cindy chafian women for america 1st
<div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 23</font></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Robert Patrick Lewis, the founder of far-right group 1st Amendment Praetorian (1AP), is suing the New York Times (NYT) for <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">allegedly defaming the organization</a>, which played a role in the Jan. 6 attack, Rolling Stone reports</span>.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The lawsuit, filed last month, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">seeks $100 million</a> from the prominent news outlet for allegedly reporting "egregious lies" concerning the group's connection to the insurrection.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Per Rolling Stone — <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the first to report on the lawsuit</a> — on the evening before the attack, Lewis was welcomed to speak on the Freedom Plaza stage by right-wing activist<b> Cindy Chafian,</b> whose mission was to acknowledge "people who often go unseen and unknown."</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">[READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/how-desantis-challenge-first-amendment/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">How DeSantis 'could potentially transform American society' by challenging the First Amendment: journalist</a></span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Chafian <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">honored 1st Amendment Pratorian</a> — “a play on the imperial Praetorian Guard that provided security to Roman emperors” — along with the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other ultraconservative groups, although the organization describes itself as "non-partisan."</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As Lewis, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">an ally of</a> former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn took the stage, he said to the crowd, “Not far from here, General George Washington — in weather just like this — loaded up a ragtag group of soldiers who crossed the Delaware River,” Lewis said, before shouting: “This is our Delaware!”</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">He continued, “This is our time… to make sure that we <b>don’t cede this country and have my kids grow up in a communist hellhole</b>." He implored listeners to <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"fight as hard as you can to ensure that that does not happen!”</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Per Rolling Stone, the group's lawsuit <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">falls into a series</a> of "high-dollar defamation suits brought by 1AP that are ostensibly attempting to clear its reputation."</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/donald-trump-war-first-amendment" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Unequal justice: Donald Trump’s war on the First Amendment will one day reach the Supreme Court</a></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Rolling Stone <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reports</a>:</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin-left: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Seen in another light, the lawsuits present a vivid irony: They are filed by an organization that presents itself as a <a href="https://twitter.com/1st_praetorian" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>protector</u></a> of first amendment rights, against parties who’ve leveraged their own freedom of the press to raise concerns about 1st Amendment Praetorian.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The Jan. 6 Committee <a href="https://twitter.com/January6thCmte/status/1463236995543617539?s=20&t=VVR-8qRQ6PDyepEs-uC01Q" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">tweeted in November of 2021</a> that it subpoenaed a list of "organizations linked to the violent attack on the Capitol," including 1AP.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">According to Rolling Stone, the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">subpoena letter read</a>:</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; margin-left: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">On January 4, 2021, the 1st Amendment Praetorian <a href="https://twitter.com/1st_praetorian/status/1346190700233146369" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>Twitter account</u></a> suggested that violence was imminent: “There may be some young National Guard Captains facing some very, very tough choices in the next 48 hours. Pray with every fiber of your being that their choices are Wise, Just, and Fearless.</span>”</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">WATCH: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/marjorie-taylor-greene-wrongly-twitter/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Marjorie Taylor Greene 'wrongly' declares her Twitter ban as illegal</a></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000062443/pdf/GPO-J6-TRANSCRIPT-CTRL0000062443.pdf" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">April 2022 transcript</a> from Lewis' meeting with the committee was released in December, exposing the far-right leader's refusal to answer questions such as "Were you involved in discussions with the White House regarding efforts to overturn the election?"</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">opted not to respond</a> to the panel "citing his constitutional first and fifth amendment rights," according to Rolling Stone.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Now, Lewis is speaking up with legal action.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to the legal filing, he <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">alleges four articles</a> published by the NYT "inaccurately paint 1AP as 'a right-wing paramilitary group, like high-profile extremist and far-right nationalist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia, that was involved in President Donald Trump’s plot to interfere with the certification of the 2020 vote count and the attack on the Capitol.'”</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong>READ MORE:<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/capitol-riot" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"> A militia expert explains the complex relationship between Trump and the Capitol rioters</a></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">The Trump-supporting leader <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">maintains in the lawsuit</a> that 1AP is “not a violent, dangerous, paramilitary, extremist group,” fully denying the group's role in the attack.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">In the NYT's defense, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a spokesperson told Rolling Stone</a>, “We reported accurately and responsibly, and plan to vigorously defend against this suit.”</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/january-6-committee-2659314469/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Why 'footnotes' and 'small print' are a 'powerful' part of the Jan. 6 report: legal expert</a></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Rolling Stone's full report is available to read <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/first-amendment-praetorian-new-york-times-lawsuit-1234677286/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">at this link</a>.</p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;"><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/alex-jones-january-6th-insurrection/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/alex-jones-january-6th-insurrection/</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">
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</font></div><div style=""><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an raw 822</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-size: small;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>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.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mark Bankston, who represents the parents of the children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012, has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/us/politics/alex-jones-text-messages.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reportedly</a> 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.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>To date, Jones has not been charged in the attack, but he has played prominent roles in amplifying the messaging of the campaign</b> 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.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The committee’s interest in Jones was on <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/january-6th-hearing-spotlights-role-of-roger-stone-as-link-between-proud-boys-and-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">display</a> during a hearing on July 12 through recorded testimony of <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/oath-keepers-2657649914/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Kellye SoRelle</a>, 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.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“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 was<b> Mr. Stone, Mr. Jones and Mr. Ali Alexander. </b>Is that correct?”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Those are the ones that became like the center point for everything,” SoRelle responded.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alex Jones could not be reached for comment for this story.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">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</span>. 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.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In a <a href="https://january6th.house.gov/sites/democrats.january6th.house.gov/files/20211122%20Jones%20Letter.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">letter</a> to Jones accompanying a subpoena compelling him to testify and turn over records, the committee took note of a <b>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.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“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.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">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</span>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“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.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Filling in for Jones on New Year’s Eve,<b> guest host Matt Bracken added tactical specificity to the mission.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“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.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">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.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“They close everything out,<b> 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.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Weeks before the 2020 election was held, Stone <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/roger-stone/roger-stone-calls-trump-seize-total-power-if-he-loses-election" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">appeared</a> 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.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“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.<b> We can prove voter fraud in the absentees right now. </b>Send federal marshals to the Clark County Board of Elections, Mr. President. It’s all there.</span>”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On the eve of the attack on the Capitol, Stone <a href="https://theresistance.video/watch?id=5ff51a425a21233002a02d6c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">interviewed</a> Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, at the Willard hotel.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">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.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Everybody in this country, everybody in the world knows that this election on the third of November was a total rip-off,” Flynn said</b>. “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. <b>And everybody knows it</b>, and they got caught.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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, </span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">mentioned in his public letter that</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> Jones worked with two women, <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/cindy-chafian/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Cindy Chafian</a> and Caroline Wren</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> 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.</span></b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Jones <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/01/25/alex-jones-says-he-testified-before-jan-6-committee-and-took-the-fifth-almost-100-times/?sh=48660acc78e4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reportedly</a> 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.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">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 <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/enrique-tarrio-indictment/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">photo</a> 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 <b>Enrique Tarrio.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">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. </span>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.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Erika Wulff Jones, Alex Jones’ wife, went to the Capitol separately from her husband on Jan. 6, <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/cindy-chafian/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">riding</a> on the back of a golf cart with Cindy Chafian.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">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.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>“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.”</b></font></p></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-size: small;"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium;"><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">
</div></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="" /><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">=</font></font></font></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">no lnx [twt bad code]</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">amy kremer bus tour ends DC dec 12</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1489008554455416834">https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1489008554455416834</a></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">impromptu fuentes sp gets him into inner circle? am 1st flags</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">..<b>.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. </b>Michael Flynn makes a grand entrance flanked by representatives from many groups who’ll make a mark on Jan 6. 31/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">byrne, ed martin CNP 1ap...josh macias v4t</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FKoIP7SVkAQbqU0?format=jpg&name=small">https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FKoIP7SVkAQbqU0?format=jpg&name=small</a></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">crazy WH mtg be wild twt</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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.<b> In the morning: Cindy Chafian requests a permit date change to Jan 6. </b>The next day, the website http://WildProtest.com is created. 37/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">----</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">·</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Feb 2</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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..” <b>Within hours it’s quoted by AZ GOP chair Kelli Ward.</b> 38/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">... 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”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. 39/</span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">capitolhunters</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">·</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Feb 2</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>on Dec. 28, the Kremers of WFAF realize they’ve been double-crossed, and an epic power struggle begins</b>: 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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Feb 2</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> 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.</span>." Charlie Kirk amplifies. But it's really a small polite protest - watch 46/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>moms for am</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>first rallies start (new IL Congresswoman Mary Miller: Hitler had some good points!)</b> 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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Quote Tweet</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">capitolhunters</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">@capitolhunters</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> · Jul 20, 2021</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">#SeditionHunters - events in DC required planning<b>. Cindy Chafian organized the fiery Jan 5 rally where Ali Alexander led the crowd in “Victory or Death!”</b> On Jan 6 she marched up the <b>West </b>Capitol steps with bullhorn & entourage and cheered during the assault on Officer Fanone. 1/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">poso, influencers many blondes https://twitter.com/i/status/1489023152898203649 straka chris cox; jnx, roger ali in orange beanie</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Listen to the VIPs and influencers at Cindy Chafian’s rally, chatting about what is to com</b>e. 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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://youtube.com/watch?v=Tq3S_jSYf_k</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">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/</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div></div></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.rawstory.com/1st-amendment-praetorian-2654817031/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.rawstory.com/1st-amendment-praetorian-2654817031/</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div>in his letter to the National Archives on behalf of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on Wednesday, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), signaled that the committee is interested in learning more about a man named<b> Robert Patrick Lewis.</b></div><div>
</div><div>The letter requests "all documents and communications concerning the 2020 election and relating to Lewis and others as part of a probe into "recruitment, planning, coordination, and other preparations for the rallies leading up to and including January 6th and the violence on January 6th."</div><div>
</div><div><b>A Special Forces veteran and author with combat experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, Lewis founded a group called 1st Amendment Praetorian in September 2020 that provided security for three Washington DC rallies that helped build momentum over the two-month period building to Jan. 6</b>. Lewis has described 1st Amendment Praetorian in an Oct. 11 Facebook post as a "<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">group of military, law enforcement and intelligence community veterans" who "provide pro bono intelligence and security services to <b>patriotic and religious events."</b></span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Beyond 1st Amendment Praetorian's role as "<b>demonstration marshals"</b> for the DC rallies that built momentum for Jan. 6, Lewis was also tapped to provide security for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn during the "Jericho March"</span> from the National Mall to the Supreme Court. A former intelligence director for US forces in Afghanistan who briefly served as national security director under President Trump and was later pardoned after lying about his contact with the Russian ambassador, Flynn emerged in December as a major figure in the campaign to thwart the transfer of power. He endorsed a public call on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and order the military to conduct a new election.</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Flynn's name is also on the list of Trump allies whose communications are sought by the January 6th committee.</b></div><div>
</div><div>"Being on the Personal Security Detail today for many of our personal hero and motivation in this fight — @GenFlynn — takes the cake," Lewis tweeted on Dec. 12. "This man & his family have given so much for this Republic and<b> it's an honor to even share the air he breathes as he keeps us driving the 2nd American Revolution forward."</b></div><div> </div><div>Lewis voiced similarly militaristic rhetoric elsewhere that day in an interview with <b>Epoch Times affiliate New Tang Dynasty<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Commenting on conservatives who felt that their ability to voice support for Trump, express religious feelings and watch an election process that was supposedly rigged, Lewis said, "A lot of people are angry. And so, we've been tracking this on the intelligence side for quite a while as a low-level conflict."</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The event permit for the Nov. 14 Million MAGA March at Freedom Plaza, which was secured by<b> Cindy Chafian on behalf of Women for America First</b>, notes that 25 1st Amendment Praetorian members wearing black T-shirts would act as "demonstration marshals."</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>The group won the praise of Tracy Diaz, an early QAnon promoter who spoke at the event.</b></div><div>
</div><div>"There aren't any words to explain how absolutely life saving the guys of @1st_praetorian are," Diaz tweeted. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"They protected us during the March. These are absolute heroes." Diaz's Twitter account has since been suspended</span>.</div><div>
</div><div>1st Amendment Praetorian's performance on Nov. 14 appears to have caught the attention of Flynn, who retweeted Diaz, writing, "Thank you @tracybeanz for all you do & <b>@RobertPLewis for your team of professionals</b>."<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Flynn went on to make a fundraising appeal on 1st Amendment Praetorian's behalf, <b>tagging </b>conservative media personalities Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin.</span></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Lewis returned the compliment to Diaz in a late-night YouTube video filmed from his hotel room, in which he also mentioned providing security for Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"I get to hang out with Tracy Beanz often, which is pretty cool," Lewis said. "We got<b> Ali Alexander — we were tight at the hip</b> with him all day today — and a lot of different conservative influencers."</span></div><div>
</div><div>1st Amendment Praetorian also provided security at the Jan. 5 "<b>Rally to Revival" </b>— likewise listed as 25 <b>"demonstration marshals" wearing black T-shirts in the permit application. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The event was organized by Cindy Chafian, apart from Women for America First, which is headed by Amy Kremer.</span> Chafian obtained the permit for the Jan. 5 event, but partnered with Alexander and Brian Gibson, a Kentucky pastor. The eight-hour event was divided into three blocs emceed by the three partners.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Chafian, Alexander, Gibson and Diaz are all on the list of Trump allies, alongside Lewis and Flynn, whose communications members of the January 6th committee want to examine in their effort to understand preparations for the rallies that set the stage for the violence at the Capitol<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. Others include Trump confidant Roger Stone; InfoWars host Alex Jones; Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio; and Tom Van Flein, chief of staff for Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). Two individuals on the list — InfoWars host Owen Schroyer and #WalkAway organizer Brandon Straka — face federal charges related to the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Although Lewis had cultivated a prolific social media presence across multiple platforms, Jan. 5 was his first time stepping into the spotlight as a speaker during the series of rallies that mobilized Trump supporters behind the false claim that the election was sto</b>len.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Chafian mentioned 1st Amendment Praetorian as an "organization [that] is near and dear to my heart" in her introduction of Lewis, also giving shoutouts to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, at the Jan. 5 rally on the eve of the storming of the Capitol.</span></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Lewis told the crowd that he was "willing to get up here and walk into danger if we need it, if we need to be there,<b> to make sure that we don't cede this country, and I have my kids grow up in a communist hellhole. </b>And I need each of you to <b>fight as hard as you can</b> to ensure that that does not happen."</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Following his public appearance alongside Chafian, Lewis' public profile receded considerably on Jan. 6. But at 2:18 p.m. that day, the 1st Amendment Praetorian leader tweeted: "Today is the day the true battles begin."</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Whether Lewis was aware of it or not, only five minutes earlier, Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola had used a stolen police riot shield to bash out a window, breaching the Capitol to allow the first wave of rioters to stream into the building. The incident was live-streamed on Twitter and widely share</span>d.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Lewis told the Daily Beast that he was at the Willard Hotel,</b> which is several blocks away from the Capitol, at the time he made the tweet.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">By 5:32 p.m., Lewis had joined a brace of far-right influencers, including Rep. Gosar, in promoting a conspiratorial view that the mayhem at the Capitol was not the work of unnamed bad actors rather than Trump supporters.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Getting a lot of reports that the Capitol bum rush was staged & not MAGA," Lewis tweeted.</span> <b>"Fits the color revolution play book to a T. Going to look at the @1st_praetorian intel shed, but seems pretty likely — we've already IDd some people we've been tracking."</b></div><div>
</div><div>Lewis could not be reached for this story.</div><div>
</div><div><b>While distancing himself from the assault on the Capitol, Lewis' rhetoric before and after Jan. 6 has remained consistent, reflecting a view that "patriots" need to be prepared to fight against sinister foreign actors that have supposedly infiltrated the US government and civil society.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Americans are standing up," Lewis announced in an Oct. 11, 2020 Facebook post. "We're taking our country back. <b>We've activated the counter-insurgency."</b></span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In a Fox News interview a couple weeks later, Lewis specified a logical adversary in his promised domestic "counter-insurgency."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"Our intelligence shows that no matter who wins the election, they are planning a massive '<b>Antifa Tet Offensive,'</b> bent on destroying the global order; they are not beholden to any one party," Lewis said. "Their sole purpose is to create havoc, fear and intimidation."</span></div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><b>In his Dec. 12 interview with New Tang Dynasty, Lewis vaguely alluded to foreign interference in the 2020 election while warning about potential violence.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"China, Iran, Pakistan </span>— we saw some other outside adversaries that had a part in this — that's my biggest fear is that if they try to do that , if we do come to a point where there's violence in this country, our adversaries will start to come in, and it will be a battleground — the United States," he said. "That's what really worries me the most, because that's when<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> chaos — I was in the Army, I was a Green Beret, so I've been in warzones. I don't want to see that here. I've got a family. I've got kids. I hope we can stop it before it comes to that point. But if we don't, there's a lot of people, they're not gonna go back to sleep, they're not gonna sit down, and they're not gonna allow it to happen."</span></div><div>
</div><div>Lewis' articulated fear in his interview with New Tang Dynasty echoes the central theme of his<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> fiction writing in his 2019 book The Pact II: Battle Hymn of the Republic, described on Amazon.com as following "Rob and the men of ODA 022 from their battles against the invaders (China, Russia, Iran & Hezbollah) in Colorado to joining the resistance to take back the nation."</span></div><div>
</div><div>Meanwhile, Lewis has remained in contact with Flynn.</div><div>
</div><div><b>1st Amendment Praetorian provided security at the QAnon-organized "For God & Country Patriot Roundup" in Dallas on Memorial Day weekend, in which Flynn appeared to endorse a Myanmar-style coup in the United States.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Lewis commemorated the event by tweeting a photo of himself flanked by Flynn and <b>former congressman Allen West holding an "Appeal to Heaven" flag.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">1st Amendment Praetorian is actively recruiting military veterans and former law enforcement on its website.<b> </b></span><b>The site also includes an "Intel" page that cites "corruption as one of the greatest threats to our Republic</b>," while directing visitors to visit the group's Telegram channel and inviting them to "stay tuned if you want to see the dirty underbelly of the current war for our Republic." <b>But the group's Telegram channel mainly reshares content from QAnon accounts (</b>"TheStormHasArrived17" and "They Praying Medic"), one that promote<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">s Invermectin ("The Library"), and Flynn. A recent Telegram post by "The Library," meanwhile, praises<b> Diaz </b>for "doing groundbreaking reporting on Covid, Invermectin, vaccines & more."</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On his personal Twitter account, many of Lewis' posts address the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Reacting to the Kabul Airport bombing on Thursday, Lewis reflected on the advance evacuation from Bagram Airfield, <b>hinting darkly at betrayal by the US military command. </b>If the decision was the result of malfeasance, Lewis tweeted, "get the engineers working on the gallows immediately."</span></div><div>
</div><div>In another tweet in late June, Lewis invoked the idea that an <b>elite force must be willing to deploy<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> "wrath" </span>and "destruction" to "take back" the republic.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Do you really want to take back and keep this Republic?" Lewis tweeted. "Truly? Because the answer is relatively simple…. But it will require Sunday school, turn the other cheek American Christians & Patriots to turn into Old Testament, full wrath of God, destruction of their house and salt the earth beneath them Christians.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>"And it won't take that many of us," he added. "Just the ones who understand & have the temerity to do what needs to be done."</b></div><div>
</div><div> </div><div>Jordan Green covers right-wing extremism for Raw Story. A Kentucky native, he now lives in North Carolina, where he spent 16 years writing for alt-weeklies and freelancing for the Washington Post and other publications.</div><div>Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.</div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avnxn/qanon-militia-of-ex-cops-and-soldiers-is-training-patriots-for-revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avnxn/qanon-militia-of-ex-cops-and-soldiers-is-training-patriots-for-revolution</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div>after 15 hours on his feet protecting the attendees at a QAnon conference in Dallas, Robert Patrick Lewis was tired. </div><div>
</div><div>But then the former Army sergeant, who did two tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, heard disgraced former national security advisor Michael Flynn speak. Flynn, who himself took the QAnon pledge and has become part celebrity and part spiritual leader to the QAnon faithful, called for a military coup in the U.S., and suddenly he felt invigorated.</div><div>
</div><div><b>So he fired up a YouTube livestream and spoke straight to camera: “We need to talk about a revolution.”</b></div><div>
</div><div><b>Lewis is a full-fledged QAnon believer and founder of the 1st Amendment Praetorians,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> named after the elite Roman soldiers who protected the emperor.</span> The group consists of<b> former military, law enforcement, and intelligence personnel </b>whose stated mission is to provide pro bono security for “patriotic and religious events across the country.”</div><div>
</div><div>The group was founded last September and has since acted as security for more than a dozen events, as well as providing security for Flynn himself. The QAnon conference—called “For God & Country: Patriot Roundup”—was a perfect fit.</div><div>
</div><div>The Praetorians are a new paramilitary organization that Lewis says has grown to “hundreds” of members in just nine months, in almost complete secrecy. It is part of a growing network of right-wing extremists groups who are pushing baseless conspiracies about election fraud, and has direct links to violent militias, notably the Oath Keepers. Now Lewis, a QAnon believer, is helping establish a nationwide network of survivalist training camps to prepare patriots for the coming revolution.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In Dallas on Memorial Day weekend, Lewis’ crew of a few dozen P<b>raetorians didn’t have any threats to deal with other than a couple of journalists—including one from VICE News—who were ejected from the event</b>. But the conference helped boost the Praetorians’ profile, and it helped Lewis make some new friends</span>.</div><div>
</div><div>During the event, he posted a picture of himself with Flynn and then-Texas GOP chair Allen West, holding a<b> Pine Tree flag</b>, a Revolutionary War-era emblem that has been appropriated by the far right.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>While Flynn called for a military coup, what Lewis says he wants is not bloodshed but a grassroots revolution.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I feel that we are going through a revolutionary country right now. It doesn't always have to be a kinetic revolution, it doesn't always mean bloodshed in the streets. Revolution can mean a completely different emerging viewpoint for a way of doing or a way of acting, I think that's what we're at,” Lewis told VICE News from his home near Los Angeles this week.</span></div><div>
</div><div>But Lewis’ so-called peaceful revolution is at odds with his rhetoric on social media posts, in online articles, and in interviews on right-wing news stations. His vision of a new American revolution is also infused with conspiratorial thinking and linked to known violent extremists. </div><div>
</div><div><b>In addition to his QAnon activism, Lewis is a COVID-denier who believes that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.</b> He also believes that <b>critical race theory is bogus, and that the mainstream media is in league with the deep state.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> He believes that Antifa is the greatest threat to U.S. democracy and firmly believes they were behind the Capitol riot on January 6. </span> Lewis says he was in D.C. on the day of the Capitol riot, but there’s no evidence he was part of the group that attacked the Capitol.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Most worrying of all is that Lewis and the Praetorians are coordinating resources and information with more violent groups, far-right militias, and extremists</b>. Lewis says he’s been in contact with Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government militia who provide personal security to Roger Stone and whose members have been charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol.</div><div>
</div><div><b>His contact with Rhodes has stopped since Jan. 6, which is when Lewis claims <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“the FBI started to frame the Oath Keepers and they went to ground</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.”</span> While Rhodes has yet to be charged in relation to the Capitol insurrection, he has been named in documents filed by prosecutors, who have charged several other Oath Keepers with conspiring to attack the Capitol.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Lewis says he is in contact with several groups similar to the Oath Keepers, not to coordinate actions but to "share information amongst each other: ‘What are you seeing? Are you seeing what we're seeing ramping up? What are you guys doing?’ It's not coordinating together; it's more like sharing information.”</b></div><div>
</div><div>[News</div><div>The Militia That Allegedly Plotted to Kidnap Gov. Whitmer Had a Massive Stockpile of Weapons</div><div>TESS OWEN</div><div>04.01.21]</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Praetorians also work with a veritable who’s-who of conspiracy theorists, including renowned anti-vaxxer Sheri Tenpenny, who made headlines last week when she claimed COVID-19 vaccines made people magnetic.</span></div><div>
</div><div>And now Lewis is using that network to <b>launch survivalist training for “patriots</b>” across the country, to prepare them for when the revolution finally arrives.</div><div>
</div><div>"The people that came to this continent, and were able to form what became the United States of America had to be extremely resilient,” Lewis said. “They came here with what they had, and then everything else to survive had to be created. I feel like we've lost that in our country. My big worry is that if things ever do get really bad, it will be compounded by the fact that people don't know how to take care of themselves.”</div><div>
</div><div><b>Lewis said that as well as working with sheriffs across the country on this project, </b>he is coordinating with Scott Kesterson, a prominent QAnon promoter and podcaster who stole $12,000 from a cancer charity campaign for his dying friend.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Tenpenny and Lee Merritt, an osteopath who is a member of the conspiracy-driven group<b> America’s Frontline Doctors</b>, are also part of this network, which Lewis said would teach people skills like basic medical training and farming.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Lewis’ conspiracy-infused “revolution” is being echoed by conservative groups across the country, including QAnon and the Republican Party, who are using the lie that last November’s election was fraudulent to rally people to action. </div><div>
</div><div><b>As QAnon conspiracies become subsumed as mainstream talking points by the GOP, right-wing figures have begun to amplify calls for followers to leave their computer screens and get involved by infiltrating school boards, joining local Republican parties, and even running for Congress.</b></div><div>
</div><div>[The FBI’s New QAnon Report Is Scary as Hell</div><div>DAVID GILBERT</div><div>06.14.21]</div><div>
</div><div>“It seems like we are going through a <b>great awakening in this country.” Lewis said, echoing one of QAnon best-known phrases.</b></div><div>
</div><div>After Lewis finished his military service in 2009, he tried his hand at writing, publishing a trilogy of titles called<b> “The Pact,” a fictional account of a joint Chinese-Russian-Hezbollah attack on the U.S.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Over the next decade, he also held a number of corporate roles, including working for UCLA Healthcare, and several marketing roles, including with several veteran-owned companies, according to Lewis’ LinkedIn profile.</div><div>
</div><div>During this time he was not in the public eye, <b>but in 2019 he said he felt compelled to do something after seeing Vietnam veterans attacked for holding Trump signs.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lewis couldn’t provide specifics for the incident, but in June 2020, an 82-year-old veteran was pushed to the ground at a Trump supporters’ rally in Fall River, Massachusetts. He was kicked in the ribs and legs by a man who had ripped the sign from his hands,</span> according to the Herald News, a local newspaper.</div><div>
</div><div>Lewis initially planned to attend Trump rallies and provide additional support to the private security inside the events by focusing on protecting the people outside the rallies who camped out for days ahead of Trump’s arrival.</div><div>
</div><div>Lewis claimed people were being attacked going to and from their vehicles at these events or while they were waiting in line outside, but there are very few reports of incidents like this, and <b>Lewis didn’t provide specifics.</b></div><div>
</div><div>[News</div><div>QAnon Follower Who Tried to Steal Arizona for Trump Is Running For Senate</div><div>DAVID GILBERT</div><div>06.15.21]</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>But as the pandemic hit, and the rallies were cancelled, Lewis pivoted and launched the Praetorians.</b></div><div>
</div><div>In September, he published his first video talking about the Praetorians, describing them as “a group of military, law enforcement and intelligence veterans who refuse to stand on the sidelines and watch as your countrymen and women are intimidated from expressing their First Amendment rights.”</div><div>
</div><div>In the nine months since that video was published, the group has recruited “hundreds” of volunteers to provide security at events, though Lewis would not say what the exact figure is. He also refuses to name any of the individuals who’ve signed up, citing privacy reasons.</div><div>
</div><div>While he’s recruited a number of civilians, Lewis says he wants to focus almost exclusively on people from military, law enforcement, and intelligence backgrounds.</div><div>
</div><div>“Each of these people have kind of an inculcated foundation of professionalism, and we can depend on them to do the right thing if the pressure ratchets up,” Lewis said. The vetting process is rigorous, according to Lewis, and <b>conducted by a group of private investigators—or “digital ninjas,” as Lewis calls them—who he says thoroughly review people’s backgrounds, including their military records, looking for histories of violence and brushes with law enforcement.</b></div><div>
</div><div>“We don't want people in our group that could possibly cause trouble or be prone to violence or anything like that,” Lewis said.</div><div>
</div><div>Lewis says the group is entirely crowdfunded and covers the cost of flights, food, and accommodation for all the volunteers, as well as the purchasing of equipment such as radios, surveillance cameras, and the uniform: black shirts with the white Praetorian logo on them. </div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">The group’s first event, in October 2020, was organized by the Walkaway Campaign, an activist group led by Brandon Straka, a MAGA activist who was once a curtain-raiser at Trump rallies and was arrested for allegedly breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6</span>.</div><div>
</div><div>Including that initial event in Washington, Lewis says they provided support for 15 more events before the end of the year, while the Dallas conference was the group’s first of this year.</div><div>
</div><div>And at pretty much every event<b>, Lewis had one enemy in mind: antifa, whom he sees as the biggest threat to the U.S.—together with the Black Lives Matter movement. </b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lewis has a wild origin story for the anti-facist group. He believes it operated first in Germany before many its way to the U.S. in the last decade, where it has been funded by money from the U.S. government as well as directly from countries like Cuba and China.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lewis believes there’s a “cadre” of powerful people directing the movement, such as prominent 1970s feminist activist Susan Rosenberg, while the front lines of antifa are often populated with “useful idiots,” such as students or the children of wealthy families.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Like many conspiracy theorists—and many within the Republican Party—Lewis is fully convinced that the attack on the Capitol was conducted not by pro-Trump groups but by antifa.</b></div><div>
</div><div>“We saw at the Capitol on January 6 where they were trying to push people to do violence,” before citing a video he claims shows antifa activists “being led by Capitol Police magically to a door where the magnetic locks were unlocked at the right time.”</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Lewis’ entire worldview appears suffused with conspiratorial thinking and he has long expressed support for the QAnon movement, dating back to at least 2018 when he wrote an article called “What is QAnon, Q, and the Great Awakening are Real?” for the Heroes Media Grou</b>p.</div><div>
</div><div>And despite none of Q’s predictions coming true, Lewis’ outlook has not changed. “I think there's more to it, so people are willing to consider,” he said, calling QAnon “profound” and ”enormous.” </div><div>
</div><div>[Over 30 Million Americans Believe in QAnon’s Most Outrageous Conspiracy</div><div>DAVID GILBERT</div><div>05.27.21]</div><div>
</div><div><b>Piling conspiracy on top of conspiracy, Lewis also believes that FBI agents are infiltrating the QAnon movement to spread extreme conspiracies that were not based on Q drops, as part of a plan to discredit the movement—and this, of course, is all being aided by the mainstream </b>media.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lewis believes QAnon could be a U.S. government-funded operation, but he leaves open the possibility that it’s a disinformation campaign being run by a foreign state—though that, too, has a silver lining.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>“If it was a disinformation campaign, it was an abject failure, because you have up to 20% of the population [who have] learned to research on their own and they learned not to believe anything they hear from the media at face value, which is proven very valuable given the large-scale lies we’ve seen from the media.”</b></div><div>
</div><div>TAGGED:</div><div>MILITIA DR. SHERRI TENPENNY PARAMILITARY MICHAEL FLYNN SCOTT KESTERSON DISINFO DISPATCH LEE MERRITT PRAETORIANS ROBERT PATRI</div></div>