. The question by the senior investigative counsel indicates that Stone’s statement was addressed to de la Torre in July 2020. Gulbrandsen reportedly provided clips of his film to the committee, some of which were shown during one of its hearings in October 2022.
De la Torre invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination in refusing to answer the committee’s questions. Stone likewise declined to answer the committee’s questions while invoking the Fifth Amendment and declined to produce any documents.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Inside the MAGA plan to track and control your life
Stone could not be reached for this story, but he indicated on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Monday night that he had watched Melber’s segment on Guldbrandsen’s documentary, proclaiming that the footage “had all the hallmarks of Danish disinformation.”
Stone defended his statement about Republican-controlled legislatures submitting Trump electors based on purported claims of fraud during his podcast on Monday evening.
“I was in the eye of the storm late last week because I had the audacity to correctly cite Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which says that the state legislatures have the authority to certify the electors that go to the Electoral College,” he said. “And within that context, they have the authority to examine the election results. This was days before the election that I said that if there was evidence of theft, that process — which would be a very, public, open, transparent process — may have to take place.”
Three Trump electors are under indictment as co-defendants in the racketeering case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia, while 13 others are cited as unindicted co-conspirators. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has separately charged 16 Trump electors in that state with conspiracy to commit election law forgery and other crimes.
In the statement he dictated to de la Torre on Nov. 5, 2020, Stone said, “We must be prepared to lobby our Republican legislatures by personal contact and by demonstrating the overwhelming will of the people in their state — in each state that this may happen.”
It remains unclear who, if anyone, might have received the memo from Stone or his associates. De la Torre could not be reached for comment for this story.
The Fulton County indictment describes one component of a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn the 2020 election as making false statements “to persuade Georgia legislators to reject lawful electoral votes cast by the duly elected and qualified presidential electors from Georgia.” The indictment describes a phone call by Trump and Giuliani to Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, in which Giuliani allegedly made false statements about fraud while Trump “importuned Bowers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Arizona” as “overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy.”
ALSO IN THE NEWS: 'Seething' Melania furious at Trump's use of Barron as 'political pawn': report
Similarly, the federal indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith cites as one component of Trump’s alleged conspiracy to defraud the government that “on the pretext of baseless fraud claims,” Trump “pushed officials in certain states to ignore the popular vote; disenfranchise millions of voters; dismiss legitimate electors; and ultimately cause the ascertainment of and voting by illegitimate electors” in his favor.
Responding to a commentary published in the Philadelphia Inquirer questioning why he has not been criminally charged, Stone scoffed on X on Sunday: “Sorry there is no evidence whatsoever that proves my involvement in the effort to delay the certification of the Electoral College in the U.S. Senate, the riot at the U.S. Capitol, or the effort in the states to challenge the certification of electors. Guilt by association is an ugly tactic used by ignorant haters.A video in which I correctly state the effect of Article II of the Constitution, and which is both historically, and legally correct, proves nothing whatsoever.”
‘Looking for any retired military or law enforcement officer’
While maintaining a close relationship with President Trump, Stone also cultivated ties with the Proud Boys, a neofascist street-fighting group founded in 2016, which underwent a recruitment explosion after Trump signaled during a presidential debate shortly before the election: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
When a graphic depicting federal judge with crosshairs superimposed over her face was published on Stone’s Instagram account in 2019,he testified that Proud Boys national chairman EnriqueTarrio was among a small number of people who had access to his phone. (Stone was subsequently convicted of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and later pardoned by President Trump.)
During the 2018 midterm election, futureProud Boy Joe Biggsvolunteered for an early iteration of “Stop the Steal,” a mobilization by a handful of conspiracy theorists surrounding Stone to protest a recount in the Florida Senate race between Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Bill Nelson.
Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran who was a correspondent for InfoWars, posted on Twitter in November 2018: “I’m no new Floridian. I’ve spent most of my life there and in Texas. I love both places more than life itself. Which is why I will be helping #StopTheSteal. I will back home to Florida [sic] from my other home in Texas tomorrow. We will not let radical leftists destroy our home!”
Footage from “A Storm Foretold” shows Stone describing his plan to resurrect the campaign to Guldbrandsen on Nov. 5, 2020.
“We are relaunching Stop the Steal,” Stone said. “I’m looking for any retired military or law enforcement officer who would go on the committee. Don’t care what rank, don’t care how old. Old, young, disabled, doesn’t matter.”
Around the same time, the film shows Stone speaking into a cell phone and dictating the inaugural message of the “F.O.S.” — short for “Friends of Stone” — chat onSignal, an encrypted messaging platform.
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“We provide information several times a day, so please monitor the F.O.S. feed so you can act in a timely fashion,” Stone said. “Let me stress that the F.O.S. feed is not a chat room, and this is not the place for prolonged discussion.”
The Signal group included protest organizers and militant leaders, allowing them to coordinate security for a series of rallies in Washington, D.C. and other cities that set the stage for Jan. 6. A copy of the chat obtained by the January 6th House select committee shows that both Tarrioand Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes were members.
The Oath Keepers made outreach to military veterans and retired law enforcement the centerpiece of their recruitment pitch. According to an analysis by Raw Story, at least 14 of the 52 Proud Boys members and associates arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack were either military veterans or active-duty military service members.
A document turned over to the January 6th House select committee shows that Roger Stone and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes participated in the "F.O.S." chat on Signal.January 6th House select committee
The chats show Stone pushing out messaging to the protest organizers and militants, including a Nov. 10, 2020 post urging them to read a forthcoming “manifesto” that he promised would expose “the HOAX claiming Joe Biden has been elected President” and outline “President Trump’s path forward in the Courts, in the House and in the Electoral College.”
The chats also show Rhodes pledging that Oath Keepers members would provide security for VIPs at the Nov. 14, 2020 Millions for MAGA rally in Washington, D.C. as well as another pro-Trump rally held in Austin, Texas on the same day.
Rhodes also used the chat as a forum to issue a call for the Trump to use the military to declassify government secrets and to invoke the Insurrection Act “to suppress the communist insurrection” while using the military “to go after the domestic enemies at the top.”
Rhodes is currently serving an 18-year sentenceat Cumberland Federal Correctional Institution in Maryland for seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Stone said on his podcast on Monday night that he doubts that former Vice President Mike Pence will be able to testify that Trump told him he knew that he lost the election, adding, “I don’t think Trump believed it then. I certainly don’t think he believes it now.”
But the footage in Guldbrandsen’s film suggests that Stone himself harbored doubts about whether Trump could win in the waning days of the 2020 election.
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Speaking on the phone while riding in a car one week before the election, Stone can be heard telling an unidentified woman: “Don’t know. Totally up in the air. Not looking good. Not looking good. I say that as a professional. I’m trying to divorce my emotions from it. But it does not look good.”
The woman can be heard asking whether Stone thinks Giuliani — now a co-defendant with Trump in the Fulton County racketeering case — would be able to help Trump turn around his dim election prospects.
“Rudy is — he’s a great guy; he’s been very helpful to me,” Stone says. “He’s very loyal, but he likes booze and p---- a little too much. And he’s a single guy, so he’s getting a lot of ass.”
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no 2nd j6?
August 18, 2023
- David Badash @ The New Civil Rights Movement: Gaetz Filing Resolution to ‘Censure and Condemn’ Judge Overseeing Trump Election Fraud Trial.
- J.D. Wolf @ Meidas Touch: Michael Flynn: I’m Willing To Serve as Trump’s VP.
- Liz Farkas and Matthew Phelan @:{The Nation: James O’Keefe Is Now Under Investigation for Looting Project Veritas.}:
- Joe Jervis: Trump Calls Off “Exoneration” Press Conference.
- Kyle Cheney @ Politico: Prosecutors seek 30-year sentences for Proud Boys leaders in Jan. 6 case.
- Ahmad Austin @ Mediaite: Jewish UFC Fighter Literally Knocks the Holocaust Denialism Out of a Fan of Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes: ‘Classic Case of F*ck Around and Find Out.’
Tags: Donald Trump Enrique Tarrio James O'Keefe Matt Gaetz Michael Flynn Round-Up
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https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/trump-jan-6-indictment/
no lnx
Why Trump indictments haven’t triggered another Jan. 6 — and why the worst may be yet to come
Jordan Green
andRaw Story
August 21, 2023
A grand jury handed up a 41-count indictment against Donald Trump and 18 alleged co-conspirators late Monday night inside a courthouse in Atlanta. Outside, law enforcement prepared for a Jan. 6-esque riot.
But as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced her case against Trump, no right-wing MAGA supporters, equipped with tactical gear and assault rifles, descended on the courthouse.
No one stormed any government buildings.
The scene was quiet — eerily so — and largely replayed the relatively orderly, if not placid scenes outside courthouses in New York City and Washington, D.C., where authorities have also charged Trump with felony crimes.
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Even one of Trump’s most ardent bomb-throwers urged MAGA-ites to restrain themselves.
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“Don’t go to the Fulton County courthouse. Don’t give them an ounce of your flesh. Let them have their empty streets, barricades, and media circus,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) cautioned on Twitter, now X, the morning after the indictments.
ALSO READ: 11 ways Donald Trump doesn’t become president again
But while the arrests of more than 1,100 people for participation in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — and more recently, charges against high-profile Trump allies such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani — appear to have temporarily deterred a broad mobilization of violence, far-right unrest is simmering under the surface as Trump’s legal troubles mount.
It occasionally emerges in the form of one-off violent acts, such as when an Ohio man who attacked the FBI office in Cincinnati in response to federal authorities searching Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago died in a shootout with law enforcement last year.
More recently, a Utah man died in a shootout with the FBI after he posted threats to kill President Joe Biden.
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A Texas woman is accused of threatening the U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the federal case against Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
And just this week, after the names of the grand jurors were published in the Fulton County indictment against Trump and 18 co-defendants, trolls reportedly posted their names and purported addresses on a fringe website.
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On another site that allows users to post anonymously, users reportedly encouraged one another to shoot members of the grand jury, with one invoking a notorious white supremacist text that provides a blueprint for political terror. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has announced it is investigating the threats.
And as Trump’s legal troubles mount and his supporters become increasingly desperate going into the winner-takes-all stakes of the 2024 presidential election, analysts who monitor right-wing extremism warn that political violence is only likely to worsen over the next 18 months as 2024 election approaches and the next president is inaugurated in 2025.
The seeds of such a scenario are being planted right now, largely out of view, in some of the darkest corridors of the internet.
Mixed messages: Culture war and vigilance
Just because there wasn’t an instantaneous reaction to the Fulton County indictment doesn’t mean the news didn’t push someone over the edge and cause them to start plotting, security analysts say. Violent plots take time to plan and carry out.
Online reaction among far-right influencers and groups to the indictment has been mixed, with the news jostling for attention alongside other conservative fixations, like the viral right-wing populist folk song “Rich Men North of Richmond” and the apology from the “crazy plane lady.”
Samantha Kutner, an extremism and terrorism analyst with Glitterpill LLC, told Raw Story that the current moment is a “focus-testing period for many extremist groups.”
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“Right now, it might be safe to say their reaction is similar to their reaction to Barbie,” she said. “Culture war fodder with attempts to fundraise.”
On Telegram accounts linked to the Proud Boys, posts about the Maui wildfires — typically suggesting sinister causes or accusing the Biden administration of neglect — appear to outnumber references to the Trump indictment roughly four to one.
Dozens of members of the Proud Boys face criminal charges for their role in the attack on the Capitol, and high-profile leaders, including former national chairman Enrique Tarrio, have been convicted of seditious conspiracy. This potentially dampens enthusiasm for physically rushing to the support of a former president who infamously told them during a 2020 campaign debate to “stand back and stand by.”
But that shouldn’t offer peace-loving Americans comfort.
ALSO READ: Trump maintains trademarks with Russia, China and numerous other U.S. enemies and frenemies
Kutner predicted that as the consequences of Trump’s legal troubles become increasingly tangible, theProud Boys will “martyr him and use the event to organize and they’ll get more and more desperate as the 2024 elections pick up.”
One indication of that line of discourse is evident in a recent commentary posted on Telegram by the Cape Fear Proud Boys, one of the most influential and active chapters to emerge in the aftermath of Jan. 6.
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The commentary posted on Aug. 1 following Trump’s first Jan. 6-related indictment accused Democrats of “plotting to subvert the 2024 election” while claiming “they will do anything to see Trump in jail.”
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The post included a vague call to action by urging readers to “come to the realization that you have to do more than ‘just vote,’” adding, “See you in the streets.”
Following Trump’s new indictment in Fulton County, Ga., on Monday, the Cape Fear Proud Boys chapter warned, “If he loses this he goes to jail, just like they have been planning all along.”
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The Cape Fear Proud Boys’ call to “do more than ‘just vote’ is echoed in the messaging surrounding an “Election Summit” in Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday and Thursday.
Hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who helped finance a bus tour to fuel protests against the outcome of the 2020 election, the “Election Summit” promised an all-star cast of pro-Trump election deniers.
Businessman and election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell talks with reporters outside the club house at the Trump National Golf Club hours ahead of a speech by former U.S. President Donald Trump on June 13, 2023 in Bedminster, N.J. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The MAGA luminaries billed as speaking at the event include Giuliani, who has been ordered to turn himself in for arrest in Fulton County by Aug. 25, Laura Loomer, an anti-Muslim provocateur who recently met with Trump at his Bedminster club in New Jersey; former White House strategist Steve Bannon; retired Lt. General Michael Flynn; and criminally indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Lindell has been promising to unveil a “plan” on Thursday, the second day of the summit. Details of the “plan” have been teased by the Gateway Pundit, a far-right outlet that traffics in conspiracytheories.
ALSO READ: National security at 'high risk' as 'old school' methods degrade government security practices
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A recent article quoted Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who reportedly assisted Paxton with his unsuccessful lawsuit to invalidate Biden’s 2020 electoral victory in Pennsylvania, as being among a select group of Trump allies who have reviewed Lindell’s “plan.”
“We can no longer cast our vote and walk away,” Olsen said in the quote published by the Gateway Pundit. Through exposure to the “plan,” Olsen said viewers of Lindell’s livestreamed event will “learn how to become the watchman for elections — not just to cast a ballot — and you will be equipped for that task in ways we’ve never seen before.”
Lindell’s event has received promotion from Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, along with “The Pete Santilli Show,” whose host pleaded guilty to conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer in the 2014 armed standoff at Bunkerville, Nev., over rancher Cliven Bundy’s refusal to pay grazing fees for use of federal lands.
Discussing his plans to travel to the “Election Summit” during his show on Aug. 12, Santilli suggested some unspecified “wingnuts” might try to intercept him, before imploring listeners: “Anybody messes with me, everybody get your bulldozers and come get me. Okay? Bulldozer brigade. They do not want what is coming on the 16th and 17th.”
Santilli’s “bulldozer brigade” reference likely resonated with far-right antigovernment listeners who have lionized Marvin Heemeyer, who rampaged through the town of Granby, Colo. in an armored bulldozer in revenge for a zoning dispute before taking his own life.
During the same show, Santilli instructed his listeners: “Any time you see CNN, you smash their cameras, okay?
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“I say ‘smash their cameras,’ figuratively, I don’t know,” Santilli continued. Laughing he added, “Constitutionally.”
Then he showed footage of himself harassing a camera crew at one of Lindell’s previous events.
Radicalized by election disinformation
Trump is continuing to stoke fear and conspiracy theories, just as he did during the 2016 and 2020 elections, with predictable consequences, said Daryl Johnson, a former senior analyst at the Department of Homeland Security who was pushed out of the agency after authoring a prescient reported that highlighted the threat of right-wing extremism early in the administration of President Obama. Johnson told Raw Story that the “heightened threat environment” can be largely attributed to one man: Donald Trump.
“We’re at the precipice of another national election, and he’s continuing to do the same thing he did in 2016 and 2020,” Johnson said. “He’s talking about how the last election was stolen, and a significant number of people believe it, despite the courts and the media saying otherwise. He continues to perpetuate the lie that the election was stolen. He’s radicalizing his base of supporters, and now that he’s facing all these indictments, unfortunately the hardcore Trump supporters believe this was orchestrated to keep him from becoming president again.”
A key question is whether Trump still has the ability to mobilize mass crowds in the streets, as he did following the 2020 election, when he tweeted, “Be there, will be wild,” summoning his supporters to Washington, D.C. for the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
ALSO READ: Neo-Nazi Marine Corps vet gets break over alleged possession of classified documents
The absence of large-scale extremist mobilization fits a pattern from the 2022 mid-term election, when many election-denialist candidates loyal to Trump were on the ballot, to the previous indictments earlier this year in New York, Miami and Washington, D.C., said Jared Holt, a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Holt said a post by Trump on his TruthSocial platform on Election Day 2022 suggests that the former president’s command over his most violence-prone supporters has weakened.
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Trump, for example, attempted to capitalize on a temporary software glitch at one of the city’s polling locations, and urged his supporters to “protest, protest, protest” in Detroit.
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Yet, “there was no major protest beyond a few dozen people,” Holt recalled. “That was a really interesting moment for me, as Trump explicitly saying, ‘I want people to protest here,’ and his supporters didn’t respond.”
More recently, in March, as his arrest in New York City neared, Trump issued a Jan. 6-like charge to supporters.
“PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” Trump’s Truth Social message concluded.
The former president also warned of "potential death and destruction" if he was charged with a crime.
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But few protesters came, and the scene was more comedic than chaotic.
The massive federal crackdown on rank-and-file Trump supporters who took part in the Jan. 6 insurrection has prompted the far-right movement to retreat from mass-scale events, and strategically redirect energy towards small-scale local actions targeting local institutions and marginalized communities.
During the past two years, the targets have included school boards and hospitals over issues such as COVID-19 restrictions, teaching race and gender identity and books that highlight marginalized people.
More recently, drag shows have come to the forefront as a target of far-right harassment.
It's hard to tell how that model might be applied to a presidential election cycle with a sequence of events playing out on a national scale, Holt said.
But he suggested Moms for Liberty, a far-right group at the forefront of battles over COVID restrictions and gender identity that has forged strong ties with Republican officeholders such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as the kind of group that might be able to harness the disparate impulses of the far right.
“There’s a lot of infrastructure on the right to support small, local stuff,” he said. “You can see how Moms for Liberty has exploded into this major force in a couple years after getting money dumped on it.Moms for Liberty is both grassroots and Astro-turfed. It exists in this weird gray area.A lot of organizing is local, but there’s a really strong reward structure on a national scale that gives them talking points and hands out targets.”
The culture war issues pushed by Moms for Liberty, building on the backlash to the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020, are all examples of an “activism and organizing muscle that the right is very good at keeping exercised,” Holt said.
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He added that “if someone stepped up and tried to use it in that way” during the election, “in theory it could cause a lot of havoc.”
Holt said he expects that the Republican primaries and the Republican National Convention will be key pivot points in the potential emergence of a far-right movement capable of mass action.
ALSO READ: U.S. Army reservist ran a ‘white nationalist’ training camp and touted KKK ties
“That’s when I’ll be looking to see who can flex the muscle and show that willingness to act on a broader scale,” he said.
Regardless of whether the leadership and organizational infrastructure falls into place to cause major chaos, Johnson observed that the far right now has something it’s been missing since January 2021 — a unifying objective.
“The 2024 election and Trump’s ongoing legal problems begins to create a cohesion and glue for people to rally around,” he said. “What we could see in the coming 12 months is these scattered groups of people coming together under a banner and fighting for a cause again.”
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Given the far-right’s reorientation toward more small-scale actions and localized targets, Johnson said it’s hard to imagine Trump’s supporters storming the U.S. Capitol again. But he said it’s not out of the question that something like that might happen at a capitol building in a swing state such as Georgia or Ohio.
The Jan. 6 arrests have had some deterrent effect, Johnson said, while Holt noted that the conspiracy mindset of many of Trump’s supporters causes them to look with suspicion on anyone who proposes large-scale political action, often accusing them of being federal agents intent on setting them up for arrest.
Johnson added that the law enforcement crackdown on Jan. 6 rioters, similar to a previous period after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, drove many of the most violent extremists underground. That increases the likelihood of more incidents like the Ohio man who attacked the FBI office last year, or the two individuals who threatened Biden and Chutkan earlier this month.
“What this boils into is more violence towards Democrats, judges, juries, the FBI and the Justice Department, more plotting assassinations and carrying assassinations,” Johnson said. “It’s very reminiscent of the 1960s, when we saw the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy.”
As Trump and his supporters continue to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen and that Democrats are scheming to steal the next one, while demonizing political opponents and embracing aggressive tactics, the conditions appear ripe for unrest.
Johnson, the former Department of Homeland Security analyst, Trump being convicted or put in jail could be a catalyst for violence. He noted that a few of Trump’s supporters have already been “pushed over the edge,” while others are already mobilizing by training with firearms.
“The catalyst is the event that triggers violence — Trump gets convicted and goes to jail, running for election and losing,” he said. “Even the fact that Trump wants to run and all of a sudden he can’t — that’s another triggering catalyst.”
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sex offender white sup and fed? $
https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/north-carolina-proud-boys-member/
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DC cop infiltration
no lnx
The case against a DC police lieutenant accused of helping Proud Boys is growing increasingly 'terrifying'
Alex HendersonMay 26, 2023
On Friday, May 19, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Lt. Shane Lamond had been indicted on four federal criminal charges: one for obstruction of justice, three for making false statements. DOJ prosecutors allege that Lamond shared police information with Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and tipped him off about a case against him: the one in which he was arrested for his part in burning a Black Lives Matter sign that had been stolen from an African-American church in late 2020.
Lamond's arrest follows Tarrio's conviction in a separate case. Tarrio, along with three other members of the Proud Boys, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building.
In an article published on May 26, Politico's Michael Schaffer emphasizes that the allegations against Lamond are especially troubling in light of his position in the MPD.
READ MORE: DC police officer 'privately shared' internal information with Proud Boys leader: report
"The indicted officer is not some random beat cop," Schaffer notes. "A 24-year veteran of the department, Lamond led the Intelligence Branch of the department’s Homeland Security unit until last year, when he was suspended after coming under investigation.That investigation culminated in a May 19 obstruction of justice indictment for allegedly lying to investigators who were looking into the relationship with Tarrio…. According to prosecutors, Lamond and Tarrio communicated 500 times beginning in 2019, often via chummy exchanges."
Michael Fanone, a former MPD officer who was violently attacked by Donald Trump supporters inside the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, has been sounding the alarm about far-right extremists working for police departments.
Fanone, now a CNN contributor, told Politico, "I think that most law enforcement agencies in this country are scrambling to maintain the officers they have and recruit new ones to replace the hundreds that they've lost. The last thing that they're worried about is coming up with a comprehensive screening process for domestic extremism.”
Schaffer warns that "the idea of even a small number of domestic extremists" being on the MPD "ought to be terrifying."
READ MORE: Right-wing DC police lieutenant suspended for allegedly sharing intel with Proud Boys leader: report
Civil rights attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard told Politico, "You'd be hard-pressed to think of a city where this is a more critical issue than Washington, D.C. What happens the next time we go on the January 6 path, which we all know could happen? What happens if there's this festering group within the MPD that haven't been weeded out? It's very dangerous.”
READ MORE: Proud Boys verdict is in: Guilty of seditious conspiracy
Politico's entire report is available at this link.
FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES
'Sounded like a bomb': Florida resident charged with tossing explosive during Jan. 6 insurrection ›
'Our work will continue': Merrick Garland speaks after Proud Boys and Oath Keepers convictions ›
Watch: Nazis and Proud Boys clash with anti-fascists outside Texas church hosting drag queen bingo ›
RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB
Proud Boys were ready for 'all-out war' before January 6 ... ›
Proud Boys trial: Four members found guilty of seditious conspiracy ... ›
Proud Boys leader found guilty of seditious conspiracy for driving ... ›
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oathkeeper rhodes gets 18 yrs, kelly meggs 12
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https://www.alternet.org/proud-boys-2660668562/
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youth poet laurate inaug?
https://www.alternet.org/mom-amanda-gorman-**proud-boys/ mom
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following the historic May 4 conviction of Proud Boys chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and three others for seditious conspiracy for their involvement in the violent January 6 riot at the Capitol, right-wing media have decried the ruling and asserted their innocence.
The Proud Boys have a history of violence and are known to spread hatred under the label of Western chauvinism. The jury found the four Proud Boy leaders guilty for conspiring to violently keep former President Donald Trump in power after messages and witness testimony hinted at violent action at the Capitol. Over the past two years, figures in right-wing media have frequently pointed to the lack of conspiracy charges related to January 6 as evidence that the insurrection was blown out of proportion. The Proud Boys' conviction takes that myopic argument off the table.
While Fox News has barely covered the conviction, many on the right have devoted time to undermining the seditious conspiracy charge and the Proud Boys’ acts of violence on January 6, attacking prosecutors, and defending Trump from potential similar charges. Since the conviction, right-wing media figures have also been defending the Proud Boys by attacking the courts.
Defending the Proud Boys’ innocence, undermining the charges, and calling the trial a “set-up”
- Founder of the Proud Boys Gavin McInnes posted on Telegram: “Antifa and BLM burn down this country with impunity. Proud Boys wander through a riot and now they’re facing twenty years. These guys have kids. This might as well be the death penalty.”
- Right-wing YouTuberSteven Crowder complained that the seditious conspiracy theory charge was too broad, asking, “Can someone give me the definition of seditious conspiracy?” He added, “We're all seditious conspiracy theorists.”
- Newsmax’s Greg Kelly called the “whole damn thing” a “sham and a shame.” He also claimed that Tarrio “was just unjustly convicted of the worst possible thing.”
- QAnon influencer The Patriot Voice posted on far-right social media site Gettr, “There is NO JUSTICE here.” He added, “They are being made an example of in the WORST way possible…Do this we will RUIN YOUR LIFE. SICK.”
- Right-wing radio host Mark Levin suggested that the trial was a miscarriage of justice, saying, “You don't have to be big big fans of the Proud Boys to believe in civil liberties and due process.”
- Infowars’ Alex Jones called the trial a “total set up,” before attacking trans people.
- Proud Boys’ lawyer Norm Pattis used his appearance on Infowars to ask Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to “get that weaponization committee to subpoena the trial transcripts in this case, all of them, including the transcripts that are under seal.”
- Gateway Pundit published a post titled: “JUSTICE DENIED: Proud Boys Members Guilty of Seditious Conspiracy by DC Kangaroo Court – Face 20 Years in Prison –After FBI Created and Planted Evidence in Their Chat Room.”
- Right wing social media account Carpe Donktum tweeted: “The entire thing was a total set up, and the cops were in on it. YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS IN DC, THEY WILL SET YOU UP AND LOCK YOU UP.”
- Conservative reporter Patrick Howley called the conviction, “a miscarriage of justice,” adding that they were found guilty by a “Soviet-style court.”
- Anti-muslim activist and failed GOP congressional candidate Laura Loomer attacked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Speaker Kevin McCarthy for not issuing a statement, adding, “How many more American patriots will be charged w/ ‘seditious conspiracy’?”
- Right-wing pundit DeAnna Lorraine reacted to the news saying, “DESPICABLE. Any last shred of Justice in America is DEAD.”
Suggesting that the Proud Boys’ conviction opens the door for the same charges to be brought against Trump
- Conservative radio host Jesse Kelly tweeted: “What’s happened to the Proud Boys is a travesty and it would frighten you more if you realized they’re gonna do the same thing to you. First it was them. Then it will be Trump. Then it will be you.”
- Right-wing influencers the Hodgetwins tweeted: “Corrupt and biased prosecutors, judge, and jurors just convicted the Proud Boys of Seditious Conspiracy, a 20 year felony, for Jan 6. They’re setting it up to indict Trump next…”
- White nationalist conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec tweeted: “Clear now the Biden Admin is going to charge Trump with seditious conspiracy. This is the end goal of the Garland grand jury and the Proud Boys convictions. GOP primary challengers are telling donors they are betting on it taking him out of the race.”
- On the May 4 episode of his show The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, co-host Buck Sexton hypothesized that “they're going to try to bring a seditious conspiracy charge against Donald Trump.
- When asked if she thought charges would be brought against Trump on the May 5 episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, guest and political commentator Julie Kelly alleged that, “None of this is by accident. It is a warning shot to not just Trump, but people around him, possibly John Eastman and others, for allegedly conspiring.”
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the trial of several members of the Proud Boys on seditious conspiracy charges was thrown into chaos this week after it was revealed that a witness the defense planned to call served as a government informant.
The Associated Press reports that Carmen Hernandez, a lawyer for former Proud Boys chapter leader Zachary Rehl, called for an emergency hearing after prosecutors informed her that one of her planned witnesses was a "confidential human source" for federal law enforcement officials.
She alleges that prosecutors sat on this information for months and did not spring it on her until Wednesday.
Although the alleged informant is not named in Hernandez's filing, she does detail interactions that they had with some members of the Proud Boys who are now on trial.
"Hernandez said the unnamed informant participated in 'prayer meetings' with relatives of at least one of the Proud Boys on trial and had discussions with family members about replacing one of the defense lawyers on the case," writes the Associated Press. "The informant also has been in contact with at least one of the defense lawyers and at least one of the five defendants."
FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES
- Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio suggests he may be 'running for office' ›
- Proud Boys members 'intend to subpoena' Donald Trump at their seditious conspiracy trial ›
- Proud Boys bloodied and jailed during NYC drag queen story hour protest ›
RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB
- Prosecutors rest in sedition case against Proud Boys leaders | AP ... ›
- Proud Boys and antifa - who are they and what do they want? - BBC ... ›
- 'Spill' of classified info derails Proud Boys trial - POLITICO ›
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clashes between Proud Boys and counter-protesters led to at least one arrest on Sunday.
The incidents occurred on 7th Avenue in New York City at the Drag Queen Story Hour with Attorney General Letitia James event.
Videos shared online showed some protesters wearing gear and colors associated with the Proud Boys.
Members of the far-right group were seen clashing with counter-protesters in the street.
One video shows a man in Proud Boys colors being arrested.
In another video, a group member appears with blood on his face.
"I came here to help, not get the shit beat out of me," he says.
Watch the video clips below.
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police officers were among the Washington, D.C. residents who were violently attacked when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in the hope of preventing the certification of now-President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. According to federal prosecutors for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the far-right groups that were involved in the Capitol insurrection included, among others, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and QAnon.
Yet activists who monitor far-right extremist groups have been warning about their efforts to ally themselves with members of law enforcement. According to the Associated Press, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was, in late 2020, fed information by an "intelligence officer" for the Metropolitan Police. The Miami-born Tarrio is facing federal seditious conspiracy charges along with four other members of the Proud Boys.
AP journalist Michael Kunzelman, in an article published on February 15, reports that Metropolitan Police Lt. Shane Lamond — according to the prosecution at Tarrio’s trial — gave Tarrio "internal information about law enforcement operations in the weeks before other members of his far-right extremist group stormed the U.S. Capitol."
READ MORE:Proud Boys members 'intend to subpoena' Donald Trump at their seditious conspiracy trial
Federal prosecutor Conor Mulroe, Kunzelman reports, "privately exchanged" messages with Tarrio "in the run-up to a mob’s attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021."
"Lamond, an intelligence officer for the city’s police department, was responsible for monitoring groups like the Proud Boys when they came to Washington for protests," the AP reporter explains. "Less than three weeks before the January 6 riot, Lamond warned Tarrio that the FBI and U.S. Secret Service were 'all spun up' over talk on an Infowars internet show that the Proud Boys planned to dress up as supporters of President Joe Biden on the Democrat’s inauguration day."
When Mulroe asked FBI special agent Peter Dubrowski — one of the witnesses at the trial — how common it is for police officers to share internal information in that way, Dubrowski replied, "I’ve never heard of it."
Tarrio, who lives in Florida, wasn’t among the Proud Boys members who was in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. Tarrio, in fact, had been arrested on January 4, 2021 in connection with something unrelated to the Capitol insurrection: the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner taken from an African-American church during a December 2020 protest. Federal prosecutors, however, allege that Tarrio helped coordinate a seditious conspiracy.
READ MORE:Proud Boys planning to disrupt another drag event before all the Club Q bodies are even buried
Kunzelman reports, "In a message to Tarrio on December 25, 2020, Lamond said Metropolitan Police Department investigators had asked him to identify Tarrio from a photograph. He warned Tarrio that police may be seeking a warrant for his arrest. Later, on the day of his arrest, Tarrio posted a message to other Proud Boys leaders that said, ‘The warrant was just signed’…. Tarrio and his four lieutenants are charged with seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power and keep former President Donald Trump in the White House after the 2020 presidential election."
READ MORE: Proud Boys leader pleads guilty to seditious conspiracy and unlawful firearm possession
Read the Associated Press’ full report at this link.
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https://www.alternet.org/proud-boys-subpoena-donald-trump/
2nd batch gondor convicted
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raw
members of the Proud Boys militant group plotted on social media for months ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection to take action against what they believed to be an election stolen from Donald Trump.
Prosecutors presented a trove of posts from the far-right platform Parler this week in the trial of five Proud Boys, including longtime national chairman Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, charged with sedition and other crimes in connection with the assault on the U.S. Capitol, reported USA Today.
"The left doesn't realize they are radicalizing people by stealing this election," wrote defendant Joseph "Rambo" Biggs on Nov. 4, 2020, the day after the general election. "They are gonna create their own worst enemy from this."
Biggs posted the following day that group members must "take action. Peacefully," but "storm into these election areas where they are counting ballots. Four hours later, he vowed "War if they steal this"
weeks later, on Nov. 27, 2020, defendant Zachary Rehl called for the executions of anyone he believed was stealing the election.
"Hopefully the firing squads are for the traitors that are trying to steal the election from the American people," Rehl wrote, and linked to a news article on the Trump administration's push to bring back firing squads and electrocutions for federal executions.
Tarrio referenced a remark made by Trump toward the extremist group during a presidential debate, saying his "Standby order has been rescinded" shortly after the election, and another defendant, Ethan Nordean, wrote on Parler that he wanted to start a new political group, the Rebels of America Party.
"Say what you want, advocate for mutual combat laws (fighting solves everything), zero gun laws and restrictions, yes ZERO, privatize everything and limit the government to protection of its citizens only," wrote Nordean, suggesting he would run for president in 2024.
A week before the riot, Tarrio encouraged group members to "turn out in record numbers," but with an added "twist," telling them to disguise themselves during the demonstration.
"We will not be wearing our traditional black and yellow," Tarrio wrote. "We will be incognito and we will spread across downtown DC in smaller teams."
Others encouraged group members to wear "basic attire," "Trump gear" or black clothing associated with Antifa activists.
"We are going to smell like you, move like you and look like you," Nordean wrote. "The only thing we will do thats (sic) us is think like us."
rww
- michael Edison Hayden and Megan Squire @ Hatewatch: Infowars’ Alex Jones Says He Lives ‘in Hell,’ Texts Show.
- Travis Gettys @ Raw Story: Proud Boys plotted ‘firing squads’ ahead of Jan. 6 riot: ‘War if they steal this.’
- Mack Lamoureux @ Vice News: Incels Are Using Their Wiki to Clean Their Abhorrent Reputation and Recruit ‘Normies.
- Joe Jervis: Man Running For Third Senate Term Files Constitutional Amendment Limiting Future US Senators To Two Terms.
- William Vaillancourt @ The Daily Beast: GOP Rep. Eric Burlison, Mad Over Dropped Newsmax, Invokes Holocaust.
- Ali Breland @ Mother Jones: The Website That Wants You to Kill Yourself—and Won’t Die.
Tags: Alex JonesEric BurlisonTed CruzRound-UpProud Boys
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Members of the Proud Boys are reportedly telling former President Donald Trump to stand back and stand by for a subpoena.
According to New York Times reported Alan Feuer, members of the Proud Boys who have been accused by the government of engaging in a seditious conspiracy are saying they "intend to subpoena Donald Trump as a witness at the trial."
Although it's not clear why members of the gang would want Trump to testify on their behalf, many other January 6th defendants have argued that broke into the Capitol and violently clashed with police officers because it was what the former president wanted them to do.
Feuer, however, expresses skepticism that the defendants will really be able to compel Trump's testimony.
"That hasn’t flown with judges in other J6 cases so we’ll see where it goes," he said of past efforts to score Trump as a witness. "An Ohio exterminator tried to subpoena Trump at his own trial last year. The judge shut it down."
The Proud Boys members are under increased pressure after the government earlier this week won seditious conspiracy convictions against four more members of the Oath Keepers militia, whom prosecutors argued engaged in a plot to block the peaceful transition of power to keep Trump in the White House
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https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d3vyd/proud-boys-trial-fbi-informants-testify-defense
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12 22 rww
a holiday drag story time event was canceled in Columbus, Ohio, after the Proud Boys and other right-wing extremist groups showed up in force.
Red Oak Community School and the First Unitarian Universalist Church had advertised its “Holi-Drag” story time charity event for kids last month. Shortly after, members of the Proud Boys announced plans to disrupt the event, Right Wing Watch first reported.
On Saturday, scores of Proud Boys dressed in the signature black and yellow uniforms and members of Patriot Front, some of whom were armed, rallied outside of the First Unitarian Universalist Church, which was hosting the event. Alleging that the story time event amounts to “grooming”—the rhetoric at the heart of recent political attacks on LGBTQ people—the Proud Boys held signs with messages like, “Groomers make Santa sad” and “Groomers go home.” Another read “Proud Boys Story Hour Today’s Book Death of the West Chapter 9,” in an apparent reference to a book authored by far-right activist Pat Buchanan, who fearmongers about immigrantsreplacing “America’s white majority.”
Other videos show Proud Boys members dancing to the “YMCA,” the unofficial LGBTQ anthem, and a police officer acknowledging that he high-fived a Proud Boy because he had complimented his mustache.
On Dec. 3, the day of planned event, Cheryl Ryan, the school’s manager announced its cancellation. Taking the church’s stage decorated by kids who had planned on listening to stories that afternoon, she said the school had canceled the event after an internal debate over “how this community could be best protected.” Ryan saidshe called the Columbus Police and was initially told they could hire a special duty officer “who may or may not show up because they’re understaffed,” while a “community defense team” they hired felt uncomfortable with a police presence. Ultimately, the event was canceled when the performers said they were uncomfortable performing without a police presence.
“The world is getting more and more unsafe for the LGBTQ community; the attacks are constant and getting worse,” Ryan said. “The fact that we not able to successfully host this simple event shows the extent of the damage. We have to do better.”
“I implore this community’s leaders to consider how this could’ve gone differently,” she said at another point in her speech. “How will they do better for next drag story time the Proud Boys threaten to show up at again, which they will.”
“You’re damn right we will. That’s a promise,” the Official Cape Fear Proud Boys responded in a post on Telegram, painting her speech as “unconditional surrender.” “Not once did she acknowledge the groomers who are truly responsible for the Proud Boys showing up. If you don’t want Proud Boys outside your drag event, don’t invite children.”
“We will be watching, and We. Are. Everywhere,” read another Telegram post by the Proud Boys Ohio.
In another post, The Columbus Proud Boys gloated over a video of a woman who said that her little sister is a drag queen and called her for fear of her safety after the Proud Boys came to Columbus. She also said that the Proud Boys were harassing businesses that had hosted drag shows. The Columbus Proud Boys shared the video with the caption, “She forgot to say ‘and everyone clapped!’”
One commentator responded to the video with a meme that stated, “KILL IT WITH FIRE.”
For its part, the Columbus Police disputed the school’s account that they were absent and said they tried to work with the school and the church. On Monday, the police chief issued a message to the community after an officer was seen high-fiving a Proud Boys member, claiming that the dialogue team member’s action “was not done to show solidarity but to diffuse a tense situation.”
“I along with the officers in the department stand fully with the LGBTQ+ community. No one should be intimidated, harassed, or threatened just because of who they are or whom they love. As a division historically, we know there has been a disconnect between members of this community and our department. We have worked and will continue to work hard to strengthen those relationships,” Police Chief Elaine Bryant said. “We will not stand for extremist groups to come into this city and cause violence.”
Department of Homeland Security issued a new bulletin last week that added the LGBTQ community to groups under threat of potential domestic terror attacks. That followed the shooting at a LGBTQ night club in Colorado in which five people were killed and 25 others were injured.
The cancelation of the Columbus drag story time stands in stark contrast to others that have proceeded with police support amid right-wing extremists’ vows to disrupt them. In Lakeland, Florida, right-wing extremists rallied outside a drag charity event, holding Nazi flags, shouting profanities, and recording attendees. Police were called in, and the show went on. DeShazo, the host and a performer of that event, told local news station WFLA that he was satisfied with how Lakeland Police responded to the incident.
“I think they did well at being neutral but also making sure we were safe and they came in several times to check on me and check on our people. So I’m happy with the way they responded,” said DeShazo.
Tags: Anti-LGBTQ Columbus Proud Boys Proud Boys
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rww post clubQ
rww 11 22
a local chapter of the far-right Proud Boys plans to disrupt a Dec. 3 drag story event in Columbus, Ohio, just two weeks after the killings at a LGBTQ night clubin Colorado Springs.
The Columbus Proud Boys announced their plans to disrupt the kids story time event held at the First Unitarian Universalist Churchof Columbus on Telegram last Tuesday. Advance Democracy, Inc., a non-partisan, non-profit research organization, first flagged the post. The post read:
The Columbus Proud Boys would like to announce that we will be attending the Holi-drag Storytime being held at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus on December 3rd! We look forward to meeting all of the attendees and welcome Americans from all over to join us. It’s gonna be wild! Stand by for details…
The emphasis of a “wild” protest is likely a reference to Jan. 6. Former President Donald Trump had called on his supporters to attend a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, promising that it would “be wild!” Many of attendees of that rally, including members of the Proud Boys, later marched on the U.S. Capitol, attacking police officers and storming the building.
While the Proud Boys is probably best known for its role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol—for which several members face seditious conspiracy charges—the far-right, neo-fascist group is also known for its members’ presence at the 2017 white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where one counterprotester was murdered. Since the failed insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Proud Boys members have focused their efforts locally, disrupting school board meetings over mask mandates and LGBTQ-inclusive policies, and harassing attendees of drag story events, fearmongering that trans people are “grooming” children.
[post]
already this year, the Proud Boys have disrupted drag events in Texas, Nevada, North Carolina, and California. In Idaho, the right-wing extremist group Patriot Front took it a step further; 31 people associated with the organization were arrested after they were found in a trailer full of weapons next to a Pride event.
The post by the Columbus Proud Boys announcing its plans to disrupt the Columbus event has been viewed more than 1,600 times. Just 45 minutes after posting, the post was further promoted by the Official Cape Fear Proud Boys, a North Carolina-based chapter that coordinated multiple efforts to disrupt drag events in the past six months. It was also shared by an Ohio Proud Boys channel and “the Infamous Legend Valley Proud Boys” channel, which shared an image the following day promising “Ohio Proud Boys Season Beatings.” On Monday, the Legend Valley Proud Boys shared a meme calling for violence against perceived perpetrators of pedophilia.
A meme posted on the Legend Valley Proud Boys channel. The image depicts a character in the “Walking Dead” who randomly choses a victim and kills him with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed-wire.
The Dec. 3 event is sponsored by Red Oak Community Schools, a school dedicated to fostering “students’ sense of their place and power in the natural world and in their communities.” A Facebook page promoting the event describes “Holi-drag Storytime” as “a new family-friendly, LGBTQ+ holiday tradition” in which local drag queens “will read stories for children of ALL ages and perform a few holiday numbers!”
Of course, the Proud Boys have alleged that the event amounts to “grooming”—the rhetoric at the heart of recent political attacks on LGBTQ people. A video posted the Columbus Proud Boys channel last Thursday called on members to “stand against grooming” and provided the address of the church. “All I want for Christmas is an end to child grooming. Help Saint Nicolas scold the Naughty groomers,” text in the video reads, calling on members to arrive before 10 a.m. Another image shows a picture of Santa Claus giving the middle fingers. “Its rally time boys!” a final message reads.
Right Wing Watch reached out to Red Oak Community Schools and the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus. We will update this story should either respond. The church’s website describes it as a place to “come together to grow in religious depth, valuing freedom, reason, tolerance, love.” Shortly after the Proud Boys’ announcement, Red Oak Community Schools said they meet hate with love and invited donations, posting on Facebook, “For every nasty comment, dislike, negative email, phone call, etc. we receive about our upcoming FABULOUS fundraiser, we’re collecting donation pledges for a local LGBTQ+ organization.”
The Proud Boys’ announced plan to disrupt the event came just days before a lone gunman targeted patrons of a gay night club in Colorado, killing five people and injuring 25 others. LGBTQ leaders have noted that this attack follows years of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and an increasing number of Republican politicians characterizing trans people as “groomers.” Religious-right groups have drafted anti-trans legislation, encouraged lawmakers to sponsor such legislation, and laid the groundwork for their passage through disinformation and pressure campaigns, a Right Wing Watch investigation found last year.
On the Sunday morning following the attack on Club Q, Democratic Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone said such rhetoric was to blame. “When politicians and pundits keep perpetuating tropes, insults, and misinformation about the trans and LGBTQ+ community, this is a result,” she wrote.
Tags: Anti-LGBTQ Columbus Proud Boys Proud Boys
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https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/proud-boys-members-harass-groomers/
pride event?
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an ah 10 22
In QAnon circles, some far-right conspiracy theorists believe that Juan O. Savin, a.k.a. Wayne Willott, is really John F. Kennedy Jr. — who was 38 when he was killed in a plane crash in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts in 1999. Kennedy, according to their outlandish claim, faked his own death and is now a 61-year-old influencer in the far-right QAnon movement.
But Savin/Willott himself has never claimed to be President John F. Kennedy’s son. He has, however, promoted another bogus conspiracy theory: the Big Lie, falsely claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump through widespread voter fraud. And Savin/Willott is the co-founder of the America First Secretary of State Coalition (AFSOSC), an organization that is trying to get fellow Big Lie promoters elected to secretary of state positions in the 2022 midterms. One of his candidates is Jim Marchant, Nevada’s Republican secretary of state nominee and AFSOSC’s other co-founder.
The Daily Beast’s Kelly Weill examines the progress that Savin/Willott has made in an article published on October 25, noting that AFSOSC’s coal is “to place election-denying candidates in charge of states’ elections.”
READ MORE:This Big Lie-promoting conspiracy theorist could become Nevada’s top election official
:{:{“Just weeks out from the midterms,” Weill reports, “some AFSOS-backed candidates have remained in lockstep with Savin and his allies, even as other Republicans draw away from the QAnon-aligned figures. Secretaries of state help run elections and certify their states’ election results; following Donald Trump’s refusal to accept his 2020 loss, election deniers on the right have eyed secretary of state roles as a possible way to force Republican victories.”}:
Marchant, according to Weill, has said, “When I’m secretary of state of Nevada, we are going to fix it, and when my coalition of secretary of state candidates around the country get elected, we’re going to fix the whole country — and President Trump is going to be president again in 2024.”
Weill warns that Savin/Willott’s “partnership” with Marchant “is anything but small.”}:
:{:{“The AFSOSC site solicits donations through another Marchant-run group, Conservatives for Election Integrity,” Weill reports. }::{“That PAC has raised more than $400,000 since the beginning of the year, recent finance filings show. One of CFEI’s largest donors is the America Project, a group co-founded by election deniers and Trump pals Michael Flynn and Patrick Byrne. }::{CFEI has spent nearly $170,000 on a Las Vegas contractor that previously made headlines for recruiting Proud Boys to attend a rally outside a Nevada election center just days after the 2020 vote, OpenSecrets reported.”}::{}:
Weill continues, “Meanwhile, AFSOSC is backing candidates in multiple close races, in swing states where a partisan secretary of state could change the shape of future elections. Some of those candidates are active participants in events with Savin and other conspiracy theorists. The day after (an October 14) speech in Florida, Savin attended a ‘New Mexico Election Integrity Forum’ hosted by Lara Logan.Also in attendance, in person or virtually, were Marchant, New Mexico secretary of state candidate Audrey Trujillo, Arizona secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem, and Michigan secretary of state candidate Kristina Karamo. All are AFSOSC candidates who have peddled conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.”
The Beast reporter points out that some of Savin/Willett’s AFSOSC candidates are very competitive in their races.
“Marchant has consistently polled ahead of his Democratic opponent Cisco Aguilar,” Weill observes. “A survey from Arizona’s Family and HighGround in mid-October found Finchem polling one point ahead of the state’s Democratic candidate.”
READ MORE:Doug Mastriano shredded by Philly paper for 'chilling' plans to overturn future elections
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an 10 22
no lnx
Proud Boys founder declares 'massive civil war' as members accuse each other of pedophilia
David Badash and The New Civil Rights Movement October 10, 2022
After attending the national convention of the Proud Boys — the far-right, transphobic, extremist organization that participated in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riots — the group’s founder Gavin McInnes said he’s witnessing a “massive civil war” among the group.
The Proud Boys has split into two factions: “National” chapters that still recognize the group’s U.S. leaders (a handful of which have been arrested for participating in the riots) and “Standard” local chapters that reject those leaders. Both groups have accused the other of racism, pedophilia, and harboring federal informants.
The split began with the revelation that Enrique Tarrio, the group’s national “chairman,” served as a federal informant on cases before the Proud Boys group formed. Some Standard members feel that Tarrio led the group into disgrace by involving them in the riots. These local chapters said that individual groups should have more autonomy to avoid government informants who have infiltrated the organization.
McInnes, who formally abandoned his leadership over the organization in 2018 when its members were accused of attacking Democratic events in mob-style violence, recently went online to dismiss two Standard supporters with connections to racist skinhead groups.
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“McInnes’ move to issue expulsions suggests that he still holds leadership power over the Proud Boys,despite his claims to the contrary. McInnes didn’t respond to requests for comment,” The Daily Beast reported.
Last week, a prominent Proud Boy named Jeremy Bertino pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy for his role in coordinating the Proud Boys’ presence at the Capitol riots. He is now cooperating with federal prosecutors in their investigation of the Proud Boys.
New Zealand declared the Proud Boys a terrorist organization in June 2022.
McInnes has also published several transphobic articles calling trans people “mentally ill gays,” voicing support for Trump’s trans military ban, and calling parental support of trans children “child abuse.”
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sep conspir trials but roger links the two?
an 10 22
Jeremy Bertino, a former of the North Carolina chapter of the right-wing militia group the Proud Boys, pleaded guilty to two felonies on Thursday relating to his participation in planning the deadly January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol.
"On multiple occasions in 2020, Bertino traveled to Washington, D.C., for rallies as a member of the Proud Boys. During one trip, on Dec. 12, 2020, several individuals, including Bertino and other Proud Boys members, were involved in an altercation. During that altercation, Bertino, among others, was stabbed. Bertino was hospitalized, released, and was still recovering outside of the Washington D.C. area from his injuries as of Jan. 6, 2021. Otherwise, he would have traveled to Washington," the Department of Justice said in a press release.
"The firearms charge stems from an FBI search of Bertino’s residence on March 8, 2022," DOJ explained. "While executing a search warrant, agents located six firearms, including an AR-15 style firearm with a scope, and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition. Bertino was barred from possessing firearms and/or ammunition due to a previous conviction."
READ MORE: Watch: Nazis and Proud Boys clash with anti-fascists outside Texas church hosting drag queen bingo
Bertino could be sentenced to decades behind bars, depending on how the presiding judge rules.
"Bertino faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and up to 10 years in prison for the firearms charge. The charges also carry potential financial penalties. No sentencing date was set," DOJ added. "A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors."
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an 9 22
Andy Campbell, a senior editor at The Huffington Post who is the author of the book We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism has said that The Proud Boys and other far-right vigilante groups will likely commit violence during the next two upcoming elections.
In a recent interview, Campell noted the Proud Boys were founded by right-wing commentator Gavin McInnes to fight in ways that other straight-laced Republicans wouldn’t.
Campbell also noted former President Donald Trump’s ominous command for the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his final September 2020 debate against now-President Joe Biden.
Several Proud Boys members are currently on trial for sedition for their involvement in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“I think we might learn some bombshells about their connection to Trump’s inner circle,” Campbell said. “And the fact that several top-level Proud Boys have already agreed to testify against their own means we may learn a lot.”
Trump also recently said that the nation would face “problems … the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen” if he is indicted for taking classified documents after leaving office. His comment was widely seen as a call for his followers to commit violence if he’s ever criminally charged.
“I think Trump knows that everybody is going to react violently to this,” Campbell said. “The pipeline between the rhetoric and the violence in the street is so short now. How many hours was it between the time he was complaining about the FBI going through Mar-a-Lago and somebody showing up with a gun to an FBI field office? He knows he has people waiting to mobilize.”
Campbell added, “There will absolutely be Proud Boys violence in 2024 and I think in the 2022 election, too,” noting that Arizona Republicans have called for vigilante justice around ballot boxes.
“I think they are absolutely going to show up in force for Trump’s election regardless of what happens. I think we have to realize that the violence has trickled out to everyday Americans. It’s not just extremist groups anymore. Trump pointing to the back and calling the press the enemy, Trump glorifying Jan. 6 rioters,… that has come full circle.”
He concluded, “I think the spirit of January 6 is still here. All of the groups involved are still here, and everyday Americans have joined them… It’s going to be scary.”
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/19/mask-mandate-midterm-elections/
wapo no lnx
Military
Building on anti-mask activism, far-right groups pivot from mandates to midterms
Energized by their fight against government coronavirus restrictions, far-right activists are rallying supporters to engage in politics and show up to vote.
Image without a caption
By Hannah Allam
March 19, 2022
A person holds a sign advocating for the recall of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee during a protest against coronavirus vaccine mandates and other issues, on March 5, 2022, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. (Ted S. Warren/AP)
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Melanie Gabriel became the teen idol of Washington state’s anti-masking movement last fall when she showed up to school and, claiming a medical exemption, marched barefaced to class.
As Gabriel’s protest continued and she was barred from campus, she drew support from self-styled militia groups and other far-right extremists who saw the anti-mandate movement as a chance to rally conservatives toward more-militant stances. Members of the Proud Boys offered to escort Gabriel to class, prompting a security lockdown of three schools.
Now, with the lifting of most mask and vaccine requirements, Gabriel and her far-right backers are mobilizing the networks they’ve built over the past two years toward a new goal: November’s midterm elections.
Gabriel spoke this month at a gathering that was emblematic of the increasingly blurry lines on the right — it was organized by the far-right Washington Three Percent and sponsored by a conservative student group, Turning Point USA. With the state Capitol dome in the background, speaker after speaker told supporters not to get complacent with mandates gone.
“Just because they’re lifted doesn’t mean they’re going to stay that way, and that’s why we’re all here,” said Gabriel, a striking figure in a bright crimson bob, cat-eye makeup, and a T-shirt with the anti-Biden slogan “Let’s Go Brandon.” Her bullhorn was decorated with stickers that read “Say No To Critical Hate Theory” and “Allergic to socialism.”
A man in the audience yelled that Gabriel should run for governor.
“I will!” Gabriel replied. “I will run for governor. And I’ll run for president. And I’ll run for everything!” She waited a beat before adding: “Once I’m of legal age.”
That’s the kind of youthful energy far-right movements are working to harness across the country as they teach the pandemic’s newly minted activists how to get out the vote.
A school board race in Washington state shows how far-right groups are thinking locally
Extremism trackers say the past two years of fighting pandemic restrictions have given far-right groups a new generation of recruits and a blueprint for taking the lead in conservative organizing. The midterm season, they warn, brings a heightened risk of political violence, as armed groups build on those gains to push deeper into the mainstream.
“In Olympia today, we saw paramilitary groups and a range of other anti-democracy activists aggressively working to recruit young people and making pledges of unity against what they see as their common enemies,” Eric K. Ward, executive director of Western States Center, a regional extremism watchdog, said in a statement after the event where Gabriel spoke.
Anti-mandate activists galvanized a broad cross section of political conservatives by melding disparate agendas into one fuzzy call to “fight tyranny.” By now, most of their big demonstrations look like a right-wing soup, featuring Trump and MAGA logos, self-styled militia insignia, Confederate flags, references to the debunked QAnon movement, and Christian nationalist prayers.
Researchers say connections forged early in the pandemic allowed once-fringe groups to take on more visible roles in other kinds of organizing, such as the “Stop the Steal” effort to overturn the 2020 election results, or the campaign to whitewash U.S. history by attacking the teaching of racism and its impact.
New laws on teaching about race have teachers scared, confused and self-censoring
The nonstop focus on grievances, researchers say, has created a tinderbox of disenchanted Americans who view themselves as foot soldiers in a struggle against mandates and other perceived attacks on personal liberties. Many right-wing politicians and media personalities are stoking the outrage in pursuit of a “red wave” in November.
“The grievances are there as a reservoir for mobilization, but they still have to be triggered.They have to be activated towards specific action,” said Robert Pape, a University of Chicago professor leading an in-depth study of the rioters who violently breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “And it rarely happens spontaneously.”
The event where Gabriel spoke was called GRIT, for Government Resistance Impedes Tyranny. Several hundred people participated, along with a convoy of big rigs, part of the U.S. version of the Canadian trucker demonstrations that united a variety of conspiracy-minded protesters.
Unlike at previous far-right gatherings in Olympia, no leftist counter protesters showed up, and the event was peaceful.Journalists were encouraged to refer to it as a “freedom festival,” not a rally. On the damp statehouse grounds, leather-clad bikers chatted about gas prices with khakis-wearing politicians. Gun rights activists told college students that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an example of why they consider the Second Amendment untouchable. A voter registration table sat next to a self-styled militia’s information booth, a reminder that, in this milieu, there are two paths to making change.
Organizer Matt Marshall, founder of the Washington Three Percent and a member of his local school board,called the rally “a networking event” to connect pandemic-era upstarts with more established groups and reliable donors. A dozen or so Republican candidates for congressional and local races worked the crowd, urging constituents to serve on precinct committees as a first step into politics.
Some had clear-cut ties to extremism, with documented support for and interactions with parts of the anti-government movement. Take, for example, a former police chief named Loren Culp, a failed gubernatorial candidate now running to unseat U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, one of 10 members of the House GOP who voted to impeach President Trump after the Capitol riot. Culp has close ties to a far-right sheriff’s organization that believes local authorities have the power to decide whether state and federal laws are constitutional; in 2018, he pledged he wouldn’t enforce a statewide gun-control law.
Many other candidates, however, fall into a gray area. They espouse views or cultivate relationships that only a few years ago would have put them on the far-right fringe, but which are now broadly shared, or at least tolerated, by Republican leaders. Extremism researchers say it’s startling how quickly it became socially acceptable for relatively mainstream groups like Turning Point USA to provide funding and speakers to an event led by the anti-government Washington Three Percent.
“This kind of meshing of people is typical of the landscape we’re seeing right now — the blurring of the line with an extremist host and mainstream sponsor,” said Carla Hill, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, which is tracking more than 100 political candidates who have documented ties to extremist groups or conspiratorial movements.
Black, brown and extremist: Across the far-right spectrum, people of color play a more visible role
Rachel Anderson, 29, head of Lewis County Young Republicans in the western part of the state, told the crowd how in the space of a year she went from being politically unaware to joining other nascent activists in “taking over” the county party. She said she has helped four Young Republicans get elected and contributed to a threefold increase in local GOP fundraising — work she calls vital to electoral success next fall.
“We can’t be complacent anymore,” Anderson told the crowd, to cheers. “We have to go out there. We have to canvass our voting rolls, make sure that every single vote counts and we elect proper, conservative patriots into office.”
As they stump for votes, some Republican hopefuls are encountering a problem of their party’s own making. After two solid years of being fed lies about a stolen election, a bloc of Republicans no longer see the point in voting and refuse to participate in what they regard as a corrupt system.
“We still get a lot of people who say, ‘Nah, I just don’t believe it matters,’” said Joe Kent, a former Green Beret trying to oust Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R), whose vote to impeach President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot made her a pariah within much of the GOP. “And there’s where we’ve got to come back, to tell people we’re taking real stands.”
When asked whether he had qualms about appearing at an event alongside groups like the Washington Three Percent, Kent looked puzzled and said he didn’t know the organizers.
“All I know is that there’s a bunch of people with flags,” he said.
[How the Jan. 6 Capitol riot happened: A Washington Post investigation
Within days of the event, Kent was under scrutiny again for another far-right link: a phone call with white nationalist Nick Fuentes in which the two discussed working together on social media strategy for Kent’s campaign. In an interview, Kent told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he had no association with Fuentes beyond the conversation last spring.
Federal authorities are careful to say they don’t police protected views, including the racist or anti-government stances often articulated at anti-mandate events, and don’t want to overhype a fringe threat. The problem is, violent messaging is now laced throughout the planning for big gatherings, making it difficult to separate “keyboard warriors” from real-life provocateurs.
John Cohen, the top Homeland Security counterterrorism official, said in public remarks last month that the current threat environment is “more volatile and even more dynamic than it was even back in December.” A recent report from the global nonprofit conflict-monitoring group known as ACLED said current trends in guns and violence at U.S. protests “raises the specter of further escalation in armed demonstration activity going into the upcoming midterm elections.”
At the Olympia gathering, guns were concealed, in accordance with a recently changed law that bans open-carry near protests and the state Capitol grounds. The event was legally permitted, and organizers had asked participants not to display hateful imagery. Three Percenter logos, a few Confederate flags and a Proud Boys shirt were visible, but most of the participants wore generic MAGA, anti-Biden, or red, white and blue attire. Families brought their dogs. Children blew soap bubbles on the lawn.
Speakers repeatedly invoked civil rights language to refer to their perceived persecution, a common theme throughout the anti-mandate movement. Online and at rallies, protesters regularly compare themselves to enslaved Africans, dispossessed Native Americans, Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the Founding Fathers, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi and Jesus.
“It’s about trying to give themselves some historical cache, and it’s remarkable how they do this,” said terrorism analyst Juliette Kayyem, a former Homeland Security official now at Harvard’s Kennedy School. “It’s not like, ‘We’re just upset about vaccines.’ It’s ‘This is the arc of history, and we’re on it with all of these other quote-unquote freedom fighters.’”
The idea of historical significance resonated with Don and Carol Moody, a married couple in their 60s who were eating smoked-pork sandwiches in side-by-side lawn chairs at the Olympia event. Speaking over loud honking as another trucker convoy arrived, Don said that this was a moment, “to make a stand with what you believe in your heart.”
The couple said they’re confused and frightened by the bloodshed in Ukraine; the right-wing news outlets they watch tell them it’s a precursor to World War III. They worry about whether their unvaccinated grandkids will be cleared to play sports. They said they’ve heard that the government might introduce a “vaccine passport.”
They still plan to vote in the midterms — it’s worth a try, they said — but they firmly believe lies about the “stolen” 2020 election and suspect the Biden administration is already cooking up new ways to disenfranchise the right.
“Everything they do seems to be poking us to be more angry,” Don said.
Carol said that’s why she’s suspicious of the lifting of mandates. In her conspiratorial world, it’s not the time to celebrate.
“They’re thinking up something next,” Carol said. “And that’s what scares me.”
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an 9 22 badash
Authorities from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department responded to an anti-LGBTQ protest outside a Texas church on Saturday.
“First Christian Church Katy is hosting a drag bingo fundraiser benefiting the ministry’s Transparent Closet, a free boutique aimed at helping young people in the LGBTQ community in the largely conservative west Houston suburb,” Jay R. Jordan reported for Axios on Friday. “Protect Texas Kids, led by North Texas’ self-described “Christian fascist” Kelly Neidert, plans to protest outside the church, according to a Facebook event from the group.”
The report noted anti-fascist activists were planning a counterprotest.
“Neidert’s protests have drawn support from neo-Nazis and other anti-LGBTQ groups,” Axios reported. “Men in Nazi regalia and alleged Proud Boys wearing Buc-ee’s masks joined Neidert’s protest outside a drag brunch at Hamburger Mary’s downtown in July.”
On Saturday, Jordan posted a video clip from the scene.
“Proud Boys and Kelly Neidert’s Protect Texas Kids are in Katy, Texas, protesting a drag bingo fundraiser at First Christian Church. PB and Houston antifascists just clashed. Heavy police presence dividing the two groups now,” he reported.
He noted “Houston’s Nazis” had arrived and police formed a line between the two sides.
“The group of Nazis appear to be leaving the protest, sporting for the first time today a flag with a swastika. Proud Boys and Patriot Front have also left,” he reported.
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someone said they are looking for another leader/ issue to hook onto
have taken over large so? fla gop party
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cassidy : pb and ok mentioned in runup to jan 6 when rudy in WH
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note aha sys: no filter/brake, amp accel? // trump wd not rein in, as gop wd not cross trump; to call them out means acknow a relationship?
an 9 22 raw tom b
According to two different experts on the rising tide of domestic terrorists since the election of Donald Trump, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better as long as the former president remainsfree to incite violencein much the way he did on Jan 6, 2020.
Speaking with the New York Times' Blake Hounshell, authors Luke Mogelson and Andy Campbell, both of whom have new books on right-wing extremists, waved the red flag about what they see coming as Trump continues to egg his followers on -- which is setting the stage for more violence.
As Hounshell summed up their warning: "The worst is yet to come."
Getting right to the point, Campbell, who has a new book out on the Proud Boys, told the Times, "I really do believe that, going forward, it’s not just going to be MAGA rallies. It’s not just going to be political violence at Proud Boys rallies or leftist rallies or B.L.M. events. It’s going to be political violence at any civic event that happens to fall in the cross hairs of Donald Trump and company.”
According to Hounshell, "In the United States, it is not illegal to be a part of a domestic extremist group. To go after specific threats, the government has limited tools, meaning that federal officials often must find links to groups overseas in order to crack down on homegrown extremists or prosecute them under other provisions of law," adding, "Complicating matters, Republican politicians like Trump — who instructed the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during a presidential debate in 2020 — often provide rhetorical cover."
Mogelson claims the violence he saw on Jan 6, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol, reminded him of covering armed conflicts around the world for the past decade.
"He witnessed a mob killing of someone in Iraq, which gave him an understanding of what he called the 'intoxicating' feeling that can whip a crowd of seemingly ordinary people into a frenzy," the Times reports before noting, "he began reporting on anti-lockdown groups that mobilized against the pandemic measures put in place by governors like Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat, he immediately saw that the story was much larger."
He told the Times, "I soon realized that these groups and this movement was rapidly mutating.”
Campbell chimed in to add the Republican Party appears unable -- or unwilling -- to rein the far-right extremists in.
“The Republican Party seems to not know what to do,” he claimed before warning, “It seems like their inability to rebut the Proud Boys and other extremists is pushing this machine forward so much faster and really making it hard for law enforcement to keep up.”
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an 922
On Thursday, September 8, the Sarasota County Republican Party chose some new poll watchers — and the far-right choices include conspiracy theorist and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and James Hoel, a local leader of the Proud Boys. Journalist Michael Daly decries these choices in an op-ed published by the Daily Beast on September 12, slamming them as “a decidedly dangerous normalization of lunacy.”
“Flynn is nationally known as a retired general who has championed the Big Lie about the 2020 election, at one point urging military action to overturn it,” Daly explains. “He is also known for having been convicted of lying to the FBI while he was briefly President Trump’s national security advisor and for having subsequently received a presidential pardon. He has ascribed to various ‘Deep State’ conspiracy theories…. As if that were not scary enough, they also elected James Hoel, a local leader of the Proud Boys.”
Daly continues, “Hoel and fellow Proud Boy Nicholas Radovich were active in the August 23 Sarasota County School Board election that saw a longstanding 3-2 liberal majority become a 4-1 conspiracy minority. Radovich showed up at the victory party in a Proud Boys hat and t-shirt and flashed a White power sign during a group picture. The one reelected incumbent conservative, Bridget Ziegler, subsequently denounced the Proud Boys as a ‘menace.’”
READ MORE: 'Today’s Republicans are fascist': Conservative activist slams authoritarian GOP candidates
Daly notes that “several people at the meeting” on September 8 “posed for photos with Flynn that were subsequently posted on the Facebook page for Sarasota Watchdogs, which is associated with Hoel and the Proud Boys.”
“The Sarasota Republican Party did not respond to repeated requests for comment,” according to Daly. “Flynn also did not respond to a request for comment. The Daily Beast did get a response from the retired general’s brother, Joe Flynn, who sometimes serves as a kind of gatekeeper for him. ‘F*** off,’ Joe Flynn said in an e-mail. ‘Quote me.’”
Michael Flynn discussed the developments in Sarasota County during a September 10 appearance on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, saying, “As long as I got a breath left in me, I am going to continue to push this message of local action and national impact. And now I, now I wanna be able to tell people when they say, when somebody says, well, (what) are you doing, what are you doing specifically? I'm gonna, I am now part of the Republican executive committee for the Sarasota GOP. And I also am volunteering to be a poll watcher in the upcoming elections, particularly in this county, in the state of Florida.”
Daly points out that Michael Flynn “once called for the military to stage a coup to prevent a legitimate transfer of power as set forth in the Constitution that he has repeatedly sworn to uphold.”
“As kids, we are taught that any American can grow up to become president,” Daly writes. “We now witness proof that the Republican Party has become such a haven for lunacy that even someone who sought to scuttle a presidential election can become a poll watcher.”
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/gavin-mcinnes-allies-believe-proud-boys-founder-faked-arrest
no lnx
Trumpland
Gavin McInnes Allies Believe Proud Boys Founder Faked Arrest
'SPILL THE BEANS'
What once looked like an arrest now looks like a desperate bid for attention.
Will Sommer
Politics Reporter
Published Aug. 31, 2022
Stephanie Keith
When Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes suddenly vanished last Thursday while recording his internet show, moments he claimed that someone had barged into his studio while he was filming, his fans were immediately concerned.
“We’re shooting a show, can we do this another time?” McInnes said someone off camera, adding that he wanted to get a lawyer.
“I didn’t let you in,” McInnes said finally, as he walked off his set.
McInnes’s camera filmed an empty chair for another hour.
The aspiring comedian’s supporters and detractors both wondered whether McInnes had been arrested, especially since a Proud Boy facing criminal charges wouldn’t be unprecedented. Among other cases, five top members of the group have been indicted for seditious conspiracy in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot. On the Telegram social media app, Proud Boys speculated that McInnes had been detained.
Then paranoia set in among McInnes’s conservative circles, where other far-right figures wondered whether they might be next. Right-wing website The Post Millennial declared that McInnes had been “arrested on-air.” Josh Denny, a comedian and former Food Network host scheduled to join McInnes in a comedy tour next month, also confirmed that McInnes had been arrested.
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“He’s rotting away in jail because he dared to question authority,” Denny tweeted, adding a “Free Gavin” hashtag.
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Nearly a week later, though, many of McInnes’ fans have come to believe that he faked his disappearance in a bid for attention. The local and federal law enforcement agencies that could potentially have arrested McInnes have all denied involvement, and McInnes hasn’t been charged with any crimes. Now McInnes, still laying low, is facing backlash from his former allies and supporters over the hoax.
McInnes didn’t respond to a request for comment.
[Proud Boys Founder Sues Over ‘Hate Group’ Designation
LOUD BOY
Will Sommer]
McInnes’s fake arrest has gone over especially poorly since other Proud Boys have actually been imprisoned, with one Proud Boy involved in the Capitol riot sentenced to 55 months in prison just days after McInnes vanished.
“Gavin McInnes has never spent a day in prison,” fumed Matthew Walker, a Tennessee Proud Boys leader, in a Telegram post. “7 of my friends are in there because of him!”
McInnes’s false arrest scheme came to light after Owen Benjamin, a far-right anti-Semitic figure and former comedian, posted text messages he claimed to have received from McInnes on Instagram. In Benjamin’s telling, he had texted McInnes out of genuine concern that McInnes was facing criminal charges.
“Prank,” McInnes wrote back, according to Benjamin. “Don’t tell.”
Benjamin ignored McInnes’s request, exposing the prank on a livestreamed broadcast to his own fans. Benjamin — who gained notoriety forhis failed attempt to create a bear-themed compound in Idaho for his supporters — complained that McInnes’s ruse worried his fans, who feared a tyrannical Biden administration might launch mass arrests after seizing McInnes.
“People are actually scared, you know?” Benjamin said. “People are actually afraid when things like that happen.”
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Benjamin’s revelation angered McInnes, according to the text messages Benjamin released.
“Did you spill the beans?” McInnes wrote back to Benjamin after the broadcast. “Looks like you did. We’re done.”
The debunking also angered Denny, who had once insisted that McInnes really had been arrested. On Twitter, Denny complained that Benjamin had ruined the “bit” out of jealousy over McInnes’s success.
Benjamin, who frequently attacks other right-wing figures, insisted that McInnes’s fake arrest was more of a con on his supporters to raise money than an actual joke.
:{:{}:
}:
“I went to the right wing politically because I thought the left were grifting immoral liars,” Benjamin wrote on Instagram. “Boy was I mistaken.”
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no lnx [twt bad code]
amy kremer bus tour ends DC dec 12
https://twitter.com/**capitolhunters**/status/1489008554455416834
impromptu fuentes sp gets him into inner circle? am 1st flags
...dec 12 DC rally is a bigger success even than Nov 14. Everyone is there. Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio jets in on a private plane and gets a White House tour.Michael Flynn makes a grand entrance flanked by representatives from many groups who’ll make a mark on Jan 6. 31/
...there’s more violence too - 4 stabbed in DC, one shot in WA. In CA Alan Hostetter calls for executing lawmakers. Meanwhile election lawsuits keep failing. The gambit of fraudulent electors fails too, at least for now. On Dec. 14 the electoral college votes for Biden. 32/
byrne, ed martin CNP 1ap...josh macias v4t
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FKoIP7SVkAQbqU0?format=jpg&name=small
crazy WH mtg be wild twt
is a late night for many: the MillionMAGAMarch account promotes Jan 6 after 3 AM, and Dan Scavino, Trump’s comms guy, Tweets a warlike video.In the morning: Cindy Chafian requests a permit date change to Jan 6.The next day, the website http://WildProtest.com is created. 37/
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Feb 2
Influencers start passing around a Serbian video about overthrowing Milosevic: “Police and military aligned with the people after few hours [sic] of fist-fight…when they see that sea of people..” Within hours it’s quoted by AZ GOP chair Kelli Ward. 38/
... next week(Dec. 21-27) sees a stealth power grab by Cindy Chafian & Ali Alexander.Cindy changes the WFAF rally permit to her name. Ali’s group snaps up space close to the Capitol, using a fake organization. Fliers appear for “Operation Occupy the Capitol”. 39/
capitolhunters
·
Feb 2
Militias book their travel, with others picking up their costs. QAnon’s Ron Watkins calls for “overwhelming numbers”, says he’s aiming for “max ppl for my budget”. Trump signs 41 pardons, incl. fixers Paul Manafort & Roger Stone and Blackwater contractors convicted of murder. 40/
...
on Dec. 28, the Kremers of WFAF realize they’ve been double-crossed, and an epic power struggle begins:email from Dec. 28-29 alone takes up 166 pages of the NPS FOIA. When the dust settles, the Kremers have the Ellipse, with Manafort’s support, & Chafian is bumped to Jan 5. 41/
...
Feb 2
Organizers have to scramble too after Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio is arrested- here's Funes, Couch, & Hughes strategizing. Ex-Marine Charles Donohoe thought he should command instead: “I need to be put in charge of whatever new thing is created…” 45/
On Jan 4 AM in DC, Hughes & Couch met up with other rightwing figures. Couch then got a call from Proud Boy leader Joe Biggs about the arrest of Enrique Tarrio, meant to have had ‘war powers’ on Jan 6. By evening, Couch & Hughes were in a hotel room working on damage control 37/
the night of the 4th, MO Senator Josh Hawley again pushes the Antifa theme, falsely claiming "Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC & threatened my wife and newborn daughter.." Charlie Kirk amplifies. But it's really a small polite protest - watch 46/
the 5th, Trump has a meeting with staff, asks how to "convince Congress" to "do the right thing tomorrow". He also issues a memo directing the State Department to assess whether “Antifa” should be classified as a terrorist organization, claiming horrific violence. 47/
moms for am
first rallies start (new IL Congresswoman Mary Miller: Hitler had some good points!) NPS makes last heroic efforts (same-day permit for tomorrow, sure!) Trump may still think Congress can hand him power, but logistics for an attack are proceeding. 48/
By the 5th evening, Cindy’s rally is in full swing; Ali Alexander shouts “Victory or Death!” Josh Hawley hammers his theme again: “If the Antifa scumbags can terrorize my family, they can do it to any family in America”. Posobiec warns of DC danger. 50/
Quote Tweet
capitolhunters
@capitolhunters
- Jul 20, 2021
#SeditionHunters - events in DC required planning. Cindy Chafian organized the fiery Jan 5 rally where Ali Alexander led the crowd in “Victory or Death!” On Jan 6 she marched up the WestCapitol steps with bullhorn & entourage and cheered during the assault on Officer Fanone. 1/
poso, influencers many blondes https://twitter.com/i/status/1489023152898203649 straka chris cox; jnx, roger ali in orange beanie
Listen to the VIPs and influencers at Cindy Chafian’s rally, chatting about what is to come. Alex Jones says “God will fulfill his destiny and will reward the righteous”. They expected to be rewarded the next day. (Video from “Carterrocks”) 51/
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Tq3S_jSYf_k
And then the 6th: Joe Biggs, ex-Army, ex-InfoWars, leads over 200 plainclothes Proud Boys to initiate the attack. Total militia members may be 1000 or more. 52/
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https://www.alternet.org/
an raw 822
Congressional investigators hoped that volumes of phone texts that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accidentally turned over to opposing counsel in civil litigation would yield answers about his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, but the texts reportedly only cover a period through mid-2020.
Mark Bankston, who represents the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, has reportedly said the cache includes texts with political operative Roger Stone, a longtime friend of former President Donald Trump who, alongside Jones, became a major tribune of the campaign to overturn the 2020 election. The effort by the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to obtain the texts highlights the panel’s sustained interest in Jones’ role.
To date, Jones has not been charged in the attack, but he has played prominent roles in amplifying the messaging of the campaign to overturn the election and building the infrastructure of the protests in the run-up to the attack, culminating in his presence on the ground at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The committee’s interest in Jones was on display during a hearing on July 12 through recorded testimony of Kellye SoRelle, general counsel for the Oath Keepers. Nine members of the far-right militia face seditious conspiracy charges. SoRelle confirmed that Jones’ name was among three prominent figureheads during the series of protests leading up to Jan. 6.
“You mentioned that Mr. Stone wanted to start the Stop the Steal rallies,” the investigator said. “Who do you consider the leader of those rallies? It sounds like, from what you just said, it wasMr. Stone, Mr. Jones and Mr. Ali Alexander.Is that correct?”
“Those are the ones that became like the center point for everything,” SoRelle responded.
Alex Jones could not be reached for comment for this story.
Through his show on the InfoWars platform, Jones provided a venue for two of the most inspirational figures involved in rallying Trump’s supporters — Stone and retired Lt. General Michael Flynn. But Jones also leveraged his celebrity and following to do his own part in mobilizing Trump’s supporters, and in spreading wild and unfounded claims about election fraud.
In a letter to Jones accompanying a subpoena compelling him to testify and turn over records, the committee took note of a Dec. 20, 2020 broadcast of “The Alex Jones Show,” one day after Trump issued a tweet summoning his supporters to DC for a “wild” rally on Jan. 6.
“He’s calling on you now,” Jones told his audience. “He needs your help. We need your help. America needs to stand up.” Jones said he wanted to see 10 million people in Washington, DC on Jan. 6, adding, “We’re going to descend on the swamp January 6th. The president is going to be attending the rallies. He’s announcing he’s going to be there. This is going to be massive.”
On Dec. 29, Jones homed in on an objective for the Jan. 6 rally, scheduled to coincide with Congress’ session to certify the electoral votes.
“Well, let’s just say you’re going to want to go to DC on the 6th,” Jones said. “It will show the globalists we know Trump really won. And it will begin the process one way or another of removing the globalist puppet Joe Biden. And I mean by impeachment or keeping him from getting in on the 20th.”
Filling in for Jones on New Year’s Eve,guest host Matt Bracken added tactical specificity to the mission.
“We’re only going to be saved by millions of Americans by moving to Washington, occupying the entire area, if necessary, storming right into the Capitol,” Bracken said. “We know the rules of engagement. If you have enough people, you can push down any kind of fence or a wall.”
Amplifying the false claims of election fraud during an InfoWars broadcast on Christmas day, Jones offered his audience a fantastical and nightmarish description of the election that was unsupported by any evidence.
“They close everything out,kick everyone out, pull out briefcases,” he said. “Chinese men and vans come in in Michigan and start just shoving it in the machine. We get the footage showing it all. They’re death-threating witnesses. They’re arresting witnesses.”
Weeks before the 2020 election was held, Stone appeared as a guest on Jones’ show on Sept. 10, 2020. There, Stone previewed an election-fraud narrative and called for martial law that would become familiar during the interregnum between the election and Jan. 6.
“The ballots on election night in Nevada should be seized by federal marshals and taken from the state,” Stone said. “They are completely corrupted. No votes should be counted from the state of Nevada if it turns out to be the provable case.We can prove voter fraud in the absentees right now.Send federal marshals to the Clark County Board of Elections, Mr. President. It’s all there.”
Prompted by Jones’ insistence that “it’s clear they think they can steal it,” Stone recommended that Trump appoint a special counsel “with a specific task of forming an election-day operation using the FBI, federal marshals and Republican state officials across the country to be prepared to file legal objections and, if necessary, physically stand in the way of criminal activity.”
On the eve of the attack on the Capitol, Stone interviewed Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, at the Willard hotel.
Declaring that “there’s a DNA in the American psyche” that “goes all the way back to 1776” — referring to the Revolutionary War — Flynn reeled off a string of baseless claims of election fraud.
“Everybody in this country, everybody in the world knows that this election on the third of November was a total rip-off,” Flynn said. “It was a fraudulent election. We have had foreign interference from multiple countries — I’ll rattle ’em off if you want to get into that — and Donald Trump was the clear winner. For the next four days after the third of November — from about the 4th through the 7th, 8th of November — they just started stuffing the ballot boxes. And everybody knows it, and they got caught.”
The January 6th Committee has also signaled its awareness of Jones’ involvement in organizing the rallies surrounding the mobilization on Jan. 6. Citing press reports and Jones’ own statements, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee chairman, mentioned in his public letter that Jones worked with two women, Cindy Chafian and Caroline Wren to organize the Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse, and helped line up a funder, Publix heiress Julie Fancelli, to cover “eighty percent” of the cost.
Jones reportedly said after his testimony earlier this year that the January 6th Committee has already obtained text messages between him and Wren, a former campaign fundraiser who Jones identified as his “White House connection.”
Through Jones’ testimony in January, the committee also confirmed that Jones was on at least familiar terms with the leaders of the neo-fascist street brawling group the Proud Boys, who, like the Oath Keepers, face charges of seditious conspiracy. Jones disclosed that after a rally at the Georgia state capitol in Atlanta in November 2020, he saw Proud Boys at Hooters who were “drinking beer and ate cheeseburgers.” A photo posted on Telegram by Jeremy Bertino, a high-profile Proud Boy who has not been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, shows Jones seated between Bertino and national chairman Enrique Tarrio.
While Jones has so far avoided criminal charges for his role in the events of Jan. 6, two InfoWars personnel — host Owen Shroyer and correspondent Samuel Montoya — have been arrested. Shroyer is charged with knowingly entering or remaining on restricted grounds and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, while Montoya is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct, among other offenses.
Erika Wulff Jones, Alex Jones’ wife, went to the Capitol separately from her husband on Jan. 6, riding on the back of a golf cart with Cindy Chafian.
Alex Jones traveled with another contingent to the Capitol, as the January 6th Committee noted in its letter to him. Jones has said that the “White House” told him that after the rally at the Ellipse ended, he was tasked to lead a march to the Capitol where Trump would meet them. While Trump never made it, Jones, Shroyer and Ali Alexander marched to the Capitol.
“Go to the other side of the Capitol,” Jones said, leading the marchers to the east side of the Capitol. “That’s where Trump’s going to be.”
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empty wheel many docs detailed info:
taghttps://www.emptywheel.net/tag/enrique-tarrio/
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claremont inst WAR GAMES
https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/john-eastman-2020/
The Trump advisor who wrote the infamous pseudo-legal justification for overturning the 2020 election also helped to create a blueprint for what Donald Trump could do to hang onto power by force.
John Eastman joined a couple dozen right-wing operatives in simulating the aftermath of a closely contested election. The report was published in mid-October 2020 and co-sponsored by the Claremont Institute, the think tank where Eastman works.
The authors of the report are clear their simulation had a very serious purpose: to prepare real public officials for real violence in the event of a disputed election. The authors say they fully expected the necessary preparations to crush dissent would be perceived as the run-up to a military coup. But in their view, that couldn't be helped. It was important to come up with legal justifications for overwhelming political violence before the election, they said.
The report is a blueprint for how Donald Trump could fuse federal power, local police and criminal gangs like the Proud Boys to hang onto power. It seems to foreshadow Eastman's plan for a procedural coup on January 6, except projected onto Biden supporters.
The Claremont simulation started from the assumption that left wing violence was a "near-certainty" and that Trump's Defense Department, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security must be prepared to crush Biden supporters in the event of a contested election.
The simulation starts from the following half-baked premise: All the networks call the contest for Biden on Election Night, because he appears to have won Texas, bringing his electoral vote total to 270.
Somehow, all the networks fail to notice that Russia had taken the entire electoral apparatus of Texas offline before all the votes came in. (This wouldn't get past Steve Kornacki, let me tell you.) Texas goes back in the "too close to call" column. Biden is still two electoral votes ahead, but the nation explodes with rioting and arson by "antifa" and Black Lives Matter. Fourteen police officers are shot on election night.
Thus begins Choose Your Own Adventure: Death Squads. There's an elaborate procedural and legal backstory about how an uncertain Election Night metastasizes into a constitutional crisis to be worked out probably by the Supreme Court, but I won't bore you with it because it's obviously a figleaf. This is a manual for state violence.
With the nation in flames, the players have Trump's Department of Defense deploy military personnel carriers to multiple states, which local mayors rudely call "tanks." These pesky mayors aren't cooperating with the Trump administration's desire to clamp down on dissent.
So, their police departments go completely rogue and join forces with the Trump administration. The NYPD seems to have overthrown Bill De Blasio. The Chicago Police Union refuses to protect Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Federal law enforcement with no identifying insignias encircle the White House to defend it with heat rays. The Proud Boys, Three Percenters and Oath Keepers form posses to "assist."
Tellingly, Eastman and his fellow players assume that pro-Biden forces will try to gather at the Capitol on January 6. So they thwart their political adversaries by tracking their phones, setting up police checkpoints and using Trump's Homeland Security fusion centers to identify and detain their leaders. The players protect the Capitol with an army of federal agents, snipers and of course more heat rays. Trump's FBI hunts down more antifa leaders in the DC suburbs.
War games often reveal more about the players than they do about the future, and this exercise is no exception. The report shows that John Eastman and his confederates expected a disputed election would set off a wave of civil unrest that would culminate in the US Capitol on January 6, supported by insurrections at key state houses that same day. The report projected this strategy onto Biden supporters, but that's exactly what Trump confederates did on January 6.
A showdown on January 6 might feel inevitable in retrospect, given the horrific events of that day. But it wasn't an obvious choice. January 6 was the date of the certification of the presidential election, which has historically been a pro-forma affair. Results have already been decided.
The states have certified their election results, the Electoral College already has voted and all that's left to be done is the little ceremony during which the Congress counts the electoral votes. It doesn't make sense to have your last stand to win a contested election after the results are already set in stone, unless you think you can change them.
John Eastman did in fact come up with a crackpot legal excuse for how Mike Pence could throw the election to Trump. His argument was to the law as creationism is to biology, but it was good enough for Trump. We know Trump pressured Pence to act on Eastman's advice. Eastman shared a dais with Trump as well as Rudy Giuliani at the rally immediately before the siege. The crowd was chanting "Hang Mike Pence," because Pence had refused to comply with Eastman's scheme.
Eastman later claimed he wasn't serious about the memo, but the results of this simulation suggests he and fellow right-wingers had sized up the certification of the presidential election as their moment to stage a procedural coup with physical reinforcements waiting.
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https://lawandcrime.com/jan-6-committee/jan-6-committee-says-donald-trumps-will-be-wild-tweet-followed-craziest-meeting-of-his-presidency-and-electrified-extremists/
Jan. 6 Committee Says Donald Trump’s ‘Will Be Wild’ Tweet Followed ‘Craziest Meeting’ of His Presidency and ‘Electrified’ Extremists
ADAM KLASFELD
Jul 12th, 2022,
Jan. 6 Committee — "will be wild" tweets
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 12: Messages on Twitter appear on a video screen above members of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol during the seventh hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on July 12, 2022 in Washington, DC.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 19, former President Donald Trump fired off a tweet of a only dozen words, but congressional investigators say the extremists who overran the U.S. Capitol weeks later viewed it immediately as a “call to arms.”
As anticipated, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol focused its hearing on Trump’s ties to the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and QAnon conspiracy theorists. In that tweet on Dec. 19, Trump exhorted his followers to gather in Washington, D.C. on the day that a joint session of Congress had planned to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the election.
“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump wrote. “Be there, will be wild!”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a committee member who served as the lead prosecutor at Trump’s second impeachment, said that the “will be wild” tweet followed what he called the “craziest meeting of the Trump presidency.” Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his would-be special counsel Sidney Powell, and staunch loyalist Gen. Michael Flynn presented him with a plan to seize the voting machines.
In depositions, participants in that meeting described as “unhinged” and involved shouting and expletive-laden exchanges.[flynn offered to fistfight wall hanging lawyer?]
During that meeting, Trump also indicated that he wanted to appoint Powell, a conspiracy theorist behind a string of failed “Kraken” lawsuits, as special counsel and empower her to criminally prosecute people in relation to the 2020 presidential election.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who reportedly testified behind closed doors for more than eight hours on Friday, said in a videotaped deposition that he “vehemently opposed” the idea. He recounted seeing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne there and didn’t recognize him. (Byrne resigned from the company in 2019, following revelations of his affair with Russian agent Maria Butina.) The idea was rejected after midnight, and Giuliani recounted branding opponents of the plan as “pussies.”
Trump fired off his tweet at 1:42 a.m. Eastern Time.
The post “electrified and galvanized his supporters, especially dangerous extremists like the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and other racist and white nationalist groups spoiling for a fight against the government,” Raskin noted.
The Justice Department’s prosecution of the Oath Keepers showed how the group’s Florida chapter leader viewed the post.
“He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying,” Kelly Meggs allegedly wrote in a Facebook post some three days after that tweet, according to an indictment released a little more than a month after the attack.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) said flatly: “This tweet served as a call to action, and in some cases as a call to arms, for many of President Trump’s most loyal supporters.”
The committee also highlighted ties between militia members and Trump ally Roger Stone, who used Oath Keepers members as bodyguards before Jan. 6.
Prosecutors have not charged Stone with any crimes related to the attack on the Capitol, but multiple Oath Keepers who guarded him — Robert Minuta and Joshua James — are being prosecuted in the seditious conspiracy indictment. James became the first Oath Keepers member in that case to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation. Brian Ulrich, from the extremist group’s Georgia chapter, followed. The federal judges presiding over the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys seditious conspiracy cases “reluctantly” agreed to delay both trials until later in the year, after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that the committee’s investigation required an adjournment.
At least three Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy have pleaded guilty to date, one of whom told prosecutors that he heard the group’s leader Stewart Rhodes try to reach Trump through an intermediary on the day of the attack. William Todd Wilson, now cooperating fully with the government, said in a statement of offense that he overheard the conversation with the intermediary during a meeting with fellow Oath Keepers members inside a private suite of D.C.’s Phoenix Hotel around 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
“Wilson heard Rhodes repeatedly implore the individual to tell President Trump to call upon groups like the Oath Keepers to forcibly oppose the transfer of power,”prosecutor summarized in a statement signed by Wilson. “This individual denied Rhodes’s request to speak directly with President Trump. After the call ended, Rhodes stated to the group, ‘I just want to fight.'”
Shortly before the hearing, a now-incarcerated Rhodes offered through his attorney to testify before the committee — under certain conditions. Rhodes demanded to testify inside the U.S. Capitol, rather than from jail. He also wanted to be accompanied by his lawyer and speak to Congress live. The committee’s aides declined to comment on whether they have discussed the offer with Rhodes’s counsel.
The committee’s live witnesses typically speak to the lawmakers first behind closed doors.
some lnx
Justice Department’s prosecution of the Oath Keepers showed how the group’s Florida chapter leader viewed the post.
“He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying,” Kelly Meggs allegedly wrote in a Facebook post some three days after that tweet, according to an indictment released a little more than a month after the attack.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) said flatly: “This tweet served as a call to action, and in some cases as a call to arms, for many of President Trump’s most loyal supporters.”
The committee also highlighted ties between militia members and Trump ally Roger Stone, who used Oath Keepers members as bodyguards before Jan. 6.
Prosecutors have not charged Stone with any crimes related to the attack on the Capitol, but multiple Oath Keepers who guarded him — Robert Minuta and Joshua James — are being prosecuted in the seditious conspiracy indictment. James became the first Oath Keepers member in that case to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation. Brian Ulrich, from the extremist group’s Georgia chapter, followed. The federal judges presiding over the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys seditious conspiracy cases “reluctantly” agreed to delay both trials until later in the year, after prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that the committee’s investigation required an adjournment.
At least three Oath Keepers members charged with seditious conspiracy have pleaded guilty to date, one of whom told prosecutors that he heard the group’s leader Stewart Rhodestry to reach Trump through an intermediary on the day of the attack. William Todd Wilson, now cooperating fully with the government, said in a statement of offense that he overheard the conversation with the intermediary during a meeting with fellow Oath Keepers members inside a private suite of D.C.’s Phoenix Hotel around 5 p.m. Eastern Time....
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an 7 22
it not quite clear what, exactly, former President Donald Trump was doing and privately saying inside the White House during the five long, violent hours when more than 2,000 rioters invaded the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
It’s a key timeline that the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to explore on July 21, 2022 during its latest – and possibly last – public hearing.
At the heart of the issue is Trump’s precise engagement, if any, with the rioters and several fringe nationalist militia groups, including the Proud Boys, Three Percenters and Oath Keepers, that stormed the Capitol.
Amy Cooter, a senior lecturer in sociology at Vanderbilt University, embedded with militia groups, mostly in Michigan, from 2008 through 2012. Knowing who these groups are – and how they have changed over time – makes it easier to understand the Jan. 6 attacks, Cooter said.
“Fifteen years ago, people thought of these groups as being niche, crazy people. That’s not really what I saw in my fieldwork – I saw people who were just more willing to be open about their political perspectives than maybe more mainstream Republicans were at the time. It seemed to me, both then and now, that their concerns resonate with a broad swath of the population,” Cooter said in a recent interview.
We asked Cooter to explain what drives these groups and their complicated relationship with Trump and the government.
What is your understanding of how Trump is seen by these nationalist groups?
Traditionally, militia groups have been very opposed to the federal government, regardless of whether we’re talking about Democrats or Republicans. However, with Trump, they really found sort of a mouthpiece. Not all of them truly liked him, but they really want somebody who speaks out against immigration and has a nationalistic and isolationist perspective. Trump gave them a sense of legitimacy. But there didn’t seem to be too many formal connections, as far as we know.
How does leadership and hierarchy work within these groups?
Many of these groups present themselves as top-down organizations with centralized leadership and then different state-level structures. But the degree to which that is reality varies enormously, especially with the Three Percenters but also with the Oath Keepers.
There are groups that kind of fit the stereotypical top-down model that make it easy to activate them for action. There are other groups who maybe were completely oblivious to this Jan. 6 plan.
What do you mean by activate? That sounds similar to language Trump used during a presidential debate in September 2020,
to “stand back and stand by.”
Militias always see themselves as prepared for action. Usually, this means they’re prepared to defend themselves and their communities in the event of a natural disaster, or some kind of invasion. But as we saw leading up to Jan. 6, some of these groups were clearly planning more than just a defensive stance.
What was Trump getting from these groups, and what were they getting from Trump?
They get from Trump this idea that someone finally represents their interests, someone finally sees the state of the nation as they do, even though not all of them completely agree with him. They see it as an opportunity to push things in the direction that they would prefer.
I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say that Trump sees an opportunity for a private army from them. In 2018, he pardoned the Bundy ranchers, who were arrested for arson on federal land. Not a lot of people paid attention to this, but that was a signal to these groups that he had their back and would expect them to have his back in the future.
I think that Jan. 6 is really kind of proof of that, that he has activated people who in some cases do have military or police experience.
How have you seen these groups evolve over time, since you began researching them?
Before Trump, there had been very clear-cut tensions between different groups. That boundary has broken down substantially, and most groups have been pushed more toward an extreme than used to be true – in no small part because of how Trump and others in his administration legitimized the core fears that different groups had about being invaded.
Since Jan. 6, the groups as a whole have declined in size. Many of these people were really surprised at how Jan. 6 played out and were quite embarrassed – or they were appalled that it didn’t go far enough.
Now, many people have taken a step back even from these groups altogether. But the folks that have stuck around continue to be quite radical, and probably even more radical than they were before. Especially thinking about what is going to happen with the midterm elections, we are going to see a lot of invigoration.
Amy Cooter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Vanderbilt University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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ntbcw 12 21 jericho march
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/2021/01/05/trump-to-speak-at-dc-rally-as-congress-meets-on-election/.
...[jan 5] speakers included former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, whom the president pardoned after he was twice convicted of lying to the FBI in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“We stand at a crucible moment in United States history,” Flynn told the mostly maskless crowd. “This country is awake now.”
...A pro-Trump rally Dec. 12 ended in violence as hundreds of Trump supporters, wearing the signature black and yellow of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, sought out confrontations with a collective of local activists attempting to bar them from Black Lives Matter Plaza, an area near the White House. At least two local Black churches had Black Lives Matter banners torn down and set ablaze.
On Monday, police arrested the leader of the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, 36, after he arrived in Washington ahead of this week’s protests. Tarrio was accused of burning one of the Black Lives Matter banners in December and was found with two high-capacity firearm magazines, police said. A judge signed an order Tuesday banning Tarrio from entering the District of Columbia, with very limited exceptions related to his criminal case....
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https://www.emptywheel.net/tag/enrique-tarrio/
eg
July 21, 2022 / by
ON ENRIQUE TARRIO’S COMPLEX PASSWORD AND OTHER REASONS THE JANUARY 6 INVESTIGATION CAN NOW MOVE TO ORGANIZER-INCITERS
A Wednesday filing in the Proud Boy leadership conspiracy revealed that, between cracking his password and conducting a filter review, DOJ had not been able to access Enrique Tarrio’s phone — which was seized even before the riot he allegedly had a central role in planning — until mid-January.
On January 4, 2021, Tarrio was arrested in Washington, D.C., and charged with destruction of property for his December 12, 2020, burning of a #BLACKLIVESMATTER banner and possession of two large capacity magazines. At the time of his arrest, Tarrio’s phone was seized by law enforcement. The government promptly sought a search warrant for that device in this investigation. Despite diligence, the government was not able to obtain access to Tarrio’s phone until December 2021. Thereafter, a filter team was utilized to ensure that only non-privileged materials were provided to the investigative team. The investigative team did not gain access to the materials on the phone until mid-January 2022, and it has worked expeditiously since that time to review these materials.
I can think of just a few other phones that have been this difficult for FBI to access (those of Zachary Alam and Brandon Fellows are others). The delay means that the very first phone DOJ seized pertaining to the January 6 investigation was one that, to date, has taken the longest to access.
This is the kind of delay — presumably due to the physics involved in cracking a complex password and the due process of a privilege review — that is unavoidable. Yet it stalled DOJ’s efforts in the most pivotal conspiracy case as it tries to move from rioters at the Capitol through organizer-inciters to Trump himself.
The delay in accessing Tarrio’s phone is one thing to keep in mind as you read the multiple reports that DOJ has sent out subpoenas to people who organized the rallies. WaPo reported that these subpoenas first started going out two months ago — so late January, shortly after the time DOJ accessed Tarrio’s phone content. NYT reported that the subpoenas focus on the rallies and the fake electors.
One of the subpoenas, which was reviewed by The New York Times, sought information about people “classified as VIP attendees” at Mr. Trump’s Jan. 6 rally.
It also sought information about members of the executive and legislative branches who had been involved in the “planning or execution of any rally or any attempt to obstruct, influence, impede or delay” the certification of the 2020 election.
And it asked about the effort by Trump supporters to put forward alternate slates of electors as Mr. Trump and his allies were seeking to challenge the certification of the Electoral College outcome by Congress on Jan. 6.
Another person briefed on the grand jury investigation said at least one person involved in the logistics of the Jan. 6 rally had been asked to appear.
None of this is a surprise or unexpected. Dana Nessel formally referred Michigan’s fake electors to DOJ for investigation (the kind of referral that may have been important to DOJ assuming jurisdiction in state elections) on January 18, and Lisa Monaco confirmed DOJ was investigating the fake electors on January 25.
As to the organizers, on December 16, I wrote a piece describing that DOJ would need to turn to “organizer-inciters” next — people like Alex Jones, who had a central role in turning rally-goers who imagined themselves to be peaceful protestors into an occupying force. We know of several other pieces of evidence that would have been important, if not necessary, to lock down before DOJ moved to those organizer-inciters.
For example, DOJ likely first obtained direct information about tensions involving VIPs in Brandon Straka’s first and second FBI interviews in February and March of last year, information that the government claimed during his sentencing provided valuable new leads. Straka was one of those VIPs who expected to have a speaking slot on January 6 only to discover all he was getting was a seat at the front, next to Mike Flynn. Access to his phone would have provided the government comms depicting growing tensions tied to the extremism of Nick Fuentes and Ali Alexander described in this ProPublica article.
“Is Nick Fuentes now a prominent figure in Stop the Steal?” asked Brandon Straka, an openly gay conservative activist, in a November text message, obtained exclusively by ProPublica. “I find him disgusting,” Straka said, pointing to Fuentes’ vehemently anti-LGBT views.
Alexander saw more people and more power. He wrote that Fuentes was “very valuable” at “putting bodies in places,” and that both Jones and Fuentes were “willing to push bodies … where we point.”
Straka, Fuentes and Jones did not respond to requests for comment.
Straka was part of a Stop the Steal listserv on which Michael Courdrey and Alexander were on the day of the riot.
The Stop the Steal group chat shows a reckoning with these events in real time.
“They stormed the capital,” wrote Stop the Steal national coordinator Michael Coudrey in a text message at 2:33 p.m. “Our event is on delay.”
“I’m at the Capitol and just joined the breach!!!” texted Straka, who months earlier had raised concerns about allying with white nationalists. “I just got gassed! Never felt so fucking alive in my life!!!”
Alexander and Coudrey advised the group to leave.
“Everyone get out of there,” Alexander wrote. “The FBI is coming hunting.”
The government described learning new information about Straka as recently as December 8 followed up in a January 2022 interview. Some of this appears to have been a late discovery of his own grift and, possibly, his role in inciting a riot at the TCF center in Michigan. But at sentencing, prosecutors reaffirmed that the sealed contents of his cooperation remained valuable.
Some other existing defendants whose phone and/or cooperation could provide such insight are Simone Gold (who pled guilty in early March but who had not yet done her FBI interview) and Alan Hostetter and Russell Taylor; prosecutors described still providing primary discovery in the latter case the other day, meaning they’re still getting phone contents there, too.
Tarrio’s phone would include comms with many of the people DOJ has turned its focus to; he had known communications with Alex Jones, Ali Alexander, and Cindy Chafian, to say nothing of his close ties to Roger Stone.
In addition to Tarrio’s phone, exploiting that of Stewart Rhodes— seized in May — took some time because he had so many Signal texts that it was an extended process sorting through the inculpatory and exculpatory ones.
The hold up on Rhodes’ phone is one of the things that held up his own arrest and charges for Seditious Conspiracy. In that superseding indictment, DOJ completely hid what new information they had learned about the Oath Keeper ties with the Willard planners. But the seditious conspiracy charge (along with the cooperation of Mark Grods) appears to have persuaded :(style="background-color:#ffffffff"):}::{Joshua James to flip. James’ cooperation would provide lots of new testimony about what Stone and other VIPs were doing on January 5 and 6, including an explanation as to why James felt he needed to call into Mike Simmons to report on what is almost certainly Stone’s anger about the sidelining of his extremist group at the main rally, something clearly at issue in these recent subpoenas.
James would have proffered before he pled guilty (meaning prosecutors would have know what he would say if he did plead), but they would hold off on using his testimony for legal process until he testified before a grand jury in conjunction with his plea on March 2.
Public reporting has revealed that both the January 6 and DOJ investigations have obtained at least some of the documentary footageimplicating Tarrio and Stone from the day of the riot.
And if the January 6 committee works like the SSCI investigation into Russia, it could share transcripts from obviously problematic testimony with DOJ. Ali Alexander spent most of day telling a story to the committee that had already been debunked by DOJ.
On the anniversary of January 6, Merrick Garland explained that all of the arrests from the first year had laid the foundation for more complex cases.
We build investigations by laying a foundation. We resolve more straightforward cases first because they provide the evidentiary foundation for more complex cases.
Investigating the more overt crimes generates linkages to less overt ones. Overt actors and the evidence they provide can lead us to others who may also have been involved. And that evidence can serve as the foundation for further investigative leads and techniques.
In circumstances like those of January 6th, a full accounting does not suddenly materialize. To ensure that all those criminally responsible are held accountable, we must collect the evidence.
We follow the physical evidence. We follow the digital evidence. We follow the money.
This is the kind of thing he was talking about: working your way up through Mark Grods to Joshua James to Stewart Rhodes to Roger Stone, taking the time to crack and exploit Tarrio’s phone, exploiting early access to Straka’s comms to get to the organizers. The investigation “aperture” hasn’t changed; what has changed is DOJ has acquired information it needed before it could take the next step.
Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/tag/russell-taylor/
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https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/rudy-giuliani-bogus-evidence-antifa/
raw story
after filming the fatal shooting of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, an activist disavowed by Black Lives Matter and other leftist organizations before Jan. 6 became the public face of the right-wing hoax that “antifa" was responsible for attacking the US Capitol.
The film also reveals how the 27-year-old from Provo, John Sullivan, urged rioters to "break that shit" as they pressed towards the doors to the Speaker's Lobby, as lawmakers hurried to safety on the other side.
It now appears Sullivan learned about the planned assault on the US Capitol through his access to a far-right network that included Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. Individuals in this network then turned around and fed Sullivan's information to Rudy Giuliani. Trump’s personal attorney then exploited this information in a propaganda effort to deflect blame for the attack from the former president and his supporters.
Foremost among those attempting to frame "antifa" by spotlighting John Sullivan's involvement was his brother, James Sullivan. A conservative activist with links to the Proud Boys, James Sullivan wrote in a text to an unknown recipient shortly after the attack: "I'm currently working with the FBI to expose and place total blame on John and the 226 members of antifa that instigated the Capitol' riot.'”
A screenshot of this text was obtained byMillie Weaver, part of a team of pro-Trump operatives drafted to review and analyze video of the Jan. 6 attack for Giuliani. Weaver shared the screenshot with Giuliani, her partner Gavin Wince told Raw Story, and Giuliani appears to have tweeted it out by accident nine days after the Jan. 6 attack. However,
To date, no "members of antifa" nor other left-wing activists have been publicly identified as taking part in the breach. The only known associate of John Sullivan who went inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 is Jade Lee Sacker, a photographer working on a documentary about the two brothers.
In a conversation recorded by Thad Cisneros, a former Proud Boy from Utah, John Sullivan explained, "Because I know we were going to storm the Capitol. I'm on chats. I'm on underground chats like — I have my resources, I have my resources. That is not me, but I have people, right?"
Cisneros told Raw Story that he "had zero knowledge" of John Sullivan's plans for Jan. 6 before the attack.
This recording was published in PsyOp the Steal, a pro-Trump documentary made by Weaver, with Cisneros' voice altered to protect his identity. Cisneros recently disclosed to Raw Story that he is the person asking questions in the recording. He also told Raw Story he provided the FBI with a copy of the recording.
Cisneros confirmed that on the night after the Jan. 6 attack, he called Sullivan and spoke to him outside the Hamilton Hotel. Shortly after Cisneros and Sullivan's meeting, Sullivan was detained by the DC Metropolitan Police and FBI for questioning about his involvement in the attack on the Capitol. Later, Cisneros said, the FBI contacted him. Agents wanted to talk to him about Joe Biggs, a national Proud Boys leader, and Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers.
"They asked me questions I knew I couldn't lie about," Cisneros told Raw Story. "They asked me: 'Do you know who this person is?' Of course. This is Joe Biggs. I called Joe Biggs and told him. I'm now regarded as a security threat by the Proud Boys. I understand."
The FBI also wanted information about Rhodes and other members of the Oath Keepers, but Cisneros told Raw Story he could not provide anything relevant to Jan. 6. He acknowledged that he and Rhodes "had been on several chats together," albeit only to discuss "organizing communities."
Cisneros said he was part of a council of national Proud Boys leaders known as the "War Boys," predating the MOSD Leaders Group, a private message group set up on Dec. 20, 2020to serve as a "national rally planning committee." Biggs, Ethan Nordean (aka Rufio Panman) and former national chairman Enrique Tarriol are all in jail awaiting trial on charges of seditious conspiracy.
"Enrique represented the strategy," Cisneros said. "Rufio represented the brawn. Biggs brought the military chutzpah. I unofficially brought a sense of reason and logic. When I hear things like, 'Storm the capitol,' it sends red flags."
Federal court documents indicate that the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers privately discussed plans to assault the Capitol in separate chats.
On Jan. 4, Tarrio reportedly posted to the MOSD Leaders Group stating, "I didn't see this voice note until now, you want to storm the Capitol." Tarrio's message was in response to a voice note posted the previous evening by John Charles Stewart, a member MOSD's "upper tier leadership," recommending that the Proud Boys "plan the operations based around the front entrance to the Capitol building."
Meanwhile, on Christmas day, according to federal court documents, Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs messaged in the OKFL Hangout Chat when Congress convened for a joint session to certify the electoral vote.
"We need to make those senators very uncomfortable with us being a few hundred feet away," Meggs said.
"I think Congress will screw [President Trump] over," Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes reportedly responded. "The only chance we/he has is if we scare the s*** out of them and convince them it will be torches and pitchforks time is [sic] they don't do the right thing."
In bombshell testimony before the January 6th Committee on Tuesday, former aide Cassidy Hutchinson revealed that word of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers' plans reached the White House in the days before the Jan. 6 attack, even as Trump himself was planning to go to the Capitol when Congress met to certify the electoral vote.
"As Mr. Giuliani and I were walking to his vehicle that evening, he looked at me and said something to the effect of, 'Cass, are you excited for the 6th? It's going to be a great day,'" Hutchinson testified. "I remember looking at him and saying, 'Rudy, could you explain what's happening on the 6th?' He responded something to the effect of, 'We're going to the Capitol. It's going to be great. The president's going to be there. He's going to look powerful. He's going to be with the [House] members, he's going to be with the senators. Talk to the chief about it. Talk to the chief about it. He knows about it.'"
When Hutchison recounted that conversation with Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff reportedly told her, "There's a lot going on, Cass. But I don't know. Things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6."
"I recall hearing the word 'Oath Keeper' and hearing the word 'Proud Boys' closer to the planning of the January 6th rally when Mr. Giuliani would be around," Hutchinson later testified.
Robert Costello, Giuliani's lawyer, did not return an email and voicemail for this story.
The Sullivan Brothers
James Sullivan, whose information about his brother John made it to Giuliani shortly after the Jan. 6 attack, was actively involved in a far-right movement that gave him direct access to the Proud Boys leadership.
Joe Biggs, a national organizer for the Proud Boys, introduced James Sullivan at a rally organized by the far-right group in Portland, Ore., in late September 2020.
"I'm part of a patriot group that came up from Utah, the Proud Boys chapter," James Sulliva
at the rally. "The group that I'm part of is called Civilized Awakening I founded back when my brother, John Sullivan — he's antifa; he organized a protest where a shooting occurred in Provo — and that's when we started organizing the patriot movement in Utah.
"My brother, John Sullivan… he was a speed skater," James said later in the speech. "He started two third-party logistics companies. He was conservative. And they manipulated him when Black Lives Matter came to Utah. Now, he was at the DC capitol saying he was gonna pull the president out of office. That Black man, that was my brother. He was raised by Lt. Col. John Sullivan."
Cisneros, another Proud Boy, had also interacted with John Sullivan before Jan. 6, having spoken at a Jul. 2, 2020 rally in Provo that Sullivan organized. Pushing back against the perception that John Sullivan allowed him to speak at the rally, Cisneros recently posted a photo of himself speaking through a megaphone with Sullivan in the background on Instagram, accompanied by the text, "When I took over a #blm event in Provo, UT with #jaydenx in the background. #slutchapter #proudboy #disavowed for working with #blm. I don't take orders I give 'em."
Cisneros told Raw Story that he met the Sullivan brothers' adoptive father. He claimed his was the anonymized voice in the PsyOp the Steal documentary referencing a meeting with the father and two sons.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch
On the eve of the attack on the Capitol, Rudy Giuliani and others set up what became known as a "war room" at the Willard Hotel, Cassidy Hutchinson testified to the January 6th Committee on Tuesday.
After law enforcement regained control of the Capitol and Congress reconvened with Vice President Mike Pence to complete the certification of the election on Jan. 6, Giuliani regrouped. His new task was helping to absolve Trump of responsibility for the attack, as the president faced a second impeachment trial.
Michael Trimarco, a New York businessman with a background in tech and finance, recommended Millie Weaver and Gavin Wince to Giuliani. Weaver, a former correspondent for the conspiracy theorist hub InfoWars, and her partner Wince had been staying at the Westin Arlington Gateway in rooms paid for by former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne since mid-November. They were part of a team that included Terpsehore "Tore" Maras and Patrick Bergy.
"When they finally met Rudy was Jan. 7," Trimarco told Raw Story. "The reason was because I felt the need to organize and collate… all the videos that were coming in from crowd sources. Millie and Gavin worked together. Tore has a lot of followers. They were sending stuff in. I said, 'These people would be good to pull all the video together."
Jason Funes, who worked on the Trump campaign in 2016 and 2020 — and worked in the US Department of the Interior from 2017 to 2019 — also contributed to the effort.
"Rudy Giuliani was being briefed by me in a group of people at the Willard Hotel on Jan. 8, and afterwards," Fune
the right-wing podcast Liberty Report podcast in November 2021. "I'm an expert witness, bro. I was the one at the Capitol building on video at sunset watching all these so-called Trump supporters. Listen, if antifa puts on a Trump hate, are they a Trump supporter?"
Following the attack on the Capitol, Funes texted photos of the driver's licenses of the Sullivan brothers' adoptive parents to a New Mexico man named Shawn Bradley Witzemann. In his text to Witzemann, Funes wrote, "Found these on the sidewalk."
Witzemann told Raw Story he doesn't believe that Funes actually found the photo IDs lying on the ground. "That was bogus," Witzemann said. "That's him being a smartass."
Witzemann hosted the Proud Boys-friendly podcast, "Armenian Council for Truth in Journalism." In it, he chronicled pro-Trump events in Washington, DC, Phoenix and Atlanta as a videographer.
One of Witzemann's clips captures an encounter with Funes, who is seen wearing a "Team Trump" shirt, on the evening of Nov. 14, 2020 in downtown Washington, DC, where the Proud Boys and other Trump supporters clashed with left-wing counter-protesters.
Witzemann was arrested in April 2021, and currently faces misdemeanor charges of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and other charges related to the Jan. 6 attack.
Witzemann said he interviewed Sullivan, alongside their fellow Jan. 6 arrestee Jesus Rivera, for a podcast, but did not expend much effort looking into Sullivan's father.
"I thought it was interesting for a minute," Witzemann said. "A lot of times you get led into a dead-end. What are you going to do?"
Asked how he obtained images of the driver's licenses belonging to the Sullivan brothers' parents and why he sent the pictures to Witzemann, Funes did not respond directly. In a prepared statement provided to Raw Story, Funes said, "Rudy Giuliani had DC hotels full of cohorts that were withholding vital information from President Trump and the entire federal government regarding Jan. 6 (including the IDs). In fact, Rudy, Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell, Roger Stone, Ali Alexander and others were culpable of spreading lies about foreign election interference to a sitting president and the entire world."
Flynn, Powell, Stone and Alexander could not be reached for comment about Funes' assertion.
Funes confirmed to Raw Story that he possesses a video interview with Cisneros that references the John Sullivan saga.
After helping Giuliani, Funes met with Kellye SoRelle, a former Texas prosecutor who eventually became the general counsel for the Oath Keepers. SoRelle was representing the president of Latinos for Trump, Bianca Gracia in a lawsuit when Gracia introduced her to Funes.
In an affidavit she shared on Twitter last November, SoRelle included a startling claim about the Cisneros video.
"I was contacted by a guy named Jason Funes," she wrote. "He came to visit me from Florida and brought me a video of a male by the name of xxxxx. Xxxxxx was explaining that he was in Utah and was associated with Jason and John Sullivan (Jayden X). John Sullivan is the individual who was with Ashli Babbitt when she was shot. Thad was being recorded stating that he flew to Washington, DC with Patrick Byrne and the Sullivan brothers, and that Patrick Byrne paid for the provocateurs to be at the capitol."
In an interview with Raw Story, Cisneros disputed SoRelle's claim, saying that Byrne "would have nothing to do with John." Cisneros added, "Patrick Byrne is someone I never had any involvement with. That guy had nothing to do with any of the flights that I took."
Funes also disputed SoRelle's account.
"Kellye SoRelle has taken a video out of context," he told Raw Story. "She didn't watch it in full, and is misrepresenting what Thad said, because that is not what Thad said in that video."
Raw Story has asked Funes to release the video. Funes indicated he was willing to consider the request but would need Cisneros' permission first.
Byrne told Raw Story he doesn't remember flying the Sullivan brothers or Cisneros to Washington, DC before Jan. 6, although he did not entirely rule it out as a possibility.
"Nope, never heard of the guys nor had anything to do with them and their projects," Byrne wrote in an email. "If that turns out to be incorrect, then it is because they were among many dozens whom in November and December who I was bringing to DC mostly for debriefing. The names of very few of those people have reached me. But neither of them ring a bell. And I do not recall helping anyone in around the J6 time. Just a month earlier."
In a text to Patrick Bergy, who was part of the team assisting Giuliani at the Willard Hotel, SoRelle suggested Funes had walked back his statement.
"So, the weird part is Jason changes his story," SoRelle said in the Jun. 1 text, which Bergy provided to Raw Story. "Originally, there was the Byrne flight stuff, which others still say… including another on the flight. But now Jason denies he said it."
In a follow-up text to Bergy, SoRelle said that Bianca Gracia, the president of Latinos for Trump, "told me the same."
SoRelle and Gracia were both present during a Jan. 5, 2021 meeting between Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes in an underground parking garage in Washington, DC. Tarrio and Rhodes are both in jail awaiting trial on charges of seditious conspiracy.
Byrne told Raw Story that he recalled agreeing to a request to fly 15 "pro-freedom Latinos from Texas" to DC for a rally in December 2020, although at that time, he said he did not know Gracia. He added that an unidentified reporter informed him that Tarrio and two to three other people on the flight were Proud Boys.
Byrne said he recently asked Gracia, with whom he is now acquainted, about the parking garage meeting.
"She told me that she knew Enrique for a long time, that he had worked for her before working for Proud Boys and before there even was a Proud Boys, as her state organizer and on her board of directors for Latinos for America," Byrne told Raw Story. (Since Jan. 6, Latinos for Trump has changed its name to Latinos for America First.)
In a Signal thread that includedByrne and Joe Flynn, the brother of retired Lt. General Michael Flynn, Graciasaid she hadn't communicated with Cisneros since February 2021.
"He was a Proud Boy but got kicked out of Proud Boys 'cause he tried to make peace w Black Lives Matter people," Gracia wrote. "He also got involved with the Sullivan guy mentioned somehow. And rumor has it he was an informant. At this point, everyone is either an informant or domestic terrorist. I did not pick up Thad's call. I made him text me."
Responding to Gracia's statement, Joe Flynn wrote: "Kellye is crazy, likes to make s*** up."
SoRelle could not be reached for this story.
In the conversation recorded by Cisneros, Sullivan risibly claimed that his brother, James told him "the Italian mafia paid for everybody to fly out there."Steven Kiersh, Sullivan's lawyer, told RawStory that his client "is not under any circumstances to speak with any person other than myself about the case."
Gavin Wince, who was part of the team that assisted Giuliani's effort to collect video and analyze the Jan. 6 attack, told Raw Story that he knows who flew John and James Sullivan to DC, but won't say.
"I can't comment because that is witness tampering," Wince said. "A lot of this is executive privilege. We were working with Rudy Giuliani and the White House on this stuff.
"The information was gathered under an NDA on behalf of Rudy Giuliani for the benefit of Donald Trump," he added. "That was the only reason we were doing that… for the benefit of Donald Trump, because in our mind he's the president of the United States being framed."
Daniel Goldman, the former lead counsel for the House prosecution of Trump's first impeachment, told Raw Story that there's no such protection. Goldman's comment was provided in response to an inquiry for a previous story looking into a claim by Weaver that she could not comment because her work was covered by executive privilege and an NDA.
"There is no such thing as an NDA covered by executive privilege since executive privilege is not contractual," Goldman told Raw Story. "This person would not fall under executive privilege under any circumstance, and I can't imagine what NDA a 'journalist' signed with Trump. The fact of such an NDA would lead me to believe they are trying to cover up misconduct through a sham contract."
Robert Costello, Giuliani's attorney, has previously told Raw Story that his client did not issue any non-disclosure agreements to Weaver and her team and was unaware that any had been given. After looking into the matter, he reported that Giuliani's secretary sent the NDAs to one of Giuliani's security people, who distributed them to the team. Costello said he located Weaver's NDA and observed that it was not signed by Giuliani, adding that without two signatures, a contract has no legal force.
Informed that executive privilege wouldn't cover their work for Giuliani and that the NDAs are likely not legally binding, Wince still declined to elaborate on the Sullivan brothers' flights to DC, saying that his information came from sources who, if disclosed, would face retribution.
"The last thing we want to do is compromise that information if it's evidence," Wince said.
Wince told Raw Story that he and Weaver did not receive any compensation for their work from Giuliani.
"The only gift or benefit we received was being allowed to stay in hotel rooms that had already been pre-booked," he said. "I believe it was Patrick Byrne and Mike Trimarco that had booked whole floors." Wince added that some of their meals were paid for. He also acknowledged that Byrne covered the cost of airfare so that he and Weaver could fly to California to interview a "whistleblower" for a pro-Trump media project.
After receiving information from Weaver, Wince, Funes and others, Giuliani recorded his "Common Sense" podcast for Jan. 13, 2021, promising, "This episode is going to concern itself with what really happened on Jan. 6, 2021."
Giuliani presented John Sullivan as the poster child for his thesis that "antifa" was responsible for the attack on the Capitol, making a case that was only loosely based on fact.
"I guess I'll repeat the word 'antifa' so we can see the organization for which Sullivan is operating," Giuliani told his audience in a video posted on the Rumble platform that has received almost half a million views to date. "Now, just a brief background on Sullivan: Sullivan is a Black Lives Matter/antifa partisan person involved with them. Involved in riots before. If not the most prominent, the most recent was in July 2020. He was arrested for rioting in Provo, Utah, where a person was killed during that riot."
In addition to omitting the critical fact that Sullivan had been shunned by Black Lives Matter organizers, Giuliani's statement included another egregious error. The SUV driver shot during the protest in Provo did not die and launched a bid for Provo's mayor.
"Let's start with the fact that long before Donald Trump or anyone else gave a speech on Jan. 6, this violent protest reaction was being created by other than Donald Trump or Donald Trump partisans, but by antifa and an antifa representative and a professional at creating riots, including riots that resulted in death," Giuliani said. "John Sullivan."
Speaking to Raw Story just before the January 6th Committee hearing on Tuesday, Weaver rejected the claim that Trump and Giuliani planned the attack on the Capitol.
"I've seen the J6 Committee making wild accusations that Trump and Giuliani had premeditated Jan. 6," Weaver said. "To me, that seems so foreign. You get a feel for things when you're in the middle of it. The feeling for me is there wasn't a chance in hell they pre-planned and orchestrated anything of the sort. Really, it seems like afterwards everyone is just trying to figure out what the heck happened. It's alien or way out there to say Trump and his people around him pre-planned an event such as J6, which only served to hurt him. In no way did he benefit. The opposing side benefited greatly from that."
An hour later, under questioning from Vice-Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Cassidy Hutchinson would describe three "camps of thought" in the White House, telling the committee that her former boss, Mark Meadows, straddled the moderate and extreme camps. Although Hutchinson didn't mention Weaver — an outsider working to assist Giuliani after the fact — by name, her position could easily be described as aligning with the third view inside the White House.
"And there was the last group, which was 'deflect and blame,'" Hutchinson testified. "Let's blame antifa. These aren't our people."
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battle plan
https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/read-directions-carefully-proud-boys/
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an 7 22
Sarasota, Florida’s Herald-Tribune over the weekend published an op-ed praising the Proud Boys, written by a woman who describes herself as a “God-fearing Christ follower,” a “mother of two beautiful children,” a “patriot,” and the “wife of a man who defends his family and their freedoms.” What the paper and the author neglected to note is she is married to one of the Proud Boys, Mediaite reports.
Based on a quick search of the Herald-Tribune, NCRM was able to identify another opinion piece, published just a few weeks ago, that makes clear the paper should have known the op-ed praising the Proud Boys was written by one of their spouses. It clearly refers to “Proud Boy Nicholas Radovich, and his wife, Melissa Radovich.”
Melissa Radovich is the author of Sunday’s op-ed, which was titled, “Attacking Proud Boys does a disservice to caring school parents.” It also appears in a Google search under the headline, “Don’t vilify Sarasota Proud Boys for caring about their children.”
“When I think about the Proud Boys,” Radovich writes, “I think of fathers, business owners and veterans. These fathers have spoken at many School Board meetings. They are concerned about the direction that their local schools are heading in, and I commend them for coming to School Board meetings.”
The Proud Boys have been designated a terrorist group in at least two other countries – Canada and New Zealand – and have been described by New York lawmakers as a “racist, neo-fascist” group that promotes “white nationalist, neofascist rhetoric,” and “racist, misogynistic, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ bigotry.”
In fact, Radovich not only misses every opportunity to disclose she is married to one of the Proud Boys, she goes out of her way to do so, closing with this:
“I am simply a mom who will do what is best for my kids. If I have to speak at School Board meetings, fine. If I have to deal with smear campaigns, so be it. My passion will not be stifled, and my stance will not waver. I am for God, family and freedom – no matter what.”
Mediaite criticizes the paper’s “poorly-executed attempt to tell both sides of the story,” and notes “the paper failed to disclose the author was married to a Proud Boy herself.”
On Sunday many on social media criticized the op-ed for its content, but a few also noted Radovich’s spousal relationship with one of the Proud Boys.
Joe Jervis adds that the op-ed has since “disappeared” from the Herald-Tribune’s website, but one quick social media user posted screenshots before the piece was pulled.
NCRM was also able to find the full op-ed in syndication at Yahoo, but we will not link to it.
READ MORE: 'He betrayed his oath': Capitol Police sergeant unloads on Donald Trump in powerful editorial
Mediaite on Monday also offered this primer on the Proud Boys:
“To be clear, the Proud Boys have a documented history of criminal activities and violent altercations that dates back several years. Along with the Oath Keepers, multiple members of the group have been charged with serious felonies related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and an FBI informant testified to the House Select Committee that Proud Boys had plans that included occupying various federal buildings and assassinating Vice President Mike Pence during the attack. Members of Proud Boys have caused turmoil in various Republican circles across Florida, including contentious squabbles over leadership of local party organizations and even physical brawls.”
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https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-defends-proud-boys-ahead-january-6-hearing
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6 22 an lucien t
The hearings of the House Jan. 6 committee that began on Thursday night presented plenty of evidence of plain old-fashioned wrongdoing, infantile fantasizing by people old enough to know better, and hundreds of instances of people committing overt criminally indictable offenses at the behest of a president of the United States. But the evidence showed something else, too: an entire political party that has lost the capacity to be embarrassed.
There is so much evidence of behavior and attitudes that are embarrassing that you hardly know where to begin: with the whiny look on Jared Kushner's face and his whiny tone of voice as he described the White House counsel's threats to resign as "whiny"? The aw-shucks shrug of the shoulders given by former Attorney General William Barr, who was the highest law enforcement official in the land, as he explained — if that is even the word — resigning his office because he had finally had enough of what he called "bullshit"? Committee vice-chair Liz Cheney's lengthy recitation of all the phone calls Donald Trump didn't make and orders he refused to issue while a violent attempt was made to overthrow the government of which he was in charge?
See what I mean?
To me, however, the most embarrassing thing of all is the fact that nine veterans of service in the United States military have been indicted for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government for their roles in the violent assault on the Capitol. Not only that, but they dressed up and play-acted their parts as veterans. Some of them, specifically the Oath Keepers, wore military-style camo outfits complete with bulletproof vests and Kevlar helmets, and used a military-style "stack" formation to lead the breach of the Capitol building. Others, the Proud Boys, gave orders to their membership not to wear military-style gear and remain incognito: "come as a patriot" and "do not wear colors!" (referring to their yellow and black Proud Boy uniforms) and "be decentralized and use good judgement" because "we are trying to avoid getting into any shit."
Reading the indictment of five Proud Boys — four of them veterans — that was handed down by a Washington grand jury last Monday is like reading a script for a remake of "Rambo." Using an encrypted social media chat app, the Proud Boys talked about their "Ministry of Self Defense" or MOSD, their "Leaders Group," their "Operations Council" and their "Marketing Council." They even formed a "MOSD Prospect Group" to recruit new members for their paramilitary operations at the Capitol on Jan. 6. (Note: All that excited capitalization is from the texts cited verbatim in the indictment.)
The Proud Boys established something called the "Boots on the Ground Group," and exchanged text messages asking, "Are we going to do a commander's briefing before 10 a.m.?"
"Standby," came the response in primo-mil-speak.
All of the above was in preparation for the assault launched by the Proud Boys on the Capitol. Many of the texts were exchanged before the rally on the Ellipse had even begun.
At 12:53 p.m. on Jan. 6, during the time Donald Trump was speaking on the Ellipse, the Proud Boys effected the first breach of the protective barriers established by police around the Capitol, pushing one of the police officers to the ground. Her head struck the pavement hard enough for her to lose consciousness and suffer severe trauma. Moments later, a Proud Boy text announced, "We have just taken the Capitol," as if the seat of the government of the United States was a military objective. At 1:00 p.m., a member of the so-called "MOSD Leader's Group" texted, "They deploy the mace yet?" One of the Proud Boys, who turned out to be an unindicted co-conspirator because of his cooperation with the Department of Justice, replied: "We are trying."
The indictment lays out this embarrassing behavior by military veterans in excruciating, painful detail. It describes the childish delight they took in each other and the pride in the crimes they were committing by citing the selfies they took, to which they attached such grand comments as, "So we stormed the fucking Capitol. Took the motherfucking place back. That was so much fun." Another Proud Boy added, "January 6 will be a day in infamy."
The Proud Boys used the Washington Monument as a rallying point before they began their attack on the Capitol. From the little hill where the Washington Monument stands, the following memorials to other veterans are visible: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean Veterans Memorial, the World War II Memorial. Constitution Gardens is also visible, and so is the Signers Memorial, commemorating the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
The Proud Boys used "1776" as a private code for what they called their revolution throughout their text messages to each other. The year of the signing of the Declaration of Independence has also become a key part of the rhetoric of many of Trump's defenders, as if by invoking the founding of the country they can excuse its destruction.
Wearing military garb after you've left the service isn't indictable, neither is using military slang, and neither is singlemindedness to the point of being blind to what you're really doing. But it is embarrassing, in ways none of them will ever understand.
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an 6 22
as the House Select Committee prepares to begin public hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, far-right groups including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers are slated to be a topic of discussion.
At the same time, both of those groups’ leaders are facing criminal charges of seditious conspiracy. They are alleged to have worked together “to oppose by force the authority of the Government of the United States.”
Those charges can be difficult to prove in court. But regardless of the outcome of any prosecution that alleges these groups worked to overthrow the government, our research has shown that the more committed members of these and other extreme right-wing groups believe that the U.S. government, as currently constituted, is illegitimate and should be overthrown and replaced with one that is based on white supremacy.
Violent racism
Proud Boys have identified themselves as “Western chauvinists” who focus on opposing political correctness and white guilt. But these claims have generally been seen as cover for deeper racist and antisemitic sentiments. For some Proud Boys members, this group was a steppingstone to more extreme groups, such as The Base.
Like any street gang, the Proud Boys as a national group is made up of semi-autonomous chapters of varying numbers and abilities. They are in different degrees of contact and coordination with other chapters [3x after stand by?] . It’s not clear the level of interest – or capability – that most members have in actually following through with overthrowing the government.
Oath Keepers is an anti-government group that calls itself a “militia” focused on defending the Constitution and fighting tyranny. Former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove stated that the group is actually “selling the revolution,” meaning that the group is pushing conspiracy theories and propaganda to facilitate confrontations with federal law enforcement.
While members of the Proud Boys have concentrated their confrontations on anti-fascists or other protesters, Oath Keepers have participated in several armed standoffs against the government.
In 2014, the Oath Keepers joined an armed standoff between far-right patriot groups in Nevada on behalf of Cliven Bundy. In 2015, Oath Keepers showed up heavily armed in Ferguson, Missouri, during protests over the killing of Michael Brown. And in 2016, Oath Keepers were present at the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
Members of the Proud Boys, along with others, march toward the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.]
A challenging road
Historically, prosecutions of seditious conspiracy charges succeeded against militant Islamist or Marxist groups.
But prosecuting far-right groups has tended to be much more difficult. In 1988, Louis Beam, a figurehead in the white power movement, and 13 white supremacists from groups such as the Aryan Brotherhood and the Ku Klux Klan were acquitted of conspiring to kill a federal judge and an FBI agent and plotting to overthrow the federal government to establish an all-white nation in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2012, charges of seditious conspiracy against members of Hutaree, a militant far-right Christian nationalist group, were dismissed after the judge concluded the government had not proved there was an actual conspiracy.
But it is clear from the charges stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection – involving hundreds of alleged participants – that police and prosecutors are taking seriously the threat of violent action by Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other far-right groups against individuals, organizations and local and national governments.
Matthew Valasik, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Alabama and Shannon Reid, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, University of North Carolina – Charlotte
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big in 1/6 hearing
proud Boys leader Harry "Enrique" Tarrio and four of his commandants have been charged with the rare federal felony of seditious conspiracy and other offenses related to the January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol.
The Justice Department handed down a 10-count indictment against Tarrio, Capitol window-breacher Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, New York, Ethan Nordean of Seattle, Washington,Joe Biggs of the Daytona Beach area in Florida, and Zachary Rehl of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Washington Post reported on Monday. Tarrio, who was not in the nation's capitol on the day of the attack, nonetheless "allegedly guided the group’s activities from nearby Maryland as Proud Boys members engaged in the earliest and most aggressive attacks to confront and overwhelm police at several critical points on restricted Capitol grounds."
Furthermore, all four men allegedly participated in "coordinating travel to Washington and the movements of the group around the Capitol" on January 6th," per the Post. "The group is also accused of plotting to foment a riot and storm Congress, action that eventually forced the evacuation of lawmakers meeting to confirm the 2020 election results."
Seditious conspiracy indictments have also been levied against Oath Keepers leader Steward Rhodes and 10 of his confederates for their roles in the deadly insurgency that was inspired by former President Donald Trump.
"But the new charges show that prosecutors are pulling together a wider picture of organization within extremist groups that shared overlapping if not common goals," the Post noted.
Tarrio and his co-conspirators have been detained and are pleading not guilty.
Meanwhile, last Friday, Proud Boys member Josh Pruitt pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding on January 6th, 2021 while Congress was certifying President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.
The story continues here (subscription required).
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Newly released text messages show Oath Keepers discussing Jan. 6 security for Trump allies: report
An Oath Keepers billboard in Pine River, Minnesota in July 2015, Wikimedia Commons] 10 in logo? bill of r?]
Alex Henderson April 21, 2022
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is among the 11 members of that far-right militia group that is facing federal seditious conspiracy charges because of their January 6, 2021-related activities. According to Politico reporter Kyle Cheney, a “newly released trove of text messages” shows that “top members” of the Oath Keepers who have been indicted “chatted for days about providing security for some of the highest-profile figures associated with Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the election.”
Rhodes and Florida-based Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs, Cheney reports, “discussed plans to provide security for figures like Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Ali Alexander and Michael Flynn on January 5 and January 6, (2021), describing potential partnerships with other groups and security details.”
“While several members of the group now facing charges notably flanked Stone on January 5 — including Joshua James, who has since pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy — the extent of the Oath Keepers’ work for other figures has been murky,” Cheney explains. “For example, Alexander indicated, in a recent statement, that the Oath Keepers never ended up providing security for him because his own January 6 event was canceled amid the chaos on Capitol grounds. But the group’s conversations reveal an easy relationship among several of the groups and entities now under scrutiny by federal prosecutors and the January 6 select committee.”
Cheney adds, “In one exchange, Meggs — identified by his handle ‘Gator 1’ — indicates he attempted to call Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, after hearing reports he had been arrested on January 4, 2021.”
The text messages, according to Cheney, were “posted” by Ed Vallejo, one of the Oath Keepers facing seditious conspiracy charges.
“Vallejo was stationed at a Comfort Inn in Arlington, VA, where prosecutors say he oversaw the group’s cache of weapons and was prepared to drive it to the Capitol if the fighting grew more intense,” Cheney reports. “Vallejo is seeking release from pretrial detention. Evidence that Meggs had a direct line to Tarrio — whose phone was confiscated by law enforcement and has now been accessed by federal prosecutors — adds new heft to the evidence of coordination among the groups. Prosecutors recently highlighted their interest in a January 5 meeting between Rhodes and Tarrio in a parking garage in Washington, D.C., shortly after Tarrio was released following his January 4 arrest.”
Federal prosecutors, Cheney notes, had “previously disclosed” text messages from Meggs that described “efforts to forge an ‘alliance’ between Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and other groups like the Three Percenters.”
“In the newly released cache of messages,” Cheney reports, “Oath Keepers discuss the possibility of joining Flynn’s security detail. Rhodes noted that he had previously worked with First Amendment Praetorian, a group linked to Flynn, to protect Flynn, as well as with a group assigned to protect pro-Trump broadcaster Alex Jones, who has described relying on a group of retired police officers for his protection on January 6.”
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Federal investigators obtained a search warrant for a Pennsylvania man allegedly designated by Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio as “upper tier leadership” in an encrypted message group set up for planning for the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol by the far-right street-brawling group.
LNP/Lancaster Online reported on Saturday that the Pennsylvania man subject to the search warrant, who is also identified as “Person 3” in a conspiracy indictment against Tarrio and five other Proud Boys, is John Charles Stewart aka Johnny Blackbeard, of Carlisle, Pa. The government also obtained a warrant to search the home of Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino in Belmont, NC. Federal agents raided Bertino’s home on March 8, the same day that Tarrio was arrested in Miami.
The warrants were disclosed in a motion filed by the government on March 7 to temporarily seal the indictment against Tarrio and his five co-defendants. The government requested that the indictment remain under seal “so that Tarrio and his two co-conspirators are not alerted of the existence of this indictment until Tarrio has been arrested and the related search warrants have been executed.”
The government warned that premature disclosure of the indictment could “affect the integrity of the investigation by causing alleged conspirators and witnesses to destroy evidence and/or hinder the ability of the government to safely arrest Tarrio and locate his two co-conspirators — who reside in different states and who are alleged in the indictment to have advocated for the use of force to obstruct the certification of the electoral college vote.”
The motion was unsealed, along with the indictment, on March 8.
Although Stewart has not been arrested, the indictment describes him as playing an integral role in the Ministry of Self-Defense, a closely vetted chapter described by Tarrio as a “national rally planning committee” for the events of Jan. 6, 2021. According to the government, Stewart and Bertino were added to the original MOSD Leaders Group encrypted chat by Tarrio on Dec. 20, 2020, along with Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Zach Rehl and Charles Donohoe, who are charged with conspiracy alongside Tarrio. Later, Tarrio allegedly created an encrypted messaging group called the MOSD Prospect Group to vet Proud Boys for the Jan. 6 operation.
On Dec. 29, Tarrio posted a message to the MOSD Prospect Group to notify prospective members of a virtual meeting the following day to explain how the operation would work, according to the government.Tarrio’s message instructed prospects that the MOSD “will have a top-down structure,” adding that “if that’s something you’re not comfortable with” they should not bother attending the meeting.The government also alleges that Tarrio told prospects that the “upper-tier leadership” of the MOSD would consist of a three-person operations section led by Stewart, Rehl, who was the president of the Philadelphia chapter, and one other person not identified in the indictment.
As early as Jan. 3, Proud Boys discussed attacking the Capitol in the MOSD Members Group, according to the indictment. The government alleges that an unidentified member asked, “What would they do [if] 1 million patriots stormed and took the capital building. Shoot into the crowd? I think not.”
“They would do nothing because they can do nothing,” Stewart reportedly responded.
LNP/Lancaster Online reported that the newspaper reached Stewart’s wife on Saturday, but she said her husband was not available and hung up the phone.
The indictment indicates that Stewart played a critical role in developing the plan for the Proud Boys’ assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“I mean, the main operating theater should be out in front of the House of Representatives,” Stewart allegedly said in a voice note in the MOSD Leaders Group on Jan. 3, according to the indictment. “It should be out in front of the Capitol building. That’s where the vote is taking place and all of the objection.So, we can ignore the rest of these stages and sh*t and plan the operations based around the front entrance to the Capitol building. I strongly recommend you use the national mall and not Pennsylvania avenue though. It’s a wide-open space, you can see everything coming from all angles.”
The next morning, according to the government, Tarrio posted a voice note in the MOSD Leaders Group.
“I didn’t hear this voice note until now,” he said. “You want to storm the Capitol.”
Richard Schwetz, a former Proud Boy from Pennsylvania, and Asher Meza, a member of the Miami chapter, told LNP/Lancaster Online that Stewart was not in Washington, DC on Jan. 6 because he was in the hospital dealing with a medical issue. Bertino has also said he was not in DC during the storming of the Capitol because he was recuperating from a stab wound sustained during a previous rally on Dec. 12.
Even though Stewart was not present, the Proud Boys assault of the Capitol on Jan. 6 unfolded much the way Stewart had allegedly proposed.
The Proud Boys mustered at the Washington Monument on the National Mall at about 10 a.m. on Jan. 6, and 200 to 300 members marched to the Capitol before President Trump spoke at the Ellipse. At around 12:53 p.m., Nordean, Biggs and Rehl led the group to the First Street pedestrian entrance near Peace Monument. Ryan Samsel, another Pennsylvania man, spoke briefly to Biggs and then advanced on a line of Capitol police officers manning a barricade. The rioters quickly overwhelmed the police line, and the crowd with the Proud Boys at its core poured onto the Capitol lawn. At 2:13 p.m., Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boy from upstate New York, used a stolen police riot shield to bash out a window, allowing the first members of the mob to enter the Capitol building.
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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/pro-putin-anti-gay-qanon-supporter-lauren-witzke-continues-to-be-delawares-most-embarrassing-republican/
Pro-Putin, anti-gay and QAnon: Meet Delaware’s most embarrassing Republican
[Lauren Witzke, from Facebook]
Alex Henderson March 04, 2022
In Delaware, the most famous Democrat is President Joe Biden, who commutes between the White House and his home in that heavily Democratic state. Delaware’s most famous — or infamous — Republican, meanwhile, isfar-right Christian nationalist and QAnon supporter Lauren Witzke, who drew widespread condemnation in late February when she praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a symbol of Christian piety. But Witzke’s praise of Putin is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her extremism and her ability to embarrass the state of Delaware.
During an appearance on the Christian Right program “Cross Talk,” the 34-year-old native of Delmar, Delaware — who suffered a landslide defeat when she ran against Sen. Chris Coons in Delaware’s 2020 U.S. Senate race — made it clear that she supports Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
The QAnon Republican said, “Russia is a Christian nationalist nation…. I actually support Putin’s right to protect his people and always put his people first, but also, protect our Christian values. I identify more with Putin's Christian values than I do with Joe Biden.”
Witzke went on to say, “Christian nationalist countries also are a threat to the global regime — like, the Luciferian regime that wants to mash everything together. But Putin takes care of his people. He looks out for his people.”
Witzke’s comments were slammed by everyone from Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison to Rep. Eric Swalwell of California to Mother Jones’ David Corn, who pointed out that the Delaware GOP “fully supported” her.
Indeed, Delaware Republicans passionately rallied around Witzke when she received the GOP nomination in the state’s 2020 U.S. Senate race. Democrats had their share of disappointments in 2020, losing U.S. Senate races in Maine, Iowa and North Carolina. But Coons, running against Witzke, was reelected by 22%. Nominating someone as extreme as Witzke did not serve Delaware Republicans well.
Witzke gave Coons’ reelection campaign a wealth of material to use against her. She happily accepted the endorsement of White nationalist Nick Fuentes, praised the violentProud Boys as examples of “patriotic masculinity,”called for a ten-year ban on all immigration to the United States, described Black Lives Matter as “violent terrorists,” proudly said she was a “Christian nationalist,” and called Coons a “Christian-hating baby killer.”
Witzke is vehemently anti-gay and anti-trans, and she has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory — which claims that the United States’ federal government has been taken over by an international cabal of pedophiles, child sex traffickers, Satanists and cannibals and that Donald Trump was elected in 2016 to fight the cabal. QAnon also believes that R&B superstar Beyoncé isn’t really Black, but is only pretending to be Black and is really an Italian woman named Ann Marie Lastrassi who works for billionaire Democrat George Soros.
Delaware Republicans had options other than Witzke in 2020, when she ran against former U.S. Marine James DeMartino in the state’s GOP U.S. Senate primary. But Witzke slammed the conservative DeMartino as a RINO(Republican In Name Only). Although the Delaware GOP endorsed DeMartino during the primary, Delaware Republicans gave Witzke the nomination and got behind her in the general election — which wasn’t enough to save her from losing badly to Coons.
In 2022, Witzke continues to make the Delaware Republican Party look bad every chance she gets — and when she praised Putin during its invasion of Ukraine, Witzke did exactly that.
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DC cop shared intel w/ AA?
https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/dc-cops-suspended-proud-boys/
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one of the most dangerous phrases in the English language has been “God is on our side.” When extremists believe they are doing God’s work — whether they are members of the Aryan Nations or al-Qaeda — the results can be deadly. And according to a disturbing article published by Religion News on January 26, Christian nationalism played a prominent role in the deadly January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Although former President Donald Trump was voted out of office in the 2020 election, he continues to be incredibly popular among far-right Christian fundamentalists and White evangelicals. And some of the extremists who attacked the U.S. Capitol Building, according to Religion News reporter Jack Jenkins, combined Christian fundamentalism with MAGA ideology.
“When supporters of former President Donald Trump rallied near the White House on January 6 of last year,” Jenkins explains, “a boisterous pocket of young men waving ‘America First’ flags broke into a chant: ‘Christ is King!’ It was one of the first indications that Christian nationalism would be a theme of the Capitol attack later that day, where insurrectionists prayed and waved banners that read ‘Proud American Christian.’”
Some of the Christian nationalists who attacked the Capitol Building, according to Jenkins, were followers of White nationalist Nick Fuentes.
“‘Christ is King’ is not controversial in itself: The phrase is rooted in Christian scripture and tradition,” Jenkins notes. “But Fuentes’ supporters have given it a different connotation. They have chanted it at anti-vaccine protests and the anti-abortion March for Life, some of them holding crucifixes aloft. It was heard in March, at an America First conference, where Fuentes delivered a speech saying America will cease to be America ‘if it loses its White demographic core and if it loses its faith in Jesus Christ.’ Fuentes also declared the country ‘a Christian nation.’”
Jenkins adds, “The religious fervor of Fuentes’ followers is part of an unsettling resurgence of faith-based appeals among right-wing extremists in the aftermath of the insurrection. With so many ideological strands animating the far-right — including racism, anti-Semitism, and fervent nationalism — a shared affinity for Christian nationalism has come to serve as a unifying element, scholars of extremism say. And as Christian nationalism’s presence grows, experts are concerned it could expand extremism’s influence over other, more moderate conservative politicians and groups.”
Of course, millions of Christians around the world, from Catholics to Mainline Protestants, have no use for Christian nationalism, the Christian Right and far-right White evangelicals just as there are millions of Muslims who detest jihadist groups like al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Taliban and ISIS (Islamic State, Iraq and Syria). Some Catholics and Protestants, in fact, are big supporters of liberal and progressive causes. Members of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church have a long history of liberal activism in the Black community.
But the fact that Christian nationalists represent Christianity’s lunatic fringe, not its mainstream, doesn’t make them any less dangerous.
“Intermingling patriotism and piety has become common even among groups better known for nationalist violence than adherence to a particular faith,” Jenkins observes. “The Proud Boys, a chauvinist organization whose members trampled and burned Black Lives Matter banners at Washington, D.C. churches a year ago, were spotted praying together the morning of the insurrection.”
Jenkins continues, “A month earlier, ‘Rufio Panman’ — a.k.a., Ethan Nordean, currently facing federal charges stemming from January 6 — compared Jesus’ crucifixion to ‘sacrificing ourselves for our country,’ at an impromptu Proud Boys rally near the Washington Monument, according to
by independent journalist Dakota Santiago. Nordean and other Proud Boys knelt as another man prayed into a bullhorn, warning that anti-fascist activists known as Antifa were ‘coming’ for their children, freedom, culture, country and Constitution.”
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ref oath and proud
https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/trump-captiol-riot/
1/6 analysis, sm sample here
12 21 raw an relationship coach kind // life coach?
...Both men overtly invoke the apocalypse, and self-consciously make QAnon references in their respective podcasts.
“What is going on here in America?” Cusick said in the Oct. 19 episode of his podcast. “They have us — we’re enslaved…. When the pilgrims came to America in 1620 — four hundred years from then goes to 2020 — when did this awakening start in the United States? Everyone started realizing what was going on with our elections, with Hollywood, with all these elites. It started in 2020, thanks to our president, Donald Trump.”
Cusick offered an allegory, comparing Americans from the settling of the colonies in the 1600s to the Israelites who, according to the Old Testament, were enslaved in Egypt under the pharaoh. By way of explaining how the United States, which after all, was supposedly “founded on Judeo-Christian principles,” had been “enslaved” since before its founding, Cusick claimed that “it was infiltrated and it became Satanic.”
For Cusick, Trump is to be credited for awakening a sense of nationalism in Americans and helping them define an enemy, which happens to be their fellow citizens.
“Trump’s the one who made people all of a sudden realize we have a country, and we have an opposition, whether you were on the left side or the right side,” Cusick said.
While concerned with something entirely different — helping men have more sex, as opposed to saving souls for Jesus — Stedman offered a similar chronology in his Dec. 9 blog post entitled “Why Your Woman Stops Wanting Sex.”
“We have been experiencing a gradual dark night of soul these past 100 years; as I write this in December 2021 we are near the culmination of it,” he wrote. Then, he went straight to the apocalypse: “In this collapse all that has been hidden is becoming seen. We are living through the apocalypse— the great revealing. The great awakening.”
After invoking apocalypse as a force for a transformation in gender relations, Stedman advised young men that they should strive for “consensual polarity” while making it clear that he was not advocating for equality: In his view, the men are protagonists; women are material to be “forged.”
“Such a relationship is well within your grasp,” Stedman advised. “In spite of all the programming, suitable women are all around; though many do need guidance — you will need to help forge them. But the limiting factor is you. Because you can only take a woman as far as you yourself have gone.”...
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disbar update
also foto proud boy
https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/investigative-journalist-explains-how-sydney-powell-could-face-disbarment-for-lying-in-court-to-protect-trump/
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omg yikes
https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/trump-2655520362/
no lnx
'Barely concealed bloodlust': Claremont Institute laid out detailed plan for using cops to overturn Trump’s election loss
Travis Gettys and Raw Story November 08, 2021
The right-wing Claremont Institute published a report in mid-October 2020 that gamed out a scenario where Donald Trump would remain in office through an alliance between law enforcement and militant extremists.
The report was prepared by attorney John Eastman, who authored a memo laying out another strategy for keeping Trump in office, and former Trump deputy national security advisor K.T. McFarland, as well as Kevin Roberts, then-executive director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, alt-right figure Jeff Giesea and right-wing blogger Charles Haywood, reported The Bulwark.
"Despite the authors' pretensions to scholarship and rigor — 'for a simulation to be valuable, the other side gets a vote and actions must be based in realism' — the final document is a frenzied and paranoid piece of work, revealing of the anxieties and aspirations of the authoritarian right," writes columnist Christian Vanderbrouk. "Practically, the report is an instruction manual for how Trump partisans at all levels of government — aided by citizen 'posses' of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — could, quite literally, round up opposition activists, kill their leaders, and install Donald Trump for a second term in office."
Most of the predictions in the report, titled "79 Days to Inauguration," did not come to fruition, such as the authors' belief that some states' voting results would be fatally tainted by cyber attacks and suspicious fires, and left-wing mobs did not converge on Washington, D.C., to incite violence, and police did not execute antifa/Black Lives Matter leaders as part of a federal operation.
"A barely concealed bloodlust runs through the report," Vanderbrouk writes. "This isn't a serious wargame or a policy study so much as a bowdlerized retelling of The Turner Diaries."
The report was produced in response to the bipartisan Transition Integrity Project's (TIP) exercise on "Preventing a Disrupted Presidential Election and Transition," which considered the prospect of Trump refusing to concede an election loss and made recommendations for avoiding a crisis -- which seems to be the opposite intent of the Claremont Institute's exercise.
"To the extent that the Claremont-TPPF report offers recommendations, they are mostly focused on how to emerge victorious from the chaos, including preparation 'for destructive urban unrest [with] potential targets includ[ing] ballot counting facilities, government buildings, especially state capitols and city halls, as well as television and radio studios,'" Vanderbrouk writes. "The Claremont task force seems either resigned to—or perhaps energized by—the view that 'prudent steps are likely to be spun as preparations for a military takeover or coup and may result in negative consequences either way.'"
"Either way. It's as if they're steering into the violence instead of trying to avoid it," he adds. "The message is clear:do whatever it takes to crush your opponents and all will be forgiven in the second Trump term."
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/steve-bannon-jan-6/
on October 21, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to hold former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's select committee on the January 6 insurrection. Many far-right MAGA Republicans view Bannon as a martyr, but critics view him as an insurrectionist. And an article by Media Matters' Madeline Peltz this week takes a damning and in-depth look at what Bannon had to say on his "War Room" podcast in the days leading up to January 6.
"In the days before the January 6 insurrection, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon bragged on his podcast about his behind-the-scenes efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election," Peltz explains. "These claims include calls and meetings he joined with conservative lawyer John Eastman and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who were then running the Trump legal team's 'war room' out of the Willard Hotel in Downtown Washington, D.C., where allies conspired to advance crackpot legal theories and misinformation campaigns aimed at stealing the 2020 presidential election from Joe Biden."
According to Peltz, "A Media Matters review has found that in addition to repeatedly boasting about his involvement with and insider knowledge of the Trump legal team's strategy to overturn the election results in Congress on January 6, Bannon previewed the events in dramatic and violent historical context and singled out then-Vice President Mike Pence as the figure who could steal the election for Trump. He also used the language of war to describe how Trump supporters should view the events of January 6 and encouraged them to travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the rallies taking place that day."
Media Matters' timeline of things Bannon said on his "War Room" podcast spans December 28, 2020-January 5, 2021. In late December on his podcast, Bannon claimed that then-Vice President Mike Pence had "many alternatives" to certifying the Electoral College results on January 6. And on his January 2 show, Bannon featured Giuliani and Eastman and said that Giuliani was "working in the Senate" to stop the election's certification[vid]
On January 4, Bannon told listeners, "We're hurtling towards a constitutional crisis…. (that is) going to be complicated, and it's going to be nasty." And he predicted that Trump's "first term is ending with action, and his second term is going to start with a bang."
Then, on January 5, Bannon had a lot to say about what he thought would be happening the following day. Bannon told listeners, "It's not going to happen like you think it's going to happen, OK. It's going to be quite extraordinarily different. And all I can say is: Strap in, the 'War Room' posse. You have made this happen, and tomorrow, it's game day."
Bannon predicted that a constitutional crisis was "about to go up, I think, five orders of magnitude tomorrow" and said, "We're going to go through a couple of three very turbulent 24-hour periods."
It was also on January 5 that Bannon, according to Peltz, said that Trump's allies had "put calls out last night trying to put bail up" for the Proud Boys' Enrique Tarrio, who had been arrested after tearing a Black Lives Matter banner down from an African-American church and burning it.
"At least two dozen members of Proud Boys, a violent neo-fascist street gang, face federal charges in connection with the attack on the Capitol, including four who were charged with conspiracy," Peltz notes. "Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola was among the first of the insurrectionists to break into the Capitol by smashing a window with a riot shield he stole from a police officer."
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https://yyy.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/10/proud-boys-far-right-givesendgo-christian-fundraising-site
guk
proud Boys and other far-right groups raise millions via Christian funding site
This article is more than 5 months old
Revealed: groups banned from other sites fundraising on GiveSendGo as data breach identifies high-dollar donors
After Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio was arrested on 4 January, a fundraiser billed as a ‘defense fund’ made $113,000 in just four days.
Jason Wilson
@jason_a_w
Sat 10 Apr 2021 0
A data breach from Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo has revealed that millions of dollars have been raised on the site for far-right causes and groups, many of whom are banned from raising funds on other platforms.
Chats indicate white supremacists are aiming to leverage the group’s success in recruiting disillusioned supporters of former President Donald Trump and the ‘QAnon’ conspiracy movement.
[How the far-right group ‘Oath Enforcers’ plans to harass political enemies
Read more]
It also identifies previously anonymous high-dollar donors to far-right actors, some of whom enjoy positions of wealth, power or public responsibility.
Some of the biggest beneficiaries have been members of groups such as the Proud Boys, designated as a terrorist group in Canada, many of whose fundraising efforts were directly related to the 6 January attack on the United States Capitol.
The breach, shared with journalists by transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, shows the site was used for a wide range of legitimate charitable purposes, such as crowdfunding medical bills, aid projects and religious missions.
But the site’s permissive stance towards far-right actors meant groups who had been banned from other fundraising platforms and payment processors following episodes of hate speech and violence have also used the platform.
Across at least 11 crowdfunding campaigns associated with the Proud Boys, members of the group, including some now facing conspiracy charges related to the Capitol attack, raised over $375,000. Some of these fundraisers netted large amounts of money in a short period.
After the Proud Boys chairman, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested on 4 January on charges related to firearms and the vandalism of a black church at a previous rally, a fundraiser billed as a “defense fund” made $113,000 in just four days.
A large proportion of that money came from a number of high-dollar donors who elected to be anonymous on the website, but whose identifying details were nevertheless preserved by GiveSendGo.
The anonymous donations included $1,000 from an email address associated withGabe Carrera, a Florida-based personal injury lawyer who bills himself as the attorney who rides. Another $1,000 which came to Tarrio was associated with an email address belonging to Paul C Gill, a Honolulu-based Hawaiian Airlines employee and former pilot who has previously made donations to Donald Trump’s campaigns and to the Republican party, and who has offered public political commentary in the form of letters to the editor in local newspapers.
Of Tarrio’s donors, none immediately responded to requests for comment except for Gerardo G Gonzalez, who anonymously donated $1,000 to Tarrio on 7 January.
Public records show that Florida-based Gonzalez is a former pharmacist who owns at least six properties in Miami Beach and Homestead, Florida. His apartments, apartment buildings and an acreage lot have an assessed value in excess of $2.4m, and in prior decades has sold other properties worth millions more.
In a telephone conversation, Gonzalez said that his support of the Proud Boys was motivated by his belief that “there is no systemic racism in this country”, and his opposition to “BLM and Antifa” who he said represented “the real extremism” in the United States. He also used derogatory terms for Latinos and Democrats.
Other Proud Boy fundraisers raised large amounts, and attracted a similar range of high-value anonymous donations.
Following the Capitol riots, a fundraiser in the name of “Medical Assistance to DC Proud Boy victims” made $106,107 on just 6 and 7 January. One anonymous donation for $5,000 was associated with an email address belonging to Ou Yin Lu, a Hacienda Heights, California, resident and businesswoman who had previously donated $14,640 to Trump’s campaign funds, the Republican National Committee and a former California state representative Bob Huff during the 2020 campaign funding cycle.
Also, after charges were laid on the Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs for his alleged role in the Capitol attack, an anonymous donation for $1,000 came from an email address belonging to a New York woman whose social media accounts list her as a state-employed special education teacher. Overall, Biggs raised over $6,000 on the site.
Other Proud Boy-related fundraisers included one for North Carolina Proud Boy, Jeremy Bertino, also known as Noble Beard, who was stabbed at a contentious rally in Washington DC on 12 December. Between 16 and 19 December, the effort netted $61,355.
Several parallel fundraisers sought to finance travel and equipment for Proud Boys who sought to attend the 6 January rally in person.
Two separate fundraisers asked patrons to fund protective gear and communications equipment for regional Proud Boys chapters, raising $4,876 and $12,900 respectively.
Later, fundraisers were mounted in the name of individual activists who are now facing serious charges arising from the events of 6 January.
One that netted $6,475 in just one day was for the benefit of the Washington state Proud Boy and national elder Ethan Nordean also known as Rufio Panman. Another for Nick Ochs, the self-described leader of the Proud Boys’ Hawaiian chapter, brought in $19,687 between 8 and 13 January.
Candyce Kelshall, the president of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies-Vancouver, who at at Simon Fraser University researches violent transnational social movements, said that far-right crowdfunding on GiveSendGo was just “the tip of the iceberg”, and similar efforts were happening across up to 54 other crowdfunding sites that her research had revealed.
She said, however, that GiveSendGo was “particularly insidious” due to its presentation of such crowdfunding in the guise of religion-based charity.
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an 921
Far-right extremism, or white supremacy, is the fastest growing ideology in the United States. The impact of white supremacists terrorizing Black communities has led to calls for serious action, even an anti-lynching bill. This alone reflects how dangerous they are.
Add to that the January 6 insurrection and the evidenced involvement of the Proud Boys, and other groups, leading to the FBI describing the attack on the United States Capitol as an act of domestic terror.
A mountain of evidence suggests that, just as Canada did (and as I've written previously for the Editorial Board), the United States should follow suit and list the Proud Boys (and others) as domestic terror groups, as part of its initiative to tackle white supremacy.
But that hasn't happened. Failure means the problem persists with the potential to worsen. The safety of Black people and people of color, and the internal security of the United States, depends on such a bold move happening. The failure to treat the Proud Boys as they should be by the federal authorities is continuing to have consequences.
Indeed, a couple of things have taken place recently that have once again brought this worrying reality into sharp focus. First, the clashes several weeks back between the Proud Boys and anti-fascists.
The scenes in Portland, Oregon, turned ugly, but thankfully nobody was killed. Here's the thing that's alarming. Prior to the Proud Boy protest and the counter demonstration, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell publicly announced that officers would not intervene. The Proud Boys are a threat, but here they were treated with kid gloves.
The lack of policing means that an approach of doubling down will be needed the next time the Proud Boys appear. Because the calculated failure to leave them to their own devices in the streets is akin to Trump's message. It's extremely dangerous, and dare I suggest, not how millions of Americans want their tax dollars spent with policing. Surely, those Proud Boys who watched events unfold in Portland at home on the TV will be salivating at the prospect of the next protest.
The plot thickens even further.
Just days ago, a judge ruled that prosecutors in the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Kenosha shooter who shot three people at a protest against police brutality in 2020, will notbe able to play for jurors a video of Rittenhouse allegedly stating his desire to shoot people — while agreeing with the Proud Boys' tactics. The news is another example of how dangerous the Proud Boys and their ilk have become.
They can terrorize the Capitol, greenlighted by the former president, and, others would argue, in the streets, allowed to do so by a police chief in Portland. Apparently the Proud Boys were allowed to post banners around the city before the violence took place.
Their white supremacist ideology is something the likes of Kyle Rittenhouse was sympathetic to. How many more like Rittenhouse are on the sideline, "standing by" for their chance, brainwashed by the nonsense of the Proud Boys? It doesn't bear thinking about.
In recent day, the Times reported that a member of the Proud Boys who was present and took part in the insurrection was also an FBI informant and was texting his contact throughout the day.
That the FBI remained in contact suggests that law enforcement were more informed about imminent violence than previously suggested. One thing is clear by now. Law enforcement have more than enough evidence and knowledge, and means, as do the FBI, to halt the Proud Boys in their tracks beforethey carry out further serious crimes.
Trump was a dream come true for the Proud Boys. God only knows what messaging he might have continued giving to white supremacist groups had he secured another term. Biden needs to now break up the dangerous groundwork that was laid for groups like them. And ordinary Americans need to push him. The safety of tax-paying Americans, and American democracy itself, is depending on it.
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921 ME
Following former President Donald Trump's jaw-dropping remarks during the presidential debate with then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, the far-right group The Proud Boys garnered national attention they'd never experienced before.
However, that spotlight also had its drawbacks because it subsequently became an integral part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) review of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. The investigation led to many members of the organization being charged with insurrection-related crimes. But now, the far-right group is reportedly taking a different approach to politics in hopes of making more subtle progress to bring its agenda to fruition.
Cassie Miller, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, spent years following the all-male extremist group, according to NPR. So she was well aware of the adverse effect that would likely come from Trump's words when he told them to "stand back and stand by" during that presidential debate.
The not-so-subliminal order from the president only piqued the interest of more far-right extremists who became interested in learning more about the organization. Speaking to the publication, Miller shed light on the future of the extremist organization and the agenda they reportedly have going forward.
"In the aftermath of that, suddenly everyone was talking about who the Proud Boys were and people were submitting applications to join the group," said Miller.
While the organization is known for its aggressive, violent nature, Miller is warning that changes are coming and the group is strategizing on a different level. According to Miller, they have also shifted their focal points for political rallies.
"They're simply switching up their organizational style," said Miller. "Now they are organizing more at a local level, they're hosting local rallies, or they're joining into other rallies around political flashpoints like critical race theory or anti-masking."
In addition to the structural changes, the group is also hoping to bring its authoritarian values to the forefront. In short, the goal is to normalize fascism and embrace a form of hierarchical society where white males remain the predominant Americans in positions of power.
"What they want to do is normalize their brand of politics, which is one that is authoritarian, that wants to push the creation of a more hierarchical society where men, and white men, in particular, retain the most power," she said.
Miller's remarks follow repeated warnings from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the possibility of a rise in domestic terrorism. Speaking about the motivational factors behind domestic terrorism bulletin, Michael Chertoff, a former DHS secretary under President George W. Bush's administration, said, "In my view, it is domestic terrorism mounted by right-wing extremists and neo-Nazi groups." He added, "We have to be candid and face what the real risk is."
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omfg
https://www.alternet.org/2021/09/biden-trump/
A recent Washington demonstration supporting those charged with crimes for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol fizzled, with no more than 200 demonstrators showing up. The organizers had promised 700 people would turn out – or more.
But the threat from far-right insurrectionists is not over.
For months, my colleagues and I at the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats have been tracking insurrectionist sentiments in U.S. adults, most recently in surveys in June. We have found that 47 million American adults – nearly 1 in 5 – agree with the statement that “the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president." Of those, 21 million also agree that “use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency."
Our survey found that many of these 21 million people with insurrectionist sentiments have the capacity for violent mobilization. At least 7 million of them already own a gun, and at least 3 million have served in the U.S. military and so have lethal skills. Of those 21 million, 6 million said they supported right-wing militias and extremist groups, and 1 million said they are themselves or personally know a member of such a group, including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.
Only a small percentage of people who hold extremist views ever actually commit acts of violence, but our findings reveal how many Americans hold views that could turn them toward insurrection.
A solid survey
[method grfx]
extreme beliefs
This polling found that 9% of American adults say they agree with the statement that “Use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency." And 25% of adults either strongly or somewhat agree with the statement that “The 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president."
Overall, 8% of the survey participants share both of those views.
The margin of error of this survey was plus or minus 4 percentage points. So when calculating the number of the 258 million adult Americans who hold these views, we looked at the range of between 4% and 12% – which gave us between 10 million and 31 million. The best single figure is the middle of that range, 21 million.
People who said force is justified to restore Trump were consistent in their insurrectionist sentiments: Of them, 90% also see Biden as illegitimate, and 68% also think force may be needed to preserve America's traditional way of life.
The fringe moving into the mainstream
Combined with their military experience, gun ownership and connections to extremist groups and militias, this signals the existence of significant mainstream support in America for a violent insurrection.
This group of 21 million who agree both that force is justified to restore Trump and that Biden is an illegitimate president has two additional views that are also on the fringes of mainstream society:
- 63% agree with the statement that “African American people or Hispanic people in our country will eventually have more rights than whites" – a belief sometimes called “the **Great Replacement."
- 54% agree that “A secret group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles is ruling the US government," which is the key belief in the QAnon movement.
Some people with insurrectionist sentiments hold one of these political views but not the other, suggesting there are multiple ways of thinking that lead a person toward the insurrectionist movement.
Broader support
This latest research reinforces our previous findings, that the Jan. 6 insurrection represents a far more mainstream movement than earlier instances of right-wing extremism across the country. Those events, mostly limited to white supremacist and militia groups, saw more than 100 individuals arrested from 2015 to 2020. But just 14% of those arrested for their actions on Jan. 6 are members of those groups. More than half are business owners or middle-aged white-collar professionals, and only 7% are unemployed.
There is no way to say for sure when – or even whether – these insurrectionists will take action. On Jan. 6, it took clear direction from Donald Trump and other political leaders to turn these dangerous sentiments into a violent reality. But the movement itself is larger and more complex than many people might like to think.
Robert A. Pape, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/09/election-deniers/
no lnx
Election deniers organize to seize control of the GOP — and reshape America’s elections
Steve Bannon speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Gage Skidmore]
ProPublica September 05, 2021
by Isaac Arnsdorf, Doug Bock Clark, Alexandra Berzon and Anjeanette Damon
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.
One of the loudest voices urging Donald Trump's supporters to push for overturning the presidential election results was Steve Bannon. “We're on the point of attack," Bannon, a former Trump adviser and far-right nationalist, pledged on his popular podcast on Jan. 5. “All hell will break loose tomorrow." The next morning, as thousands massed on the National Mall for a rally that turned into an attack on the Capitol, Bannon fired up his listeners: “It's them against us. Who can impose their will on the other side?"
When the insurrection failed, Bannon continued his campaign for his former boss by other means. On his “War Room" podcast, which has tens of millions of downloads, Bannon said President Trump lost because the Republican Party sold him out. “This is your call to action," Bannon said in February, a few weeks after Trump had pardoned him of federal fraud charges.
The solution, Bannon announced, was to seize control of the GOP from the bottom up. Listeners should flood into the lowest rung of the party structure: the precincts. “It's going to be a fight, but this is a fight that must be won, we don't have an option," Bannon said on his show in May. “We're going to take this back village by village … precinct by precinct."
Precinct officers are the worker bees of political parties, typically responsible for routine tasks like making phone calls or knocking on doors. But collectively, they can influence how elections are run. In some states, they have a say in choosing poll workers, and in others they help pick members of boards that oversee elections.
After Bannon's endorsement, the “precinct strategy" rocketed across far-right media. Viral posts promoting the plan racked up millions of views on pro-Trump websites, talk radio, fringe social networks and message boards, and programs aligned with the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Suddenly, people who had never before showed interest in party politics started calling the local GOP headquarters or crowding into county conventions, eager to enlist as precinct officers. They showed up in states Trump won and in states he lost, in deep-red rural areas, in swing-voting suburbs and in populous cities.
In Wisconsin, for instance, new GOP recruits are becoming poll workers. County clerks who run elections in the state are required to hire parties' nominees. The parties once passed on suggesting names, but now hardline Republican county chairs are moving to use those powers.
“We're signing up election inspectors like crazy right now," said Outagamie County party chair Matt Albert, using the state's formal term for poll workers. Albert, who held a “Stop the Steal" rally during Wisconsin's November recount, said Bannon's podcast had played a role in the burst of enthusiasm.
ProPublica contacted GOP leaders in 65 key counties, and 41 reported an unusual increase in signups since Bannon's campaign began. At least 8,500 new Republican precinct officers (or equivalent lowest-level officials) joined those county parties. We also looked at equivalent Democratic posts and found no similar surge.
“I've never seen anything like this, people are coming out of the woodwork," said J.C. Martin, the GOP chairman in Polk County, Florida, who has added 50 new committee members since January. Martin had wanted congressional Republicans to overturn the election on Jan. 6, and he welcomed this wave of like-minded newcomers. “The most recent time we saw this type of thing was the tea party, and this is way beyond it."
Bannon, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.
While party officials largely credited Bannon's podcast with driving the surge of new precinct officers, it's impossible to know the motivations of each new recruit. Precinct officers are not centrally tracked anywhere, and it was not possible to examine all 3,000 counties nationwide. ProPublica focused on politically competitive places that were discussed as targets in far-right media.
The tea party backlash to former President Barack Obama's election foreshadowed Republican gains in the 2010 midterm. Presidential losses often energize party activists, and it would not be the first time that a candidate's faction tried to consolidate control over the party apparatus with the aim of winning the next election.
What's different this time is an uncompromising focus on elections themselves. The new movement is built entirely around Trump's insistence that the electoral system failed in 2020 and that Republicans can't let it happen again. The result is a nationwide groundswell of party activists whose central goal is not merely to win elections but to reshape their machinery.
“They feel President Trump was rightfully elected president and it was taken from him," said Michael Barnett, the GOP chairman in Palm Beach County, Florida, who has enthusiastically added 90 executive committee members this year. “They feel their involvement in upcoming elections will prevent something like that from happening again."
It has only been a few months — too soon to say whether the wave of newcomers will ultimately succeed in reshaping the GOP or how they will affect Republican prospects in upcoming elections. But what's already clear is that these up-and-coming party officers have notched early wins.
In Michigan, one of the main organizers recruiting new precinct officers pushed for the ouster of the state party's executive director, who contradicted Trump's claim that the election was stolen and who later resigned.In Las Vegas, a handful of Proud Boys, part of the extremist group whose members have been charged in attacking the Capitol, supported a bid to topple moderates controlling the county party — a dispute that's now in court.
In Phoenix, new precinct officers petitioned to unseat county officials who refused to cooperate with the state Senate Republicans' “forensic audit" of 2020 ballots. Similar audits are now being pursued by new precinct officers in Michigan and the Carolinas. Outside Atlanta, new local party leaders helped elect a state lawmaker who championed Georgia's sweeping new voting restrictions.
And precinct organizers are hoping to advance candidates such as Matthew DePerno, a Michigan attorney general hopeful who Republican state senators said in a report had spread “misleading and irresponsible" misinformation about the election, and Mark Finchem, a member of the Oath Keepers militia who marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and is now running to be Arizona's top elections official. DePerno did not respond to requests for comment, and Finchem asked for questions to be sent by email and then did not respond. Finchem has said he did not enter the Capitol or have anything to do with the violence. He has also said the Oath Keepers are not anti-government.
When Bannon interviewed Finchem on an April podcast, he wrapped up a segment about Arizona Republicans' efforts to reexamine the 2020 results by asking Finchem how listeners could help. Finchem answered by promoting the precinct strategy. “The only way you're going to see to it this doesn't happen again is if you get involved," Finchem said. “Become a precinct committeeman."
Some of the new precinct officers were in the crowd that marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to interviews and social media posts; one Texas precinct chair was arrested for assaulting police in Washington. He pleaded not guilty. Many of the new activists have said publicly that they support QAnon, the online conspiracy theory that believes Trump was working to root out a global child sex trafficking ring. Organizers of the movement have encouraged supporters to bring weapons to demonstrations. In Las Vegas and Savannah, Georgia, newcomers were so disruptive that they shut down leadership elections.
“They're not going to be welcomed with open arms," Bannon said, addressing the altercations on an April podcast. “But hey, was it nasty at Lexington?" he said, citing the opening battle of the American Revolution. “Was it nasty at Concord? Was it nasty at Bunker Hill?"
Bannon plucked the precinct strategy out of obscurity. For more than a decade, a little-known Arizona tea party activist named Daniel J. Schultz has been preaching the plan. Schultz failed to gain traction, despite winning a $5,000 prize from conservative direct-mail pioneer Richard Viguerie in 2013 and making a 2015 pitch on Bannon's far-right website, Breitbart. Schultz did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
In December, Schultz appeared on Bannon's podcast to argue that Republican-controlled state legislatures should nullify the election results and throw their state's Electoral College votes to Trump. If lawmakers failed to do that, Bannon asked, would it be the end of the Republican Party? Not if Trump supporters took over the party by seizing precinct posts, Schultz answered, beginning to explain his plan. Bannon cut him off, offering to return to the idea another time.
That time came in February. Schultz returned to Bannon's podcast, immediately preceding Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who spouts baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
“We can take over the party if we invade it," Schultz said. “I can't guarantee you that we'll save the republic, but I can guarantee you this: We'll lose it if we conservatives don't take over the Republican Party."
Bannon endorsed Schultz's plan, telling “all the unwashed masses in the MAGA movement, the deplorables" to take up this cause. Bannon said he had more than 400,000 listeners, a count that could not be independently verified.
Bannon brought Schultz back on the show at least eight more times, alongside guests such as embattled Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, a leading defender of people jailed on Capitol riot charges.
The exposure launched Schultz into a full-blown far-right media tour. In February, Schultz spoke on a podcast with Tracy “Beanz" Diaz, a leading popularizer of QAnon. In an episode titled “THIS Is How We Win," Diaz said of Schultz, “I was waiting, I was wishing and hoping for the universe to deliver someone like him."
Schultz himself calls QAnon “a joke." Nevertheless, he promoted his precinct strategy on at least three more QAnon programs in recent months, according to Media Matters, a Democratic-aligned group tracking right-wing content. “I want to see many of you going and doing this," host Zak Paine said on one of the shows in May.
Schultz's strategy also got a boost from another prominent QAnon promoter: former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who urged Trump to impose martial law and “rerun" the election. On a May online talk show, Flynn told listeners to fill “thousands of positions that are vacant at the local level."
Precinct recruitment is now “the forefront of our mission" for Turning Point Action, according to the right-wing organization's website. The group's parent organization bussed Trump supporters to Washington for Jan. 6, including at least one person who was later charged with assaulting police. He pleaded not guilty. In July, Turning Point brought Trump to speak in Phoenix, where he called the 2020 election “the greatest crime in history." Outside, red-capped volunteers signed people up to become precinct chairs.
Organizers from around the country started huddling with Schultz for weekly Zoom meetings. The meetings' host, far-right blogger Jim Condit Jr. of Cincinnati, kicked off a July call by describing the precinct strategy as the last alternative to violence. “It's the only idea," Condit said, “unless you want to pick up guns like the Founding Fathers did in 1776 and start to try to take back our country by the Second Amendment, which none of us want to do."
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By the next week, though, Schultz suggested the new precinct officials might not stay peaceful. Schultz belonged to a mailing list for a group of military, law enforcement and intelligence veterans called the “1st Amendment Praetorian" that organizes security for Flynn and other pro-Trump figures. Back in the 1990s, Schultz wrote an article defending armed anti-government militias like those involved in that decade's deadly clashes with federal agents in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas.
“Make sure everybody's got a baseball bat," Schultz said on the July strategy conference call, which was posted on YouTube. “I'm serious about this. Make sure you've got people who are armed."
The sudden demand for low-profile precinct positions baffled some party leaders. In Fort Worth, county chair Rick Barnes said numerous callers asked about becoming a “precinct committeeman," quoting the term used on Bannon's podcast. That suggested that out-of-state encouragement played a role in prompting the calls, since Texas's term for the position is “precinct chair." Tarrant County has added 61 precinct chairs this year, about a 24% increase since February. “Those podcasts actually paid off," Barnes said.
For weeks, about five people a day called to become precinct chairs in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, southwest of Green Bay. Albert, the county party chair, said he would explain that Wisconsin has no precinct chairs, but newcomers could join the county party — and then become poll workers. “We're trying to make sure that our voice is now being reinserted into the process," Albert said.
Similarly, the GOP in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, is fielding a surge of volunteers for precinct committee members, but also for election judges or inspectors, which are party-affiliated elected positions in that state. “Who knows what happened on Election Day for real," county chair Lou Capozzi said in an interview. The county GOP sent two busloads of people to Washington for Jan. 6 and Capozzi said they stayed peaceful. “People want to make sure elections remain honest."
Elsewhere, activists inspired by the precinct strategy have targeted local election boards. In DeKalb County, east of Atlanta, the GOP censured a long-serving Republican board member who rejected claims of widespread fraud in 2020. To replace him, new party chair Marci McCarthy tapped a far-right activist known for false, offensive statements. The party nominees to the election board have to be approved by a judge, and the judge in this case rejected McCarthy's pick, citing an “extraordinary" public outcry. McCarthy defended her choice but ultimately settled for someone less controversial.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, more than 1,000 people attended the county GOP convention in March, up from the typical 300 to 400. The chair they elected, Alan Swain, swiftly formed an “election integrity committee" that's lobbying lawmakers to restrict voting and audit the 2020 results. “We're all about voter and election integrity," Swain said in an interview.
In the rural western part of the state, too, a wave of people who heard Bannon's podcast or were furious about perceived election fraud swept into county parties, according to the new district chair, Michele Woodhouse. The district's member of Congress, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, addressed a crowd at one county headquarters on Aug. 29, at an event that included a raffle for a shotgun.
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“If our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen, it's going to lead to one place, and it's bloodshed," Cawthorn said, in remarks livestreamed on Facebook, shortly after holding the prize shotgun, which he autographed. “That's right," the audience cheered. Cawthorn went on, “As much as I'm willing to defend our liberty at all costs, there's nothing that I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American, and the way we can have recourse against that is if we all passionately demand that we have election security in all 50 states."
After Cawthorn referred to people arrested on Jan. 6 charges as “political hostages," someone asked, “When are you going to call us to Washington again?" The crowd laughed and clapped as Cawthorn answered, “We are actively working on that one."
Schultz has offered his own state of Arizona as a proof of concept for how precinct officers can reshape the party.The result, Schultz has said, is actions like the state Senate Republicans' “forensic audit" of Maricopa County's 2020 ballots. The “audit," conducted by a private firm with no experience in elections and whose CEO has spread conspiracy theories, has included efforts to identify fraudulent ballots from Asia by searching for traces of bamboo. Schultz has urged activists demanding similar audits in other states to start by becoming precinct officers.
“Because we've got the audit, there's very heightened and intense public interest in the last campaign, and of course making sure election laws are tightened," said Sandra Dowling, a district chair in northwest Maricopa and northern Yuma County whose precinct roster grew by 63% in less than six months. Though Dowling says some other district chairs screen their applicants, she doesn't. “I don't care," she said.
One chair who does screen applicants is Kathy Petsas, a lifelong Republican whose district spans Phoenix and Paradise Valley. She also saw applications explode earlier this year. Many told her that Schultz had recruited them, and some said they believed in QAnon. “Being motivated by conspiracy theories is no way to go through life, and no way for us to build a high-functioning party," Petsas said. “That attitude can't prevail."
As waves of new precinct officers flooded into the county party, Petsas was dismayed to see some petitioning to recall their own Republican county supervisors for refusing to cooperate with the Senate GOP's audit.
“It is not helpful to our democracy when you have people who stand up and do the right thing and are honest communicators about what's going on, and they get lambasted by our own party," Petsas said. “That's a problem."
This spring, a team of disaffected Republican operatives put Schultz's precinct strategy into action in South Carolina, a state that plays an outsize role in choosing presidents because of its early primaries. The operatives' goal was to secure enough delegates to the party's state convention to elect a new chair: far-right celebrity lawyer Lin Wood.
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Wood was involved with some of the lawsuits to overturn the presidential election that courts repeatedly ruled meritless, or even sanctionable. After the election, Wood said on Bannon's podcast, “I think the audience has to do what the people that were our Founding Fathers did in 1776." On Twitter, Wood called for executing Vice President Mike Pence by firing squad. Wood later said it was “rhetorical hyperbole," but that and other incendiary language got him banned from mainstream social media. He switched to Telegram, an encrypted messaging app favored by deplatformed right-wing influencers, amassing roughly 830,000 followers while repeatedly promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.
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Asked for comment about his political efforts, Wood responded, “Most of your 'facts' are either false or misrepresent the truth." He declined to cite specifics.
Typically, precinct meetings were “a yawner," according to Mike Connett, a longtime party member in Horry County, best known for its popular beach towns. But in April, Connett and other establishment Republicans were caught off guard when 369 people, many of them newcomers, showed up for the county convention in North Myrtle Beach. Connett lost a race for a leadership role to Diaz, the prominent QAnon supporter, and Wood's faction captured the county's other executive positions plus 35 of 48 delegate slots, enabling them to cast most of the county's votes for Wood at the state convention. “It seemed like a pretty clean takeover," Connett told ProPublica.
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In Greenville, the state's most populous county, Wood campaign organizers Jeff Davis and Pressley Stutts mobilized a surge of supporters at the county convention — about 1,400 delegates, up from roughly 550 in 2019 — and swept almost all of the 79 delegate positions. That gave Wood's faction the vast majority of the votes in two of South Carolina's biggest delegations.
Across the state, the precinct strategy was contributing to an unprecedented surge in local party participation, according to data provided by a state GOP spokeswoman. In 2019, 4,296 people participated. This year, 8,524 did.
“It's a prairie fire down there in Greenville, South Carolina, brought on by the MAGA posse," Bannon said on his podcast.
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Establishment party leaders realized they had to take Wood's challenge seriously. The incumbent chair, Drew McKissick, had Trump's endorsement three times over — including twice after Wood entered the race. But Wood fought back by repeatedly implying that McKissick and other prominent state Republicans were corrupt and involved in various conspiracies that seemed related to QAnon. The race became heated enough that after one event, Wood and McKissick exchanged angry words face-to-face.
Wood's rallies were raucous affairs packed with hundreds of people, energized by right-wing celebrities like Flynn and Lindell. In interviews, many attendees described the events as their first foray into politics, sometimes referencing Schultz and always citing Trump's stolen election myth. Some said they'd resort to violence if they felt an election was stolen again.
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Wood's campaign wobbled in counties that the precinct strategy had not yet reached. At the state convention in May, Wood won about 30% of the delegates, commanding Horry, Greenville and some surrounding counties, but faltering elsewhere. A triumphant McKissick called Wood's supporters “a fringe, rogue group" and vowed to turn them into a “leper colony" by building parallel Republican organizations in their territory.
But Wood and his partisans did not act defeated. The chairmanship election, they argued, was as rigged as the 2020 presidential race. Wood threw a lavish party at his roughly 2,000-acre low-country estate, secured by armed guards and surveillance cameras. From a stage fit for a rock concert on the lawn of one of his three mansions, Wood promised the fight would continue.
Diaz and her allies in Horry County voted to censure McKissick. The county's longtime Republicans tried, but failed, to oust Diaz and her cohort after one of the people involved in drafting Wood tackled a protester at a Flynn speech in Greenville. (This incident, the details of which are disputed, prompted Schultz to encourage precinct strategy activists to arm themselves.) Wood continued promoting the precinct strategy to his Telegram followers, and scores replied that they were signing up.
In late July, Stutts and Davis forced out Greenville County GOP's few remaining establishment leaders, claiming that they had cheated in the first election. Then Stutts, Davis and an ally won a new election to fill those vacant seats. “They sound like Democrats, right?" Bannon asked Stutts in a podcast interview. Stutts replied, “They taught the Democrats how to cheat, Steve."
Stutts' group quickly pushed for an investigation of the 2020 presidential election, planning a rally featuring Davis and Wood at the end of August, and began campaigning against vaccine and school mask mandates. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery," Stutts had previously posted on Facebook, quoting Thomas Jefferson. Stutts continued posting messages skeptical of vaccine and mask mandates even after he entered the hospital with a severe case of COVID-19. He died on Aug. 19.
The hubbub got so loud inside the Cobb County, Georgia, Republican headquarters that it took several shouts and whistles to get everyone's attention. It was a full house for Salleigh Grubbs' first meeting as the county's party chair. Grubbs ran on a vow to “clean house" in the election system, highlighting her December testimony to state lawmakers in which she raised unsubstantiated fraud allegations. Supporters praised Grubbs' courage for following a truck she suspected of being used in a plot to shred evidence. She attended Trump's Jan. 6 rally as a VIP. She won the chairmanship decisively at an April county convention packed with an estimated 50% first-time participants.
In May, Grubbs opened her first meeting by asking everyone munching on bacon and eggs to listen to her recite the Gettysburg Address. “Think of the battle for freedom that Americans have before them today," Grubbs said. “Those people fought and died so that you could be the precinct chair." After the reading, first-time precinct officers stood for applause and cheers.
Their work would start right away: putting up signs, making calls and knocking on doors for a special election for the state House. The district had long leaned Republican, but after the GOP's devastating losses up and down the ballot in 2020, they didn't know what to expect.
“There's so many people out there that are scared, they feel like their vote doesn't count," Cooper Guyon, a 17-year-old right-wing podcaster from the Atlanta area who speaks to county parties around the state, told the Cobb Republicans in July. The activists, he said, need to “get out in these communities and tell them that we are fighting to make your vote count by passing the Senate bill, the election-reform bills that are saving our elections in Georgia."
Of the field's two Republicans, Devan Seabaugh took the strongest stance in favor of Georgia's new law restricting ways to vote and giving the Republican-controlled Legislature more power over running elections. “The only people who may be inconvenienced by Senate Bill 202 are those intent on committing fraud," he wrote in response to a local newspaper's candidate questionnaire.
Seabaugh led the June special election and won a July runoff. Grubbs cheered the win as a turning point. “We are awake. We are preparing," she wrote on Facebook. “The conservative citizens of Cobb County are ready to defend our ballots and our county."
Newcomers did not meet such quick success everywhere. In Savannah, a faction crashed the Chatham County convention with their own microphone, inspired by Bannon's podcast to try to depose the incumbent party leaders who they accused of betraying Trump. Party officers blocked the newcomers' candidacies, saying they weren't officially nominated. Shouting erupted, and the meeting adjourned without a vote. Then the party canceled its districtwide convention.
The state party ultimately sided with the incumbent leaders. District chair Carl Smith said the uprising is bound to fail because the insurgents are mistaken in believing that he and other local leaders didn't fight hard enough for Trump.
“You can't build a movement on a lie," Smith said.
In Michigan, activists who identify with a larger movement working against Republicans willing to accept Trump's loss have captured the party leadership in about a dozen counties. They're directly challenging state party leaders, who are trying to harness the grassroots energy without indulging demands to keep fighting over the last election.
Some of the takeovers happened before the rise of the precinct strategy. But the activists are now organizing under the banner “Precinct First" and holding regular events, complete with notaries, to sign people up to run for precinct delegate positions.
“We are reclaiming our party," Debra Ell, one of the organizers, told ProPublica. “We're building an 'America First' army."
Under normal rules, the wave of new precinct delegates could force the party to nominate far-right candidates for key state offices. That's because in Michigan, party nominees for attorney general, secretary of state and lieutenant governor are chosen directly by party delegates rather than in public primaries. But the state party recently voted to hold a special convention earlier next year, which should effectively lock in candidates before the new, more radical delegates are seated.
Activist-led county parties including rural Hillsdale and Detroit-area Macomb are also censuring Republican state legislators for issuing a June report on the 2020 election that found no evidence of systemic fraud and no need for a reexamination of the results like the one in Arizona. (The censures have no enforceable impact beyond being a public rebuke of the politicians.) At the same time, county party leaders in Hillsdale and elsewhere are working on a ballot initiative to force an Arizona-style election review.
Establishment Republicans have their own idea for a ballot initiative — one that could tighten rules for voter ID and provisional ballots while sidestepping the Democratic governor's veto. If the initiative collects hundreds of thousands of valid signatures, it would be put to a vote by the Republican-controlled state Legislature. Under a provision of the state constitution, the state Legislature can adopt the measure and it can't be vetoed.
State party leaders recently reached out to the activists rallying around the rejection of the presidential election results, including Hillsdale Republican Party Secretary Jon Smith, for help. Smith, Ell and others agreed to join the effort, the two activists said.
“This empowers them," Jason Roe, the state party executive director whose ouster the activists demanded because he said Trump was responsible for his own loss, told ProPublica. Roe resigned in July, citing unrelated reasons. “It's important to get them focused on change that can actually impact" future elections, he said, “instead of keeping their feet mired in the conspiracy theories of 2020."
Jesse Law, who ran the Trump campaign's Election Day operations in Nevada, sued the Democratic electors, seeking to declare Trump the winner or annul the results. The judge threw out the case, saying Law's evidence did not meet “any standard of proof," and the Nevada Supreme Court agreed. When the Electoral College met in December, Law stood outside the state capitol to publicly cast mock votes for Trump.
:{:{}:
}:
This year, Law set his sights on taking over the Republican Party in the state's largest county, Clark, which encompasses Las Vegas. He campaigned on the precinct strategy, promising 1,000 new recruits. His path to winning the county chairmanship — just like Stutts' team in South Carolina, and Grubbs in Cobb County, Georgia — relied on turning out droves of newcomers to flood the county party and vote for him.
:{:{}:
}:
In Law's case, many of those newcomers came through the Proud Boys, the all-male gang affiliated with more than two dozen people charged in the Capitol riot. The Las Vegas chapter boasted about signing up 500 new party members (not all of them belonging to the Proud Boys) to ensure their takeover of the county party. After briefly advancing their own slate of candidates to lead the Clark GOP, the Proud Boys threw their support to Law. They also helped lead a state party censure of Nevada's Republican secretary of state, who rejected the Trump campaign's baseless claims of fraudulent ballots.
Law, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, has declined to distance himself from the Las Vegas Proud Boys, citing Trump's “stand back and stand by" remark at the September 2020 presidential debate. “When the president was asked if he would disavow, he said no," Law told an independent Nevada journalist in July. “If the president is OK with that, I'm going to take the presidential stance."
The outgoing county chair, David Sajdak, canceled the first planned vote for his successor. He said he was worried the Proud Boys would resort to violence if their newly recruited members, who Sajdak considered illegitimate, weren't allowed to vote.
Sajdak tried again to hold a leadership vote in July, with a meeting in a Las Vegas high school theater, secured by police. But the crowd inside descended into shouting, while more people tried to storm past the cops guarding the back entrance, leading to scuffles. “Let us in! Let us in!" some chanted. Riling them up was at least one Proud Boy, according to multiple videos of the meeting.
At the microphone, Sajdak was running out of patience. “I'm done covering for you awful people," he bellowed. Unable to restore order, Sajdak ended the meeting without a vote and resigned a few hours later. He'd had enough.
“They want to create mayhem," Sajdak said.
Soon after, Law's faction held their own meeting at a hotel-casino and overwhelmingly voted for Law as county chairman. Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, a longtime ally of Law who helped lead Trump's futile effort to overturn the Nevada results, recognized Law as the new county chair and promoted a fundraiser to celebrate. The existing county leaders sued, seeking a court order to block Law's “fraudulent, rogue election." The judge preliminarily sided with the moderates, but told them to hold off on their own election until a court hearing in September.
To Sajdak, agonizing over 2020 is pointless because “there's no mechanism for overturning an election." Asked if Law's allies are determined to create one, Sajdak said: “It's a scary thought, isn't it."
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/trump-insurrection/
ah
In the 2020 presidential election, then-President Donald Trump ran on a fear-mongering "law and order" platform — insisting that the United States would be overwhelmed by violent crime, looting, chaos and anarchy if now-President Joe Biden were elected and warning that any "insurrectionists" would be dealt with harshly. But Never Trump conservative Amanda Carpenter, in an article published by The Bulwark on June 7, finds it ironic that the same Trump who ranted against insurrection encouraged the insurrectionist Oath Keepers — one of the far-right groups that attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6.
"On January 6, 2021, members of the Oath Keepers, high on conspiracies and disinformation, went to Washington, D.C. to support then-President Donald Trump," explains Carpenter, who is often featured as a conservative pundit on CNN. "They anticipated that they would be providing 'security' for 'patriots' attending his Stop the Steal rally — and should the need present itself, that they would put down an insurrection. In reality, their group, which explicitly recruits former military service members and law enforcement officers, helped spur an insurrection of its own. And today, some of the Oath Keepers are defendants at the center of the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history."
Carpenter recalls Trump's emphasis on "law and order" following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. On June 1, 2020, she notes, Trump "delivered a terse Rose Garden speech threatening to deploy the U.S. military to any city or state that 'refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents.'"
Carpenter notes, "Trump's staff argued that the threatened military deployment would have been permitted under the Insurrection Act of 1807, which empowers the president to deploy federal troops for domestic law enforcement under certain circumstances…. As summer changed into fall, talk on the right of an 'insurrection' that might be met with a military response shifted from the George Floyd protests and civil unrest to the 2020 election — the same terms and the same proposed action, just a new target."
You might be surprised how much June 1, 2020 had to do with January 6, 2021. Come with me as I seek to understand w… https://t.co/N9nWy3NgYv
— Amanda Carpenter (@Amanda Carpenter) 1623069890.0
When Trump appeared on Fox News in September 2020, Carpenter recalls, host Jeanine Pirro asked him how he would respond if he won the election and Democrats rioted. And the then-president responded, "We'll put them down very quickly if they do that. We have the right to do that. We have the power to do that if we want. Look, it's called 'insurrection.' We just send in, and we do it, very easy. I mean, it's very easy."
Carpenter goes on to say, however, that Oath Keepers founder and Trump supporter Stewart Rhodes "has been talking about insurrection for years." In an August 2020 Facebook post, Rhodes wrote, "Civil war is here, right now." And after Trump lost the election, Rhodes and Kelly Meggs (who heads the Oath Keepers' Florida chapter) declared that they would do whatever it took to keep him in the White House in 2021. In a December 19, 2020 Facebook post, Meggs wrote that he had formed an "alliance between Oath Keepers, Florida 3%ers (Three Percenters), and Proud Boys."
"We have decided to work together and shut this shit down," Meggs posted — and what he wanted to "shut down" was the certification of Biden's Electoral College victory over Trump in a joint session of Congress on January 6.
Trump, Carpenter stresses, railed against insurrection but had no problem with it when his "own supporters" were the insurrectionists.
"The fight that the self-appointed militia of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers apparently expected to have with Antifa on January 6 never materialized," Carpenter writes. "Ironically, their actions as part of the mob attack on the Capitol offered a defensible reason for invoking the Insurrection Act — but Donald Trump didn't invoke it against his own supporters…. Sixteen Oath Keepers have been charged with federal conspiracy, among other offenses, for their actions that day. Prosecutors have started discussing plea deals with some Oath Keeper members, which will presumably lead to more information about who else was involved in their activities."
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an 621 ah
On December 21, 2020, far-right extremists — including members of the group Patriot Prayer — breached security when they entered the Oregon State Capitol Building in Salem in order to voice their opposition to COVID-19 restrictions in the Pacific Northwest state. And according to an investigative report released on Wednesday, June 2, Oregon **State Sen. Mike Nearman"more likely than not" helped them get into the building, which was closed to the public and locked.
The seven-page report was authored by Melissa Healy, a private attorney, and it came about as a result of complaints against Nearman — a far-right Republican from Polk County. The report reads, "The evidence supports a conclusion that it is more likely than not that Rep. Nearman intentionally aided demonstrators in breaching Capitol security and entering the building on December 21, 2020, when it was closed to the public."
Although Oregon is a deep blue state — the last Republican to carry Oregon in a presidential election was Ronald Reagan in 1984 — it isn't without its far-right wingnuts and extremists. And the militant Patriot Prayer, which violently clashed with antifa supporters during the George Floyd protests in Portland in 2020, has been bitterly opposed to COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing measures enacted in Oregon in response to the pandemic. Patriot Prayer are allies of the Proud Boys — another group with a history of violence — and were strong supporters of former President Donald Trump during the 2020 election.
Democrats in the Oregon State Legislature believe that Nearman endangered their safety by helping members of Patriot Prayer and other groups get into the Oregon Capitol Building on December 21, 2020. Some of the demonstrators, according to the report Healy authored, were armed.
Dirk VanderHart, a reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, explains, "As lawmakers met in a special legislative session to take up COVID-19 relief that day, surveillance footage showed Nearman exiting the locked Capitol Building into a throng of protesters who were trying to get inside the statehouse. In doing so, he appeared to purposely grant entrance to far-right groups demanding an end to ongoing restrictions related to COVID-19."
According to VanderHart, "Shortly after that breach, demonstrators scuffled with state troopers and Salem police. One man is accused of spraying officers with bear mace, allowing the crowd to make its way further into the building. Several people were arrested before the Capitol was cleared, and members of the crowd went on to shatter glass doors and assault journalists outside the building. Nearman, meanwhile, promptly walked around the building and entered on the opposite side less than six minutes after he exited, the report says."
The assault on the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6 made Democratic state lawmakers in Oregon even more troubled by the events of December 21, 2020.
"More than two-dozen Democratic state representatives filed a workplace complaint against Nearman on January 12," VanderHart notes. "The investigation says that David Hartsfeld, the facility services manager at the Capitol, filed a complaint against Nearman on February 23."
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/paul-gosar/
raw reed
Messages leaked to the *Washington Post* implicate Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) in a plot to create a so-called "Brooks Brothers Riot" in his home state to block President Joe Biden's victory.
Woodrow Johnston, the vice president of political consultancy McShane LLC, told an undercover liberal activist posing as a Trump supporter that Gosar wanted to use the far-right Proud Boys gang to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election in Arizona.
"We might need to do the same here in Nevada," Johnston added in his message.
The protests that Johnston organized remained peaceful and did not actually disrupt vote counting.
Even so, Johnston's boss, Rory McShane, distanced his consulting firm from efforts to organize protests against certifying the election.
"I was unaware of these texts, but I know Mr. Johnston was not working on behalf of any client or organization," he said. "Our management team has met with Mr. Johnston. I'm confident he sees the error of what he did."
Gosar's office claimed that the Trump-loving Arizona congressman was not in contact with Johnston and denied coordinating any election-related protests.
The original "Brooks Brothers Riot," which took place in Florida more than two decades ago, was organized by Republican campaign operatives who successfully disrupted the vote recount in the Miami-Dade County election office after the 2000 presidential election.
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/ammon-bundy/
david n kos
One of the consequences of the GOP's sidelong embrace of its extremist elements—from the insurrection denialists and Big Lie gaslighters to the QAnon cultists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert—is that far-right extremists are now perfectly comfortable identifying as Republicans. In some cases, they're demanding the overthrow of the party's establishment—which can't seem to decide whether to fight back or just succumb willingly to the incoming far-right tide.
Establishment Republicans in Western states are particularly under siege from extremist elements among their voting base. I**n Idaho, for instance, armed-standoff-guru-turned-pandemic-denialist Ammon Bundy filed paperwork to run for governor, in a race already featuring another leading state "Patriot" movement figure. In:{Nevada, an insurgent far-right group organized on social media and led by Proud Boys members are attempting an open hostile takeover of the Clark County GOP, the state's largest county-level Republican organization.}:
Bundy's filing is rich in irony. For starters, he is currently banned from the Idaho Statehouse in Boise after his two ejections and arrests for defying masking requirements, for which he is currently standing trial. For another, as KTVB notes, Bundy himself is not even registered to vote in Idaho, and has apparently never done so in the five years or so that he has lived in Emmett.
He also named himself the treasurer of his campaign, which means that he will have to refile the paperwork, according to the Idaho Secretary of State's office, which tweeted out an explanation: "Because a treasurer must be a registered Idaho voter, Ammon Bundy will either need to register and refile or name a new treasurer by refiling. IDSOS staff have notified him as such."
The Republican field to replace incumbent Governor Brad Little (who has not announced whether he will seek re-election) is already large, and Bundy's competition in the primary already features another leading "Patriot" movement figure, Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin,who announced her candidacy last week. While Bundy was probably the earliest far-right figure in Idaho to take up the cause of opposing COVID-19-related public-health restrictions, McGeachin—who has supported Bundy and his fellow standoff-loving "Patriots" steadfastly from her office in Boise—has also been on the pandemic-denialist bandwagon.
McGeachin appeared alongside Bundy at one anti-restriction rally in Boise. More notoriously, she appeared in a video in which she brandished a handgun and a Bible while sitting in the driver's seat of a pickup, railing against coronavirus restrictions.
The political insurgency inside Clark County's GOP was reported Friday by Rory Appleton at the *Las Vegas Review-Journal,*who explained that a group of far-right activists with deep ties to the Proud Boys are positioning themselves to take over the county Republican leadership. Some of its members, meanwhile, are alleged to have threatened a number of prominent Republicans.
The group, Appleton reported, organized online—primarily using the encrypted chat app Telegram—while reveling in anti-Semitic and white-nationalist memes and rhetoric. "Two Republican women in public office told the Review-Journal they've been threatened by leaders of the fringe movement, as did the current board of the Clark County party, which is hiring security for a crucial meeting Tuesday," the story reads.
Calling itself the "Republican Chamber of Commerce" (despite lacking ties to any known GOP organization), the far-right group first made its presence felt last month when it organized a late surge in votes favoring the censure of Barbara Cegavske, the state's Republican Secretary of State, for refusing to play along with attempts to overturn the 2020 election results based on Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud.
Since then, it has been preparing to provide a similar wave of votes to sweep three of their three leading figures—Rudy Clai, Matt Anthony and Paul Laramie—into the leadership of the Clark County GOP. The group has no record of doing business anywhere in the state of Nevada, and has no connection to any of the known chamber or Republican groups already established in Nevada.
Yet its website appears to be a nominally mainstream GOP group. Its primary emblem resembles the Republican National Committee's logo but inverted, with a red elephant on a white background encircled in red with the letters "RCC" and "Republican Chamber of Commerce" within.
Anthony has achieved a level of media notoriety as one of Las Vegas' most prominent Proud Boys, though he insists the local chapter is nonviolent and nonracist. After the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, he defended the people arrested and warned against a law-enforcement crackdown on "Patriots": "They're basically going all in on tyranny, guys. … They're watching. It's to be expected. They're the enemy. They're going to shut down our ability to communicate."
As it happens, Anthony is also a fugitive: He is the subject of an arrest warrant from the state of Michigan after he broke probation by moving to Nevada and then refusing to return after Nevada declined to oversee his probation, all stemming from his 2012 arrest on a drug charge.
The group's Telegram channel—owned by Anthony, and administered by Clai—is titled "Keep Nevada Open," apparently an offshoot of a Facebook group with the same name that boasted 17,000 members and organized anti-masking and other pandemic-related protests. Appleton describes a review of the channel's contents by the Clark County GOP executive board, led by chief of staff Richard MacLean:
MacLean showed his fellow board members several pictures and videos posted within the group, though not specifically by Anthony and Clai.
One photo blamed the 9/11 terrorist bombings on Jews. Another video featured a long clip of an Adolf Hitler speech and Nazi soldier marches. Some featured cartoon characters with negative Jewish stereotypes, and one photo featured messages written on dollar bills.
A post even poked fun at Republicans, claiming they seemed to be shocked at certain current events while white nationalists were thrilled by them.
The board promptly ejected the three men from the party. However, on Thursday, 10 people including Anthony and Clai filed a lawsuitagainst both the county and state party central committees, accusing them of illegally boxing them out of Clark County GOP meetings. They claim Clai and Anthony are heading up an alternative leadership slate, and are running against a mainstream ticket headed up by state Sen. Carrie Buck.
Despite the pushback by local Republican officials, the extremist elements remain emboldened in no small part because national-level Republicans have shown their eagerness to ignore the radicalism and even embrace it. Certainly, the local far-right leaders are confident that the party's base supports them, and not the establishment players.
"We have the numbers, and they don't, so they have to play dirty," Anthony said in an interview Thursday. "It's that simple."
McGeachin's campaign signs feature the hashtag #IAmIdaho. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a pivotal moment in history, not just for Idaho but for our nation," McGeachin said.
Bundy told NBC News on Monday that, despite the filings, he hasn't formally announced his candidacy, but is preparing to build a campaign organization.
"The people of Idaho are very freedom-minded," Bundy said. "I had never desired (to run for office), but I knew as early as 2017 that I would run for governor of Idaho."
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inevitable stage 4: whine:
kos
https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/proud-boys-2653004186
Pat yourself on the back if you sized Donald Trump up in two minutes, like a normal person. You could have instead been Ethan Nordean, who wasted years of his life and squandered his precious freedom for a guy who'd likely feed him to alligators—or a marginally more reptilian creature such as Roger Stone—if he ever showed up at one of his golf courses.
Nordean is a "sergeant-at-arms" (FYI: All of these military titles are pretend) of the Proud Boys Seattle chapter, and he's had it with his supreme golden clod. Nordean has been charged with conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, and aiding and abetting in connection with his alleged assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, and he's none too happy with his Amazing Disappearing Messiah.
Take a look, and try not to laugh too hard:
Raise your hand if you do NOT feel sorry for Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean. ....
— Jon Cooper (@Jon Cooper
For the nontweeters:
"Alright I'm gonna say it. FUCK TRUMP! Fuck him more than Biden. I've followed this guy for 4 years and given everything and lost it all. Yes he woke us up, but he led us to believe some great justice was upon us...and it never happened, now I've got some of my good friends and myself facing jail time cuz we followed this guys [sic] lead and never questioned it. We are now and always have been on our own. So glad he was able to pardon a bunch of degenerates as his last move and shit on us on the way out. Fuck you trump you left us on [t]he battle field bloody and alone."
Ouch.
But wait! I thought Trump was going to join the insurrectionists at the Capitol building on Jan. 6. That's what he said, anyway. And as every true Proud Boy knows, Donald Trump is always true to his word.
Of course, as Nordean suggests, Trump could have pardoned Nordean and his confederates, and he probably would have if there had been anything in it for him—like if Nordean had a relative who worked at KFC and could slip him a few bonus pieces of Extra Crispy in his buckets. But, alas. This is just some fool who sacrificed everything important in his life for what he saw as a righteous cause. Trump hates suckers like that.
From USA Today:
Prosecutors say Nordean, along with other Proud Boys members, planned to push through police barricades and force themselves inside the building that day.
[...]
In a court filing Thursday, prosecutors detailed communications sent through the instant messaging app Telegram that they say show additional evidence that Nordean and other Proud Boys members conspired to breach the Capitol. Prosecutors included the anti-Trump diatribe in which Nordean seemed to acknowledged he and others are facing criminal charges because they followed Trump's lead.
Okay, get this through your cartilaginous skulls, Trumpers: Donald Trump doesn't care about you. He never did. Do you still check your bank account every 30 minutes to see if the Nigerian prince has deposited your money? It's over, y'all. You've been scammed, and that's all there is to it.
This does give me some hope, though. Trump lost the 2020 election by 7 million votes, and it doesn't look like he's picked up a single voter since then. On the other hand, people like Nordean are slowly waking up.
Let's hope they're all out of their comas by the 2022 midterms, at least.
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/proud-boys/
raw
According to a report from USA Today, the Proud Boys were the recipients of a flood of donations after they were involved in Washington, D.C. street skirmishes in late December -- just weeks before the Jan. 6th Capitol insurrection.
Of note, the reports states, is the fact that more than 80 percent of the money that came through the Proud Boys'GoSendGo crowdfunding page came from contributors with Chinese surnames.
USA Today is reporting that, based on information provided to them by the whistleblower site Distributed Denial of Secrets, $106,107 was raised for medical costs with the bulk coming on late in the evening of Dec 17th.
According to the report, "A donor named Li Zhang gave $100. A few minutes later, someone named Jun Li donated $100. Then Hao Xu gave $20, followed shortly by $25 from a Ying Pei. In all, almost 1,000 people with Chinese surnames gave about $86,000, which the led USA Today's Will Carless to write, "Why would people from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and members of the Chinese American community, donate to an organization with deep ties to white supremacists, whose members flash white power signals and post racist memes on social media?"
The answer, he suggests, has to do with the Proud Boy's antipathy toward communism, which is shared by many in the Asian community.
"Some Chinese Americans have bought in to the rhetoric spread by the Proud Boys, conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and conservative commentators that America is under attack from communism," Carless wrote. ' They believe the Proud Boys are on the vanguard of protecting the country from a communist army controlled by Antifa and the Black Lives Matter movement — claims that have been widely debunked. "
According to Rebecca Kwan, who pitched in $500, "You have to understand how we feel — we came from communist China and we managed to come here and we appreciate it here so much. The Proud Boys are for Trump and they are fighting Antifa, and can you see anything good that Antifa did except destroy department stores and small businesses?"
The report notes that Kwan's sentiments were echoed by many who donated and included messages such as, "You are the true heroes and patriots!" and "Thank you for your courage to fight for our freedom!!"
According to Jennifer Ho, president of the Association for Asian American Studies, the Proud Boys hold a certain appeal to those who believe in traditional gender roles.
"The Proud Boys are a very attractive place for men of any ethnic background who are part of a toxic masculinity," Ho said. "Because what they share is a fundamental belief in their maleness — a fundamental belief that U.S. society has gone off the rails."
The USA Today report comes one day after the Proud Boys' Canadian offshoot disbanded after that government there labeled them a "terrorist group."
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aha yikes, evil perverse use of democ safeguard to revise const and boot recall davis: only 51%, then biggest votes, could be 20?!?
https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/qanon-2652801544/
By this point, almost everyone has heard of QAnon, the conspiracy spawned by an anonymous online poster of enigmatic prophecies. Starting with an initial promise in 2017 that Hillary Rodham Clinton would be imminently arrested, a broad group of interpreters divined a conspiracy that saw President Donald Trump's Democratic opponents as a global cabal of Satanic pedophiles.
Perhaps the greatest success of the conspiracy is its ability to create a shared alternate reality, a reality that can dismiss everything from a decisive election to a deadly pandemic. The QAnon universe lives on – now largely through involvement in local, not national, Republican politics.
Moving on from contesting the election, the movement's new focus is vaccines. The influence of QAnon on pandemic denialism is significant, though the spread of Q in local politics is a source of conflict in many states.
Tug of war
The conspiracy may have begun on an obscure web forum, but it is now influencing the Republican Party at all levels.
A recent Daily Kos/Civiqs poll found that 55% of Republicans believe some element of the conspiracy is true.
And in many parts of the country, QAnon supporters are winning elections. From local school boards to city councils, QAnon now has dozens of advocates at nearly every level of local government. While many of these positions hold sway far outside Washington, D.C., the breadth of this movement shows its influence is not likely to wane any time soon.
Not all Republicans are happy with this shift. In South Carolina, Indiana, Michigan and other states, Republican politics are fraught with tensions between QAnon supporters and more traditional conservatives.
For instance, in Indiana, local newspaper The Herald Bulletin published a story on March 21, 2021, headlined “Republican tug-o'-war: Factions vie for influence," reporting that “QAnon believers … showed their support at the Indiana Statehouse in January, holding signs bearing the QAnon phrase "#WWG1WGA" for 'Where we go one, we go all.'" Kyle Hupfer, chair of the Indiana GOP, was quoted as saying, “I don't think QAnon is part of the Republican Party. Leaders need to lead in a fact-based, solution-oriented manner and stick to the actual facts that are proven. Not opinions and not conspiracy theories."
State GOP politicians have promoted QAnon in Arizona through social media posts, although one later apologized for doing so, saying, “Now I think half of them are rather nuts." In January 2021, the Twitter account of the Republican Party of Hawaii tweeted a defense of QAnon believers. The account also defended a Holocaust denier. The official who posted the tweets was later forced to resign.
A similar confrontation has played out in Huntington Beach, California, where the appointed mayor pro tem – or vice mayor – inspired a vote of no confidence for supporting QAnon along with conspiracies against mask-wearing and vaccines.
Part of the conversation
Many QAnon proponents post-election have worked to reframe the COVID-19 vaccines not as the solution to a global pandemic but as an attempt by a cabal to control the minds of a hapless world.
Opposing mask mandates, vaccines and lockdowns have been effective campaigns for QAnon as it mobilizes anti-government sentiment common among the conservative base of the Republican Party. These efforts appear to be coalescing around bans on making vaccines mandatory.
Missouri's Republican-led Senate recently voted to ban so-called vaccine passports, and Texas, Florida, Idaho and Utah have all passed similar legislation. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking for similar legislation. It is unclear to what extent these bans were influenced by QAnon. But they do echo the opposition to masks and vaccines that have shaped the conspiracy.
In California, a recall campaign against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has targeted his COVID-19 response. The campaign was initially organized by people affiliated with both right-wing militias and QAnon supporters.
Not going away
Yotam Ophir, a communications scholar at the University at Buffalo, has studied QAnon. He told me that he doesn't “see a reason to believe the conspiracy will go away anytime soon."
Part of this is that QAnon has deep historical roots in a variety of other conspiracies, including a centuries-old anti-Semitic conspiracy of a blood libel. The flexibility of the conspiracy has also proved resilient within a shifting political landscape.
Perhaps the biggest threat posed by QAnon is articulated by Lindsay Schubiner, a program director at the Western States Center in Portland, Oregon, which works to support democracy and challenge white nationalism.
“Bigoted conspiracy theories like QAnon have an enormous influence on the context in which local government operates," Schubiner told me. “Democratic governance is hard to achieve if we don't live in a shared reality, and that's as true on the local level as it is on the national level."
Sophie Bjork-James, Assistant Professor of the Practice in Anthropology, Vanderbilt University
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ref1
https://www.newsweek.com/recall-gavin-newsom-movement-includes-proud-boys-member-1564573
members of the far-right Proud Boys group, the Three Percenters militia movement, and someone who has described
Black Lives Matter activists as "vile, violent...the black version of the KKK" are among the activists linked to the effort to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The Proud Boys, founded in 2016, are a right-wing extremist group who were involved in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6. The group, which glorifies violence and believes men and Western culture are under attack, has been banned from several social networks, and is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right, anti-government militia movement. The "three percent" refers to the belief that only three percent of the American colonists fought against the British during the American Revolution in the 1700s. Founded in 2008, the paramilitary organisation sees itself as a group of dedicated "patriots" protecting Americans from government tyranny.
The campaign to recall Newsom began in July last year. Supporters of the recall have until March 17 to collect the 1,495,709 signatures required for a recall election. The campaign is picking up steam, with more than 1.2 million people signing a petition to demand Newsom's recall.
Recall supporters have criticized Newsom for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, tax increases, abolishing capital punishment, rising crime and lack of affordable housing. The official became the focus of public outrage when he was caught dining with friends at an upmarket restaurant in November—seated closely together and without masks—after telling Californians to avoid social gatherings and stay home to avoid risk of spreading the coronavirus.
aaron Bate, an El Dorado County recall organizer, is a member of the Three Percenters. Bate is noted in a Three Percenter newsletter with fellow member Daniel Seoane as fundraising for the recall movement. Antifa Sacramento has also accused Bate of organizing with the American Guard, a neo-Nazi group. Newsweek has contacted Bate for comment.
Jeffery Perrine, a recently-elected member of the Sacramento County Republican Party's Central Committee, who is a member of the Proud Boys, has said he had been "intimately involved in the Recall movement". The Sacramento County Republican Party on Monday called for his resignation due to his ties with the far-right group. Social media videos show Perrine in Portland shouting that "illegal immigrants should have their heads smashed into the concrete."
Jeffrey Erik Perrine, a member of the SPLC designated hate-group the Proud Boys, was recently elected to Sacramento County’s GOP Central Committee.
He was in Portland on June 30th, 2018 calling for the murder of immigrants and the separation of parents from their children. pic.twitter.com/AH4WiSVYfk
— Daniel V. Media (@danielvmedia) January 26, 2021
Perrine told Newsweekthat his words were taken out of context by leftwing activists.
"The clip is completely out of context. Its not what it seems. I can however see how it was taken and spun to look like I was only talking about illegals in a disparaging way. When that is not what I was there really even talking about. I touched on many subjects that day. That one just so happens to be the one the left snagged, and trimmed, to make me look as bad as possible," he said.
"I understand my mistake, and have grown significantly since that clip."
Stephen Frank, who is on the board of the California Revival PAC group, has been seen speaking at recall rallies and he held a virtual townhall on the recall of the California governor in June last year. The PAC group's website shares the Recall Gavin Newsom petition on its home page and it donated $60,000 towards the campaign in the fall.
Frank has previously described Black Lives Matter activists as "vile, violent...the black version of the KKK" on the California Political Review, the conservative website he is a senior editor of. Frank has also often referred to Black public figures he disagrees with as a member of "The Klan in Tan," using the phrase on Michelle Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder on the same website. The phrase is considered hate speech. A St. Louis police officer was investigated by his own department in 2017 for having used the phrase in reference to Black Lives Matter activists.
Commenting on the remarks, Frank told Newsweek that he opposed all racism "black or white".
"The term "The Klan in Tan" is a term that was used by Dr. Walter Williams," he said. Williams was a Black conservative economist who died in December. Frank's claim that he first used the term is unproven.
"Riots around the nation, violence against innocent people, the belief that people not of color are racist, these are vile and violent actions and values. It is not civil discourse, it is use of brutal strength to get political goals," he added.
Daniel Seoane is an author on the recall campaign's website and also a member of the Three Percenters. He is listed as one of the proponents of the fifth recall effort submitted on February 21, 2020. The Three Percenters newsletter reported in January 2020 on Seoane and Aaron Bate's efforts to get recall petitions signed. In a social media video, he can be seen wearing a Three Percenter patch (the Roman numeral three with stars encircling it) while refusing to answer students who asked him what group he's with.
An investigation by theL.A.Times found that vaccine skeptics had also worked with the Recall movement. Two local leaders in the anti-vaccination movement, Denise Aguilar and Tara Thornton with the Freedom Angels, organized and participated in several demonstrations at the state Capitol that supported the ousting of Newsom. Speakers also denounced vaccines and health orders, the paper said.
Although many recall supporters identify as Republican, there are past Democrat donors who have rallied behind the effort. For example, Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive and a major Democratic donor, on Twitter revealed he supported the campaign and told CNBC he thought that Newsom "has done a terrible job."
"First step is we need to recall Gavin Newsom," Palihapitiya added.
On the other side of the political aisle, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has endorsed the movement, as well as the California Republican Party. Half a dozen GOP party leaders in the state also support it.
Orrin Heatlie, a leading proponent of the recall movement, told Newsweek he believed that people in California care more about what Newsom has done and how they've been impacted than who the people behind the movement are.
"I want to emphasize the fact that we are aware there are people in this movement from the entire political spectrum and from all walks of life," said Heatlie, a recently retired Yolo County Sergeant.
"These include liberal and environmental groups angry about Newsom's lack of leadership regarding climate change, and that he signed off oil fracking permits, to the anti-vaxxer crowd, the anti-maskers, open schools, open California, 'let them play' groups and pro-Trump and pro-Bernie Sanders individuals."
Heatlie, who worked with Bate on an early petition drive for the recall movement, said it is policy of the campaign to keep posts on their Facebook network focused on the recall.
"We do not take a position or promote matters unrelated to the recall. Postings about COVID, global or national politics, are not allowed. Do some get by? Yes, and we take appropriate action when brought to our attention," he said. He added that the campaign has removed many members and administrators that have failed to adhere to its messaging standards.
[READ MORE
- 83% of Americans Support Wearing Masks, But Only Half Wear Them: Poll
- Democrat Governors Have Lost COVID Scapegoat Donald Trump
- Gavin Newsom, Facing Recall, Eases Lockdown Despite Overwhelmed ICUs
- California Stay-at-Home Order Set To Be Lifted Despite 0% ICU Capacity
He said people who support the recall movement attend different rallies and gatherings on their own accord to collect signatures, but the recall campaign does not promote the events themselves, other than to announce that people may be able to gather signatures. Heatlie added that just because a person or group may endorse the recall, doesn't mean the campaign's management supports them.
"We have no control over who promotes the recall by their own volition. This is a non-partisan all-inclusive movement. We promote unity and harmony across the board! This is a peaceful movement and we denounce any person or group who engage in acts of violence, threats or vandalism on any level," he said.
Hundreds of people gather to protest the stay-at-home orders outside the state capitol building in Sacramento, California on May 1, 2020. The campaign to remove California Governor Gavin Newsom is building up steam, with more than 1.2 million people having signed a petition to remove him from office.JOSH EDELSON/GETTY
In June last year, Newsom said that the recall will cost state taxpayers $81 million. If the recall campaign manages to get 1,495,709 signatures, a special election will take place this year, where multiple candidates will be able to run for California governor.
California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks has called the recall campaign a "coup" and said it was associated with "right-wing conspiracy theorists."
Since 1911, Californians have attempted to recall their governor 55 times, but were successful only in 2003 against Gray Davis. Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to replace Davis as governor in a special election
---
LAT
no lnx
Far-right movements including QAnon, virus skeptics linked to Newsom recall
Hundreds protest the stay-at-home orders outside the Capitol in Sacramento
Hundreds protest the stay-at-home orders in May outside the Capitol in Sacramento. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images)
By ANITA CHABRIA, PAIGE ST. JOHN
PUBLISHED JAN. 23, 2021 UPDATED JAN. 24, 2021 8:08 PM PT
SACRAMENTO — As the pandemic continues to shutter businesses, close schools and upend lives in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has become a target of angry frustration for some, driving a grassroots effort to recall him from office. What once started as a pipe dream is beginning to look like a political threat for the Democratic governor.
But a Times investigation found that recall campaign leaders, seeking to capitalize on the darkening public mood, allied with radical and extreme elements early on to help collect signatures. Those included groups promoting distrust of government, science and medicine; peddlers of QAnon doomsday conspiracies; “patriots” readying for battle and one organization allied with the far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys.
The recall gave those fringe factions a higher profile and a shared villain. They helped energize the campaign with large and often inflammatory rallies over masks, in support of Trump and against the election they falsely say was stolen from the former president — ripe venues to harvest petition signatures.
Many supporters of the recall are not extremists and may not be aware of the far-right groups involved with the effort. But with the violent insurgency at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, organizers are grappling with the consequences of their alliances. They now insist the extremists don’t represent the values of the recall movement but continue to associate with them, amid a national debate about how far is too far when it comes to winning in politics.
“Do we have to denounce everybody that is involved to move it forward?” the official proponent of the recall drive, a retired sheriff’s sergeant from Yolo County named Orrin Heatlie, asked The Times.
“Or do we just move forward and ignore those other elements?”
Behind the momentum that Heatlie would now look past, The Times found:
Hardline activists from the anti-vaccination movement. Two leaders, Denise Aguilar and Tara Thornton with the Freedom Angels, organized and participated in numerous rallies at the state Capitol that promoted the recall effort. At these events, speakers denounced vaccines and health orders. The Proud Boys, who have been involved in protest violence, from street brawls in Sacramento to the incursion of the nation’s Capitol, are also often present. Aguilar has said they provided security.
The recall campaign itself provided a safe harbor for the propaganda and violent rhetoric that riled the Republican voter base and spilled over into the Capitol riot. An organizer in El Dorado County is a Three Percenter — an anti-government extremist movement, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Until social media crackdowns and questions from reporters at The Times, the recall’s ostensibly bipartisan Facebook pages repeated the surreal conspiracies of QAnon as fact and asserted the national election was rigged despite all evidence to the contrary. Those pages have also likened the daily disruptions of COVID-19 to the Holocaust and the governor to Hitler, framing their struggles as if they were on par with the massacre of 6 million Jews.
Recall officials, including Heatlie, all said it is unfair to hold the campaign accountable for the individual actions of its volunteers and supporters, and they are unable to monitor where signatures are gathered.
“You cannot control a movement,” said Randy Economy, a veteran political consultant who is the recall’s senior advisor and chief publicist. “It’s not our job to manage what somebody says about the recall at a public event.”
Economy said more than 1.2 million Californians have signed the petition to remove Newsom. As of Jan. 6, state elections officials said 723,783 signatures have been turned in by the recall campaign and of those, 485,650 have been verified. The campaign needs to turn in almost 1.5 million signatures by the March 17 deadline, though far more will likely need to be collected to mitigate for those proved invalid.
Many of those signing are fed up with coronavirus testing problems and disarray around lockdown rules and data, slow vaccine access and Newsom’s now-infamous dinner party at the French Laundry without the masks that other Californians were told to wear, Economy said.
Heatlie said his organization cut ties with at least one of those early partners, the Freedom Angels, and is careful about connections to groups with far-right views such as science deniers. Yet, The Times found recall signature gatherers continue to frequent such events.
Last weekend, the recall participated in a “Free and the Brave” Sutter County event featuring false claims about the virus and a silent auction for militia training.
The Church of Glad Tidings hosted the three-day conference against pandemic restrictions, and there were no masks in sight. One of the recall’s earliest regional organizers, Donna Wahlberg, was excited to set up her petition table inside the church where speakers advocated defiance of COVID-19 health orders and claimed that wearing masks was more dangerous than the virus.
Speakers touted COVID-19 cures of vitamins and horse wormer, and claimed hospitals are “murdering people” to collect government money for treating coronavirus patients.
Outside the church, thick-muscled men in tactical vests protected those attending with an arsenal of pepper ball guns, pepper rifles and Tasers. A trio of sheriff’s cars sat down the road.
Wahlberg said she promoted the conference on official recall web sites to tens of thousands of subscribers across California.
“We wanted as many people statewide [as possible] to attend this,” said Wahlberg, festooned in lively accents of red, from her brightly lacquered toenails to the turban wrap crowning her head. She is a Yuba County web administrator for the recall campaign, and before that, worked with Heatlie on a prior Newsom recall effort.
Heatlie said he was unaware his campaign had promoted the conference on its social media, but because there are so few large events to collect signatures at during the pandemic, there “might be a certain level of acceptance for certain gatherings.”
Heatlie also said he monitors all of his organization’s Facebook pages and has rules forbidding posts about federal politics or personal views, though The Times found multiple examples of such messaging across groups. Some included misinformation from QAnon — a nonsensical mythos that Trump was fighting a secret war with deep state occults who traffic children, and would declare martial law with executions.
These include posts from San Diego that carried the QAnon motto, W1GWGA (where one goes, we go all). Other posts depict Newsom as Adolf Hitler and compare pandemic restrictions to the rise of the Third Reich.
A protest sign against Gov. Gavin Newsom on the side of a truck outside the state Capitol
A protest sign against Gov. Gavin Newsom is displayed on a truck outside the state Capitol in May. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
That imagery is characterized as hate speech by the Anti-Defamation League, but for months, the image of Newsom as Hitler has been prominent at rallies, and the theme was adopted by a San Diego recall organizer to announce petition signings.
One politician who stands to benefit from Newsom’s ouster is John Cox, a San Diego-based venture capitalist and Republican gubernatorial hopeful who has already contributed $50,000 to the recall campaign and $1 million into his own gubernatorial exploratory committee. Cox said he was unaware of the role extreme groups have played in helping the recall gain momentum. He minimized the prevalence of such factions in the campaign, attributing them to “a couple of people who were unhinged.”
Cox said he found the Holocaust imagery of Newsom objectionable. “You’ll never see me inciting anything like that.”
Kathryn Olmsted, a professor of history at UC Davis who studies politics and conspiracy theories, said conspiracy theories, especially those associated with QAnon, are dangerous to peaceful politics.
“If you really believe your political opponents are Satan-worshiping pedophiles, you can be justified in using any weapon against them,” she said.
Strident language has become more common in the recall as the pandemic progresses, with the Freedom Angels one group turning up the temperature. The group first gained prominence in California opposing laws that require vaccinations for public school attendance, which they claim is an overreach of government authority. With the pandemic, two leaders of the Freedom Angels splintered off to join those opposed to COVID-19 closure and stay-at-home orders.
The splinter group also recently started an all-female militia, and advertises seminars on social media on how to target local health department officials, including staging nonviolent actions at officials’ private homes.
Aguilar, one of the founders of the offshoot group, is also a supporter of the Proud Boys, appearing at one Capitol rally wearing a shirt with a patch that read, “I (heart) Proud Boys” and at another introducing group members as security. Since the election, Proud Boys have fought with antifa counter-protesters during at least seven Capitol rallies, according to Sacramento police, and 27 people have been arrested or cited.
STOCKTON, CA - DECEMBER 10, 2020 - Stockton business owners make their statement for keeping their businesses open and call for local government to declare Stockton a "sanctuary city" for businesses on the steps of City Hall In Stockton on December 10, 2020. Faced with a dire shortage of hospitals beds, health officials announced Saturday a large swath of the Central Valley, which included San Joaquin County, and the vast region of Southern California to be placed under a sweeping new lockdown. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
CALIFORNIA
Anti-vaccine and alt-right groups team up to stoke fears of COVID-19 vaccine
Dec. 18, 2020
In a Dec. 13 Facebook post, Aguilar wrote, “I will have their back to the fullest and will not be shy about my support for my PB’s.”
Heatlie said he became concerned about the Freedom Angels in May, after an unruly Capitol rally in which 32 people, including Aguilar and Thornton, were detained by the California Highway Patrol. But despite his misgivings, Heatlie agreed to appear on a Freedom Angels webcast in June, on the day the Secretary of State’s office approved his petitions for circulation. And later in the month, Heatlie’s recall campaign called on supporters to attend a Freedom Angels rally at the Sacramento courthouse to support those who had been arrested during demonstrations.
Denise Aguilar, far left, and Tara Thornton, right, huddle together as they are detained by California Highway Patrol.
Freedom Angels founders Denise Aguilar, far left, and Tara Thornton, right, huddle together as they are detained by CHP officers during a May demonstration in Sacramento against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home orders.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
Aguilar declined to speak to The Times about her organization’s alliances, saying the recall campaign reflects only the voices of those who sign the petitions, though she continues to promote it. Thornton did not respond to calls for comment.
Heatlie said he cut formal ties with the Freedom Angels in July, but acknowledged that signature gatherers continue to frequent events featuring or arranged by the group.
The recall also has not censured those within its own ranks.
Aaron Bate, an El Dorado County recall organizer who with Heatlie was part of an earlier petition drive against Newsom, is active in the Three Percenters and has personally delivered thousands of recall signatures to his county election office.
On social media, Bate has posed with others flashing a Three Percenter hand sign, and with men in Proud Boys clothing flashing an OK hand gesture associated with their group and with white supremacy. Brian Levin, professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, described the Three Percenters as “an anti-government paramilitary group that promotes the idea that violence is legitimate to combat gun control laws.”
In an email, Bate disputed that characterization.
“The Three Percent Groups are not a Militia nor are they far right,” Bate wrote. “They are made up of people from all Races, Political Views and Professions. There are Vets, Police Officers, Doctors, Electricians, and many other Professions.”
Robin McCrea, chief financial officer for the recall and one of its founding members, posted memes and comments on a personal social media page disputing the election. “PEVERT (sic) Quid Pro Joe Corrupt Beijing Biden will NEVER be the President of Patriots...NEVER,” she wrote in one. Later that day, she posted false assertions that the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was the work of anti-fascist activists, another conspiracy theory that quickly took hold after the insurgency.
McCrea said via email that she stands by her views.
“I’ve seen on live TV the way Biden touches young girls. Would I want my child or a grandchild around him? No.,” McCrea wrote in an email. “Do I believe there was and is ample evidence to show the election results were not accurate? Yes ... Do my views regarding national politics have a thing to do with the Recall of Newsom? No.”
Heatlie defended both McCrea and Bate. He said that being a member of the Three Percenters was not a reason to remove Bate from the recall organization.
“This is about recalling the government. It’s not about Aaron Bate or his personal views,” said Heatlie.
Heatlie said he was unaware of McCrea’s views and she had not shared them in official channels, but that her financial skills were valuable to the campaign.
“If [people] don’t want to sign the petition because Robin McCrea is on the board or the committee or part of the management team or part of the volunteer team, then I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “She helped bring this opportunity to the people of California.”
Two groups are raising money for the recall. Separate from Heatlie’s organization is Rescue California-Recall Gavin Newsom, which has a PAC headed by Tom Del Beccaro, former state Republican Party chairman. That PAC is tapping donors in the Republican establishment, campaign finance reports show.
Del Beccaro is a frequent contributor to the far-right Epoch Times, which has come under scrutiny for its far-reaching dissemination of pandemic falsehoods. In one piece, he commented on what he called the “CCP virus” (Chinese Communist Party) in an article entitled, “The Pandemic Expansion: The Greatest Media Bias of All is Pushing Ever Larger government.”
Del Beccaro’s committees are separately distributing petitions by mass mail, and he said he is unaware of Heatlie’s connections. But he also characterized those elements as irrelevant.
“It doesn’t matter what Orrin thinks, doesn’t matter what I think,” Del Beccaro said. “I represent or am fostering helping the 1.2 million (who signed petitions) and that’s, that’s what matters.”
Ann Ravel, chairwoman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, discusses the $1 million fine, the largest in its history, levied against two political action committees for campaign-reporting violations, during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013. The FPPC also ordered two separate groups to pay the state's general fund the amount of money donated to them during the 2012 election cycle by the groups that were fined. The Small Business Action Committee was ordered to pay $11 million while the California Future Fund for Free Markets was ordered to pay $4 million. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
CALIFORNIA
Gavin Newsom recall effort faces ‘dark money’ complaint over alleged hidden donors
Jan. 5, 2021
If the recall does qualify for the ballot, it would trigger a special election this year. Unlike a regular vote for governor, the recall ballot could see multiple candidates — with the winner simply needing the most votes.
Last week, California Democrats attempted to brand the Recall Newsom campaign as an “attempted coup” akin to the Capitol insurrection — an effort that backfired, with critics saying it was reckless to characterize a legal recall attempt with what happened on Jan. 6. But one prominent Republican analyst said few should be shocked that the recall has extremists and conspiracy theorists.
“That’s become mainstream Republican politics,” said Mike Madrid, a former state Republican Party political director who co-founded The Lincoln Project, a political action committee of Republicans aligned against Trump.
“It used to be low taxes,” Madrid said. “It is now white grievance.”
Updates
9:31 AM, Jan. 24, 2021: This article has been updated with the headline of Tom Del Becarro’s Epoch Times article.
Anita Chabria
Anita Chabria covers California state politics and policy for the Los Angeles Times and is based in Sacramento. Before joining The Times, she worked for the Sacramento Bee as a member of its statewide investigative team, and previously covered criminal justice and City Hall.
Paige St. John
Paige St. John covers criminal justice, disasters and investigative stories for the Los Angeles Times from Northern California.
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/proud-boys/
Right-wing extremists have long fled behind humor and irony to escape consequences for their hateful ideology, and that allowed some of them to hide in plain sight before Donald Trump's supporters tried to violently overturn his election loss.
They've never made any secret of their efforts to use humor and irony as both a weapon and defense, and those tools also allow them to sell what might otherwise be considered toxic to potential converts, reported NPR.
"Irony is so important for giving a lot of cover and plausible deniability for our views," said 22-year-old extremist Nick Fuentes in a video from last year.
Fuentes specifically mentioned Holocaust denial -- or "revision," as he puts it -- as a topic he smuggles into conversations under the cover of irony, and he recently went on an extended violent and misogynistic rant about domestic abuse that he punctuated with a smirk toward the camera.
"Just kidding!" he told viewers, after urging a viewer to violently "punish" his wife. "No, I'm kidding, of course. Just kidding. Just a joke."
Weaponized irony allows extremists like Christian Secor, a Fuentes fan who was charged in the Capitol riot, to skirt past consequences after his UCLA classmates grew increasingly worried about his glorification of guns, racist and anti-Semitic social media posts and other bigoted behavior, which he insisted was just "trolling" whenever he was called to account.
"It's called a joke and the fact that you think that these posts are anything more than that is telling," Secor told one classmate who flagged an offensive tweet.
Fuentes and other right-wing content creators urge their followers to hide behind irony and then try to shame their critics into silence.
"A lot of these content creators will tell the audience explicitly, 'When people say you're racist for liking this or thinking this, just laugh at them. They can't handle it — they're sensitive babies,' " said Jared Holt, a resident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.
UCLA took no action against Secor despite his escalating behavior, likely out of free speech concerns at the public institution, and classmates said they were afraid to report him for the same reason.
"I definitely felt that sense of threat," said student Oona Flood, "and, like, I really hate to say, [because] it sounds so much like, overblown, 'snowflake,' that we're just overreacting, you know?"
The Ku Klux Klan were portrayed as outlandish, rather than dangerous, in its early days, and French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre famously noted the way Nazis attempted to hide behind absurdist humor to cover their hate -- and give themselves an unfair advantage.
"Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies," Sartre wrote in 1944. "They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert.If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past."
The Proud Boys, the pro-Trump paramilitary group named after a song from Disney's "Aladdin," revel in irony, indulging in ridiculous bonding rituals before engaging in street fights, and at least 25 members of the right-wing group are facing conspiracy and other charges related to the Capitol insurrection.
True to form, group founder Gavin McInnes mocked the media in an email to NPR, which he said "willfully ignores" the group's in-jokes to make them look bad.
The Proud Boys are "funny dudes, not Nazis," McInnes wrote.
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==
---
an 421 cancer
...Aside from his health concerns, the federal judge said, "Worrell's alleged attack on police with a chemical spray, as well as his other conduct on Jan. 6, justify his continued detention. She also ordered him detained in part because of an apparent threat he made to a witness while FBI agents were taking him into custody."....
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/proud-boys-2651289599/
raw story
White supremacists on Telegram are organizing a series of simultaneous rallies under the banner of "White Lives Matter" in major American cities scheduled for April 11, with active participation and promotion in some locales by members of the Proud Boys.
The rallies mark a rare instance of overt white nationalists openly mobilizing in the streets since the constituent organizations of the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally were severely hobbled the following year by sustained opposition in the streets from antifascist counter-protesters, litigation, infighting and organizational dysfunction. For the Proud Boys, whose members are facing serious federal charges for conspiracy to disrupt the transfer of executive power during the assault on the US Capitol, participation in the "White Lives Matter" rallies reflects a brazen determination to maintain a street presence and an apparent diminishing concern about being branded as racists.
The @whitelivesmattermarch channel that created the framework for local racists to organize dozens of spinoff rallies was launched on the social media platform Telegram on March 25. The rallying cause of the simultaneous demonstrations — "to raise awareness for whites being the victims of massive interracial crime" — is a false claim that lies at the heart of white supremacist propaganda. In a "Q&A" post, the anonymous user behind the @whitelivesmattermarch channel directs potential supporters interested in learning "more about anti-White hate" to another channel that is comprised solely of items relating homicides and other violent crimes with photos of white victims and Black perpetrators.
The specific rallies are organized by locals creating new Telegram channels using the initials of states or cities. In some cases, the channels for local rallies appear to be little more than trial balloons to gauge local interest. The creator of the @WLMSouthCarolina channel, launched on March 25, posted: "Lets [sic] get a count of where everyone is, comment your city." As of Tuesday, the channel had picked up 24 subscribers, but no one had commented. Among the more active channels, Ohio and Oregon have attracted around eight unique users calling out their hometowns to try to settle on a central gathering place.
In a channel set up for the DC-Maryland-Virginia region, two self-identified Proud Boys users eagerly talked up the rally. Others in the chat openly identified as white nationalists through their words, usernames or catchphrases in their Telegram bios. "I am a Fascist," wrote a user named "James Dagny," who also shared a documentary about American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell in the chat. A user named "Blaine" chose the Nazi slogan "Blood & Soil" for their bio. Someone whose username celebrates the gas used by the Nazis to murder Jews in gas chambers during the Holocaust, wrote, "I'm in."
In the chat, a Proud Boy account under the username "Joe Bonadio" responded to the self-identified fascist user by commenting, "I'm with ya!"
Another Proud Boy account under the username "HEFF" commented, "#fuckantifa proudboys will be the there in plain clothes or not."
Hampton Russel Oulette, the president of the Northern Virginia chapter of the Proud Boys, posted in response to HEFF: "POYB." The acronym stands for "Proud of your boy" and is used by the gang as a salute or signal of approval.
Oulette, whose Telegram handle is "GOV.HAM-OMLETTE," told Raw Story in a Telegram message that he personally doesn't think the "White Lives Matter" rallies are "a good look."
"But I'll do whatever my brothers decided to do," he wrote. "I've voiced my opinion but loyal to my guys so its [sic] it's up in the air. I personally don't wanna March with any hate groups or be associated."
He added, "There are other chapters going."
Oulette claimed to not know who is organizing the rallies.
"Was just asked to monitor it… so we are not caught off guard to what's going on in our state," he wrote somewhat cryptically. "We like to know who's doing what here… we have an event coming up just not 100% on the day."
The DC-area Proud Boys are not the only ones interested in the rallies.
A user named "DIRT2º posted in the discussion hosted by "White Lives Matter – 04/11": "Need someone from bama that I can help organize."
User "BACONndEGGS," whose avatar includes the initials W-L-M inside the Proud Boys' traditional wreath, hailed a message from the host channel declaring that "white people will not bow down" with the Proud Boys salute: "Uhuru."
Since their founding in 2016, Proud Boys leaders and rank-and-file members have strenuously objected to being described as "white supremacist" despite some members including Chairman Enrique Tarrio participating in the Unite the Rightrally and rallying alongside neo-Confederate groups. But Megan Squire, a computer scientist at Elon University who monitors right-wing extremist groups, said it's not all that surprising to see them now openly associating with white nationalists.
"To use one of their phrases, 'The mask slips,'" Squire said. "Underneath, they are who they are, and this is who they are. The question is, were the Proud Boys always that way or did it happen halfway through? A lot of times these guys will say, 'You pushed us to this, with all the de-platforming.' That's patently false. The history is the Proud Boys have been promoting very thinly veiled white supremacy. They called it 'Western chauvinism.' It's white supremacy — shocker. Now, we can call it what it is, and they can call it what it is."
The "Black-on-white crime" narrative promoted by the "White Lives Matter" rallies is a timeworn appeal by white power groups.
In a 2018 article for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Senior Research Analyst Cassie Miller called it "the biggest lie in the white supremacist propaganda playbook." A large part of its staying power is that it's deeply rooted in the American psyche. As Miller pointed out, false and harmful claims about Black people being inherently violent have formed the core justification for "slavery, lynching, Jim Crow and various forms of mass incarceration."
In recent decades, the "Black-on-white crime" falsehood has received a signal boost from Jared Taylor, a Yale-educated academic who produced The Color of Crime: Race, Crime and Violence in America, a 1999 report that was updated in 2005 and again in 2016. Taylor drew his statistics from the "1994 Crime Victimization Survey released by the US Department of Justice, but Miller noted that Taylor's claim that crime has a racial and biological basis overlooks the obvious culprit.
"On average, African Americans were — and remain — far poorer and more likely to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods than whites," Miller wrote. "Concentrated poverty has a criminogenic effect: lack of access to jobs, increased idle time and poorer educational opportunities all increase one's chances of engaging in criminal behavior, and the effect is the same for Black and white people. One study released three years before The Color of Crime, found that when sociologists controlled for structural disadvantages, there were significant differences between crime rates in Black and white communities."
Another fallacy promoted by Taylor over the past several decades, which is being recycled through the "White Lives Matter" planning chats, is that crimes committed by Black perpetrators against white victims uniformly qualify as "hate crimes," but Miller noted that "few would meet the FBI's hate crime definition of an 'offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity."
The slogan "White Lives Matter" was originally promoted in neo-Nazi circles in 2015 and 2016, as an obvious cooptation of Black Lives Matter. Although lacking originality, it simultaneously mocks Black people killed by the police and substitutes white people as supposed victims.
In a video circulated by the @whitelivesmattermarch host channel, a bearded white man dressed in a hunting jacket intones, "For far too long, the media has ignored some of the most heinous and grotesque crimes committed against our people." After a standard recitation of white victims of violence by Black perpetrators, the narrators concludes, "These are a few names that most people've never heard of. Yet you'll hear 'George Floyd' and all these other people who're criminals. You know, everybody knows who Trayvon Martin was. Everybody knows who Breonna Taylor was. So why does the world know their names, but not the name of our victims?"
The words are uncannily similar tosome of the writing in a manifesto by Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white man who murdered nine Black parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, SC in 2015.
Roof wrote in his manifesto that the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin prompted him "type in the words 'black on white crime' into Google, and I have never been the same since that day." The search led him to the Council of Conservative Citizens, one of the many white supremacist groups whose website included a section on white victims of crimes committed by Black people.
"There were pages and pages of these brutal black on White murders," Roof wrote. "I was in disbelief. At this moment I realized that something was very wrong. How could the news be blowing up the Trayvon Martin case while hundreds of these black on White murders got ignored."
Another video shared by the White Lives Matter host channel displays text reading, "The great replacement can no longer be called a 'conspiracy theory.'" White supremacists marching in Charlottesville, Va. in August 2017 chanted, "You will not replace us." Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 Muslim worshipers in mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019, entitled his manifesto "The Great Replacement." The white supremacists who carried out massacres in a synagogue in Poway, Calif. and Walmart in El Paso, Texas that same year likewise referenced a "great replacement" in their respective manifestoes.
Despite hijacking the "Black Lives Matter" slogan, the "Q&A" message for the rallies disavows any equivalency, rejecting the idea that the rallies are "BLM for White People."
"Marxism is at the core of the anti-White narrative," the document states. "The principles that WLM should follow are those of God, Nature and Nobleness. WLM is a glimpse into the glorious past of White Europeans."
Comically, some of the members of the public chats are unintentionally transparent about their desire to clean up their image in the hope of broadening their appeal.
"The test will be if we are able to get the masses of people who attended the StopTheSteal rallies to come," a user named "Culture War Criminal" wrote in one of the discussion chats. "If we can pull this off and advocate White advocacy this will be a massive step forward."
Another user named "Project Algiz" advised: "Also, remember to keep it optical. True. But optical. For example, I made a decent video yesterday but removed it because I said 'n*****' twice. While I think of us can appreciate this sentiment, it will certainly chase away fence sitters and would-be supporters due to us confirming their suspicions that we may be a 'raAaAaAacist organization.'"
But other users appear to be completely unconcerned about optics.
The White Lives Matter Philadelphia channel celebrates former Mayor Frank Rizzo as "the only White Man who stood up openly here against the Black Riots instigated by Jews in order to destroy White Philadelphia and America!" The channel includes posts quoting from the 1940 Nazi propaganda film The Eternal Jew, photos of police officers using a German shepherd to attack a Black protesters and "American Nazi Stormtroopers in Center City" Philadelphia in 1962. A post with maps showing demographic changes in Philadelphia from 1940 to 1960 pledges: "The Whites can and will reclaim Philadelphia from these Jews and then we can make this city and country all White again."...The open chats in the planning threads for the White Lives Matter rallies appear to be heavily infiltrated by antifascists posing as Nazis and urging people to stay home to avoid doxing. The infiltration is causing justifiable paranoia and making it difficult to tell who is who....In the group chat for Anchorage, Alaska, the host affirmed a user named "Jedi counselor" on Monday.
"I share the same sentiment as you my friend," the host wrote. "I'm tired of the cowardice."
"Jedi counselor" replied: "Right and we need to make an army and take back the west coast and take this matter into our own hands."
Then they added: "It's time to say fuck the cops because they are not doing anything about [it]."
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===
https://www.alternet.org/2021/03/oregon-trump-supporters-antifa/
no lnx twt eg poso no pix 3 dn arrow = 3percent?
trump supporter pulls gun as tensions flare at clash with antifascists in Oregon
Zachary Petrizzo and Salon March 29, 2021
On Sunday, Trump supporters, reportedly including members of the far-right militia the Proud Boys, exchanged blows with approximately 150 antifascist demonstrators in Salem, Oregon. The two rival groups clashed near the State Capitol building as the day came to a close, with one Trump supporter being detained after drawing a firearm on black-clad demonstrators who had allegedly damaged his vehicle dressed in "black bloc."
During the afternoon hours, anti-fascist demonstrations could be seen blocking access to a street nearing the Capitol building where Trump supporters were parading with pickup trucks bearing pro-Trump flags. The apparent objective of the antifascist demonstrations on Sunday was to derail a planned right-wing event called "Freedom" in Salem's central town square.
"The 'Freedom' rally was advertised starting in February on social media as an event to honor those who 'fought for our freedoms,'" The Statesman Journal reported. As the afternoon progressed and tensions flared, an additional video emerged of a blue truck barreling through the demonstration's roadblock and nearly crashing straight into one demonstrator in the middle of the street.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos, some vehicles apparently belonging to Trump supporters were pelted with various objects or "splattered" with paint. "Several other vehicles also drove in and near the crowd over the course of the afternoon. Anti-fascist protesters threw objects and splattered some of the vehicles with paint," OPB reported.
Late in the afternoon, one Trump supporter was detained by Salem police after he pulled a gun on antifascist demonstrators, apparently after one of his windows was smashed and paint was flung on his silver pickup, which was festooned with American flags and bore red, white and blue striping. As seen in news images, the man was wearing a hoodie that read, "I Stand for the Flag/ I Kneel for the Cross," a popular right-wing slogan. The man appeared to pull a handgun from his waistband, but no shots were fired.
Police quickly moved in to detain the man, who tossed the firearm into the bed of his pickup truck before complying with law enforcement.
Oregon has been the site of numerous confrontations between right-wing and left-wing protesters over the past few years, but this was the first notable such encounter since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. "Violent protests between the sides were common during the Trump administration, as anti-liberal groups would often travel to cities like Portland and Salem to engage in the conflicts," as Oregon Public Broadcasting noted in its report.
Following the Salem clash, One America News (OAN) correspondent Jack Posobiec — who has frequently collaborated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists — attempted to frame the incident in quite different terms, writing that "armed Antifa insurrections attempted to overthrow the Oregon state capitol today." That does not appear to be the case.
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===
===
aha racism, polariz, two story 1776 v 1619
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/historians-on-donald-trump/
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former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial will likely be wrapping up over the next couple of days and, unfortunately, there is a strong possibility his acquittal could ironically fall on the most sardonic date: President's Day.
According to Axios, historians are focused on evaluating the bigger picture as it pertains to Trump's controversial legacy: "the election fraud lie, the efforts to overturn the results through violence, the impeachment of a president days before his exit, and the actions of his own party to block his conviction."
The publication notes how Trump's impeachment trials have drastically diminished the power of the impeachment process, altogether. In fact, Renee Romano, a professor for Oberlin College, weighed in with her concerns about what a possible Trump acquittal would signify.
According to Romano, the battle between lawmakers amid the impeachment trial signifies the "result of tension between two opposing historical narratives.
One political party identifies with Trump's perspective on the election being rigged. That group believes the violence that ensued at the Capitol is justified based on Trump's arguments. However, the opposing side believes President Joe Biden's victory is legitimate as it is no secret that the American public widely supports the Democratic Party because they have evolved into a representation of a "multiracial" society.
"I think a lot of this is about race, and entitlement," Romano said. "And now, we're at a stage where you basically have to use violence to overthrow the results of a democratic election to protect white minority power."
She added, "In any society where you have such a divide over how you see reality, that's an unstable country," Romano said. "I'm not hopeful for the future of the country."
Andrew Rudalevidg, an expert on the governance behind presidential power, also offered a broad perspective on the message Senate Republicans are sending by failing to hold Trump accountable for a second time. He also noted the extent of how damaging it is that Trump has been allowed to undermine Congress' authority and the rule of law.
*"Congress not even pushing back against a physical assault suggests that there's a lot they will put up with," Rudalevige said.
It's a President's Day present: an affirmation of the autonomy of the executive branch."*
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===
cointelpro karma?
https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/far-right-politics
tom b raw story
according to a report from the Daily Beast, far-right extremist groups are in turmoil after the Jan. 6th Capitol riot over fears somemembers may now be FBI informants and as high-ranking members battle each other for leadership positions.
The report, from the Beast's Will Sommer and Kelly Weill, states there is a different current of paranoia running through the groups after it was revealed some prominent members -- including a prominent leader of the Proud Boys -- were also working with the government.
In late January, Reuters reported that Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio was a "prolific" informant for the FBI, with the report stating Tarrio "cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana growing houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes."
That bombshell report still ripples through the extremist groups today.
"In the Trumpist "America First" movement and the far-right paramilitary group the Proud Boys, alliances are fracturing as extremists brand each other as potential informants. Now racist live-streamers are accusing their former comrades of attempting to turn over followers to law enforcement, while Proud Boys chapters are splintering from the national organization over similar fears," the Beast reports.
"Accusations that one-time allies have become federal informants aren't uncommon in the extreme right, which has built up an entire lexicon of terms to describe the varieties of real or suspected federal infiltrators," the Beast authors add. "But that paranoia has been ratcheted up in the aftermath of the riot, with the Proud Boys—a group that has seen a slew of members indicted—splintering under accusations that leaders have become informants or otherwise been compromised by the FBI."
The Tarrio incident has various Proud Boy organizations splintering off over fears of infiltration.
According to a statement from one Indiana chapter, "We reject and disavow the proven federal informant, Enrique Tarrio, and any and all chapters that choose to associate with him. We do not recognize the assumed authority of any national Proud Boy leadership including the Chairman, the Elders, or any subsequent governing body that is formed to replace them until such a time we may choose to consent to join those bodies of government."
After an Oklahoma chapter rebuked Tarrio -- who has maintained his innocence -- he fired back.
"Tarrio responded to the Oklahoma chapter's departure with a series of memes accusing Oklahomans of being rednecks, or having sex with relatives. Anti-Tarrio Proud Boys responded with their own memes accusing their former leader of ratting out members of the group, photoshopping his face on rapper and government witness Tekashi69. Another meme played on the menacing Proud Boys motto 'F*ck Around and Find Out,' claiming that Tarrio would instead 'Snitch Around and Rat Out,'" the Beast reports.
You can read more here(subscription required).
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===
221 intercept
what the Far-Right Fascination With Pinochet’s Death Squads Should Tell Us
Christopher Ketcham
When Trumpists use images of the “Hoppean Snake,” offering “free helicopter rides,” they’re advocating a program of extermination.
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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/several-proud-boys-chapters-declare-autonomy-after-leader-uncovered-as-prolific-informer/
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Proud Boys and Black Lives Matter clashed in this Florida town — and only BLM faced charges: report
Some members of the far-right Proud Boys are facing criminal charges in connection with the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol Building, but the Proud Boys were violent long before...
https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/qanon-and-evangelicals-republicans-baptized-in-crazy/
no twt lnx
QAnon and evangelicals: Republicans baptized in crazy
QAnon Shaman is admitting he was 'duped' by Trump — and blaming him for inflaming the Capitol attack
Meaghan Ellis
David Cay Johnston January 29, 2021
Donald Trump is out, but parts of the Republican Party warmly embrace his dark legacy of white supremacy, the crazy QAnon conspiracy and civil war wrapped in faux Christianity.
Like Trump, these fake Christians reject turning the other cheek in favor of threatening or promoting violence.
The problem here isn't partisan politics, but public mental health. DCReport has covered extensively the mental-health debacle thanks to Dr. Bandy X. Lee, Harper West and other experts on how delusions spread like viruses, with Trump being a carrier.
The evidence of craziness seems to be found entirely in the Republican Party. We looked for, but have yet to discover any Democratic Party leaders pushing baseless conspiracy theories or urging civil war.
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Readers who have found such material, please send links via our DCReport Tipline.
Here are some of the ways that Republican leaders reveal their affinity for the anti-democratic nature of Trumpism and QAnon, its attendant conspiracy theory:
In California, the Sacramento County Republican Party elected to its Central Committee a Proud Boys member who has advocated violence.
"Illegal immigrants should have their heads smashed into the concrete," a 2018 post by an antifascist group quotes Perrine as saying.
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Perrine didn't deny this call to violence, he only insisted that he's not a racist.
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He told the newspaper, "They can call me a Nazi all they want, and I know I have plenty of friends of all races that don't always agree with me, but they still love me.
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"The Proud Boys that I affiliate with are all working men, all married men, they all have good jobs, they all believe in God."
Only after The Bee reported this did some Republicans in the California capital come to their senses and demand Perrine's ouster.
Oregon's Republican Party this month aligned itself with conspiracy theories as well as denouncing all 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the murderous attack on our Capitol.
Texas' GOP uses a QAnon conspiracy phrase—We Are The Storm—in its new logo.
The slogan comes from a poem, not crazies, according to the Texas party chairman, Alan West. He is the former congressman from Florida and retired military officer known for making bizarre statements. In 2011, he wrote, "When I see anyone with an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, I recognize them as a threat to the gene pool."
Arizona GOP for Trump, Still
Texas GOP Twitter Page
Arizona's GOP retweeted messages in December asking if people were ready to die for Trump and his baseless claim that he really won in 2020. The original Stop The Steal tweet was deleted, but the party's official Twitter account still refers to a person who says he's ready to die for Trump. It states: "He is. Are you?"
You might think that the party leadership in the Grand Canyon state, long a bright red jurisdiction, would examine its position after Democrats won both U.S. Senate seats and Joe Biden beat Trump in Arizona.
While the GOP added registered voters in 2020, it lost in ballots cast. Instead of reassessing, however, Arizona's Republican leaders decided to enforce Trumpian purity. On Jan. 23 the Arizona GOP censured three leading Republicans for not embracing Trumpian madness: Gov. Doug Ducey, former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain. The widow of Sen. John McCain said she considers the censure a badge of honor.
Party leaders also re-elected the erratic and autocratic Kelli Ward as the Arizona GOP leader. She said her party suffers from "people who have been namby-pamby, lie down and allow the Democrats to walk all over them."
The party retweeted a menacing message. It is one of many from a Republican who holds himself out as a Christian despite tweets that are aggressively contrary to New Testament teachings about love, doing good to others and turning the other cheek:
"The Arizona Republican Party is still Trump country in all districts. Weak self-righteous sanctimonious Rs are on notice."
"Satan-Worshipping Pedophiles"
Arizona state Sen. David Farnsworth acknowledged last fall to the Arizona Mirror, a news website, that he believes the QAnon conspiracy theory but with a twist.
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He said some Republicans have joined the top Democrats who, he imagines, run a global Satan worshipping cabal of pedophiles Trump is singlehandedly trying to bring down. Farnsworth told audiences that Arizona's Department of Child Safety is covering up, or complicit, in child sex trafficking.
Meanwhile, the FBI says QAnon is a domestic terror threat.
Other delusional beliefs so deeply and broadly infect the Arizona GOP that its leaders blame antifascists for joining in when our national Capitol was violently invaded by a murderous mob of Trumpers on Jan. 6.
Mentioned earlier, theOregon Republican Party went further. It adopted a resolution asserting, "The violence at the Capitol was a 'false flag' operation designed to discredit President Trump, his supporters, and all conservative Republicans;this provided the sham motivation to impeach President Trump in order to advance the Democratic goal of seizing total power."
That's as crazy as QAnon.
Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, who riled up the Capitol mob, and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida also falsely blame the Capitol attack on antifascists.
Antifascist Nonsense
The FBI calls that nonsense, but you don't need law enforcement to know that the idea is ridiculous.
Saying Trumpers and Antifa jointly attacked our Capitol is like saying Trump is in league with Bernie Sanders. Believing, as the Oregon GOP leadership does, that the insurgents were lefties posing as Trumpers moves the party well into the realm of delusion.
In Hawaii, the official Republican Twitter account claims war is being waged against its members' values.And its relentless attacks on news organizations that check facts and correct mistakes include many fabrications.
Witness this Inauguration Day tweet: "Will you be joining PBS in calling for internment and re-education camps also?"
Nothing in the news clips it tweeted came close to substantiating the tweet, nor did the full PBS report.
There is a glimmer of hope that reality plays a role in the Hawaii GOP. On Sunday, Jan. 24, the state party's communications vice-chair, Edwin Boyette, resigned after sane Republicans complained about his tweets supporting QAnon.
Building a Theocracy
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It's not just Trump purity that many GOP influencers are pushing. There is also their brand of Christianity, which promotes racial animosity, hatred of Democrats, intolerance and would subvert our Constitution to create a theocracy.
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Consider Jenna Ellis, one of Trump's television lawyers who was paid at least $173,900 by his campaign. Ellis has met with GOP leaders in several states making fact-free claims that Trump won in November.
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Ellis has a long and well-documented history of just making self-aggrandizing claims. She has a checkered career and her accomplishments are negligible, but Trump got one look at her on television and was enchanted.
Some principled Republicans see no future in a party swaddled in craziness. On Monday Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, a conservative with a level head, announced that he won't seek a third term in 2022 because of what he called partisan gridlock.
While it's true that compromise is rare on Capitol Hill, intransigence traces back to anti-taxer Grover Norquist declaring, "Bipartisanship is just another name for date rape" and Trump repeatedly retweeting QAnon-supporting craziness.
Like Flake, a Libertarian whose family founded Arizona, Portman would face a primary challenge from the crazy wing of the GOP if he seeks third term.
FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES
How we know the GOP really is the party of QAnon now - Alternet.org ›
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221 terror designation canada
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proud boys 3 oathkeepers charges?
https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/capitol-invasion/
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mma 121
- As Proud Boys are increasingly linked to the Capitol attack, Newsmax gave founder Gavin McInnes a friendly interview.
- The evidence is undeniable: The Proud Boys led the attack on the Capitol
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ref wsj
Proud Boys, Seizing Trump’s Call to Washington, Helped Lead Capitol Attack
Far-right group invoked the president’s rhetoric to build momentum toward violent showdown, a Wall Street Journal review shows
The Proud Boys are one of a handful of extremist groups that participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
PHOTO: ZUMA PRESS
By Georgia Wells, Rebecca Ballhaus and Keach Hagey
Jan. 17, 2021
On Jan. 3, three days before the attack on the Capitol, Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right organization known as the Proud Boys, shared a cryptic post on the messaging app Telegram: “What if we invade it?”
The message was sent to his more than 7,000 followers on the app, with the first reply reading “January 6th is D day in America.”
The Wall Street Journal reviewed thousands of posts from the Proud Boys and their members across Parler, Telegram and Gab, the social-media platforms where they rallied supporters online after mostly being banned from Facebook and Twitter. The messages show the group repeatedly invoking President Trump’s rhetoric in the weeks leading to the Jan. 6 protest as they built momentum toward what became a violent showdown.
Investigators have said they are scrutinizing online messages like these as they attempt to determine the planning and intent of those involved in the attack on the Capitol.
In a social media post, the Proud Boys shared this flier of Mr. Trump.
PHOTO: SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP]
The Journal’s review, which included now-deleted posts that have been archived by researchers, suggests the Proud Boys viewed Mr. Trump’s messages as a call to action.
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On Parler, where the group’s official account had more than 340,000 followers before the platform went offline last week, Mr. Tarrio said on Dec. 29 that the Proud Boys would be able to put a thousand “boots on the ground” and “turn out in record numbers on Jan. 6.”
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In December, after Mr. Trump tweeted about the Jan. 6 rally and said to “be there, will be wild,” the Long Island chapter of the Proud Boys posted that Trump supporters have been “waiting for the green light from the President.”
“Everyone who said ‘Mr. President, just say when?’ He just did,” the post said.
The Proud Boys escalated their social-media activity and appeared emboldened after the Sept. 29 presidential debate, the Journal’s review shows. In that debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked Mr. Trump if he would condemn white supremacists and militia groups. As part of his reply, the president said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
The response within the group, whose members describe themselves as “Western chauvinists” and advocate misogynistic, racist and anti-Semitic views, was euphoric.
On Parler, members shared designs for a T-shirt inspired by Mr. Trump’s comments. It read: “Proud Boys standing by.”
AFTERMATH OF THE CAPITOL RIOT
Latest: More Jan. 6 Rioters Arrested
Senate GOP to Argue Out-of-Office Trump Can’t be Convicted in Impeachment
Prosecutors Report Evidence of Advance Coordination in Capitol Riots]
According to SITE Intelligence Group, a Bethesda, Md., organization that studies foreign and domestic extremists, one member of a Telegram group chat for the Proud Boys posted that he interpreted Mr. Trump’s debate comment as a call to be prepared for when “he can call on us to essentially ‘let loose the dogs of war.’”
The Proud Boys are one of a handful of extremist groups that participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Multiple Proud Boys members have been arrested or identified in footage from the attack, and the group’s activities are part of the federal investigation, officials said Friday.
In charging documents for self-identified Proud Boys, the group is described as “known to the FBI as being present and disrupting the functions of the U.S. Congress.” Estimates from researchers vary about the size of the group, ranging from a few hundred to up to 10,000 men.
The White House referred to the president’s previous comments about the group. In the days after his “stand back and stand by” comment in September, after being criticized for not condemning the group outright, the president said he didn’t know who the Proud Boys were and told Fox News: “I condemn all white supremacists. I condemn the Proud Boys.”
Mr. Tarrio said in a text message to the Journal that “we have and always will support the president,” calling Mr. Trump “an inspiration to many, not just our organization.” He said his posts about a possible invasion was a reference to his supporters possibly gaining control of the Republican Party through peaceful means.
Mr. Tarrio, who was banned from Washington, D.C., after being arrested in connection with the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner, wasn’t present at the rally. He has said he ordered his members not to storm the Capitol but that he won’t denounce any who did.
The Journal’s review shows that the Proud Boys didn’t take Mr. Trump’s denunciation of the group at face value.
A Proud Boys chapter embedded a Trump tweet in fliers to encourage their members to attend the Jan. 6 event, according to screenshots from the SITE Intelligence Group.
PHOTO: SITE INTELLIGENCE GROUP]
When Mr. Trump lost the election, members of the Proud Boys responded with disbelief online. They blamed it on antifascist groups, or antifa, and called on members to attend a Nov. 14 march in Washington, D.C., to support Mr. Trump. That evening, Proud Boys walked the streets of Washington wearing their signature black-and-gold shirts and chanting “F--- antifa.”
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Hours later, Mr. Trump posted to Twitter: “Antifa SCUM ran for the hills today when they tried attacking the people at the Trump Rally, because those people aggressively fought back.”
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On Telegram, the official Proud Boys account shared Mr. Trump’s message and said “I just got a freedom boner.”
Ahead of a Dec. 12 rally, Mr. Tarrio posted photos from the steps of the White House, writing: “Last-minute invitation to an undisclosed location.” Trump spokesman Judd Deere said at the time Mr. Tarrio was there for a public tour and that he hadn’t met with the president or been invited by the White House.
On Jan. 2, longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone participated in a Proud Boys effort to pressure Sen. Marco Rubio to not certify the results of the election. Mr. Tarrio led about two dozen Trump supporters in front of Mr. Rubio’s Miami home, while Mr. Stone called in to the rally to speak to the crowd.
In a video on the Proud Boys website, Mr. Tarrio asks Mr. Stone if there is something he would like to tell the group. “Absolutely. Keep the faith,” Mr. Stone says in the video.
In an interview, Mr. Stone—who was convicted last year of witness tampering, obstruction and lying to Congress and then pardoned by Mr. Trump—said he knows “a number of individual Proud Boys” but isn’t a member. He said that while the Proud Boys whom he knows are supporters of Mr. Trump, “no one in their right mind can think what happened in the Capitol is helpful to the president’s political movement. It’s counterproductive."
In the lead-up to the Jan. 6 event, Proud Boys on Telegram cautioned each other about measures law enforcement might take and encouraged one another to delete their social-media accounts, according to the Journal review.
After a speech from Mr. Trump in which he urged the crowd to march to the Capitol and said “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore,” a group of men in blaze-orange hats and military-style vests surged into the metal barricade that stood between them and the government building. Moments earlier, the men in orange hats had chanted the Proud Boys slogan. Several leaders of the Proud Boys have been identified by researchers as marching with the group.
Once the metal barricade toppled, the crowd charged up the stairs and into the Capitol.
—Aruna Viswanatha contributed to this article.
Write to Georgia Wells at Georgia.Wells@wsj.com, Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com and Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
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*1/15 an https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/inauguration*
...
proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio's latest remarks are an example of what experts are expecting over the next four years. He recently said, "We won't sit on our hands for the next four years but we can pick and choose our battles moving forward."
Katz added, "This movement isn't something we are going to simply delete from social media or evaporate by keeping them off mainstream media. Just as we have seen with other extremist movements, the extremists behind the Capitol siege will become further radicalized as they are pushed into less-moderated online venues."
Experts have also noted that extremists calling on their loyal followers to "loot and burn buildings and engage in physical violence against those they perceive to have aided Biden in illegitimately seizing the presidency."
....
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https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/hate-groups
Members of the ultranationalist street gang known as the Proud Boys were easy to spot at the protests that flared across the United States throughout 2020, often in the middle of a brawl, typically clad in black and yellow outfits.
But in December, as the group's leaders planned to flood Washington to oppose the certification of the Electoral College vote this week for President-elect Joe Biden, they decided to do something different.
“The ProudBoys will turn out in record numbers on Jan 6th but this time with a twist...," Henry “Enrique" Tarrio, the group's president, wrote in a late-December post on Parler, a social media platform that has become popular with right-wing activists and conservatives. “We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will spread across downtown DC in smaller teams. And who knows....we might dress in all BLACK for the occasion."
The precise composition of the mob that forced its way into the Capitol on Wednesday, disrupting sessions of both houses of Congress and leaving a police officer and four others dead, remains unknown. But a review by a ProPublica-FRONTLINE team that has been tracking far-right movements for the past three yearsshows that the crowd included members of the Proud Boys and other groups with violent ideologies. Videos reveal the presence of several noted hardcore nativists and white nationalists who participated in the 2017 white power rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that President Donald Trump infamously refused to condemn.
Tarrio does not appear to have been present during the insurrection. Two days before members of the House and Senate gathered to certify the Electoral College results, Washington's Metropolitan Police Department arrested Tarrio and charged him with possessing high-capacity firearm magazines and destruction of property over the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner last month. A judge barred him from entering the city while he awaits trial.
But it appears that Tarrio's followers heeded his advice. A journalist working with ProPublica and FRONTLINE encountered members of the Proud Boys in dark clothes walking through Washington on the night before the attack. The four men posed for a photo and confirmed their membership in the group. Few participants involved in the Capitol siege were seen wearing Proud Boys colors or logos.
But since the incident, Proud Boys social media channels have flaunted their direct role in the attack and looting of the Capitol.
One prominent Proud Boys account encouraged rioters as the chaos was unfolding: “Hold your ground!!!... DO NOT GO HOME. WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF SAVING THE CONSTITUTION."
So far, police have arrested more than 80 people in connection with the attack, including at least oneProud Boy, Nick Ochs. They have seized pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails and arrested at least six people on illegal firearms charges, including one Maryland man who was captured in the visitors' center of the Capitol. More arrests are expected.
As the crowds ringing the Capitol swelled on Wednesday, a small group of men clad in body armor shuffled toward the doors at the center of the building's east-facing facade.
The eight men, whose movements were captured on video, were identified by ProPublica and FRONTLINE as members of the Oath Keepers, a long-standing militia group that has pledged to ignite a civil war on behalf of Trump. Members of the group joined the protesters and insurrectionists flooding into the Capitol. Footage from later in the day shows Oath Keepers dragging a wounded comrade out of the building.
Stewart Rhodes, a former soldier and Yale law school graduate, who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 and built it into a nationwide network, was seen on video standing outside the Capitol building. While he was not seen entering the Capitol, he could be seen talking with his militia followers throughout the day.
Several other of the participants ProPublica and FRONTLINE identified from video have direct links to the white nationalist movement, which has seen a resurgence of activity during the Trump era.
One was Nick Fuentes, an internet personality who streams a daily talk show on DLive, an alternative social media platform. Fuentes, who marched in Charlottesville during the 2017 white power rally there, speaks frequently in anti-Semitic terms and pontificates on the need to protect America's white heritage from the ongoing shift in the nation's demographics. He has publicly denied believing in white nationalism but has said that he considers himself a “white majoritarian."
Fuentes, who spoke at pro-Trump rallies late last year in Michigan and Washington, D.C., said he was at the rally on Wednesday but didn't follow the mob into the Capitol. One group of Fuentes' supporters, who call themselves the Groyper Army, was filmed running through the Capitol carrying a large blue flag with the America First logo.
Days before the Capitol was stormed, Fuentes seemed to encourage his followers to kill state legislators in a bid to overturn Biden's electoral victory, as Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University who follows online extremist communities, noted on Twitter.
“What can you and I do to a state legislator — besides kill him?" he said with a smirk. “We should not do that. I'm not advising that, but I mean, what else can you do, right?"
Squire fears that Fuentes' incendiary rhetoric will inspire his followers to engage in more drastic — even lethal — acts of political violence. “Instead of trying to appear democratic he's making an argument for fascism, for monarchism," she said. “He's criticizing democracy at every turn. He doesn't believe in democracy and it's scary because his fans find him fascinating."
DLive recently announced that it has booted Fuentes from its platform.
Another figure inside the Capitol with ties to white nationalists was Tim Gionet, a livestreamer who uses the handle Baked Alaskaand who participated in the Charlottesville rally, which left one woman dead. Gionet was photographed within the Capitol and apparently used DLive to stream from within the building as events unfolded. Part of his video appeared to show him in Nancy Pelosi's office, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
Other extremist figures present either at the rally or within the Capitol included Vincent James Foxx, an online propagandist for the Rise Above Movement, a now-defunct Southern California white supremacist group.
Also on scene: Gabe Brown, a New Englander who helped create Anticom, a now-defunct organization devoted to physically combating leftists. In 2017, Anticom members posted a vast trove of bomb-making manuals to a private online chatroom.
The militant group members joined with scores of others who rampaged inside the Capitol.
Rep. André Carson, a Democrat from Indiana, said the scene reminded him of a Ku Klux Klan rally. Photos from within the Capitol showed one unidentified man carrying a Confederate battle flag and another wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with a skull and the words “Camp Auschwitz," a reference to the infamous Nazi death camp.
Carson and other House members who spoke to ProPublica and FRONTLINE said the body would be launching an extensive investigation of the Capitol Police force and its mishandling of Wednesday's events.
The rioters, said Carson, who is Black, “were hostile. They were venomous. And I think there was a sense of entitlement that they carried that somehow their country was being taken away from them."
After the siege, a Boogaloo Bois group called the Last Sons of Liberty, which includes militants from Virginia, posted a video to Parler purporting to document their role in the incident — a clip that shows members inside the Capitol. A loose-knit confederation of anti-government militants, theBoogaloo Bois have been tied to a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and to the murder of two law enforcement officers in California. ProPublica and FRONTLINE have been unable to independently confirm their involvement.
Some far-right activists are already calling for retribution over the death of Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran from California who was shot and killed by a security officer. “We've got a girl that's dead. She's shot, laying on the ground in there," said Damon Beckley, leader of a group called DC Under Siege, in an interview just outside the Capitol while the riot was ongoing. “We're not putting up with this tyrannical rule. ... If we gotta come back here and start a revolution and take all these traitors out — which is what should happen — then we will."
Another person took to Parler to say that they were planning to show up, armed, in Washington for Inauguration Day. “Many of us will return on January 19, 2021 carrying Our weapons," wrote the Parler user, who goes by the handle Colonel007. “We will come in numbers that no standing army or police agency can match."
The Proud Boys also celebrated on social media. On Parler, one Proud Boys leader posted a photo of members of Congress cowering in fear and captioned it with a menacing statement: “Today you found out. The power of the people will not be denied."
FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES
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- New report shows how white supremacy extremism spreads: 'A ... ›
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alexh
https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/here-are-5-far-right-extremist-groups-or-movements-that-pose-a-national-security-threat-in-the-us/
...George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, President Donald Trump and his obedient sycophants at Fox News have engaged in nonstop fear-mongering over the Antifa movement. But it isn't Antifa that is imperiling the United States from a national security standpoint in 2020 — it is far-right white nationalist and white supremacist groups and extremist militias. And on Thursday, October 8, the danger that white nationalists and militia groups pose was evident when the FBI announced that six men had been arrested in connection with an alleged terrorist plot to kidnap and possibly murder Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Six men are facing federal charges, while seven of their allies are facing weapons charges at the state level in Michigan.
The men arrested include members of the Wolverine Watchmen, an anti-government militia group, as well as allies of the Boogaloo movement. As these groups see it, Democrats like Whitmer do not hold power legitimately: the alleged would-be kidnappers, according to the FBI, planned to take Whitmer to Wisconsin after kidnapping her, put her on "trial" and execute her for treason if found guilty. And there is no reason to believe that far-right white extremists will not engage in violence in the weeks ahead if they do not like the way the presidential election is going.
Here are five extremist groups or movements to be worried about in the months to come.
1. The Boogaloo Bois
According to NBC News, some of the Wolverine Watchmen arrested in connection with the alleged terrorist plot against Whitmer are also supporters of the Boogaloo movement — which has been calling for a civil war as well as a race war and seeks the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Boogaloo members also openly advocate killing police officers. In Northern California, Boogaloo supporter Steven Carrillo was arrested in connection with an armed attack on a federal courthouse in Oakland on May 29. That attack left a security officer from the Federal Protective Service dead.
Trump's claim that Antifa is a terrorist movement is laughable. For all their militant rhetoric, Antifa do not engage in terrorist activities like the alleged plot against Whitmer or the drive-by attack in Oakland. But far-right white nationalist groups do.
2. QAnon
The QAnon movement has been identified by the FBI as a possible source of domestic terrorism, and its sympathizers are making their way to the U.S. House of Representatives. In Georgia, QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene won a congressional primary on August 11, and given how deeply Republican her district is, it is entirely possible that she will win the general election in November and be sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2021 — which is incredibly disturbing when one considers what QAnon believes. According to the QAnon conspiracy theory, the U.S. government has been infiltrated by an international ring of pedophiles and Satanists, and Trump was put in power to combat the ring. According to QAnon, an anonymous figure named Q is giving them updates on Trump's battle.
As ludicrous as QAnon's beliefs are, supporters take them quite seriously. And if Trump loses to former Vice President Joe Biden in November and QAnon members feel a sense of desperation, that could make them even more dangerous and unhinged.
3. The Proud Boys
During Trump's debate with Biden on September 29, moderator Chris Wallace (one of the more reasonable conservatives at Fox News) gave Trump every chance to condemn white nationalism and white supremacy. Instead, Trump expressed his solidarity with the far-right Proud Boys — a group of self-described "western chauvinists" who openly advocate violence and have been carrying out violent attacks against members of Black Lives Matter at anti-racism demonstrations. After Trump's endorsement, members of the Proud Boys expressed their feelings of empowerment and declared that they were ready to carry out acts of violence on the president's behalf.
Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs, following that debate, posted, "Trump basically said to go fuck them up! This makes me so happy." By "them," Biggs was referring to Antifa. And Biggs also posted, "President Trump told the proud boys to stand by because someone needs to deal with ANTIFA...well sir! we're ready!!"
4. The Three Percenters movement
The Three Percenters aren't one specific group, but rather, a movement of far-right militias. Three Percenters are well-armed and engage in military-like training, and they have made it clear that they are fully prepared for armed struggle. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, "Percenterism is one of three core components within the anti-government militia movement, along with the Oath Keepers and traditional militia groups. The reference to '3 Percent' stems from the dubious historical claim that only 3% of American colonists fought against the British during the War of Independence.
5. The Wolverine Watchmen
The Wolverine Watchmen are among the many militia groups that believe that liberals and progressives and anti-Trump conservatives do not hold power legitimately and that it is their duty to wage armed struggle against their enemies. According to the FBI, the Wolverine Watchmen believed that Whitmer had violated the U.S. Constitution by promoting social distancing restrictions in Michigan in response to the coronavirus pandemic — and after kidnapping her and putting her on "trial" for treason, they would execute her if found guilty. But the group's activities, the FBI said, went way beyond their alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer: they also hoped to kidnap other officials in Michigan, overthrow the state government and ignite a civil war.
https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/the-proud-boys-leader/
roger salon
enrrrriQue? Tarrio, the Proud Boy leader who toured the White House last month and was arrested Tuesday in Washington on vandalism and weapons charges, appears to have ties to a Republican mega-donor as well as the owner of a landmark Washington nightspot popular among conservatives. Tarrio, the neofascist group's chairman and a convicted felon, also failed to file federally mandated financial disclosures related to his brief, unsuccessful congressional campaign last year, and appears connected to a number of businesses, most of them defunct and none of them apparently profitable.
Despite the Harrington Hotel's efforts to distance itself from the Proud Boys, who in November brawled on the streets of the nation's capital with counter-protesters and police, the owner of Harry's, the downtown landmark bar, was one of the first donors to Tarrio's ill-fated 2020 congressional campaign.
From Politico:
*In a city known for its high-powered, wood-paneled eateries, Harry's can seem out of place. Housed on the ground floor of the Hotel Harrington, Washington's self-proclaimed "tourist hotel" where rooms begin at $95 per night, Harry's is a rare dive bar in the middle of the city's expense account district, an oasis of $6 Bud Lights in an ocean of $18 Manhattans. Hundreds of police patches hang on the walls of the narrow bar, which is filled with old-school red vinyl stools and faux-Tiffany lamps, while black-and-white tiled floors gives the place a sort of fun-house feel. The food is cheap, and the atmosphere is casual. "Don't eat the fish," counsels a top review on Yelp.
But what for years was a low-key haunt for off-duty police officers and busloads of tourist groups has, during the Donald Trump presidency, attracted a brand-new clientele. In the past four years, Harry's has become the de-facto D.C. headquarters of the Proud Boys, the all-male extremist group known for its members' thinly veiled racism, penchant for street violence and unwavering support for the president. When they're in town for rallies or protests, the Proud Boys and other rank-and-file MAGA loyalists toast Trump and down beers among the vinyl stools here, or on the patio, under the eerie technicolor glow cast by the pub's neon signs.*
On election night last November, a group of Proud Boys, Tarrio among them, werereportedly assaulted while leaving a watch party at Harry's. Right-wing provocateur Bevelyn Beatty was stabbed in the back in the attack. The next month, Harry's was ground zero for more stabbings after the pro-Trump Million MAGA March on Dec. 12, resulting in four hospitalizations, according to district police.
Anticipating further violence ahead of this Wednesday's right-wing rally against the election results — which led to an unprecedented uprising and assault on the U.S. Capitol — the Harrington Hotel shut its doors, and in doing so, shut Harry's as well.
"While we cannot control what happens outside of the hotel, we are taking additional steps to protect the safety of our visitors, guests, and employees," the century-old hotel said in a statement, without offering further reason or specifying the widely suspected true target: the attached street-level bar.
While the bar's longstanding association with the Proud Boys is well known, the relationship between thebar's owner, John Boyle, and the white nationalist group's chairman has not attracted attention.
In February, one month after Tarrio kicked off his bid to represent Florida's 27th congressional district with a 250-plus person soiree at the Trump National Doral club near Miami, Boyle, a D.C. resident, gave the Tarrio campaign $250, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Records show that it was the third donation Tarrio collected in his brief run — and also the first and so far only federal campaign contribution Boyle has ever made.
A few weeks later, Tarrio's Telegram account posted a plea for donations from his fellow Proud Boys.
"I need to come up with $10,440 to be put on the ballot. There's 130 chapters in the presidents chat ... if a fraction of those will give $200 by April 18th we will have a *Perry in Congress," Tarrio wrote, referencing the brand of polo shirt often sported by members. "There is no bigger 'fuck you' to the establishment than getting one of our own elected into high office," he added, then pointed his colleagues to a donation link created "just for us."*
"Share it only on Proud Boys chats," the chairman told his charges. "I need to fill that bar."
Tarrio ultimately failed to make the ballot, but because his campaign raised and spent more than $5,000, he was required by law to file a financial disclosure form with the House of Representatives. Tarrio never submitted the form, which would have revealed information on his assets, debts and possible business ties. A filing with the Florida secretary of state's office shows that Tarrio is the registered agent for a company called WARBOYS LLC, which lists as managers fellow Proud Boys Joe Biggs and Ethan Nordean.
Further, Tarrio's given name, HenryTarrio Jr., is connected in filings with the inactive businesses SPIE SECURITY, PROUD BOYS and FUND THE WEST. (The Proud Boys self-identify as "Western chauvinists.") According to FEC records, a Florida company called Spie Surveillance & Automation received $215 for a security system in 2019 from New Jersey Republican Hirsh Singh's Senate campaign. (Singh unsuccessfully challenged his primary defeat in court, and in November turned his sights on the governor's mansion.) While Tarrio's LinkedIn profile lists him as having been CEO of Spie Surveillance & Automation Technologies since 2006 — a Miami company that provides "the ultimate experience in residential and commercial security solutions," according to its website — no business is registered under that name in Florida.
In 2019, Tarrio told the Daily Beast that he was the "business owner" of a website called 1776 Shop, but the company declined to confirm that claim in an email. The outlet noted that the email came under the name "fundthewest," a name shared by the now-defunct business Tarrio had registered the previous October. Florida state records obtained by Salon show that Tarrio's mother, Zuny Duarte, a Cuban immigrant, owns the fictitious business name 1776 Merchandise, which runs the 1776 Shop website. (It appears that Tarrio, 36, legally resides with his mother at that company's Miami address.)
Tarrio's name is also associated with Lunar GPS Solutions LLC, which cites the same address as Spie but was run by Tarrio's younger sister as well as another relative in Sugar Land, Texas. In 2016, Tarrio launched a Kickstarter for a proposed joint venture between Lunar GPS and his company, Spie, for a pet surveillance system called the Halo Collar. The product was equipped with a tracking device and a camera designed to stream a first-person view of what the wearer — presumably a domestic animal — was seeing, and allowed two-way remote communication between pet and owner.
The Kickstarter video shows Tarrio demonstrating the collar on a French bulldog, but his name was not associated with the campaign itself, which listed only Ernesto Maldonado, Tarrio's Sugar Land relative. The campaign was canceled after 26 backers pledged a combined $4,330 — $75,670 short of its $80,000 goal.
As Salon previously reported, Tarrio still has not paid the $1.2 million in restitution he owes to Abbott Labs for stealing and reselling diabetes test strips, a crime for which he was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison in 2014. The conviction raises new questions about how Tarrio was cleared for a White House tour last month, when he posted photos from inside the gates ahead of a violent pro-Trump rally, claiming he had received a "last-minute invite to an undisclosed location."
The White House later said that Tarrio was not personally invited, but had instead taken part in a public tour. A routine White House background check, however, would have noted the felony conviction — which would have disqualified any visitor for such a tour unless an administration official personally intervened, a former senior White House official previously told Salon.
In a further wrinkle, Tarrio was joined at the White House by other members of his group Latinos for Trump, including Bianca Garcia, the president, and her son, Armani Garcia, a former intern for Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga. The plane that flew the group, including Tarrio, to Washington is owned by Texas Republican mega-donor Steven Webster, through Webster Air. During the 2020 election cycle, Webster contributed nearly $400,000 to GOP campaigns and committees, including tens of thousands of dollars to committees supporting President Trump.
Webster, today co-CEO and managing partner at Avista Capital, a private equity firm that specializes in health care, initially made his fortune in offshore drilling. His former company, R&B Falcon, was the first owner of Deepwater Horizon, the infamous offshore oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, creating the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. The week after Webster's jet flew Latinos for Trump to D.C., Avista announced that it was acquiring the dental supplier Solmetex, whose main business is in amalgam separators — mercury filtration devices which are among the few products to have escaped the ruthless EPA regulatory rollbacks unleashed by the Trump administration: Formerlyon the chopping block, amalgam separators are, as of July 14, 2020, mandatory for all dental offices in the U.S.
Tarrio did not reply to Salon's request for comment. Boyle and Webster could not be immediately reached for comment.
===
sued by AME?
https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/proud-boys-arrest/
Enrique Tarrio, who leads the far-right group known as the Proud Boys, was arrested on Monday by local police in Washington, D.C., according to the New York Times.
The report said that he had arrived in the city to join protests of the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Tarrio and the Proud Boys are devoted supporters of President Donald Trump, who has falsely claimed that the election was rigged against him.
The Times reported:
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that Mr. Tarrio, 36, had been arrested on charges of destruction of property, stemming from a mid-December incident in downtown Washington. Upon his arrest he was found to be in possession of two high-capacity firearm magazines and charged accordingly with possession.
The arrest also pits the Justice Department against some of Mr. Trump's most ardent supporters; the U.S. attorney's office in Washington acts as the main prosecutor's office for the District of Columbia.
As a part of his continuing effort to contest the results of the election, Trump has called on his supporters to rally in D.C. on Jan. 6. when Congress meets to count the votes, the final step in making the results of the election official.
*January 6th. See you in D.C. https://t.co/vynZTv9lHb*
— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1609544300.0
The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal!
— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)1609530783.0
With many congressional Republicans on board to challenge electoral votes for Biden, Trump has raised hopes that he may somehow still be able to remain in office. But Democrats have majority control of the House, and more than a majority of the Senate has acknowledged Biden's win, so Trump has no real hope of overturning the result.
Because of the futility of Trump's efforts, and the history of many of his supporters, such as the Proud Boys, critics have feared his calls will lead to violence in the streets. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has called in the National Guard to support local police during the protests.
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===
ref
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/proud-boys-plan-to-wreak-havoc-at-bidens-inauguration-while-dressed-in-disguise-report/
Trump notoriously told members of the far-right organization Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" before the 2020 presidential election. Since Trump lost, the Proud Boys have no longer been standing by.
Over the weekend in DC, there were multiple instances of violence and the Proud Boys were accused of burning Black Lives Matter banners at Black Churches.
According to a new report by The Sun, the group is planning false flag operations to impersonate supporters of President-elect Joe Biden while causing chaos at his inauguration.
"Members of the Proud Boys are reportedly plotting to disguise themselves as Joe Biden fans to wreak havoc during the presidential inauguration," The Sun reported. "The Trojan Horse-style plot was revealed on InfoWars alum Joe Biggs’ YouTube channel — on which the right-wing militants were ordered to 'kick off this presidency with f*cking fireworks.'"
Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio explained the plot during a November 20th episode of Biggs' YouTube.
"Revolt motherf***ers," Tarrio instructed. "Do whatever you got to do to f*cking get your tickets."
"You show up there in Biden gear and you turn his inauguration into a f*cking circus, a sign of resistance, a sign of revolution," he urged.
Watch:
===
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/violence-both-literal-and-rhetorical-marks-right-wing-convergence-on-washington-dc/
[dc pix death mask]
Roaming the streets of Washington, D.C., Saturday night, the Proud Boys, a self-declared “Western chauvinist” group with ties to white nationalists, looked for fights. They found them; in most cases, they seem to have started them.
In one instance, members of the hate group, dressed in their signature black-and-yellow polos, shoved a counterprotester to the ground and began kicking him. When a woman tried to escort him away from danger, Proud Boys members sucker-punched him while another yanked her hair, throwing her to the ground.
By the end of the weekend, nearly three dozen people were arrested, four members of the Proud Boys were stabbed after a cornered man defended himself from attacks, and four Black churches were vandalized, one of which saw its Black Lives Matter sign burned—acts that are being investigated as possible hate crimes.
The groundwork for the chaotic violence was laid earlier that day at a series of pro-Trump events convened to call for President Donald Trump to remain in the White House—where talk of violence and rebellion was loud and clear, extremists were welcomed and given a platform before thousands, and conspiracy theories were touted as fact. All were given the thumb of approval from Trump, who basked in the display of loyalty to himon Twitter.
Prior to their violence-fueled night, the Proud Boys joined pro-Trump activists gathered for two competing events: “Let the Church Roar” on the National Mall, organized by the Stop the Steal campaign and Jericho March, and “March for Trump” at Freedom Plaza, organized by Women for America First. Both rallies staked a claim to the Stop the Steal campaign, which was the driving force behind a similar Nov. 14 rally and march in the nation’s capital that attracted extremists, including the Proud Boys, conspiracy theorists, and militia groups. And both Dec.12 rallies featured extreme rhetoric and shared some of the same speakers, including disgraced former three-star general Mike Flynn and right-wing pastor Mark Burns.
Standing behind a podium bearing the Women for America First logo at Freedom Plaza, Burns launched the “March for Trump” rally, getting the crowd going with a “U-S-A” chant before introducing himself and setting the tone for the day: “I’m pastor Mark Burns, and I’ve come to let every race-baiting Democrat [invert of red baiting?] and liberal that we are not backing down, and we are never, never shutting up!”
Picking up the microphone and pacing the stage, the televangelist, who once called for war at a fringey 2019 gathering at the Trump National Doral Miami, was no less ready for battle.
“We’ve come, we’re ready for a fight, America. And I believe we have patriots who are ready for a fight. We’ve come to serve notice on every race-baiting, dividing, God-hating liberal in America that you will not take away the beautiful country that we call the United States of America—never, never, never!” he shouted, a massive Trump 2020 sign serving as his backdrop.
“I want you to declare to antifa, and anyone who tries to fight us, if you mess with one of us,” he shouted, gesturing at the crowd, prompting their response: “You mess with all of us!”
With a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” underway, Marine One flew overhead with Trump on board, en route to the Army-Navy football game, prompting the commentators at the right-wing Right Side Broadcasting Network—a new favorite since Fox News fell out of favor for reporting on election night that Arizona had voted for Joe Biden—to say that Trump was gracing the rally with his presence.
After Kylie Jane Kremer and her mother Amy Kremer took the stage to discuss how the Tea Party laid the groundwork for a Trump presidency, Katrina Pierson, a Tea Party activist and adviser to Trump campaign, discussed rebellion, couched in the narrative of the Founding Fathers.
“Thomas Jefferson said that a little rebellion is the best medicine for government. Benjamin Franklin said we have given you a republic if you can keep it. Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God. So we’re going to fight. We’re not going to fight like liberals screaming in the streets, crying like adult children,” she said. “We’re going to fight like patriots.”
She added later on: “The Second Amendment, that’s No. 2 because it’s meant to protect the first!”
She wasn’t the only one to discuss revolution. Matt Couch, a Seth Richconspiracy theoristwho is currently being sued by Rich’s family,was eager to overturn the votes of 81 million people, particularly those in cities with a large Black population. “Patriots and tyrants, this is our 1776 right now, right here, in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “Literally eight cities in six states have caused this chaos. Eight Democrat-run cities. Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and I could go on and on. You get the point.”
But the crowd favorite by far was disgraced former national security adviser Mike Flynn, who was welcomed to the stage with cheers and chants of “Fight like Flynn.” Flynn is a hero among followers of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory-movement, who see him as an example of someone who fought the “deep state” and won. Earlier this summer, Flynn threw his support behind the movement, reciting the QAnon pledge in a video shared to Twitter, and on Dec. 1, Trumpgranted Flynn a pardon.
As Right Wing Watch hasreported, Flynn endorsed pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood’s call for Trump to declare martial law and use the military to oversee a new election.At the “March for Trump,” Flynn alluded to a globalist deep state and, like the speakers before him, used the American Revolution as a steppingstone to talk about the battle he sees worth waging.
“I mean it was so patriotic, I get emotional just thinking about them,” he said speaking about the battles of Lexington and Concord. “These were farmers, these were people from their churches and their communities, and they stood up at the time against the greatest power at that time in the world. We’re facing that power right now. That power is in themedia, the global crowd, who wants to put their thumb down at who we are.We are not going to allow that. We are not going to allow it. Have faith, have courage, and fight like a Flynn!”
His speech was followed by Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones who seemed keen on raising the rhetorical stakes. “We’re just locked and loaded, we’re just looking for the white of their eyes—not in a violent sense, ’cause they’re going to twist my words,” he added, before talking about William Sherman’s march to the sea, in which the Union general conducted a scorched-earth policy through Georgia leading to the Confederacy’s surrender. “You remember the last march on Georgia with General Sherman? I’m giving you the green light to come to Georgia. I want you to join me in holding the line,” he said. Two high-stakes run-off elections for U.S. Senate will take place in Georgia on Jan. 5; the outcomes will determine which party will control the Senate.
Meanwhile, on the National Mall, some speakers at Stop the Steal and Jericho March’s “Let the Church ROAR,” were more extreme and blunt in their thirst for war.
Radical conspiracy theorist Alex Jones—apparently tired of attacking the parents who lost their children in the Sandy Hook massacre—took toscream-ranting about a “Satanic pedophile, globalist New World Order” he claims is “publicly stealing this election from the biggest landslide and the biggest political realignment since 1776,” while Orthodox Christian George Michalopulos,who recently praised a call for Trump to “crush his enemies” and “use his authority under the Insurrection Act to arrest and/or kill everyone who participated in this plot,” told the audience: “I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.”
The leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes,called on the president to invoke the Insurrection Act and declare martial law, adding that if Trump doesn’t, “we’re going to have to do it ourselves later in a much more desperate, much more bloody war.”
That’s the environment in which the Proud Boys took the streets of Washington Saturday. By night’s end, the founder of Stop the Steal, Ali Alexander, was applauding the hate group,claiming, “Brave patriots defended the helpless last night. Thank you. Dinner’s on me. Proud of my dudes.”
Tags: Alex Jones Ali Alexander Amy Kremer Katrina Pierson Kylie Jane Kremer Mark Burns Matt Couch Michael Flynn Stewart Rhodes Disinformation Election 2020 Let the Church ROAR March for Trump QAnon Stop the Steal Jericho March Oath Keepers Proud Boys tea party
---
- aaron Rupar @ Vox: Ron Johnson turned the Senate into a platform for discredited election conspiracy theories.
- Justin Baragona @ The Daily Beast: Obsessed Tucker Carlson Calls Jill Biden ‘Illiterate’ and ‘Our National Shame.’
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: The Forrest Gump of recent Trump scandals succeeds Barr at DOJ.
- Zoë Richards@ Talking Points Memo: Dominion Lawyers Send Scathing Letter To Ex-Trump Lawyer Demanding She Retract ‘Lies.’
- Colby Hall @ Mediaite: Senator-Elect Tommy Tuberville Threatens Electoral College Challenge When He Takes Office: ‘You’ll See What’s Coming.’
- Bob Brigham @ Raw Story: Proud Boys plan to ‘wreak havoc’ at Biden’s inauguration — while dressed in disguise.
- Media Matters: OAN declares: “We are the only broadcast news network out there with the integrity to report that this election isn’t over.”
Tags: ron johnsonTommy TubervilleTucker CarlsonElection 2020Round-UpOne America NewsProud Boys
===
https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/proud-boys-2649517824
roger salon
chairman of the white nationalist Proud Boys group, a convicted felon, posted photos from inside the White House gates ahead of a violent pro-Trump rally in Washington DC on Saturday, raising new questions about the president's apparent embrace of the right-wing agitators.
Enrique Tarrio revealed that he visited the executive mansion on Saturday after receiving a "last-minute invite to an undisclosed location." The White House later said that Tarrio had not been invited, but had instead taken part in a holiday tour. "He was on a public White House Christmas tour," White House spokesperson Judd Deere said over the weekend. "He did not have a meeting with the president, nor did the White House invite him."
White House public tours are self-guided, and anyone who wants one, including Christmas tours, must apply no fewer than 21 days ahead of their booking date because the application includes a security form and background check. Hopefuls with a felony are generally denied, a former Trump White House official told Salon, unless a senior member of the administration intervenes.
In 2013, Tarrio, also known as Henry Tarrio Jr, was convicted of two class C, one class D and one class E felonies for stealing and reselling $1.2 million worth of diabetes test strips from Abbott Labs, and served 16 months in federal prison. Court records show that he was released in December 2014 with two years probation, and ordered to pay restitution for the full $1.2 million.
On Saturday, Tarrio was accompanied to the executive mansion by other members of Latinos for Trump, including Bianca Garcia, the president of the group, and her son, Armani Garcia, a former intern for Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga. It is unclear if or when Latinos for Trump applied for its White House tour, and unclear why Tarrio received a security pass.
In the past, people who have been invited to the White House specifically because of their work on criminal justice reform have been denied entry. For instance, Vicki Lopez, a former county commissioner in Florida who had been previously sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for mail fraud, was not allowed into the Obama White House in 2009, despite receiving a commutation from former President Bill Clinton. People with prior convictions who are able to gain entry are generally given special badges and personal escorts. It would be highly unusual for someone with Tarrio's criminal history to get inside the White House without someone high up in the administration personally pulling strings, according to the former White House official.
A White House spokesperson declined to reply when asked who had checked Tarrio in on Saturday: The East Wing, where visitors usually enter, or the Executive Office of the President.
During the first presidential debate in September, Trump had the opportunity to denounce white supremacists and violent far-right groups — specifically, Democratic opponent Joe Biden invited him to condemn The Proud Boys. Trump did not denounce the group but told them "stand back and stand by," a directive that the group took as an endorsement. The Proud Boys Telegram account wrote, "standing down and standing by sir." Another known account incorporated a version of the phrase — "Stand back. Stand by" — into a new group logo.
"I think this 'stand back, stand by' thing will be another Proud Boy saying," Tarrio told The Daily Beast. (The Beast pointed out that previous slogans were: "The West Is the Best," and the warning "F*ck Around and Find Out.")
Trump eventually condemned the group in a Fox News interview two days later but he also claimed he knew "almost nothing" about them. "I condemn the Proud Boys," Trump said. "I don't know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing, but I condemn that."
The Proud Boys self-identify as "Western chauvinists," but deny being part of the racist alt-right. Members claim they are instead simply a men's group that promotes an "anti-political correctness" and "anti-white guilt" ideology, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
On his 2020 Ballotpedia candidate questionnaire, Tarrio cited as his favorite book Pat Buchanan's 2001 "The Death of the West: How Dying Populations and Immigrant Invasions Imperil Our Country and Civilization."
"This book shows the growing problems and divide in our country," Tarrio wrote. "It allows me to learn how to find solutions to conserve our nation and restore the love we have for it. We are not a perfect nation, but we must strive everyday to get as close to perfection as possible."
The group's initiation process demands aspirants to, among other things, denounce masturbation and recite five brands of breakfast cereal while fighting off an attack from other members. The final requirement for membership involves "a major fight for the cause," founder Gavin McInnes told Metro.us in a 2017 interview.
"You get beat up, kick the crap out of an antifa" and possibly get arrested, McInnes explained.
"Their disavowals of bigotry are belied by their actions," the SPLC says on its profile of the group. "Rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric."
In 2017, Proud Boys marched at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virg., but after a neo-Nazi terrorist attack on counter-protesters left one woman dead, the group's founder Gavin McInness sought to create distance from the white supremacist movement. In recent months, members have shown up to counter Black Lives Matter protests, and last month President Trump shared a video of a post-election Proud Boys brawl in D.C., selectively edited to make it appear that a member was a victim, not an instigator.
The group has held rallies where hundreds of members attended, many of them armed. However, its chairman, Tarrio, cannot legally own a gun, because he is a convicted felon. He often appears in photographs wearing a tactical vest with a fruit-flavored malted alcoholic beverage tucked into a front pocket.
*The Proud Boys also have ties to longtime Trump associate and convicted felon Roger Stone, and they are open about its support for the outgoing president. Another leader, Joe Biggs, boasted last year that he was having dinner with Trump at the president's D.C. hotel, and shared a picture of himself seated beside Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Trump's official schedule that evening included "remarks at a fundraising committee reception" at Trump International Hotel at 8:00 PM.
Tarrio's Saturday visit coincided with a rally in the nation's capital where thousands of right-wing protesters, including several hundred Proud Boys, a number of them dressed in tactical vests and fatigues, took to the streets to protest Trump's election defeat.*
This January, Tarrio launched his ill-fated congressional campaign with a launch party at Trump National Doral in Miami on Jan. 25. (Tarrio had to accept Roger Stone's endorsement in absentia that evening, as the Trump confidant had been arrested that morning.) About 300 people attended the event, which caught the tail end of the Republican National Committee's winter meeting and ended with fireworks.
However, his campaign's finance records do not indicate any payments on the night other than a $900 expense on Jan. 27 to Trump's BLT Prime restaurant in Washington, D.C. (There is a BLT Prime at Trump's Doral club as well.) Tarrio later bragged that "We exceeded our expectation by three-fold with 250+ in the building."
A White House spokesperson referred Salon's questions about security checks to the U.S. Secret Service. The Secret Service did not reply to multiple requests for comment.
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/proud-boys
no lnx pix vid
‘We will exterminate you’: Proud Boys and other right-wing Trump diehards confront counter-protesters at Raleigh rally
Image via Screengrab.
Jordan Green and Raw Story November 29, 2020
This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.
A band of COVID deniers, neo-Confederates and pro-Trump diehards, augmented by a 50-strong Proud Boy security detail, marched around the Governor's Mansion in downtown Raleigh on Saturday, firing up a far-right coalition to carry on the fight as their president faces the reality of leaving office.
The post-Thanksgiving rally was co-organized by Joshua Flores of Stop the Steal NC and Latinos for Freedom, who brought in Reopen NC to help him promote it on Facebook. But the Proud Boys — referenced by Flores as his "private security" in a Facebook Live video two days prior to the event — took the most prominent position in the rally as they spread out along a block of East Jones Street and taunted antifascist counter-protesters.
Flores had promoted the Thanksgiving potluck as a family-friendly event, and urged attendees to not engage with counter-protesters, warning that they would be asked to leave if they failed to honor the request, and adding that "the Proud Boys" would also "have the authority to kick you out." He also suggested, "Try not to use major cuss words, if you don't mind."
The request was almost farcical considering the Proud Boys' history of inciting conflict through profanity-laced taunts that are often barbed with misogyny and homophobia.
True to form, a Proud Boy named Jeremy Bertino picked up a bullhorn a couple minutes after the official 11:30 a.m. start time and addressed the counter-protesters across the street.
"America will never be a communist nation — never!" Bertino said as fellow Proud Boys lined the sidewalk wearing tactical vests and trademark yellow and black gear. "Your side will lose. We will exterminate you like the rats you are…. Exterminate you!"
[Proud Boys at COVID-denial/pro-Trump rally in Raleigh, NC
youtu.be]
Bertino kicked off a chant of, "Fuck antifa."
:{:{}:
}:
Another Proud Boy wore a patch with the letters "S-B-S-B," a reference to Trump's infamous election-debate directive: "Proud Boys — stand back and stand by."
:{:{}:
}:
Bertino wore a patch with the letters "R-W-D-S" — short for "right-wing death squads." Mass killing of political opponents is a theme widely promoted by Proud Boys and other far-right extremists who celebrate Chilean dictator Augosto Pinochet's grisly practice during the 1970s of disappearing opposition activists by dropping them out of helicopters.
Previewing the in-real-life showdown on Saturday, Bertino posted a photo of North Carolina antifascist Lindsay Ayling on the Parler social media platform, encouraging followers to make a contest out of Photoshopping her image, while making a violent and misogynistic claim that "she has an affinity for alpha males and helicopters" and hash-tagging the post #antifawhore.
Bertino told Raw Story he was merely "trolling" Ayling, but the Proud Boys' goofball presentation — naming cereals during their initation rite, for example — conveniently provides plausible deniability for any expressed fantasies of violence.
Bertino also denied that his "extermination" remarks were personally directed at the counter-protesters, although his own words say otherwise.
Throughout the four-hour event, unidentified men with bullhorns stood behind the Proud Boys and excoriated the counter-protesters.
"You guys are making lists," one of the men said. "We're making lists, too." He added a reference to "9mm" ammunition that was otherwise inaudible. Another time, the man addressed the counter-protesters, saying, "You are in a very dangerous position. You are in the vast minority." Bertino told Raw Story he did not hear the comment and could not identify the speaker.
Another unidentified man told the counter-protesters: "Donald Trump has stirred the pot. You think you've captured him. But all you've done is woken us up. You think this is gonna end? No!" The speaker also called the counter-protesters lazy and accused them of not understanding Christianity.
The right-wing group, which broadly expressed defiance of COVID restrictions and loyalty to Donald Trump, out-numbered counter-protesters almost two to one.
Drawn from Raleigh activists who have been protesting against police brutality since late May, along with antiracists and antifascists who are veterans of efforts to remove Confederate monuments, the counter-protesters responded in kind with taunts toward the Proud Boys. One sign held by a counter-protester read, "Proud Boy Thugs: 21st Century Nazi Brown Shirts." Another showed a depiction of a Confederate flag, a swastika and the name "Trump," concluding, "3 generations of losers."
"For individuals to still be conducting 'Stop the Steal' protest/rallies essentially 25 days after Election Day even after Gov. [Roy] Cooper has been declared the winner is in the same vein as the Confederate supporters still showing up places waving Confederate flags," Kerwin Pittman, a field organizer with Emancipate NC, told Raw Story. "They just can't accept the fact they lost. They must be called out on their denial and confronted when they attempt to sow seeds of intimidation in any community."
Pittman was appointed by Cooper, a Democrat, to serve on the North Carolina Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. Pittman served time in prison for first-degree murder, and he has been open about his past. All the same, North Carolina neo-Confederates never miss an opportunity to loudly confront him about his record, and on Saturday a detractor from Alamance County jeered Pittman, daring him to say the name of the man he killed.
Around 1 p.m., Tara LaRosa, an MMA fighter, led an advance team of Proud Boys into the street,with Bertino and others acting as marshals as the larger group of right-wing activists marched around the governor's residence. It's unclear whether they had a permit for the march.
The marchers chanted "Reopen NC," "No more masks," "We are the republic," and "Silent no more."
Reopen NC leader Ashley Smith and her husband, Adam Smith, addressed the crowd with a bullhorn at the entrance of the Governor's Mansion as the right-wing activists held the street, with tight security from the Proud Boys. At the direction of one of the co-organizers, the Proud Boys ejected two reporters, from Raw Story and INDY Week.
The right-wing activists staked out an alternate reality, with one woman insisting to reporters: "Donald Trump won the election."
Jay Thaxton, a North Carolina Proud Boy, blocked a reporter's camera. He said, "When you guys start writing real news, we won't have a problem with you."
A couple wearing shirts promoting QAnon — a conspiracy theory that posits Trump as a hero working beyond the scenes to vanquish an elite global cabal of pedophiles — strolled through the cordon of Proud Boys to join the rally. The man, who declined to give his name, told a reporter: "I pray that God would help you see both sides of the issue, not being right or left. We have a Bill of Rights."
Earlier in the rally, before the right-wing activists broke out covered dishes for their defiant potluck, Reopen NC leader Ashley Smith addressed them.
"I'm just so thankful to see so many patriots and people who love freedom and love America," she said. "Yes, we are here once again to stand in the face of tyranny and all that would destroy everything that we hold dear and love. And I'm here again to say, 'No, you cannot have my America. You cannot have my North Carolina.'
"Right now, we're going to have some food," Smith continued. "We're gonna hug our neighbors and say the Pledge [of Allegiance]."
In anticipation of Thanksgiving, on Nov. 10, Gov. Cooper issued an executive order limiting the number of people at indoor gatherings to no more than 10. On Nov. 23, he followed up with another executive order requiring masks in all public indoor settings.
As justification for the restrictions, the most recent executive order cited record high COVID-19 daily case counts and hospitalizations in North Carolina.
"We are at a critical point, and I am writing to update you on the worsening surge of COVID cases in our community and health system, and to share the actions we are taking," wrote Cone Health Chief Operating Officer Mary Jo Cagle in a memo to staff on Nov. 20.
Cone Health serves Greensboro, North Carolina's third largest city. Cagle said that during the previous week, the number of COVID patients in the hospital system leapt by almost 50 percent, from 95 to 142. She warned that the Green Valley facility, Cone's special COVID hospital, was nearing capacity.
Like the Proud Boys, Adam Smith, the husband of the Reopen leader, has expressed a willingness to resort to violence to uphold his belief system.
In May, he carried a rifle through downtown Raleigh while marching alongside a boogaloo-inspired group that flouted North Carolina's law against carrying dangerous weapons during a demonstration. The politically varied group included an array of Second Amendment hardliners, including a neo-Nazi, an avowed anarchist and self-described constitutionalists. One of the armed men who participated in the walks, Benjamin Ryan Teeter, is now facing federal charges of attempting to provide material support to Hamas.
In May, Adam Smith posted a Facebook Live video saying that people must be willing to kill, if necessary, to resist emergency orders — or what he described as "tyranny."
:{:{}:
}:
"But are we willing to kill people? Are we willing to lay down our lives?" he asked. "We have to say, 'Yes.' We have to say, 'Yes.' Is that violence. Is that terrorism? I'm not trying to strike fear in people by saying, 'I'm going to kill you.' I'm gonna say, 'If you bring guns, I'm gonna bring guns. If you're armed with this, we're going to be armed with this.'"
:{:{}:
}:
On Saturday, Lindsay Ayling, the antifascist activist, said she observed a Proud Boy point her out to Smith. Then, she said, Smith said, "Lindsay, I'm going to kill you."
Smith responded by text to Raw Story: "Of course I didn't say that!… That's ridiculous."
Ayling insisted that she heard the statement clearly and confirmed with another person that they heard it, too. She posted a video on Twitter showing Smith pointing in her direction and then wiggling his fingers in a motion that suggests pulling a trigger. Smith was standing next to Bertino at the time, and just before making the gesture, Smith yelled, "We are the people. We are the power."
Upon reviewing some footage, I noticed that Adam Smith (who later threatened to kill me) made a hand gesture miming… https://t.co/zM9K5ZHnrv
— Lindsay Ayling (@Lindsay Ayling)1606606531.0
As Trump's political and legal options for hanging onto the presidency evaporate, the Raleigh event and other rallies at state capitols are helping to maintain the tenuous alliance of violent nationalists, Christian-right extremists and conspiracy-mongers that are intent on preventing a left turn as Biden takes office. At the moment, much of that energy is focused on a planned pro-Trump rally on Dec. 12, two days before Biden's election is made official as states cast their electoral votes. The Proud Boys have promoted the event through their Telegram account, and the gathering is expected to be a reprise of the chaotic Millions for MAGA march on Nov. 14, which Proud Boys and other far-right groups treated as a moment of triumph.
Bertino stood at the side of Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio at the Washington Monument that night as Tarrio exulted after a clash with left-wing opponents.
:{:{}:
}:
"I mean, we practically cleaned the streets right there where they're sitting at BLM Plaza," Tarrio said. "They're corralled in, and there's like a hundred of 'em, when usually there's thousands of 'em. And you know who we have to thank for that?
:{:{}:
}:
"All of us," he continued. "And this right here shows you the power when we the right-wing unite, and we get together. And we don't bicker about stupid shit."
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one stabbed, jrnlist punched
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/ivanka-trump
roger salon
As right-wing groups clashed with counter-protesters at pro-Trump demonstrations over the weekend, Ivanka Trump, the senior White House adviser and daughter of outgoing President Donald Trump, condemned the media on Twitter for "near total silence" over alleged assaults on conservatives. The tweet came as selectively edited video wrongly portraying Trump supporters as victims of violence circulated online in right-wing circles.NOTE THIS SETS UP RATIONALE FOR MORE RW VIOLENCE]
"The media's near total silence about the physical violence being perpetrated against conservatives is shameful & dangerous. Just image the outrage and indignation if this went the other way," Ivanka tweeted. "Violence is never the answer and instigators must be condemned and prosecuted." ATLAS, BANNON BOOGALOO...]
Donald Trump Jr. one-upped his sister's allegation an hour later by claiming, without evidence, that the media was "complicit." He also suggested that "they might as well" put Trump supporters on a non-existent Gulag list controlled by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. [THE NEW PELOSI?]
"The media's silence on the violence against Trump supporters is deafening. After four years of calling them Nazis, at this point they might as well just dox them all or add the[m] to AOC's lists for the Gulags," Don Jr. baselessly tweeted. "They are complicit in the violence. They are the worst of the worst."
Trump supporters and right-wing groups marched in several cities on Saturday in protest of the president's recent electoral loss to President-elect Joe Biden. The demonstrators echoed the president's evidence-free allegations of a stolen election.
Many of these groups were met by counter-protests, and violence broke out in some instances. The most serious of these incidents took place in Washington, where Proud Boys and other right-wing groups and militia members clashed with counter-protesters, according to multiple reports. Contrary to the Trump family's assertions, conservatives were filmed launching attacks. 2 STABBINGS ONE PROUD?]
It was not the first time Ivanka had misleadingly tweeted about political violence. In a tweet referencing "inner city communities," the first daughter cited the wrong number of people killed and wounded in the wrong location ("near a playground") over the course of a weekend in Chicago in August 2019.
In his first debate with Biden, President Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back, and stand by." Unlike his offspring, the president outwardly applauded Saturday's violence in the streets.
"ANTIFA SCUM ran for the hills today when they tried attacking the people at the Trump Rally, because those people aggressively fought back," he tweeted.
The president also shared a selectively edited video posted by Andy Ngo, a right-wing sympathizer with a history of wrongly framing left-wing groups. The clip showed a man getting knocked out by a counter-protester after being attacked from behind.
"A close-up angle of BLM rioters knocking a man unconscious who was leaving the #MillionMAGAMarch in DC earlier today," Ngo wrote. "They also steal his phone when he's on the ground."
"Human Radical Left garbage did this," the president added, quoting Ngo's original tweet. "Being arrested now!"
But an extended clip appears to shows the man was with a group of Trump supporters who earlier attacked a counter-protester holding a bullhorn by pushing him down to the street and stepping on his head.
D.C. police on Sunday said they hadarrested nearly two dozen people, many of them on gun charges, according to The Washington Post. One person was stabbed,and four officers were injured.
Police Chief Peter Newsham told The Post that groups on both sides had descended on the city "intent on clashing," and "the police department was put directly in the middle of it."
In Sacramento, Calif., a group of Proud Boys met counter-protesters with bear spray, according to the Bay Area's ABC7 News. Police broke up the incident.
President Trump urged police to use force on counter-protesters, tweeting: "Antifa waited until tonight, when 99% were gone, to attack innocent #MAGA People. DC Police, get going — do your job and don't hold back!!!"
There is no evidence to support the protesters' accusations of widespread electoral fraud in the presidential election. Courts have summarily dismissed the vast majority of the Trump campaign's lawsuits.
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https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/right-wing-politics/
amanda
the far right had a dream: That one day, people who had been exiled to the unacceptable margins of American political life could play the role of Donald Trump's brownshirts.
In the weeks leading up to the election, excitement was rising among those Americans who convinced themselves that Trump would be the glorious leader in a national purge of their perceived enemies. QAnon fans buzzed with excitement that "the storm" — their term for their belief that the entire Democratic establishment, as well as many popular celebrities, would be rounded up into prison camps — was coming soon. The Proud Boys, a neofascist group that claim to defend "Western civilization," were also riled up after Trump told them to "stand by" during a presidential debate in September. The menagerie of white supremacists and militia groups were stepping up recruitment efforts, stoked about what they believed would soon be the eruption of a new civil war.
Then came the election. Trump lost. This has been very difficult for those people to accept.
People with fanatical and delusional beliefs famously don't give them up just because they've been hit over the head with reality, of course. The various subcultures of crackpots that have sprung up under Trump are no exception.
Still, the election results have sent these groups reeling. All of them have spent the past four years growing their ranks and orbiting around Trump, convinced that he was a savior figure who would crush their perceived enemies.
For believers in QAnon, that belief manifested in a fantasy that Trump was going to round up all the members of the "deep state," their imaginary shadowy conspiracy of Democrats, Hollywood celebrities and progressive activists that they believe both secretly runs the world and is also a network of Satan-worshipping cannibal pedophiles. Trump, they told themselves, was secretly organizing "the storm" to round up and destroy this sinister global conspiracy.
But since Trump's election, Q — a user account that started on 8chan and drifted over to 8kun after 8chan was disbanded — has fallen silent. QAnon faithful believe the account is run by a current or former U.S. intelligence agent and Trump loyalist. In fact, it's probably run by the father-and-son duo Jim and Ron Watkins, who are conspiracy theorists and definitely not U.S. intelligence agents. Without Q's guidance, the QAnon cult appears to be confused and angry.
"They were not expecting him to lose, and they were not expecting Fox News to call it," Fredrick Brennan, the founder of 8chan — who has spent the past few months giving interviews accusing the Watkinses of running Q's account — told the New York Times. "It was really psychologically damaging."
Q believers haven't given up the faith yet, of course. But without guidance from its leader, the QAnon community is adrift and very likely to fracture into competing and antagonistic splinter sects, as is common in these kinds of communities.
Witness, for instance, what's happening to the Proud Boys, which started off largely as a male chauvinist group but has morphed into what looks very much like a neofascist organization that purports to defend "Western civilization." The Proud Boys had their proudest moment in September, when Trump refused to denounce them during a debate and instead told them to "stand down and stand by," clearly implying that they should be at the ready to defend his grip on the White House if he felt it was under threat.
But even though Trump is half-heartedly still trying to steal the election, he has so far disappointed the Proud Boys by not calling on them to commit violence against his enemies in a glorious coup. (Mostly, Trump is hiding from public view, tweeting out articles from fringe right-wing sites and playing golf.) So, as often happens with marginal subcultures full of deeply unpleasant people, the Proud Boys are breaking apart, torn asunder by infighting.
At heart is a fight between two figureheads, Kyle Chapman and Enrique Tarrio, over whether the Proud Boys should stick by their dubious claim that there is nothing racist about the ideology of "Western chauvinism," or should openly embrace white nationalism and anti-Semitism.Chapman is representing the blatant-racism side, declaring himself the new president of the splinter group calling themselves, no kidding, the "Proud Goys." Tarrio is insisting that Chapman is a flunkey, failing to understand that the same can be said of anyone associated with the Proud Boys.
Other right wing militia and white nationalist groups, such as the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers, spent the weeks before the election firing themselves up for what they believed was an upcoming civil war. Now that Trump's presidency is deflating like a day-after birthday balloon, they're not quite ready to give up the fantasy.
On Wednesday, Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, appeared on Infowars with Alex Jones and promised the faithful that the violence against hated liberals is still coming.
"We have men already stationed outside D.C. as a nuclear option in case they attempt to remove the president illegally, we will step in and stop it," Rhodes declared, swearing that his forces are armed and "prepared to go in, if the president calls us up."
As with most of the threats made by far-right figures, this is both a fantasy and a dangerous one. It's just plain silly to imagine that a handful of middle-aged and badly organized conspiracy theorists, no matter how many guns they have, could manage the task of seizing the federal government in a paramilitary coup.
It's dangerous, of course, because these people do have guns. Unfortunately, as we've seen with mass shootings like those in El Paso and Pittsburgh, the car attacks on Black Lives Matter protesters, and the shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, men who have been radicalized by such talk are fully capable of acts of domestic terrorism against civilians.
On Saturday, these various groups of extremists are planning to descend on Washington for a demonstration in support ofTrump's fading effort to steal the election, which they of course spin as preventing Democrats from stealing the election. (As always with right-wingers, everything is projection.) As usual, far-right figures are over-hyping their efforts, calling the supposed rally the "Million MAGA March" or the "March for Trump."
In reality, almost none of the groups who claim they plan to show up have even applied for a permit, suggesting that they know what's likely to happen: An underwhelming display by a handful of loudmouths with angry signs, whose demands are incoherent and who have no plan of action to achieve their goals anyway.
As I witnessed in Philadelphia, even when the far right had a solid target and goal — stopping election officials from counting ballots — they could barely muster up a handful of people. The ones who showed up were easily run off by a group of leftists armed with cardboard signs and a boombox.Washington, D.C., doesn't permit the open carry of weapons, taking away yet another incentive to show up for the deeply insecure men of this movement.There's nothing they can do to save Donald Trump. All they have left is impotent flailing.
None of which is to say that we can just wash our hands of the far right and never think about them again. Far from it: The right-wing fringe has been enormously successful in recruiting conservatives to their way of thinking. Surveys suggest that more than 80% of Trump voters believe Joe Biden's victory was illegitimate, and about half of all Republican voters buy into the QAnon conspiracy theories to some degree. What were once whacked-out "far-right" beliefs are now just mainstream conservatism.
The difference between the fringe and the mainstream of the Republican Party now is less about belief and more about a willingness to take action. That fringe — the ones who've actually joined far-right groups and may actually show up at Saturday's "rally" — is scrambling now. But such people never really go away. They'll find some other cause to latch onto, some other justification for their fascist impulses. Some, unfortunately, will continue to seek violence or even to commit acts of terrorism.
But for now, Trump's defeat is a mighty blow to the far right. Their dreams of crushing the people they view as "the left" and of "reclaiming" the culture of America were always ludicrous, no matter how much tear gas Trump sprayed at Black Lives Matter demonstrators. But now, with Trump on his way to Palm Beach exile, they've lost their lodestar. The process of fracture and dispersal for these self-appointed warriors of the right has begun. We must hope they don't find another figurehead to rally around anytime soon.
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1120 mma
The Spanish-language network Univision delivered a softball interview segment with the leader of the far-right street gang the Proud Boys, allowing him to go unchallenged on his claims about the organization, amid increased media attention after President Donald Trump told the group to “stand back and stand by” at the first presidential debate in September.
“We are a group that is anti-communist, anti-authoritarian,” said leader Enrique Tarrío, speaking in Spanish. “They say we are fascist. I think that fascism and communism are the same thing.”
The Proud Boys is a far-right organization with links to white supremacist movements, including the violent “Unite the Right” white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 and 2018. The Anti-Defamation League also pointed out, in the wake of Trump’s comments at the debate, that some Proud Boys members “espouse white supremacist and antisemitic ideologies and/or engage with white supremacist groups."
[vid]
"They accuse you of provoking political violence,” news anchor Sandra Peebles asked. “Are you violent?
“We don't practice unjustified violence,” Tarrío said. “But if we are talking about defense, then yes we are violent.” Peebles did not push back on Tarrío’s claim.
Last year in New York City, two members of the Proud Boys were sentenced to four years in prison for an attack against counter-protesters outside a 2018 event at the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan. At the event, Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes had brought a samurai sword to reenact the 1960 assassination of Inejiro Asanuma, leader of the Japanese Socialist Party, at the hands of a teenage ultranationalist. During his speech to the group, McInness also described the Proud Boys as“foot soldiers” for the right. In the wake of the brawl outside, McInnes exited the building and waved his sword in the air as he went to his car.
And just this week, a man was arrested in North Dakota for allegedly sending an anonymous email to a local newspaper, threatening to blow up a voting location. The message was signed, “The Proud Boys.”
Other mainstream media have also bungled their coverage of the Proud Boys, with CNN describing the group as being “a political fight club,” while Fox News has actively promoted McInness and the group for years.
Spanish-language media have also become vulnerable to disinformation campaigns. NBC News reported in September: “Conspiracy theories around the ‘deep state,’ billionaire Democrat philanthropistGeorge Soros and QAnon have become a constant fixture on Spanish-language YouTube programs, WhatsApp clips and pro-President Donald Trump Facebook groups aimed at a Latino audience.”
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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/how-the-plot-to-kidnap-whitmer-fits-into-right-wing-extremists-violent-rhetoric-around-the-2020-election/
analysis
Adam Fox was worried about a rat. In thedark and cluttered basement, Fox gathered the men’s phones in a bin and took them upstairs to the main floor of the nondescript vacuum store in Grand Rapids, Michigan—a measure meant to avoid surveillance. After he returned through the trap door normally hidden by a rug, the group of men began discussing how they would storm the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan, counter law enforcement who arrived on the scene, and throw Molotov cocktails at their vehicles. It was June 20. Six days earlier, Fox had explained in a call that they’d need “200 men” to storm the capitol and take hostages, including the governor. They would try her for “treason,” he said—and they would carry out their plan before the November presidential election.
The FBI arrested six men on Oct. 8—including Fox—for conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and overtake the state government. Through FBI informants and FBI agents, we know how those meetings went, spelled out in detail in anFBI affidavit. The men, in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, belonged to Wolverine Watchmen, an anti-government, anti-law enforcement militia group. Prior to the arrests, the group had surveilled Whitmer’s summer home, discussed bombing a bridge to block law enforcement response, and at another point, considered simply shooting Whitmer. On Tuesday, the FBI revealed the group had also considered kidnapping Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia.
Whitmer has been thetarget of extremistssince she implemented a series of public health measures, including a stay-at-home order, in March, acting swiftly to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Michigan. In May, protesters and anti-government groups, some heavily armed, protested the restrictions at the state capitol, where they demanded to be let in and compared Whitmer to Hitler. Among the protesters were members of the Wolverine Watchmen.
In addressing the conspiracy to kidnap her, Whitmer was quick topoint out President Donald Trump’s recent rhetoric at the first presidential debate: how he tried to skirt condemning white supremacists and then told the Proud Boys hate group to “stand back and stand by.”
“Hate groups heard the president’s words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight,” Whitmer said.
Right Wing Watch has seen an increase of violent rhetoric across different right-wing subgroups—from conspiracy theorists and religious-right activists to white nationalists and anti-government groups. In some instances, extremists call for civil war, the use of force against Black Lives Matter protesters, and for government leaders to be tried for treason and executed.
Trump has no doubt ushered in more radical proclamations from extremists—this is the man, after all, whowon’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election. But the right-wing media ecosystem is a two-way street, where fringe figures influence the president, and the president influences the boldness of fringe figures and their prominence in the conservative mainstream.
Conspiracy Theorists and Radical Right-Wing Commentators: Fear-Mongering, Violent Language, and Anti-Government Sentiment
[pix Radical right-wing conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles blamed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for the plot to kidnap and potentially murder her.]
On the day the arrests of the Wolverine Watchmen members were announced, Rick Wiles, a conspiracy theorist whose TruNews conspiracy outlet claims to offer news and analysis from a conservative, Christian worldview,took to his program to put the blame on Whitmer for the plot to kidnap and potentially murder her.
“Did you at all stop and think, what are you doing that drives middle class, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens to think about kidnapping you?” Wiles said. “What are you doing? Are your policies so extreme, so radical that you’re pushing people over the line to say we have to get that woman out of the governor’s office?”
While the claim is shocking, especially for an outlet that has been granted White House press credentials as recently asJanuary, it’s in keeping with Wilesfear-mongering about government overreach—much of it anti-Semitic—which includes claiming that liberalsintend touse the power of government toround upconservative Christians, place them inconcentration camps, andkill them.
And it’s not surprising for the ranks of conspiracy theorists and radical right-wing commentators who distrust news reports and the government—save for Trump—and imagine a “deep state” or globalist “New World Order” that wants to take away constitutional rights, get Trump out of office, and impose their will on the people.
Wiles’ penchant for violent rhetoric is well documented by Right Wing Watch: In the past year alone, Wiles hasrejoiced in Trump’s use of the military to forcefully clear protesters from a church to take a photo op with a Bible, vocalized his hope that Trump will round up liberal activists andtorture them, and gleefully claimed that special op forces were going tohunt down and shoot commies—which to Wiles apparently includes Black Lives Matter, antifa, and Right Wing Watch. During the impeachment of Trump in December 2019, he claimed to have been stockpiling ammunition to prepare for a “violent civil war” between the “pagan left” and “religious right.”
While the enemies in the minds of right-wing conspiracy theorists are many, the hate directed at government officials who oppose Trump, particularly those who are women or people of color, in right-wing networks is particularly noteworthy.
Josh Bernstein, a radical right-wing commentator with a penchant for calling for people to be executed, took to his YouTube channel earlier this month to call for Rep. Ilhan Omar to be charged with treason and executed. Omar has faced racist, xenophobic attacks from right-wing activists and the president himself as recently asSeptember. Bernstein, who hassaid that Omar has earned every death threat she’s received, followed up on Trump’s attacks just days later.
“I believe that the FBI and the Department of Justice should charge Ilhan [Omar] with sedition, treason, marriage fraud, voter fraud, illegal campaign contributions, immigration fraud, and aiding and abetting our enemies,” Bernstein said,adding, “this bitch should be executed.”
Last year, Bernsteinurged Trump to become a “dictator for patriotism” andclaimed that members of the Trump administration watch his broadcasts.
He’s not the only one talking about killing opponents to his extreme right-wing world view or calling for civil war. Claiming his warnings about a globalist “New World Order” takeover were coming true, radical conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told his listeners of his “Infowars” conspiracy show in August to wage war against academics and “the establishment perverts and pedophiles that run it,” adding that “the best thing to do in a defensive way is kill as many of them as quickly as possible.” In February, radical right-wing conspiracy theorist Chris McDonalddeclared that government officials who testified in the impeachment hearing against President Donald Trump are traitors and are “lucky they’re not hanging from nooses,” and in June during the protests against racism, McDonald andfellow QAnon conspiracy theorist Mark TaylorclaimedBlack men were hanging themselves to start a civil war. “They’re trying to start a civil war in this country, a race war,” Taylor said.
Among those fear-mongering and calling for violence against Black Lives Matter and antifa—shorthand for anti-fascist activists—is John Guandolo, adisgraced former FBI agent turned right-wingconspiracy theorist. In June, Guandolo, who has made a new career out ofpeddling anti-Muslim law enforcement trainings,said, “we should round up the leaders and execute them for trying to revolt and overthrow the government. And if this doesn’t happen soon, we will lose this.”
Religious Right Calls for Civil War
[ pix Robert Jeffress speaking at Values Voters Summit in 2017. In 2019, he claimed on Fox News that “removing the president” would “cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.”]
Like right-wing conspiracy theorists, some religious-right activists and pastorssee the 2020 election as a civil war coming to America and warn that Christians need to wake up. They paint the current political climate as a spiritual battle, and Trump’s opponents are frequently depicted as “demonic.” Such messages have been promoted through “The Jim Bakker Show,” influential pro-Trump Pentecostal-oriented media outfit Charisma, andnetworks of prominentdominionist “apostles” and “prophets.”
Rick Joyner has beenwarningfor years that civil war is coming to theUnited States and that the country is headed towardmartial law. In September, the right-wing pastor spoke to televangelist Jim Bakker on “The Jim Bakker Show,” where hetold viewers that God had seeded the country with military veterans experienced in urban warfare, citing a “prophetic” dream.
“We’re in time for war. We need to recognize that. We need to mobilize. We need to get ready. I’m talking to law enforcement, talking to people. One of the things I saw in a dream I had related to our civil war was that militias would pop up like mushrooms. And it was God. These were good militias.” Joyner, who heads up Morningstar Ministries, said. “If God’s people don’t become a part of the militia movements, the good militias, the bad people will take them over.”
Who are “the bad people”? In September, Joyner pointed to Black Lives Matter,declaring that Christians must take a stand against the organization because it’s “the KKK of this time.” And during the impeachment inquiry, Bakker and Joyneragreed that efforts to impeach Trump were satanic and treasonous.
Bakker, himself,warned in August that if Trump is not reelected, “we’re gonna have a revolution” with right-wing Christians taking to the streets.
At the 2019 American Priority Festival and Conference, an annual pro-Trump conference held at Trump National Doral Miami resort held in October,calls for civil warwere loud and clear. “I need you to know that 2020 is a civil war that will change the face of America forever,”Joshua Feuerstein, a former pastor turned evangelical internet personality, said on the same stage Don Trump Jr. would later speak on. “And it’s God, ladies and gentlemen, it’s God that calls the qualified, that qualifies those that are called, that are willing to step up in the moment that matters, that has greatness thrust upon them. And tonight, together here in this place to say that we are willing to fight, we may think ourselves insignificant, but that we will stand together in 2020, and we will win the war that will change the face of America.”
Earlier in the evening at the conference (known colloquially as AMPfest), televangelistMark Burns called for war. “We’ve come to declare war!” he yelled, with attendees in the back of the ballroom echoing his call, shouting “War! War!” in response.
This summer,Frank Pavone, a Catholic priestwho runs an advocacy group committed to abolishing access to abortion in the U.S.,declared that the 2020 election “is a spiritual battle and no less than a civil war.” Pavone held advisory positions in Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, only resigning in July at thedirection of Roman Catholic Church authorities.
These messages from Trump’s religious-right boosters have reached the president. Days after Congress launched its formal impeachment inquiry last September, megachurch pastor and ardent Trump supporter Robert Jeffress claimed on Fox News that “removing the president” would “cause a Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.” Apparently viewing the segment was Trump, whotweeted Jeffress’ quote.
Far-Right Militant Groups: ‘Awaiting the Green Light’
[pix]
when the militant group the Oath Keepers saw Trump’s tweet of Jeffress’ comments on Fox, they responded in turn. “This is the truth,” read apost from the group’s Twitter account. “We ARE on the verge of a HOT civil war. Like in 1859.”
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The Oath Keepers, conceived as a group of “patriots,” law enforcement officers, and former military members who would defy orders they didn’t like in opposition to a deep state members saw as conspiring to declare martial law, have now sided with Trump and see their role as ensuring law and order.
Other militia groups have done the same. Trump’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this sentiment; by forgoing a federal response, Trump has continued to receive the support of anti-government groups, while state and local governments have been left to issue piecemeal restrictions and face the ire of such groups.
It’s amid this violent rhetoric, fear-mongering about government overreach, and calls for civil war that militia groups and white supremacist organizations are feeling emboldened—and Trump’s language has given these groups tacit, if not explicit, approval.
In April, Trump sent off a series of tweets calling for states led by three Democratic governors, including Whitmer and Northam, to be liberated from supposedly draconian public health measures. “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” hetweeted, followed by “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”
Michael German, a former FBI agent who infiltrated neo-Nazis in the 1990s, is not surprised the Michigan governor was targeted by these groups following Trump’s message.
“These are groups that are used to listening for dog whistle affirmation among the powerful, and so when they get that affirmation spoken out loud, indirectly, it takes on a completely different meaning,” said German, a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program. “You know, something like ‘liberate Virginia‘ and ‘liberate Michigan‘ would be taken as ‘OK, this is a green light from the highest levels of our government. We should start planning.’”
In August, German published areport with the Brennan Center detailing the militia groups that have law enforcement and former military members, though “only a tiny percentage of law enforcement officials are likely to be active members of white supremacist groups.” An investigation inThe Atlantic details these connections in the Oath Keepers, which recruited thousands of police, soldiers, and veterans.
As protests erupted in the days following George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, members of extreme right-wing movements followed Trump’s lead in identifying common enemies among police and far-right militants, demonizing Black Lives Matter, anarchists, and antifa.
“We’ve been through a lot of these protests, and [police] seem to have a less antagonistic and violent response when it’s far-right militants who are engaging in protest violence,” German said. “And I think that’s because the messaging that they’re receiving about who is the enemy of state, as the president is identifying these groups as the enemy of state and suggesting that there are friendlies among the far-right, white supremacist groups. That sends a pretty clear message both to the groups and to the police about who should be the target of their violence.”
“So when these groups feel like they have the authority granted by the state to engage in this kind of behavior, they’re more likely to do it,” German said. “These groups operate on margin where their violence is reinforcing state action and state violence often, right—that the groups that the far-right militant and white supremacist groups target are the same groups that law enforcement targets disproportionately.”
In August, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who considers himself a militia member, fatally shot two demonstrators and injured a third at a protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Much has been said about how, minutes prior to the shooting,police thanked the group for their presence and offered Rittenhouse water.
Creating the Justification for Right-Wing Violence
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After Trump’s Proud Boy comments at the presidential debate, the hate group took to the social media platform Telegram where they took the president’s wordsas a command. “Standing by sir,” Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio wrote.
Two days later, Tarriotold conspiracy theorist and failed congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine—who in June had urged conservatives to form militiaswhile awaiting the “green light” to take back the streets—that his group had gained 2,000 to 3,000 new followers.
Violent rhetoric and civil war chatter among extremists is nothing new. But as we’ve approached the 2020 elections, the confluence of violent rhetoric among the extremists Right Wing Watch covers seems to have taken a frenzied pace, with different subgroups of the right-wing acting as an echo chamber, radicalizing each other and the president and vice versa. Trump, himself, has cultivated that echo chamber, creating a megaphone for his messaging.
Trump has refused to say whether he will step down peacefully should he lose the election. And since 2016, Trump and his team has pushed the narrative that Democrats and the deep state worked tirelessly to prevent him from becoming president in 2016 and, when they failed, conspired against him to prevent his reelection. By fear-mongering about voter fraud through mail-in voting and engaging with far-right conspiracy theories, Trump has insisted that any election he loses will have been fraudulent—creating justification for right-wing violence should he lose.
Tags: Chris McDonald Donald Trump Frank Pavone Jim Bakker John Guandolo Josh Bernstein Joshua Feuerstein Mark Burns Mark Taylor Rick Joyner Rick Wiles Robert Jeffress Antifa Civil War conspiracy theories Oath Keepers Trunews Wolverine Watchmen
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It’s hard to imagine that O’Keefe’s organization has been unaware of Freijo’s well-publicized arrest and plea deal; in fact, just after Freijo’s case concluded in April 2019, the group unveiled avideo defending the current leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio,coyly described on Veritas’s webpage as “a man whose Chase bank account was shut down without [his] being given a reason” and “whose website sells provocative conservative merchandise.”
That website was 1776.shop, which, according to Slate, sold far-right merchandise (think shirts reading “Pinochet did nothing wrong,” for example) and charity bracelets said to help support the Proud Boys arrested in NYC. Numerous payment providers had stopped servicing Tarrio’s website, leading O’Keefe to profile him as a conservative provocateur who’d been “debanked.” O’Keefe homed in on Chase, claiming the company had never satisfactorily explained why it cut ties with Tarrio, who, the full video acknowledges, is “chairman of the Proud Boys and entrepreneur.” (Chase later disputed the report, saying it doesn’t close accounts based on political affiliation and that one of Veritas’s covertly recorded “sources” was not who the organization claimed.) [pix gavin hartsock]
gavin McInnes also appears in the video, part of a long-standing professional—and apparently personal—relationship between the Proud Boys founder and O’Keefe. The two have been on camera together as far back as 2013, predating the official founding of the Proud Boys in 2016. O’Keefe was honored as a “Proud Boy of the Month” in 2017 in the group’s official magazine; the two tried to crash the Tribeca Film Festival in the same year. McInnes showed up to O’Keefe’s American Pravda book parties in 2018. O’Keefe has appeared on McInnes’s show, as well as that of white supremacist Stefan Molyneux. In June 2020, both McInnes and O’Keefe appeared on The Alex Jones Show—thereby completing some sort of unholy right-wing conspiracy-mongering trifecta.
Behind the scenes, McInnes lives a short distance from the Mamaroneck, NY, headquarters of Project Veritas and, according to sources, frequently drops by to bask in the adulation of O’Keefe’s motley coterie of eager young conservatives. “I remember fellow employees being like, ‘I can’t believe I just met Gavin McInnes!’” one former Veritas member recalled, using a mock-giddy octave.
For his part, McInnes may see O’Keefe mostly as a tool of ideological and financial convenience. After attending a decidedly uncool May 3, 2014, housewarming at O’Keefe’s then-new condo in Jersey City, McInnes groused privately about how lame the party was. Recollecting it again on a podcast years later, McInnes could not help but rag on O’Keefe between bouts of praise, saying James was “a little on the spectrum,” “a little nerdy,” and more “like a work friend.” After losing to O’Keefe in a dance competition on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, McInnes told The New Yorker, “Fuck that guy. He just memorized a bunch of moves. I was dancing from the heart.”
On a personal level, James O’Keefe’s coziness with white nationalists dates back to well before his founding of Project Veritas. In 2006, O’Keefe was photographed at the Robert Taft Club’s “Race and Conservatism” conference, an event headlined by Jared Taylor,the self-styled academic white supremacist and publisher of American Renaissance, a journal devoted to, well, white supremacy. Reportedly, just about 40 people attended the event, so it’s not as if O’Keefe had accidentally wandered into the wrong ballroom. Around the same time, he added white nationalist Kyle Bristowto his Facebook friends, according to an archive of O’Keefe’s early online life—but he was already among his own. The event’s organizer, Marcus Epstein, was at that time O’Keefe’s friend and his co-worker at the conservative Leadership Institute.
[James O’Keefe socializing at the 2006 Race and Conservatism conference. White supremacist publisher Jared Taylor can be seen at the top right.
LAURA SENNET]
photojournalist Laura Sennett, who documented the event with anti-racist/anti-fascist researcher Daryle Lamont Jenkins of the One People’s Project, remembers seeing O’Keefe hanging with a “clique” beforehand that included Epstein and other future figures on the alt-right. O’Keefe appeared to be particularly chummy with Kevin DeAnna, future contributor to name-brand white nationalist Richard Spencer’s Radix Journal and founder of the short-lived, far-right campus group Youth for Western Civilization. “Marcus was setting up his literature table, and all his little buddies were kind of hanging out around him talking,” Sennett recalls. “DeAnna and O’Keefe were obviously chatting as friends. They were sitting right next to each other, chatting.”
Ascendant a decade later, Epstein and O’Keefe had a reunion of sorts when they both attended the pro-Trump art show “#DaddyWillSaveUs” put on by Milo Yiannopoulos in Manhattan (after a Brooklyn gallery punted the event, which had evidently been billed to the owner as “a satirical, Andy Kaufman–esque project”). “The Proud Boys had just got started,” according to Jenkins, who covered the show, “so this was, more or less, their first appearance: They chased somebody out; Gavin McInnes smashes his phone; that kind of nonsense—and O’Keefe was there. That was the last time I saw him.”
In Jenkins’s own footage of the incident, just after McInnes slams the protester’s phone onto the pavement, the Proud Boys founder can be seen delivering a fist bump to the late communications strategist for Project Veritas, Stephen Gordon. He then shakes hands with a cheering spectator named Matthew Tyrmand, a Polish nationalist who has served for many years as a conduit between the European and American far right, as well as a director on the Project Veritas board.
[vide gavin neo-fas art show]
through the years, O’Keefe and Project Veritas’s operations have featured, to put it charitably, a racial element. As Salon recounted in 2010, at Rutgers, he and his conservative friends held an “affirmative action bake sale,” charging whites more than their Black and Latino peers. In 2008, O’Keefe called Planned Parenthood and posed as a donor asking whether his money could go specifically to aborting Black babies. In “James O’Keefe Ambushes Republican Congressman Over Racist Bill” (2014), he claims a Congressman’s voting rights legislation “is racist because it excludes white voters.”
These are, of course, only the ideas that O’Keefe actually carried out. Perhaps just as revealing is an idea Project Veritas brainstormed but never executed. As revealed by CNN in 2010, the group once discussed whether it should create an altered video of civil rights icon John Lewis. After he and his colleagues walked through a crowd of Tea Party protesters, Lewis claimed he’d heard the n-word hurled in his direction; several colleagues backed him up. Andrew Breitbart didn’t believe it and offered up a $100,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund for proof that the epithet had been used. “This is 2010,” said media-savvy Breitbart. “Even a racist is media-savvy enough not to yell the n-word.”
Veritas, the CNN documents revealed, considered producing a fake video proving Lewis right. “The video evidence just needs to be simple, just Lewis walking by with a faint ‘n*****’ said in the background, yelled by someone there,” the document reads, spelling out the word entirely. “The video evidence would need to be sufficient to get by the potential fact-checkers at CNN who might analyze the video and audio.” Getting its tape on air, the Project Veritas crew argued, would undercut CNN’s credibility, suggesting the network would do anything—even accept as real an unvetted videotape secretly doctored by right-wing activists—to paint conservatives as racist.
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Project Veritas has moved on to other things. The group’s recent releases have focused mostly on Covid-19 denial and undermining confidence in the electoral process, including targeting an older transgender man who voted twice, once under each of his two gender “personas.” From that rather sad example, Veritas sought to spin a whole tale of New Hampshire’s alleged failures to protect the ballot this November. What remains constant is that Project Veritas is not unique amid the flora and fauna of the conservative movement. This is what the right is becoming, increasingly up at its highest levels. Working with Proud Boys both openly and covertly, making appearances on racist podcasts, casually planning videos deploying the n-word—in its comfortable and long-lasting proximity to white supremacists, Project Veritas simply reflects the present and future of the Republican Party.