It has long been clear that Republican politicians at the federal and state levels, in addition to right-wing media, had been working closely with Trump in order to aid and abet his coup attempt to sabotage and invalidate mail-in votes. When that plan failed, these same Republicans went on to make numerous attempts to invalidate legal electoral votes in order to keep the coup attempt alive.
Following the fallout from the January 6th insurrection which Trump incited, many Republican politicians have pretended to condemn the violence that they spent years helping to incite. As the dust settles and more information comes to light, it becomes more and more clear that this was well-organized with many Trump supporters inside the police, government, mainstream right-wing activist groups, and political donors coordinating to make it come to fruition. This was not Trump's sole doing--this was an inside job.
During the day of the insurrection, the utter failure of Capitol Police and videos of them giving aid and comfort to domestic terrorists was enough to cause great suspicion that this event had been planned to some extent. Combined with the massive National Guard response during BLM protests a few months prior, and the fact that Pence had to circumvent Trump to deploy the National Guard after violence had gone on for hours, something is awfully fishy here.
Not long after, members of Congress said they witnessed people receiving tours of the Capitol on January 5th. The only way they could have gotten into the building was if a member of Congress or their staff allowed them in. Republican Representative Lauren Boebert is one of those Congress members named as giving tours, although there are possibly others. (Boebert also tweeted Pelosi's location minutes after insurrectionists broke into the Capitol, against the orders of the Sergeant-at-Arms.)
Republican Representatives Biggs, Brooks, and Gosar were working with Ali Alexander, an organizer of one of the January 6th rallies. Ali had openly advocated for an insurrection numerous times. Biggs and Gosar sought pardons from Trump for their roles. Despite claiming otherwise, the Trump administration has many other deep ties to numerous right-wing political and activist organizations which helped organize the rallies.
Representative Ayanna Pressley says panic buttons were removed from her office shortly before the insurrection. By design, the only way they could have been removed without triggering suspicion is by someone with an intimate knowledge of the Capitol security system.
Numerous difficult-to-find and unmarked offices were ransacked in the Capitol, leading many politicians to explicitly say the insurrectionists must have had inside help to organize and plan this.
It is perhaps a miracle that Trump and his goons were so incompetent that no member of Congress was injured, despite the Senate chamber still being open when the insurrectionists stormed the building. While not every Republican politician may have had intimate knowledge of the deepest levels of Trump's plan, that doesn't matter.
Giving aid and comfort to domestic enemies of the United States is treason, and punishable by death.
***
Let's look at some of the evidence that has come out so far. This is primarily a collection of news articles and other information; I do not claim this is an exhaustive analysis or contains any original ground-breaking investigative journalism.First, I will remind us that Trump has been organizing a coup in public view for months and has been very very clear about his intentions not to leave office. Detailed coverage of this can be found in the various articles I've published over the last few years. The fact that Capitol Police were unprepared for this is criminal negligence at absolute best.
Table of Contents of this post:
• The ineptitude of Capitol Police.
• The complicity of Capitol Police.
• Ineptitude of the National Guard and the fact that Pence had to circumvent Trump to deploy them.
• Military leadership calling the events "sedition and insurrection" and again reiterating there wouldn't be a successful coup. (Many veterans, including some active duty, were involved in the insurrection. Combined with the suspicious police response, military leadership coming out multiple times over the past months to take a stance on all this suggests there was a lot of volatility behind the scenes).
• Panic buttons removed from Representative Ayanna Pressley's office soon before the insurrection.
• Representative Mikie Sherrill and others witnessed Congress members (including Rep. Lauren Boebert) giving people "reconnaissance" tours of the Capitol on January 5th, the day before the insurrection.
• Many insurrectionists had detailed knowledge of the Capitol building's offices and layout, including unmarked and difficult-to-find offices. (Having a publicly-available map is not insider knowledge, but it indicates insurrectionists planned well in advance. Knowing where many unmarked offices were may very well indicate someone with inside knowledge of the Capitol passed on the information.)
• Members of the government giving aid and comfort to domestic terrorists.
• A list of some of the politicians calling this an inside job.
• Large sums of bitcoin currency were transferred to over a dozen far-right and White Supremacist groups on December 8, 2020, likely in preparation for the insurrection. Apparently the account which transferred the money was based in France, meaning both foreign and domestic enemies plotted this insurrection--i.e. politicians who gave aid and comfort to the insurrection undeniably committed treason.
***
Police Ineptitude.
Whether intentional or not, the police had an utter failure of leadership and execution that day. The vast difference between recent police response against BLM protestors vs Trump-supporters literally planning to overthrow the results of an election, removes the benefit of the doubt that the police forces simply had no plans or preparation in place for potential riots.Police were not deployed in adequate numbers or with adequate equipment. Leadership in the police did not effectively execute commands on January 6th, leading up to and during the insurrection. Police did not deploy reinforcements in a timely manner, even after besieged members of Congress pleaded for it.
"The FBI’s Norfolk office even “issued an explicit internal warning that extremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and ‘war” ’ — information that the then-Capitol police chief says he never received.https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/01/13/historical-roots-security-failure-capitol/
Pentagon officials report that in the days leading up to the siege, the chief repeatedly assured Congress that his officers could handle the expected crowds. They maintain that the Capitol Police did not ask for D.C. guard backup or request to put in place a riot contingency plan. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) even urged lighter security for the pro-Trump rally than she had for last summer’s protests for racial justice. But when 8,000 pro-Trump demonstrators marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, they overran the Capitol Police’s 1,400 officers and entered the Capitol.
When the Capitol Police needed backup, the bureaucratic nightmare began. Since the D.C. Guard does not report to Bowser, she could not authorize soldiers to go to the Capitol. Pentagon officials reportedly initially dismissed calls for reinforcement. (The Pentagon disputes those reports.) Then they claimed confusion over what resources were needed. It took hours to scramble a proper response, despite members of Congress and staff pleading with everyone from presidential aides to the Maryland and Virginia governors for help as some sheltered in secure locations and others hid under furniture."
"Pelosi joined dozens of House members in the safe room where they sheltered after protesters battered the doors of their chamber on Wednesday, and told them she had received a steady stream of calls asking why reinforcements had not been dispatched more quickly.https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-capitol-police-idUSKBN29C2AP
“Why are they not coming now? Almost a constant flow of calls,” Pelosi said. “That is something to review.”"
"In the past two decades, the Capitol Police has grown into one of the largest, best-funded and most single-focus police departments in the country, with a budget of more than $460 million and around 2,000 sworn officers to guard just 2 square miles of the capital. (By comparison, that’s half the size of the entire police force for Washington, D.C.)https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/08/capitol-police-failure-456237
Appalled experts, watching the crisis unfold, asked themselves: Where was the protective intelligence? Where was the quick reaction force? Where were the long guns? Where were the helmets and batons? Where were the tall, secure fences that normally ring the Capitol during high-profile protests? And perhaps most important: Where was the strategy? Word on Thursday evening that the Capitol Police evidently twice turned down offers of reinforcements only deepened the sense of disbelief.
[...]
Already on Thursday, heads were beginning to roll; the Capitol Police report ultimately to the heads of the House and Senate, through their respective sergeants-at-arms, and both the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms resigned Thursday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also called for the resignation of the Capitol Police chief, Steven Sund, a veteran of the D.C. police appointed to the Capitol force last year.
Sund, for his part, initially issued a statement defending his department, but appeared to know the trouble he was in: Pelosi said he never reached out to her, even more than 24 hours after yesterday’s sacking of the Capitol and her office. By dinnertime Thursday, he’d turned in a letter of resignation, too.
[...]
Today, the Capitol Police boasts advanced resources equal to the largest and best police departments in the country, including a bomb squad, intelligence unit, hazmat units and specialized dignitary protection agents, as well as crowd control and riot gear and access to an arsenal of weapons that would impress many small armies. Its officers are well-wired with other local and regional police departments and participate in FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces. Plus it has the entire federal government and numerous local and regional D.C. police departments to call upon for help when needed."
"For weeks, President Trump and his supporters had been publicly voicing plans for a “wild” protest in Washington on January 6. And ahead of Wednesday, Capitol Police had told members of Congress that they had a plan for enhanced security. In late December, Capitol Police spokesperson Eva Malecki told Roll Call that the department “has comprehensive security plans in place and we continuously monitor and assess new and emerging threats.”https://www.vox.com/22218446/capitol-police-mob-trump-storming-washington-dc
[...]
The failures started long before Wednesday
Far from a surprise, the insurrection on Wednesday had been in the works for a long time, with support from the president himself. On December 19, he tweeted, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” His supporters took the name Wild Protest, as ProPublica reports, and began publicly planning an occupation. “We came up with the idea to occupy just outside the CAPITOL on Jan 6th,” movement leaders wrote on December 23.
Meanwhile, DC officials had begun tracking incoming bus reservations in the days leading up to Wednesday and realized “this could be a stadium-sized crowd,” one official told the Washington Post. On Monday, Mayor Muriel Bowser began warning DC residents to stay away from downtown, the Post reported.
But despite clear warning signs from Trump and his supporters — and the fact that city officials were on high alert — Capitol Police did not prepare for the size or violence of the crowd.
[...]
Police set up only low barriers around the perimeter of the building and were wearing ordinary uniforms instead of riot gear, the Post noted. As many pointed out, this was in stark contrast to the law enforcement response to Black Lives Matter protests this summer, when members of the National Guard formed an intimidating phalanx outside the Lincoln Memorial, clad in military-style gear.
“Being candid, I think if there were Black people out there, I think there would’ve been a different response in what they did,” Ryan told reporters Thursday.
[...]
And even after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, making abundantly clear the seriousness of the moment, police appeared to let many of them simply leave of their own accord rather than making arrests. That’s in part because there simply weren’t enough personnel on hand to both ensure the safety of members of Congress and make arrests, officials told the Post. Around 52 people had been arrested as of Thursday morning, out of a crowd of thousands that gathered around the Capitol. (The exact number of rioters who entered the Capitol is unclear.)
By contrast, more than 150 people were arrested by Capitol Police after demonstrations against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in October 2018. And last summer, more than 400 people were arrested over the course of a few days in connection with protests against police violence."
"Two of the officers who spoke to BuzzFeed News said it wouldn’t surprise them if lawmakers had been involved. “There are definitely some members who need to be held to account once an investigation shows the totality of circumstances,” one said, in a sign of how betrayed some officers feel in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol.https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emmanuelfelton/capitol-police-angry-congress-members-ignore-metal-detectors
[...]
The three officers, who spoke with BuzzFeed News on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, lay ultimate blame for what happened on Jan. 6 at the feet of their managers, who they said appeared utterly blindsided by the attack, despite weeks of open planning by the conspirators online. All three officers said their managers put them in an impossible situation on that day.
“I’m raging. I was involved in the fray and thankfully I wasn’t too severely injured, but I have a coworker who was hit in the back with a pipe, he’s been out since Wednesday,” the third officer said. “I have another coworker that was knocked out cold. We just had an officer commit suicide, and [Officer Brian] Sicknick died. All of this stuff happened and if [management] would have taken appropriate actions, I think that it would have mitigated the situation exponentially.”
The veteran officer said they were so outnumbered and unprepared that at times he had to stand by helpless as colleagues were viciously attacked. “We came to this door and they were like five or six officers on the other side,” they said. “And it was very heart-wrenching for me because there was nothing that we could do for them. There were literally hundreds, thousands of people on the other side of this door and [the officers are] literally [pinned] against the wall, but we can’t open the door because if we opened the door, they’re going to get crushed and these people are going to pretty much take over.”
All three officers say that few provisions were made ahead of last Wednesday’s insurrection to prevent officers from being completely overrun. Usually, on a day when police leaders are expecting a big protest or riot, they’d organize a roll call, where they’d inform officers of the perceived threats and give them information about what to expect. The three officers said no such meeting occurred on Wednesday morning. Each of the officers separately pointed out that management didn’t even take “simple measures” ahead of the attack like building a temporary barrier around the Capitol ahead of time.
[...]
“At 3 in the morning, when we finally got a chance to leave after the demonstration, they had the people coming in to put up those 8 feet barriers that they have now,” one officer said. “Twelve to 14 hours later, they have most of this thing up — it took them 12 hours to get that shit up. And you couldn’t have done it beforehand from all the warnings that these people told them. They knew the group was coming. They knew the group was coming.”
[...]
“The people above, I have no respect for them,” they said. “I personally didn’t hear any radio calls from any [senior officials]. I mean, nothing.” Chief Steven Sund, the officers say, was not heard on the radio once that day.
With approximately 2,000 employees and a $515 million budget, the agency, the officers say, had tools at its disposal to prevent the attack on the Capitol — the money, the intelligence suggesting Trump’s supporters could get violent, and a chief with extensive expertise in policing protests and large events. Sund, who has since resigned, was previously a commander of the Washington, DC, Police Department’s Special Operations Division. Among his responsibilities was overseeing “civil disturbance units,” specialized units that respond to mass protests. As a commander, he also served as a lead planner for the 2009 and 2013 presidential inaugurations.
[...]
“We have a whole intel section,” one officer said. “There were plenty of indicators that this was going to be way more than the routine … this is a situation our intelligence apparatus either dropped the ball or [management] just said they didn’t care.”
Two of the officers, both of them Black, specifically compared last Wednesday’s attack with how management handled the Black Lives Matter protests this summer, and said that the contrast is stark.
“This summer, when we had the BLM protest, it was all hands on deck,” one officer said. “I mean we had an abundance of bodies and support … the amount of people that they had available was astounding. They were pretty much working us to the ground … on [Wednesday], there was none of that.”
[...]
“I think letting them resign is letting them off easy,” said the veteran who has been with the department for nearly 20 years. “A lot of people got hurt that didn’t have to be hurt. Simple measures could have been put in place to mitigate this.”"
***
Police Complicity.
On the day of the insurrection, there were many photos and videos of police simply moving away from barriers with minimal resistance, essentially allowing the insurrectionists to move forward. There was also a video of an officer posing for a selfie with an insurrectionist. Another video showed an officer politely holding the hand of a terrorist as they walked out of the building down the Capitol stairs.Some police did their duty that day, certainly. One heroically killed a terrorist, another gave his life, yet another managed to lead the insurrectionists away from the open Senate chamber door. Many other officers were seriously wounded in the attack. The officer who was seen in a video being crushed in a doorway proudly said, "It was absolutely my pleasure to crush a white nationalist insurrection."
At the time the following articles were written, two officers had been suspended and investigations had been opened into around a dozen. Notably, the officer who took selfies with terrorists has been suspended. They need to be in prison or executed for giving aid and comfort to terrorists.
Video of the selfie officer:
https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1346920198461419520
"Several U.S. Capitol Police officers have been suspended and more than a dozen others are under investigation for suspected involvement with or inappropriate support for the demonstration last week that turned into a deadly riot at the Capitol, according to members of Congress, police officials and staff members briefed on the developments.
Eight separate investigations have been launched into the actions of Capitol officers, according to one congressional aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the status of the internal review.
In one of the cases, officers had posted what Capitol Police investigators found to be messages showing support for the rally on Wednesday that preceded the attack on the complex, including touting President Trump’s baseless contention that the election had been stolen through voter fraud, the aide said.
[...]
On Monday, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), whose committee has financial oversight of the Capitol Police, told reporters in a video conference call that one of those suspended was captured in images of the riot that went viral online. The photo appears to show a Capitol officer allowing or even posing for a rioter to take a picture with the officer.
[...]
The other officer who was suspended was seen outside the complex wearing a red Make America Great Again baseball cap at the time rioters were surrounding the Capitol, Ryan said.
One video taken during the mayhem appears to show an officer wearing a MAGA cap leading a line of men in black helmets and body armor as they leave the Capitol to a crowd of applauding rioters. It is unclear whether other men behind him are officers or rioters.
[...]
The Secret Service indicated Monday that it was investigating an officer who posted comments on Facebook in which she accused lawmakers who formalized Biden’s win of treason and echoed Trump’s conspiracy theories about the rigging of the election.
According to images provided to The Post, the officer posted a meme on Facebook of Trump shaking hands with himself in the Oval Office, titled “Here’s to the Peaceful Transition of Power.” The day after the attack on the Capitol, a comment posted in the officer’s name ridiculed efforts to remove Trump from office and accused lawmakers who were formally accepting the electoral college vote of “committing treason on live tv.”
It read in part: “Good morning patriots! Yesterday started out beautiful and as usual Antifa soured the mood and attacked police and an Air Force veteran was murdered….It’s OFFENSE time finally!!”
In response to a request for comment about the officer’s posts, an agency spokeswoman said: “The U.S. Secret Service carries out its law enforcement mission in an objective and apolitical manner. Any allegation that an employee is not carrying out their duties in that manner will be investigated. As this is a personnel matter, the agency will not be commenting.”
Across the United States, police officers and at least one police chief are facing termination, suspension or other discipline for their proximity to or alleged involvement in the chaotic gathering in Washington.
[...]
A Capitol officer who was present during the attack said the rank-and-file of the department feel demoralized and betrayed by leadership.
[...]
“People said openly they were going to storm the Capitol, and [the officials] acted like it was nothing,” the officer said.
The officer also said he disagreed with the agency’s decision to suspend the officer who donned the cap, saying rioters put the hat on the officer and he kept it on to persuade several Trump supporters to help him extract officers who had been overwhelmed at the eastern front of the Capitol."
"Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) specifically raised the question of possible collusion among some Capitol Police officers, according to several people listening.
In an interview airing Sunday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said she believes some Capitol Police officers aided the rioters and may have helped steer them once inside the building, calling it “one of the most troubling things” about the assault.
“I am very sad to say that I believe that there were people within the Capitol police and within the Capitol building that were part of helping these insurrectionists to really have a very well-coordinated plan for when they were going to come, how they were going to come,” Jayapal said on Gray TV’s “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren.”
Pressed further on whether some Capitol Police officers were not just looking the other way but actually involved, Jayapal said, “It appears that way, both from what happened, how coordinated it was, how easy it was.
[...]
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) chair of the House committee that oversees Capitol security matters, similarly noted that at least some officers may have “taken selfies with these seditionists or even let them in.”
[...]
Democrats are already enraged at the leadership of the Capitol Police for their handling of the security situation. Lofgren said Thursday that the USCP’s chief, Steven Sund, misled her about the resources it had available to protect lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence, who was in the Capitol for the ceremony to count Electoral College votes. Sund resigned from his post Thursday.
Lofgren said she had pressed Sund about the National Guard’s readiness for possible protests and he assured her they were activated should they be needed.
“What they told me about the National Guard was just not true. The Guard was not even activated,” she said."
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/08/congress-democrats-capitol-riot-inside-job-456725
Terrorists asked a police officer to lead them to Senator Schumer's office. Even if the officer was intentionally giving them incorrect directions, he was giving aid and comfort to these terrorists by making them think the police were supportive of the insurrection. There is only one proper way to deal with terrorists. Was the officer unarmed, ffs?
"Some of those who had also surged forward in the crowd seemed to show a bewildered wonder at what they were seeing in front of them. A few remarked on the opulence of the Capitol building and offices, a quality that seemed to confirm their suspicions about the corruption of Washington.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/us/names-of-rioters-capitol.html
[...]
Aaron, the construction worker from Indianapolis, and his two friends had heard people talking about going to Ms. Pelosi’s office. So once inside they decided to instead find Senator Chuck Schumer’s office. Both are Democrats.
“We wanted to have a few words” with Mr. Schumer, he said. “He’s probably the most corrupt guy up here. You don’t hear too much about him. But he’s slimy. You can just see it.”
But they could not find Mr. Schumer’s office. He said they asked a Capitol Police officer, who tried to direct them. But they appeared to have gotten nowhere near the minority’s leader’s office."
Police opening barriers or, at best, falling back without offering resistance:
Video by Marcus DiPaola. In an interview, DiPaola says a rioter was about to punch an officer and then officers just gave up and walked away, since they were becoming surrounded. One officer has his hand casually on the gate while rioters move it aside. Then police just slowly walk toward the Capitol--not even jogging in order to outpace the rioters. So, perhaps police did not intentionally orchestrate the breaching of this barrier, but their absolute negligence and failure to do their duty makes them complicit.
https://www.tiktok.com/@marcus.dipaola/video/6914723446496840965
https://twitter.com/justinjm1/status/1347174957613199360
Officers guarding a door leading to the House chamber simply move away from the door, allowing terrorist Ashli Babbitt and others to begin breaking down the door. An officer inside the House chamber heroically shot her before she managed to break through the window. Seconds after she was shot, half a dozen heavily-armed police walk up the stairwell and secure the scene. Given the response time, they must have already been right there. Why the fuck weren't they doing anything to stop these terrorists?
Video of this scene:
https://twitter.com/BillPascrell/status/1347653772940632065
Officer holding a terrorist's hand as they walk down the Capitol steps. Would a BLM protestor have received the same treatment?
https://twitter.com/gifdsports/status/1346944195601248259
Reporter Adrian Morrow:
"I spoke with Jake Angeli, the QAnon guy who got inside the Senate chamber. He said police eventually gave up trying to stop him and other Trump supporters, and let them in. After a while, he said police politely asked him to leave and let him go without arrest"https://twitter.com/AdrianMorrow/status/1346941412479176704
CNN interviewed an insurrectionist, live at 4:51 PM eastern time on January 6th:
"Cops are very cool, they're like 'hey guys have a good night'. Well some of them. It's just crazy. It's really weird, you can see that some of them are on our side."https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/biden-says-he-was-pleased-to-learn-trump-will-skip-his-inauguration/ar-BB1cAJng
"Although Twitter and Facebook have been cracking down on some far-right users, extremists have found other ways to communicate — including the smartphone app Zello, which according to the Guardian, was useful to some far-right militia members during the siege of the U.S. Capitol Building last week.https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/capitol-insurrection/
[...]
It was also on Zello that a female voice, the day of the Capitol invasion, was heard saying, "We have a good group: 30 to 40 of us. We're sticking together and sticking to the plan. The police are doing nothing. They're not even trying to stop us.""
Riot police just walking down the steps of the Capitol, leaving it undefended, while insurrectionists around them cheer.
The video was posted on the far-right social media site Parler. The video caption (added by the reuploader) says they are leaving from the main entrance on the east side of the Capitol. The filmer says "We have the building. ...They're withdrawing, there's nobody else inside. We just extracted and this is the cops. The building's yours."
https://vimeo.com/500717698Cop in the Senate politely asks terrorists to leave, if they felt like it. If not, no big deal.
"Mogelson’s video begins amid the crowd as the MAGA mob storms the building, appearing to overwhelm Capitol police officers.https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-cruz-would-want-us-to-do-this-capitol-rioter-tells-maga-mob-pals-in-video-from-senate-floor
“Fuck you, police!” screams one.
They enter the building, where one rioter tells several Capitol cops trying to hold them back, “You’re outnumbered, there’s a fucking million of us out there. And we are listening to Trump, your boss.”
“Treason, treason, treason!” a group chants as they climb a grand interior staircase.
“Where’s fucking Nancy Pelosi?” someone yells. “Where the fuck is Nancy?”
“You afraid of Antifa? Well, guess what? America showed up!” shouts another.
Back on the Senate floor, a Capitol police officer politely asks, “Any chance I could get you guys to leave the Senate wing?” as fur-clad rioter Jacob Chansley, known to fellow travelers as the “Q Shaman,” makes himself at home at a desk reserved for Vice President Mike Pence, president of the upper legislative chamber.
“We will, I been making sure they ain’t disrespecting the place,” replies an off-camera voice with a thick southern accent, amidst the ongoing defilement of the Senate floor.
“Okay, I just wanna let you guys know, this is like the sacredest place,” the Capitol cop pleads.
“I know, I’m gonna take a sit in this chair, ’cause Mike Pence is a fucking traitor,” Chansley replies.
He then asks a rioter in a MAGA hat to take a picture of him in Pence’s seat as the cop stands by, helplessly.
“You should be stopping us,” one of them says to the officer.
“One, two, three, four, five,” the cop responds, pointing to the five rioters standing before him, then points to himself. “One.”"
(I bet the cop had more than 5 bullets and wouldn't have had second thoughts about using them if BLM protestors broke into the "most sacred place" of the Capitol).
A TRUMP SUPPORTER walks up to riot police just standing around on the sidelines and berates them for doing nothing.
"Why are you letting this happen? Why haven't you called for backup? Where is your backup? This is our damn Capitol building and ya'll are letting it get destroyed on your watch! Fuck all of you. Call for backup. Get some help down here. And if they don't want to give you fucking backup they obviously don't give a shit about you. These people want blood."https://old.reddit.com/r/worldnewsvideo/comments/l08xkr/the_surreal_moment_that_a_trump_supporter_begs/
Police on the night shift were expecting to pull an extra shift on the day of the insurrection, but were simply sent home. A police officer who talked to a journalist said he had no idea why officers were simply opening barriers in some videos.
"A US Capitol Police officer blamed department leadership for leaving the force understaffed last week for the pro-Trump protest that resulted in rioters storming the Capitol building and wreaking havoc.https://www.businessinsider.com/capitol-police-officer-says-cops-sent-home-ahead-of-march-2021-1
The officer asked to remain anonymous, citing department policy not to talk to the media without permission.
He said he was working the night shift last week and found it "puzzling" that he and his colleagues were sent home earlier than expected on Wednesday. He also said nobody asked him to come back after the attack.
Insider contacted the Capitol Police for comment twice but had not received a response by Monday, two days after the first request.
The officer said everybody in the department knew in advance about the pro-Trump march and thought it would be an all-hands-on-deck situation.
The officer packed a backpack full of protein bars and coffee, expecting to work into the afternoon after his regular shift ended at 7 a.m.
But instead, he said, top brass sent his shift home at 10 a.m.
[...]
The officer said he checked his phone, expecting to find a bunch of missed calls asking him to come into work, but was shocked to find none at all.
"They didn't even try to recall us," he said.
[...]
"I worked the George Floyd protests over the summer, and that was an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation. We were all up for that. They didn't send anyone home for that," the officer said.
"Why wasn't this taken as seriously as they took the potential of violence from the George Floyd protests? Because they took that pretty f---ing seriously," he said.
[...]
The officer also addressed two videos that appeared to show some officers opening barricades and ushering people into the Capitol complex and one officer taking selfies with some Trump supporters.
[...]
He also said he had "no idea" why some officers were caught on video opening gates and waving people through.
"Maybe there's a tactical reason for that," he said. "I don't know of any officer that would willingly just stand aside and let these guys through. If they did it, it's because they were either ordered to or forced to.""
***
Failure of the National Guard.
State governors typically command their respective states' National Guard forces, although they must get approval from federal military leadership in the Pentagon to deploy them. However, since Washington, D.C. is not a state, the President commands the DC National Guard. The President exercises command of the National Guard through the Secretary of Defense (who, after the President, is 2nd-in-command of all military forces).Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was fired on November 9, 2020 and replaced with "Acting" Secretary Christopher Miller. As Trump has frequently done, he has illegally placed an "Acting" head of an agency in order to bypass the legal line of succession. In order to legally occupy such a position, the individual must be confirmed by the Senate. Legally, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist should have become Acting Secretary of Defense, but Trump has appointed a goon instead.
During the early days of the George Floyd protests, Trump wanted a massive military response to "dominate" the protestors. Esper had some disagreements and tried to de-escalate Trump's bloodlust, leading to his termination. Note the massive difference between how Trump wanted to respond to left-wing protestors compared to how he intentionally delayed the National Guard in order to carry out his coup attempt. Back during the BLM protests, Trump gleefully wanted to invoke the Insurrection Act so he could mow down protestors. Now he's incited a literal insurrection on our government and he and his party keep fanning the flames.
"According to multiple reports, on June 1, 2020, amid nationwide civil unrest arising from the killing of George Floyd by police, Trump at one point demanded the deployment of 10,000 active-duty troops to the streets of Washington and other U.S. cities in a heated meeting in the Oval Office with Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who opposed this request.[65][66][67]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Esper#George_Floyd_protests_and_Insurrection_Act
[...]
On June 1, Esper walked alongside Trump to a photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church outside the White House; just prior, police in riot gear and mounted police cleared protestors who had been throwing bricks and other projectiles[72] from Lafayette Square, using smoke and flash grenades and a chemical irritant spray, clearing a path for Trump, Esper and several other Trump administration officials.[73] Esper's participation in the photo op was criticized by a number of retired senior military officers.[74]
Two days later, at a Pentagon press conference, Esper said, regarding the Lafayette Park photo op, that, "Well, I did know that we were going to the church. I was not aware of a photo op was happening," adding, "And look, I do everything I can to try to stay apolitical and try and stay out of situations that may appear political. And sometimes I’m successful at doing that, and sometimes I’m not as successful, but my aim is to keep the department out of politics to stay apolitical."[75]
Esper broke with Trump by publicly opposing invocation of the Insurrection Act of 1807 and the deployment of active-duty troops in American cities, saying that "the National Guard is best suited for performing domestic support to civil authorities ... I say this not only as Secretary of Defense, but also as a former soldier, and a former member of the National Guard. The option to use active duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort, and only in the most urgent and dire of situations. We are not in one of those situations now. I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act."[76] Esper took steps in the following days to further de-escalate the situation, removing weapons and ammunition from the National Guard, and returning troops to their home bases without notifying the White House. Trump reportedly considered firing Esper over the situation.[77]
On June 6, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) invited Esper and Milley to testify before the committee regarding the events of June 1; they declined."
**
Immediately, Miller's illegal appointment and Trump's promotion of numerous cronies in the Defense Department met with concerns.November 10, 2020:
"President Trump’s decision to fire Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday raised concerns that he may be planning far-reaching military moves in his final weeks in office — and is putting in place new leadership more inclined to go along.https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/esper-s-firing-raises-concerns-about-trump-s-plans-for-the-pentagon-in-final-weeks/ar-BB1aQYjs
[...]
The White House long has hinted that Trump was likely to fire several top national security aides after the election. In addition to Esper, he is said to be angry at FBI Director Christopher A. Wray for not investigating his political enemies and at CIA Director Gina Haspel for delaying release of classified documents about the 2016 campaign.
[...]
“The abrupt firing of Secretary Esper is disturbing evidence that President Trump is intent on using his final days in office to sow chaos in our American democracy and around the world," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).
[...]
“Firing the Secretary of Defense in the waning weeks of the administration undermines national security at a critical moment,” said Sen. Jack Reed, (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a retired Army officer.
[...]
“Who’s going to come in behind me?” Esper told Military Times, which covers the armed forces. “It’s going to be a real ‘Yes man.’ And then God help us.”"
November 10, 2020:
"Several loyalists to President Donald Trump were promoted to top roles in the Defense Department on Tuesday after officials resigned following the unceremonious ouster of Defense Secretary Mark Esper.https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-loyalists-given-top-pentagon-roles-after-several-officials-resign-n1247346
[...]
Retired Army Gen. Anthony Tata, a frequent Fox News guest, will replace Anderson. Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who works in the Defense Department and was an aide to the disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, will replace Kernan. Kash Patel, a former National Security Council official and former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., who worked on the contentious House investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, will replace Stewart."
November 29, 2020:
"Retired Navy Admiral Michael Mullen—who was appointed as chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by former President George W. Bush—said he is "very concerned" about things "Trump loyalists" in the Pentagon could do during the transition from President Donald Trump to President-elect Joe Biden.
[...]
"I think I'm actually very concerned about the Trump loyalists who have now gone to work in the Pentagon," Mullen warned during an interview with NBC News' Meet the Press. "I mean, recently, Secretary [of Defense Mark] Esper was fired, and a host of other people left the building. And there are some real Trump loyalists there now in charge and it's pretty difficult to think that over the course of 50 or 60 days you can do something constructive, but you can do something that's really destructive,"
Mullen specifically pointed to possible Trump administration actions toward Iran. "I would be concerned that those issues continue to be raised," he said.
[...]
Prior to the GSA allowing Biden's transition to formally move forward, a group of more than 100 national security experts who had served in Republican administrations or in Congress warned about the risks of not having a smooth transition in an open letter.
"President Trump's continued efforts to cast doubt on the validity of the election and to interfere in state electoral processes undermine our democracy and risk long-term damage to our institutions," they wrote."
December 22, 2020:
"It's like a low murmur just below the surface. "We don't know what he might do," says one officer in the Pentagon. "We are in strange times," says another officer. Some senior military officers are trying to steer clear of the White House for the next month, rather than be in the President Donald Trump's orbit.https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/22/politics/pentagon-anxiety-trump-final-days/index.html
With just some 30 days to go before the US military watches its current commander in chief leave office, there is growing anxiety in the ranks about what Trump might do in these remaining days. Will the President order some unexpected military action, such as a strike on Iran, or will he somehow draw the military into his efforts to overthrow the election results?"
**
On December 18th 2020, Miller ordered the Pentagon to stop giving intelligence briefings to Joe Biden, in order to disrupt the transition process. With the events that have now transpired, the briefings may very well have been stopped to prevent the Biden team from learning about the full extent of the coup preparations. Biden did not receive briefings again until January 1st.
Excerpt from the Wikipedia article on the insurrection. (Note that Mayor Bowser controls neither the DC National Guard nor the Capitol Police, only the DC Metropolitan Police Department. Trump cronies are already trying to deflect blame to her, when in reality the National Guard and Capitol Police had no obligation to uphold her suggestions, and they both should have had a much more prepared response based on their own intelligence.)
"Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser requested on December 31, 2020, that District of Columbia National Guard troops be deployed to support local police during the anticipated demonstrations. In her request, she wrote that the guards would not be armed and that they would be primarily responsible for "crowd management" and traffic direction, allowing police to focus on security concerns. Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller approved the request on January 4, 2021. The approval activated 340 troops, with no more than 114 to be deployed at any given time.[123] Three days before the riots, the Department of Defense twice offered to deploy the National Guard to the Capitol, but were told by the United States Capitol Police that it would not be necessary.[124]
[...]
Capitol Police chief Steven Sund said after the event that he had repeatedly requested National Guard assistance, but that House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D. Irving and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael C. Stenger were reluctant to do so.[126]
[...]
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund joined a conference call with D.C. government and Pentagon officials at 2:26 p.m. where he "[made] an urgent, urgent immediate request for National Guard assistance", telling them he needed "boots on the ground". However, Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt said he could not recommend that Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy approve the request, telling Sund and others "I don't like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background".[33]
[...]
Armed DHS agents were on standby near the Capitol in case of unrest, but were not deployed until after the violence had subsided.[255]
Pentagon officials reportedly restricted D.C. guard troops from being deployed except as a measure of last resort, and from receiving ammunition and riot gear; troops were also instructed to engage with protesters only in situations warranting self-defense and could not share equipment with local police or use surveillance equipment without prior approval from Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller.[256][257] McCarthy and Miller decided to deploy the entire 1,100-strong force of D.C. National Guard to quell violence.[258][259] About 3:04 p.m., Miller spoke with Pence, Pelosi, McConnell and Schumer, and directed the National Guard and other "additional support" to respond to the riot.[260][258][261] The order to send in the National Guard, which Trump initially resisted, was approved by Pence.[258][262] This bypassing of the chain of command has not been explained.[263]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol#Police_preparations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol#Law_enforcement_response
**
It has been reported that Vice President Pence had to sidestep Trump and be the one to give the order for the DC National Guard to deploy. Worse, apparently Trump was watching things live on TV and was "delighted" with how the chaos was unfolding."Vice President Mike Pence, not President Donald Trump, helped facilitate the decision to mobilize members of the DC National Guard Wednesday when violence at the US Capitol building started to escalate, according to a source familiar with the move and public comments from top officials.https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/politics/pence-national-guard/index.html
Trump, who has proven over the past year to be eager to deploy the National Guard when violence breaks out, initially resisted doing so on Capitol Hill Wednesday as a mob of his supporters breached the building, per a source familiar. Pence played a key role in coordinating with the Pentagon about deploying them, and urged them to move faster than they were.
[...]
Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sidestepped questions Wednesday night about whether Pence, not Trump, directed the DC National Guard to be activated but suggested the vice president ultimately approved the decision.
Asked by Fox News about reporting that Pence, not the President, approved the activation, McCarthy demurred, but ultimately said: "I know the vice president has been in constant contact with us and also along with security inside the Capitol, I communicated with the vice president early on. It was in regards to getting the National Guard there. He said he will call right now."
[...]
Miller also confirmed that he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, spoke with Pence, not Trump, on Wednesday afternoon. He also said he was in contact with top congressional lawmakers.
"Chairman Milley and I just spoke separately with the Vice President and with Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Senator Schumer and Representative Hoyer about the situation at the U.S. Capitol. We have fully activated the D.C. National Guard to assist federal and local law enforcement as they work to peacefully address the situation," he said in a statement.
[...]
As CNN reported previously, the initial agreement for the deployment agreed on Monday -- which was under Pentagon control for this mission -- to support local law enforcement limited their involvement to helping local law enforcement at traffic control points and in the subway.
Under that agreement, National Guard forces did not have orders to provide protection to federal facilities. Top military commanders, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were determined to keep active duty military out of that effort and limit the role of the national guard, several defense officials say.
The Pentagon's long-standing focus has been to show that civil law enforcement and state activated national guard are sufficient to control civil unrest."
"President Trump initially rebuffed and resisted requests to mobilize the National Guard to quell violent protests at the Capitol, according to a person with knowledge of the events.https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/washington-dc-protests/trump-rebuffed-initial-requests-to-deploy-the-national-guard-to-the-capitol-pence-gave-the-go-ahead
In the end, it was Vice President Mike Pence, defense and administration officials said, who approved the order to deploy. It was unclear why Mr. Trump, who is still technically the commander in chief, did not give the order. The mobilization was initiated with the help of Pat A. Cipollone, the White House counsel, among other officials, according to the person with knowledge of the events."
"Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Friday that he heard from senior White House officials that President Trump was "delighted" to hear that his supporters were breaking into the Capitol building in a riot Wednesday that turned deadly.https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/533403-sasse-says-trump-was-delighted-and-excited-by-reports-of-capitol-riot
“As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building,” Sasse told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt in an interview. “That was happening. He was delighted.”"
**
Since the Capitol Police and DC National Guard experienced an utter failure of leadership, members of Congress called and pleaded with the Governors of Maryland and Virginia to send in their National Guardsmen. The Capitol was overrun by 2:14 PM eastern time, but Miller did not allow non-DC Guard troops to arrive until 4:41 PM."During the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Miller refused to provide approval for assistance by non-D.C. National Guard until 4:41 PM EST, three hours after Capitol Police signaled that they were being overrun and two hours after D.C. officials had asked for such assistance.[9]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_C._Miller
"The Pentagon denied multiple requests to send National Guard during Capitol siege, GOP governor says.https://www.salon.com/2021/01/08/the-pentagon-denied-multiple-requests-to-send-national-guard-during-capitol-siege-gop-governor-says/
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said federal officials repeatedly denied his requests to deploy the state's National Guard to quell the deadly Capitol riot on Wednesday as members of Congress pleaded for assistance.
Hogan told reporters on Thursday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called him from an "undisclosed bunker" and were "pleading" for assistance as Congress was overrun by Trump supporters after the president urged them to go to the Capitol during a speech falsely claiming the election was stolen.
"[Hoyer] said that the U.S. Capitol Police was overwhelmed, that there was no federal law enforcement presence and that the leaders of Congress were pleading with me, as the Governor of Maryland, for assistance from Maryland's National Guard and State Police," he said.
Hogan said he mobilized 200 "specially trained" state troopers and "immediately" offered support but the Defense Department "repeatedly denied" approval for him to send in the state's National Guard. The Republican governor said that after an hour and a half he received a call "out of the blue, not from the secretary of defense, not through what would be normal channels," but from Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, who said the guardsmen could "come as soon as possible."
"I was ready, willing and able to immediately deploy [National Guard] to the Capitol, however we were repeatedly denied approval to do so," he said.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, called up the National Guard after he received calls from Pelosi and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser asking for help. A spokeswoman for Northam told The Washington Post that the governor called up the National Guard immediately and worked with the Defense Department "only after the fact," though the administration was "able to reach the necessary agreements before guardsmen crossed state lines."
While governors control the National Guard, they have to receive approval from the Pentagon to deploy.
[...]
the White House did not announce that additional troops were activated until after 3:30 pm and a Pentagon spokesman did not make the same announcement until 3:52 pm. Those troops had to travel to an armory to gear up and load vehicles and arrived shortly before 6 pm, according to the Defense Department."
"There must be an investigation into why National Guard troops were not mobilized to the Capitol earlier to stop the insurrectionists from storming the building and disrupting the 2020 presidential election certification process, a former Trump Cabinet member, who asked not to be named, told Military Times on Wednesday.https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/07/this-is-why-the-national-guard-didnt-respond-to-the-attack-on-the-capitol/
[...]
“It makes absolutely no sense that they were not there ahead of time,” the former Trump Cabinet member said. “This was not an intelligence failure. The president invited these folks to Washington. He met with them and incited them. Everyone knew they were coming for a significant period of time.”
The investigation should include questions about why there were two different responses between Wednesday’s reaction by Guard and law enforcement agencies and what took place in June.
“Look what happened last spring,” said the former Trump Cabinet member. “The president activated the National Guard and strolled to church with a Bible in his hand. The Black Lives Matter folks were not doing anything comparable to what the Trump supporters were doing yesterday. They had a huge show of force then ― why not Wednesday?”
The former Trump cabinet member also questioned whether Trump’s appointment of Miller, and others who support him, to positions at the Pentagon was designed with this response in mind.
“It wasn’t just for Afghanistan,” the former Cabinet member said, adding that Army Gen. Scott Miller, who commands U.S. forces in Afghanistan, was on board with the projected reduction in troops there, suggested so that Trump would not order a complete withdrawal. “Why was Miller put in, if not for nefarious reasons?”
As for suggestions by some that the rioters in the Capitol were actually Antifa members in disguise, the former Trump cabinet member was blunt.
“This is absolute bullshit, Totally, completely wrong,” the former Cabinet member said. “The president invites them to come to Washington, speaks to them in front of the White House and incites them to march to the Hill. And crazy Rudy Giuliani says they should do this by combat. And now they are saying it is other people? That’s crazy.”"
**
Another strange development in the National Guard saga:
Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, brother of retried Lt. Gen Michael Flynn (who plead guilty to committing crimes and also encouraged Trump to impose martial law to overthrow the election a week after Trump pardoned him), was in the room when the phone calls were being made to mobilize the National Guard.
The military lied about his presence and allegedly he had no role in the decision of whether or not to deploy them. Still, it is not a good look for the brother of a former General who advocated a military coup to have any involvement in this process.
To add emphasis here, Trump actually considered General Michael Flynn's plan to overthrow the government with a military coup. Yet his brother is not temporarily reassigned or otherwise distanced from this matter????? Wtf?
"The Army is now acknowledging that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was in the room for one of the key January 6 phone calls in which DC government and US Capitol Police were asking for National Guard troops to quell the unfolding violence at the US Capitol.https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/21/politics/michael-flynn-brother-capitol-hill-riot/index.html
The decision-making has come under scrutiny as city and Capitol Police officials have alleged that the Pentagon was slow to respond, while the Pentagon and Army maintain they never denied or delayed requests for the National Guard.
In official timelines released by the Department of Defense in the wake of the riot, Charles Flynn, the deputy chief of staff of the Army, was not listed as participating in any of the calls that day about mobilizing the National Guard to respond to the riot.
[...]
"I entered the room after the call began and departed prior to the call ending, as I believed a decision was imminent from (then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy) and I needed to be in my office to assist in executing the decision," Flynn said in a statement released to CNN. There was no clear answer about how long Flynn was on the call or whether he contributed to the conversation.
The Washington Post reports that the Army "falsely denied for days that Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn" was involved in the key meetings. One of the officials who was on the call told CNN in the days following the insurrection at the Capitol that Flynn was not on the calls, but the military did not confirm his participation until Wednesday.
There is no indication that Charles Flynn agrees with his brother, who was a vocal adherent of disputing President Joe Biden's victory on behalf of the former president."
**
After the disaster with Capitol Police and the National Guard during the insurrection, the FBI found it necessary to do a background check on every single member of the troops in DC ahead of the inauguration.
"Defense officials tell AP they fear possible inside attack at inauguration, will have National Guard troops vetted"https://apnews.com/article/military-and-defense-government-and-politics-ap-news-alert-029abd11cbfc8fa82b834136cc2c0b79
"FBI Runs Checks on All 25,000 Troops in D.C. in Fear of Insider Attack on Biden Inauguration.https://www.thedailybeast.com/fbi-runs-checks-on-all-25000-troops-in-dc-in-fear-of-insider-attack-on-biden-inauguration
Every single one of the 25,000 National Guard troops deployed to Washington, D.C. this week is being vetted by the FBI as officials fret over the prospect of an insider attack on Joe Biden’s inauguration. The checks, reported by the Associated Press, started last week and will be completed by the time the event kicks off on Wednesday morning. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told AP that no evidence of an inside threat has been found, but no risks can be taken after the deadly breach of the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump rioters earlier this month. “We’re continually going through the process, and taking second, third looks at every one of the individuals assigned to this operation,” McCarthy told the news wire. Two and a half times more National Guard troops have been assigned to Biden’s inauguration than were sent to previous events."
We have multiple members of Congress who are QAnon followers. How many thousands do you think are already in the National Guard, military, and police?
"QAnon adherents discussed posing as National Guard to try to infiltrate inauguration, according to FBI intelligence briefing"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-warning-inauguration-qanon/2021/01/18/293284b6-59c8-11eb-b8bd-ee36b1cd18bf_story.html
"Twelve U.S. Army National Guard members have been removed from the presidential inauguration security mission after they were found to have ties with right-wing militia groups or posted extremist views online, according to two U.S. officials. There was no threat to President-elect Joe Biden, they said.
The officials, a senior intelligence official and an Army official briefed on the matter, did not say which fringe group the Guard members belonged to or what unit they served in. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
[...]
The Associated Press obtained the "all concerned" message sent to all National Guard troops coming to Washington. Without getting into specific postings, the bulletin read: "No service members should be posting locations, pictures or descriptions online regarding current operations or the sensitive sites they are protecting" and urged them to stop immediately."
**
Commander of the DC National Guard explains how his authority was limited:
"The commander of the D.C. National Guard said the Pentagon restricted his authority ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, requiring higher-level sign-off to respond that cost time as the events that day spiraled out of control.https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dc-guard-capitol-riots-william-walker-pentagon/2021/01/26/98879f44-5f69-11eb-ac8f-4ae05557196e_story.html
Local commanders typically have the power to take military action on their own to save lives or prevent significant property damage in an urgent situation when there isn’t enough time to obtain approval from headquarters.
But Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, said the Pentagon essentially took that power and other authorities away from him ahead of the short-lived insurrection on Jan. 6. That meant he couldn’t immediately roll out troops when he received a panicked phone call from the Capitol Police chief warning that rioters were about to enter the U.S. Capitol.
“All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and in my case, federal functions — federal property and life,” Walker said in an interview. “But in this instance I did not have that authority.”
[...]
Walker recalled how Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who has since resigned, asked him on a call in the run-up to Jan. 6 to have National Guard troops at the ready.
“All he said was, ‘If I call you, will you be able to help?’ ” Walker said. “And I said, ‘Yes, but I need permission. So send a formal request,’ and I never got it, until after the fact.”
The request came, but only at 1:49 p.m. the day of the attempted insurrection. Sund called Walker to say rioters were about to breach the building and the Capitol Police would soon request urgent backup.
“I told him I had to get permission from the secretary of the Army and I would send him all available guardsmen but as soon as I got permission to do so,” Walker said. “I sent a message to the leadership of the Army, letting them know the request that I had received from Chief Sund.”
Permission from the Pentagon to activate the full D.C. Guard wouldn’t come for another hour and fifteen minutes, according to a Defense Department timeline of events,
[...]
Pentagon officials were also concerned that sending Guard troops who answered to the president into the Capitol during the riot could give the impression that the military was aiding Trump’s supporters in a coup."
Stop and reflect for a moment. Republicans had set the stage so strongly for a coup, that the military itself was worried the insurrectionists would see the military and think they were on the insurrectionists' side and the coup attempt had full government backing. US military leadership was in genuine fear of our nation being on the brink of a military coup. Considering how many active and former military members participated in the insurrection, you have to wonder if military leadership believed a not insignificant amount of National Guard members deployed to the insurrection risked joining in instead of putting it down?
***
Military leadership not-so-reassuringly had to tell the public there would be no military coup multiple times over the past months.
Back on December 1st, former General Michael Flynn, criminal and former National Security Advisor for Trump, advocated for the use of martial law in order to hold "new" elections. A few weeks later, Trump himself was considering the feasibility of this plan...Three days before the insurrection, all 10 living former Secretaries of Defense signed a letter basically attempting to reassure Americans there wouldn't be a military coup and that Republicans needed to call off their coup attempt and accept the election results. Then, in a letter released in the afternoon of January 12th, the military strongly condemned the insurrection (and used the words "sedition and insurrection" to refer to the event) and reiterated that Biden will be the new president.
Earlier on January 12th, Trump had said his words at the January 6th rally which incited the insurrection were "totally appropriate." Also on January 12th, Trump criticized Congress for impeaching him and again seemed to deny the legitimacy of Biden's victory, saying the impeachment was a "continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics."
It is deeply concerning how forcefully our military leaders have had to, time and time again, reiterate their commitment to avoiding a military coup. Combined with Secretary of Defense Miller's suspicious behavior regarding the National Guard and Biden's intelligence briefings (see previous section), this suggests a lot of tumult has been going on behind the scenes...
"America's most senior general Mark Milley and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is comprised of the heads of each military branch, issued a statement Tuesday condemning the violent invasion of the US Capitol last week and reminding service members of their obligation to support and defend the Constitution and reject extremism."https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/politics/joint-chiefs-memo-capitol-insurrection/index.html
"As we have done throughout our history, the U.S. military will obey lawful orders from civilian leadership, support civilian authorities to protect lives and property, ensure public safety in accordance with the law, and remain fully committed to protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
The violent riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 was a direct assault on the U.S. Congress, the Capitol building, and our Constitutional process. We mourn the deaths of the two Capitol policemen and others connected to these unprecedented events.
We witnessed actions inside the Capitol building that were inconsistent with the rule of law. The rights of freedom of speech and assembly do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition and insurrection.
[...]
On January 20, 2021, in accordance with the Constitution, confirmed by the states and the courts, and certified by Congress, President-elect Biden will be inaugurated and will become our 46th Commander in Chief."
Recall that on January 3rd, all 10 living former Secretaries of Defense (Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry, and Donald Rumsfeld) signed a letter essentially reassuring us there would be no military coup and basically asking Republicans to call off the coup and acknowledge a transition of power:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/10-former-defense-secretaries-military-peaceful-transfer-of-power/2021/01/03/2a23d52e-4c4d-11eb-a9f4-0e668b9772ba_story.html
On August 28, 2020, General Mark Milley said:
“I believe deeply in the principle of an apolitical U.S. military. In the event of a dispute over some aspect of the elections, by law U.S. courts and the U.S. Congress are required to resolve any disputes, not the U.S. military. I foresee no role for the U.S armed forces in this process.”https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/29/top-us-general-says-no-role-for-military-in-presidential-vote.html
Again on October 11, 2020, General Milley said:
"And if there is, it'll be handled appropriately by the courts and by the U.S. Congress. There's no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election. Zero. There is no role there."https://www.npr.org/2020/10/11/922827554/gen-mark-milley-says-the-military-plays-no-role-in-elections
On December 18, after former General Flynn urged for the military to impose martial law to hold a "new" election (but before it was revealed Trump himself considered the feasibility of Flynn's plan), a journalist received a response from military leaders regarding their thoughts on Flynn's advocacy for a military-backed coup:
"Just in: @SecArmy Ryan McCarthy and @ArmyChiefStaff Gen. McConville respond to former Gen. Flynn's remarks urging Trump to declare martial law to overturn the election results: “There is no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of an American election.”"https://twitter.com/laraseligman/status/1339985580785086466
***
Panic buttons removed from Representative Ayanna Pressley's office soon before the insurrection.
Sarah Groh, chief of staff for Representative Ayanna Pressley, said that panic buttons had been removed from her office before the insurrection. In order to remove them, someone had to have had access to the office before the insurrection. In order to remove them without triggering them or otherwise arousing suspicion, it had to have been removed by someone with knowledge and access of Capitol security systems."As people rushed out of other buildings on the Capitol grounds, staffers in Pressley’s office barricaded the entrance with furniture and water jugs that had piled up during the pandemic. Groh pulled out gas masks and looked for the special panic buttons in the office.https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/13/nation/it-was-like-looking-evil-capitol-attack-through-eyes-massachusetts-delegation/
“Every panic button in my office had been torn out — the whole unit,” she said, though they could come up with no rationale as to why. She had used them before and hadn’t switched offices since then. As they were escorted to several different secure locations, Groh and Pressley and her husband tried to remain calm and vigilant — not only of rioters but of officers they did not know or trust, she said."
"She went on to say that the panic buttons were installed because Ms Pressley, a member of the progressive group of House Democrats dubbed the “Squad”, had been on the receiving end of racist attacks by the US president and his supporters.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-election-2020/capitol-riots-alyssa-pressley-panic-buttons-b1786678.html
Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asked Capitol Police to heighten the security surrounding Ms Pressley and other Democratic congresswoman in 2019, after the president wrote a series of racist tweets attacking members of the “Squad”."
***
Representative Mikie Sherrill and many other politicians have said they witnessed members of Congress giving people "reconnaissance" tours of the Capitol on January 5th, the day before the insurection.
On January 12th, Sherrill was the first to claim this. In the following weeks more and more politicians have said the same thing. They have named Representative Lauren Boebert as one of them, although their wording suggest others were involved too.""I also intend to see that those members of Congress who abetted him — those members of Congress who had groups coming through the capitol that I saw on Jan. 5 for reconnaissance for the next day — those members of Congress who incited the violent crowd, those members of Congress that attempted to help our president undermine our democracy, I'm going see that they're held accountable," Sherrill said."
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/12/mikie-sherrill-capitol-hill-attack-458655
"Rep. Mikie Sherrill and 33 other House members want an investigation into access given by fellow House lawmakers to visitors to the Capitol on Jan. 5 before the violent attacks on Congress the next day.https://www.rollcall.com/2021/01/13/34-house-democrats-call-for-investigation-into-jan-5-tours-by-fellow-members-ahead-of-attack/
[...]
The letter notes that she and other signatories, including former CIA officer Abigail Spanberger, have served in military and intelligence roles and are trained to recognize suspicious activity.
“Members of the group that attacked the Capitol seemed to have an unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex. The presence of these groups within the Capitol Complex was indeed suspicious. Given the events of January 6, the ties between these groups inside the Capitol Complex and the attacks on the Capitol need to be investigated,” wrote the lawmakers.
Visitors, official tour groups and almost anyone without a congressional ID have been barred from the Capitol since mid-March, when the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic led congressional leaders to partially close the usually public building."
"Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, says an investigation is underway looking at "potentially members of Congress" who gave tours to pro-Trump rioters prior to the insurrection last week on the U.S. Capitol.https://www.npr.org/sections/insurrection-at-the-capitol/2021/01/13/956426253/rep-tim-ryan-probe-under-way-on-whether-members-gave-capitol-tours-to-rioters
"All of that is being reviewed, both people on the campus who were here and behavior before and after, a lot of videos floating around out there," Ryan told NPR's Michel Martin during NPR's special coverage of the House impeachment vote.
"That's all going to be considered, including anybody that may have been on the inside, including members of Congress."
Ryan, who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Capitol Police and the sergeant-at-arms office, also told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning that these alleged tours consisted of "handfuls" of people.
"You know, enough to be a group," he said. "It wasn't a one-on-one or a small family.""
**
On January 16th people began publicly naming QAnon follower Representative Lauren Boebert as one of the Republicans who gave tours of the Capitol. Boebert and her mother had already both implicated themselves in public statements.
January 16th. Writer Don Winslow claims someone told him Boebert gave a "tour" of the Capitol on January 5th:
https://twitter.com/donwinslow/status/1350638023789080576
On January 18th Representative Steve Cohen confirms he and Representative John Yarmuth saw Boebert giving tours of the Capitol the day before the insurrection.
https://twitter.com/jessedamiani/status/1351197878987927552
On January 14th, Boebert accidentally implicated herself as giving Capitol tours by lashing out at Representative Patrick Maloney. Maloney implies Boebert is one of the members of Congress who can't be trusted to bring guns into the Capitol, and then he shifts subjects to talk about the Capitol tours. Boebert then released a statement in response condemning Maloney for alleging she gave tours (even though Maloney never alleged that).
https://twitter.com/RepSeanMaloney/status/1349906702515269641
Boebert's mother says she was given tours of the Capitol by her daughter:
"Boebert’s mother, Shawna Bentz, did not respond to a Facebook message asking for comment about her daughter’s first week in office. Bentz, who is an open supporter of QAnon on social media, went to Washington with Boebert for her swearing in ceremony. She was pictured with Boebert at that ceremony and mentioned that she had gone on detailed tours of the Capitol buildings with her daughter. She was staying with Boebert in her D.C. apartment that first week, according to her social media posts. Prior to the Jan. 6 riot, using the Twitter name Shawna Roberts-Bentz, she retweeted White House political advisor Dan Scavino: “See you soon PATRIOTS.”"https://coloradosun.com/2021/01/14/lauren-boebert-first-week-in-congress/
There is speculation that the woman who was giving insurrectionists detailed descriptions of the interior of the Capitol using a megaphone is Representative Lauren Boebert's mom.
https://twitter.com/kozski/status/1350626520147099648
Lock them up.
***
Involvement of Representatives Biggs, Brooks, and Gosar with riot organizer Ali Alexander.
Journalist Seth Abramson compiled evidence in a Twitter thread suggesting the Proud Boys (in particular, an Arizona chapter) were the ones who spearheaded the insurrection, and they were organized in advance with coordination with Trump, Giuliani, Representatives Biggs, Gosar, Brooks, and Senator Tuberville.Since it's a Twitter thread and Twitter has a small character limit, this thread has no linked sources and Twitter threads are just so unreadable. With all the advances in communication that the internet has given us, why have so many journalists, etc., intentionally made communication more difficult than it needs to be? Just write an article and link it to your Twitter or something ffs.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1349142068061478912
"22/ At around this time, the Arizona GOP—with two of its most prominent leaders being apparent Alexander co-conspirators Gosar and Biggs—tweeted out one of the most bizarre/horrifying tweets of 2020: the party formally asked readers if they were willing to "die for" Donald Trump."https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1349152138925137921
"23/ Different states have different "Proud Boy" chapters. As Arizonans Gosar and Biggs were plotting with Trump a rally intended to lead to disruptive violence; and as the Arizona GOP the two men led was asking people to "die for" Trump; the Arizona Proud Boys became *important*."https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1349152526952783873
"25/ An hour before the invasion began, a USCP officer now tells Buzzfeed News that he was unnerved by seeing a menacing social media message shown to him by a fellow officer. In the message, the Proud Boys use one of their usual online channels to promise to "breach the Capitol.""https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1349153469089918977
"26/ According to the WSJ, the attack on the Capitol was launched when a group of men "in blaze orange hats" suddenly attacked a barricade. CNN later identified the use of "blaze orange hats" as connected to the Proud Boys, which the aforementioned Proud Boy leader angrily denied."
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1349153469089918977
11-minute Wall Street Journal video investigating the Proud Boy's role in the beginning the siege of the Capitol. Again, note the use of bright orange in their uniforms.
Proud Boy members were identified as among the first to breach the barriers outside the Capitol and first to break and enter into the Capitol. Proud Boy insurrectionists were the ones who encountered Officer Goodman outside the Senate door.
Another Twitter thread which examines far-right rally organizer Ali Alexander and Representative Gosar in more detail. (Note: whoever took the screenshots was in a non-American timezone and Gosar's tweets about Biden needing to concede took place hours before the insurrection, not on January 7th US time.)
Note also in the screenshots and videos below, Ali wears an orange cap like the Proud Boys and has an orange emoji in his Twitter username.
Link to thread:
https://twitter.com/Real_QL/status/1348804399942967296
Ali says up to 40-50 Arizona Republicans are involved in his "Stop the Steal" organization:
https://twitter.com/Real_QL/status/1349297541574115329
A few hours after midnight on January 6th, Ali tweeted "First official day of the rebellion." Making it clear the plan was an insurrection/rebellion and not merely peaceful protesting.
https://twitter.com/Real_QL/status/1348834482384617474
At a rally on January 5th, Ali led the crowd in a "Victory or death" chant:
https://twitter.com/ZTPetrizzo/status/1346577244274249733
On December 25th, 2020, Ali said he is "the last stop before civil war" and "We will not lose."
https://twitter.com/Real_QL/status/1348804468893118464
Ali says he came up with the January 6th rally with Congressmen Gosar, Brooks, and Biggs to use the riots to "change the hearts and minds" of Congressmen voting inside.
https://twitter.com/Greg_Palast/status/1348315421536112641
Ali again makes it clear he supports the coup by saying, "We're really working hard because, look, I believe that the President should do something brave. I think that the Vice President should do something brave. I believe that that's how we maintain the White House and I believe that we need to maintain the White House. I think that it's a moral imperative to maintain the White House. I think that the Democrats cheated."
https://twitter.com/Greg_Palast/status/1349419661754974210
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and Georgia Republican Party were working with Ali's "Stop the Steal" organization:
https://twitter.com/zdroberts/status/1346358069954048000
Gosar's brother indicates Representative Gosar was deeply involved in the organizing of this sedition and treason:
https://twitter.com/Real_QL/status/1349613314058305536
Representatives Boebert and Greene, QAnon followers and outspoken coup advocates, were scheduled to speak at Ali's rally outside the Capitol, where Ali advocated for insurrection.
"Alexander also began tweeting frequently about “1776,” a reference to the start of the American Revolution. Alexander wrote in one post that the choice was “45”—Trump’s re-election—“or 1776.” In another message, he wrote that “1776 is always an option for free men and women.”
Most pointedly, Alexander responded to a tweet from QAnon-supporter Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claiming that top congressional leaders were working to block objections to the electoral vote. If that happened, Alexander said, he and hundreds of thousands of other protesters would “1776” the Capitol.
“If they do this, everyone can guess what me and 500,000 others will do to that building,” Alexander tweeted on Dec. 30. “1776 is *always* an option”
[...]
The night before the Jan. 6 rally, Alexander riled up Trump supporters in Washington with a “victory or death” chant and once again brought up “1776.”
[...]
“1776 is always an option,” Alexander told the crowd. “These degenerates in the deep state are going to give us what we want, or we are going to shut this country down.”
Alexander’s “Wild Protest” rally was scheduled to take place on the northeast corner of the Capitol’s lawn, with a website claiming that Greene, Gosar, and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) would all speak at the event. Before the rally, Alexander attended Trump’s speech on the White House Ellipse, posting a picture from the front row."
https://www.thedailybeast.com/stop-the-steal-organizer-in-hiding-after-denying-blame-for-riot
At 8:30 that morning, Boebert tweeted "Today is 1776", further implicating her role as an insider in the insurrection.
More about Ali and his role/background:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/13/ali-alexander-capitol-biggs-gosar/
**
Attention has been brought to the fact that a number of those Republicans who helped organize the insurrection seem to have given speeches in Congress around the time the Capitol was breached, leading to suggestions the timing was planned/coordinated. It's like they wanted to have some big Hollywood propaganda moment right as the government was about to fall.“Madam Speaker, I have constituents outside this building right now,” Boebert said in an impassioned speech on the House floor shortly before the Jan. 6 attack, moving to object to counting electoral votes from Arizona. “I promised my voters to be their voice. … They know that this election is not right, and as their representative, I am sent here to represent them. I will not allow the people to be ignored.”https://coloradonewsline.com/2021/01/11/rep-boebert-under-scrutiny-for-tweets-relaying-intel-during-capitol-attack/
Here's more from one of the above Twitter threads:
"34/ During a speech at a rally he'd set up with Alexander, Biggs, and Gosar—using Stone's tagline and Manafort's event-planning company—Brooks *explicitly* told the mob to go to the Capitol and "kick ass." His full speech is absolutely terrifying. It is seditious, and incitement."
"36/ The problem was timing. How to time the rally, the march, an invasion of the Capitol, and the objections during the joint session in such a way that each event began at ended—or as the case may be, was violently interrupted—at the right moment. In the end, the timing was off."
**
Biggs and Gosar have basically admitted their guilt by seeking pardons. Why would someone who was completely innocent desperately seek a pardon for this in the political climate we're in, where politicians can get away with so much unless there is absolute overwhelming evidence?"Arizona Republican Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs reportedly asked former President Donald Trump for pardons relating to their involvement in the events leading up to the Jan. 6 terrorist attack on the Capitol. He turned them down."https://www.salon.com/2021/01/20/two-gop-congressmen-sought-pardons-for-their-connection-to-capitol-attack-report/
***
Over the past 2 years, the Trump campaign has given over $2.7 million to the organizers of the January 6th rally, and January 5th rallies were organized by well-connected right-wing figures.
Ali is not the only rally organizer with deep ties to the Republican administration.
"Former Trump campaign staffers helped organize the rally that led to the deadly Capitol riot, records show, despite the campaign's repeated claims it wasn't involved.https://www.businessinsider.com/former-trump-campaign-staffers-helped-organize-rally-capitol-riot-2021-1
President Donald Trump's reelection campaign has repeatedly said it wasn't involved in organizing the January 6 rally that led to the deadly storming of the Capitol.
But a review of the official paperwork by the Associated Press, The Washington Post, and ABC News, shows that former Trump campaign staffers helped secure the permit for the "Save America" rally and were listed as official event organizers.
"Former President Donald Trump’s campaign paid more than $2.7 million over two years to individuals and firms that organized the Jan. 6 rally that led to rioters storming the U.S. Capitol, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-22/trump-campaign-paid-organizers-of-pre-riot-rally-2-7-million
The payments, which span Trump’s re-election campaign, show an ongoing financial relationship between the rally’s organizers and Trump’s political operation. They were all made through Nov. 23, the most recent date covered by Federal Election Commission filings, which is before the rally was publicly announced.
[...]
The biggest recipient of campaign funds according to the report, was Event Strategies Inc., which was paid more than $1.7 million by Trump’s campaign and joint fundraising committee. The firm’s owners, Justin Caporale and Tim Unes, served as rally production manager and stage manager, respectively."
Twitter thread from December 2018 examining the Event Strategies company. This Twitter account is sensationalist and baity, but I will leave this here for reference:
"Event Strategies was a Paul Manafort - Tim Unes company used in Ukraine - as an ‘event planner’ to overthrow regimes"https://twitter.com/kelly2277/status/1073988195656888322
Capitol Police Officer Howard C. Liebengood died by suicide days after the insurrection. His father, Howard S. Liebengood, was a former Senate Sergeant at Arms in the 1980s and later a lobbyist. It is also claimed Howard S. Liebengood was also a Paul Manafort associate, although I cannot find a real source for this claim.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1348895177902092288
Pelosi and others have praised the Officer Liebengood who just died, so perhaps he is not a crook and has no connections to his father's alleged links with Manafort. Nevertheless this is something to keep an eye on as things develop.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/capitol-police-officer-howard-liebengood-51-dies-days-after-riot-remembered-as-selfless-kind/ar-BB1cDkcc
**
"Rallies ahead of Capitol riot were planned by established Washington insiders.https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/capitol-rally-organizers-before-riots/2021/01/16/c5b40250-552d-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html
The fiery rallies that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 were organized and promoted by an array of established conservative insiders and activists, documents and videos show.
The Republican Attorneys General Association was involved, as were the activist groups Turning Point Action and Tea Party Patriots. At least six current or former members of the Council for National Policy (CNP), an influential group that for decades has served as a hub for conservative and Christian activists, also played roles in promoting the rallies.
The two days of rallies were staged not by white nationalists and other extremists, but by well-funded nonprofit groups and individuals that figure prominently in the machinery of conservative activism in Washington.
[...]
Organizing warm-up events is not the same thing as plotting to invade the Capitol. But before the rallies, some used extreme rhetoric, including references to the American Revolution, and made false claims about the election to rouse supporters to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory
Unless Congress responds to the protests, “everyone can guess what me and 500,000 others will do to that building,” tweeted Ali Alexander, a former CNP fellow who organized the “Stop the Steal” movement. “1776 is *always* an option.”
On Jan. 5, at Freedom Plaza in D.C., Alexander led protesters in a chant of “Victory or death.”
[...]
A little-known nonprofit called Women for America First, a group run by Trump supporters and former tea party activists, got approval to use space on the Ellipse for what they called a “March for Trump,” according to the “public gathering permit” issued on Jan. 5.
Nearly a dozen political activists — including former White House, congressional and Trump campaign staffers — served as on-site rally coordinators and stage managers, the permit said. A spokesperson for Women for America First did not respond to requests for comment.
Scheduled speakers included Roger Stone, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Simone Gold, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, a start-up group that condemned government shutdowns to contain the coronavirus.
[...]
On Jan. 5, the attorneys general group, which is based in Washington, used an affiliated nonprofit called the Rule of Law Defense Fund to pay for a robocall that urged supporters to march on the Capitol at 1 p.m. on Jan. 6 to “call on Congress to stop the steal.” A recording of the robocall was first obtained by Documented, a left-leaning watchdog group.
“We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue the fight,” a recording of the call says.
On Monday, as criticism of the robocall mounted, RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper resigned. He did not respond to a request for comment.
[...]
Charlie Kirk, the leader of Turning Point USA, an organizer of conservative students, and Turning Point Action, its activist arm, also condemned the violence and called Jan. 6 “a really sad day for America,” according to a spokesman.
Before the rally, Kirk — a featured speaker at CNP meetings over the past two years and at the Republican National Convention in August — offered to pay for buses and hotel rooms for protesters.
“This historic event will likely be one of the largest and most consequential in American history,” he wrote in a tweet. “The team at @TrumpStudents and Turning Point Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80+ buses full of patriots to DC to fight for this president.”
[...]
Brooks, first elected to Congress a decade ago, has been among the most vocal of lawmakers in condemning the election. In a podcast interview last month with Sebastian Gorka, a former strategist in the Trump White House, Brooks said he was working to delay certification of the electoral college tally as part of “an organic movement.”
“The question is really simple. Are you as an American citizen going to surrender in the face of unparalleled, massive voter fraud and election theft?” he said. “Or are you going to do what your ancestors did and fight for your country, your republic?”
[...]
Other establishment conservatives who condoned the protests include Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and listed last year as a CNP Action board member, who praised rallygoers in tweets.
[...]
Since the early 1980s, CNP has served as a bridge between Washington’s establishment conservatives and scores of Christian and right-wing groups across the nation. It convenes closed-door meetings for members and wealthy donors at least twice a year. CNP officials and their allies met weekly with White House officials under President Trump, in part to coordinate public messaging about the administration’s agenda, internal videos show. Trump spoke to the group in August.
Vice President Pence praised the group in a letter obtained by The Post, saying last year that “I just wanted to thank you and the Council for National Policy for your support and for consistently amplifying the agenda of President Trump.”
[...]
In one meeting last summer, a CNP member warned that a “civil war” would result if Trump lost the election to predicted fraud, according to internal videos obtained by The Post."
***
Insurrectionists having knowledge of the Capitol building's offices and layout.
Much of this information can be gained publicly. However, the fact that so many insurrectionists had maps or an idea of where to go indicates this was planned in advance. Some of the most damning evidence that they may have had insider knowledge is the fact that they easily found many unmarked offices and offices that are not easily found--even by people who work in the Capitol."High ranking sources inside the Capitol Police Dept. tell TMZ the FBI is looking at several facts that stink of an inside job. For starters, the Bureau is puzzled by the ease with which the mob found its way to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.https://www.tmz.com/2021/01/08/capitol-insurrection-fbi-inside-job-capitol-police-staffers-rioters/
[...]
It's not off any main hallway or next to other Congressional offices ... in fact, the path to get to the entrance is maze-like and not open to the public like other parts of the Capitol. The rioters who took it over -- vandalizing it and stealing a laptop -- got there within 10 minutes of entering the Capitol.
[...]
We're told the FBI feels someone must have provided a roadmap for them to find it that quickly. Remember, the Capitol has been closed to the public since March due to the pandemic so it's not like these guys could have been casing it to plot their path.
As for suspects -- we're told the FBI is looking at Capitol Police officers and many other Capitol staffers, such as engineers, plumbers and janitors."
"Congressman Jim Clyburn had his office looted ... we know an iPad was stolen. We're told the Congressman, who has been sharply critical of Trump, is angry that the rioters found his office, which does NOT have a nameplate ... the door is unmarked, yet the rioters somehow picked that door as opposed to hundreds of others.
As we reported, the FBI is especially suspicious of the way rioters zeroed in on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. It's virtually impossible to find in the maze, yet the rioters were inside her office within 11 minutes."
https://www.tmz.com/2021/01/10/more-evidence-capitol-riot-was-inside-job-jim-clyburn/
Christine Pelosi, Democrat party political strategist and daughter of Nancy Pelosi, believes the fact that insurrectionists quickly found difficult-to-locate areas such as the Senate Parliamentarian's Office suggests it was planned to raid the office in advance.
https://twitter.com/sfpelosi/status/1347042570585608195
Insurrectionists had been sharing maps, including those with the underground tunnels Congressmen sheltered in during the insurrection:
"You could see the discussion become less abstract. By last week, these people were sharing maps of D.C. They were talking about having enough of them that they would be able to erect basically their own cadre around the entire area of Congress. They had a map of the tunnels [in the basement of the Capitol], and they were talking about how they're going to be able to stop Congress from leaving. They imagined that this was the day there were going to be mass executions of Congressmen.
But a lot of them also just imagined they were going to be there for this historic time when Trump pulled away the curtain and revealed that all of Congress were traitors and then took his just and equal revenge. There were a variety of characters: people who were there to watch Trump gain control and people who thought Trump would win, but only by activating the military, [with] a proper military coup that they supported. They thought they were there to go and purge Congress. They were there to stop the certification. They were there to punish those who went against Trump. When you put them all together, you get this explosive mixture."
https://www.gq.com/story/man-predicted-capitol-coup-interview
Woman with a megaphone giving a detailed description on what is on the other side of a door and how to break in. Some have speculated this is Representative Lauren Boebert's mother (see previous section):
https://mobile.twitter.com/ReesusP/status/1349255972829630465
"Since Wednesday’s attack, many Democrats have publicly and privately raised alarms about the ease with which rioters were able to not only enter the building but also quickly find their targets in a complex that is difficult for even members of Congress to navigate.https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/08/congress-democrats-capitol-riot-inside-job-456725
“Somebody must get to the bottom of how they, with such efficiency and such alacrity, moved themselves in mobs into [Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s] office. Into the whip’s third-floor office,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), one of the dozen or so Democrats who was locked inside the House chamber as rioters attempted to break in.
“We all joke about the fact that it's so hard to find some of these offices, and we work in the building,” Dean said in an interview.
***
Other members of government and the conservative movement giving aid and comfort to domestic terrorists and enemies of the United States.
The following is not definitive proof that the following individuals planned this in advance (although traitors do not get the benefit of the doubt), however, these are certainly examples of insiders giving aid and comfort to terrorists.Giving Aid:
Republican Representative Lauren Boebert, a QAnon follower, informed the insurrectionists of Pelosi's whereabouts by tweeting that she had been removed from the House chamber. Boebert has committed treason by giving aid and comfort to domestic terrorists. Her tweet was just 4 minutes after insurrectionists had breached the Capitol.
https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1346898958900199429
https://www.rawstory.com/lauren-boebert-twitter/
"So were we in the House. @laurenboebert was told by the Sergeant of Arms in the chamber to not make any social media posts. It was said repeatedly. She defied it because she is more closely aligned with the terrorists than the patriots."
https://twitter.com/RepSwalwell/status/1348847600926126080
"Phone numbers belonging to two of Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) offices appeared to be listed as contact information in a note found in a truck belonging to Lonnie Coffman, who has been indicted for allegedly carrying unregistered firearms and 11 Molotov cocktails in that same vehicle during the pro-Trump insurrection last week.https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cruz-contact-info-found-alleged-pro-trump-rioter-truck
New court documents that include photos of the truck and the items found inside the vehicle show a Motel 6 magazine with “Senator Ted Cruz” handwritten on the back next to two phone numbers. When called by TPM, the numbers connect to Cruz’s offices in D.C. and Central Texas.
The GOP senator’s name and numbers are written underneath “Conservative Talk Show Host Mark Levin” and “Shaun Hannity,” the latter appearing to be Fox News host Sean Hannity’s name misspelled:"
"Two of the officers who spoke to BuzzFeed News said it wouldn’t surprise them if lawmakers had been involved. “There are definitely some members who need to be held to account once an investigation shows the totality of circumstances,” one said, in a sign of how betrayed some officers feel in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol."
On January 6th and 7th, Republican politicians Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, and Mo Brooks wasted no time pushing fake news conspiracy theories that antifa and left-wing groups were somehow involved. The fake news article they used to support their claim was debunked by the company referenced in the article.
"On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stood in the chamber that rioters ransacked last week and declared, “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.”https://thebulwark.com/never-forget-mitch-mcconnell-underwrote-trumps-big-lie/
This assessment is correct. One of the “powerful people” who fed the mob lies was Mitch McConnell.
Because the dirty open secret is that the entire GOP establishment—including Trump skeptics such as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan—was eager to support Georgia Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue as they campaigned on those very same lies about the presidential election.
Why? Because of power. Republicans hoped that they could ride those lies to retain control of the U.S. Senate.
Never forget that the insurrection of January 6 did not start on January 6. Yes, Donald Trump stood before the mob on the morning of January 6 and urged them to march on the Capitol. But the mob gathering was planned in advance. And even before that, the ground was seeded for weeks on end by elected Republicans attesting to the lie that Donald Trump was the legitimate winner of the presidential election and calling for the results to be overturned, by hook or by crook.
So if President Trump is to blame for inciting the violence—and he is—then so are they."
Of course, we can't forget the people who fund the election campaigns of these politicians and who either directly write the laws for politicians or indirectly set policies via lobbying (i.e. legalized bribery).
"The Capitol riot wasn't a fringe 'uprising'. It was enabled by very deep pockets.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/18/the-capitol-riot-wasnt-a-fringe-uprising-it-was-enabled-by-very-deep-pockets
[...]
At least as much responsibility lies with the billionaire donors and corporate interests – in other words, the capitalists – who made this moment possible.
Already a picture of the individuals, organizations, and institutions who lent their weight to the movement that stormed Congress has begun to emerge. Last year, the secretive and influential Council for National Policy (CNP), which author Anne Nelson describes as “connecting the manpower and media of the Christian right with the finances of western plutocrats and the strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives,” called for state legislators in six swing states to reject Joe Biden’s election victory. CNP leaders were scheduled to speak at the rally on the morning of 6 January, where Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol.
Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, which has contributed millions to the Republican Attorneys General Association (Raga), listed as one of the participating organizations in the rally. Raga’s fundraising arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, sent robocalls encouraging Trump supporters to march on the Capitol ahead of the 6 January rally, at which the former chairman of Raga, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, spoke. But major donors to Raga include not only rightwing bogeymen like Koch Industries, Walmart, or the Adelson family but also household corporate names like Comcast, Amazon and TikTok.
Likewise, although Koch Industries is the single largest corporate donor to Republican representatives who pledged to try to overturn the election results, the next biggest contributors included defense companies like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon, as well as tech (Amazon) and finance (Goldman Sachs) and insurance (Aflac), according to the Center for Media and Democracy. And while Charles Koch has maintained a posture of personal ambivalence, verging on distaste, for Donald Trump, super Pacs heavily funded by the donor network he and his late brother founded have spent millions supporting congressional Republicans who rejected the outcome of the 2020 election.
Dick Uihlein, the chief executive of the Uline shipping company and a contributor to the Koch donor network, spent at least $2m getting Josh Hawley elected to the US Senate and has contributed more than $4m to the Tea Party Patriots, another one of the 11 groups listed as participating in the Stop the Steal coalition."
January 17th, QAnon follower and sedition committer Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to incite her insurrectionist friends:
"Twitter temporarily locked newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene out of her personal account on Sunday afternoon after the QAnon follower sent out a slew of tweets that pushed election disinformation and incited supporters of President Donald Trump to “mobilize” and “make your voices heard.”
[...]
In a now-deleted tweet sent Saturday night, Greene said she encourages “all Americans, not just the 75 million people who voted for President Trump, to mobilize and make your voices heard in opposition to these attacks on our liberties.” The tweet was part of a thread in which she claimed without evidence that Democrats and the Biden administration “are looking for any reason to implement Communist Chinese-style spying and censorship on the American people.”
[...]
The tweet inciting Trump supporters came the night before the nation was bracing for potential armed demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and at all 50 state capitols, ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. While small groups of right-wing protesters gathered outside heavily guarded statehouses, there were no reports of violence as of Sunday evening.
[...]
On Sunday morning, the 12-hour lock-out appeared to be triggered after Greene tweeted a long, conspiracy-filled thread disparaging Georgia’s voting systems manager and secretary of state — two Republicans — for declaring Biden the winner of the state’s presidential election, and Democrats the winners of both of the state’s Senate runoff races.
[...]
Greene faced backlash last year in response to reports tying her to an anti-government militia leader and to a longtime member of a white power movement. In June, Politico reported on her history of racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic rhetoric, which led high-ranking House Republicans to denounce her and her association with the party."
Giving Comfort:
An hour after the Capitol had been breached, Ivanka Trump called the terrorists "American patriots".
Hours later Donald Trump told the terrorists, "We love you, you're very special." Wtf, you can't make that kind of bizarre shit up.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-supporters-capitol-march_n_5ff61307c5b665581f675f31
"The district director for newly elected Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) was in the crowd outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 after the building was invaded but did not join those who pushed their way inside, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
Good’s district director, Sandy Adams, went with her husband, Melvin Adams, the chair of Virginia’s 5th District GOP Committee, “to join with many, many thousands of wonderful red-blooded American patriots in Washington DC,” Melvin Adams wrote in the Jan. 7 email. His description of the events was sent to undisclosed recipients from his 5th District chair email account."
Insurrectionists took comfort in the idea that Ted Cruz wanted them to do this and his staffers resigned in disgust for his role in the insurrection.
January 17:
"Ted Cruz's former staffers say they are 'disgusted' by his role in the US Capitol insurrection and his unflinching support of Trump, report sayshttps://www.businessinsider.com/ted-cruz-ex-staffers-disgusted-by-texas-senators-recent-behavior-2021-1
At least six of Sen. Ted Cruz's former aides have expressed their disgust at the recent actions of their former boss, according to New York Magazine's Intelligencer.
[...]
Another former staffer, Amanda Carpenter, told Intelligencer: "I could never have imagined that he could have gone down this road."
Carpenter added that she was shocked that her former boss would "potentially cancel votes in a way that defied any standards of federalism and constitutionalism.""
Ted Cruz has always been like this. Either his staffers were too blinded by their paychecks to care, or are protecting themselves by distancing themselves from him now that he has committed one of the most blatant and indefensible crimes in American history.
In fact, the insurrectionists that seditionist Ted Cruz incited agree with me regarding his character:
"Ted Cruz ‘Would Want Us to Do This,’ Capitol Rioter Tells MAGA Mob Pals in Video From Senate Floor.
Striking, newly released footage from The New Yorker shows insurrectionists discussing on the Senate floor whether Sen. Cruz would approve of their riot.
As rioters roamed about the Senate floor on January 6, a clutch of fellow insurrectionists stood at a lawmaker’s desk, rifling through a binder filled with official documents.
A man wearing a backpack and an olive-green military style helmet points to a section and tells the group he believes it shows proof that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz had been baldly lying to Trump supporters about his intentions.
“Look—‘Objection to counting the electoral votes of the State of Arizona,’” the man says, adding, “He was gonna sell us out all along.”
“Wait no, that’s a good thing! That’s a good thing!” a man in a MAGA hat assures the man in the helmet. “He’s with us, he’s with us.” (Cruz did, indeed, vote to object to the certification of Arizona’s electoral votes.)
As the group moves on, two men hang back and continue searching the binder.
“There’s gotta be something in here we can fucking use against these scumbags,” one mutters to himself, ripping out a handful of loose papers and zeroing in on one. “This is a good one, him and Hawley or whatever. Hawley, Cruz.”
“Hawley, Cruz?” says the second man. “I think Cruz would want us to do this... So I think we’re good.”"
Lock this seditionist up already.
***
A list of some of the politicians explicitly calling this an inside job.
It is perhaps easy for bloggers or Twitter users to call this an inside job, but for Democrat politicians to go on the record saying it is indicates this is very serious."Some of those incidents were raised on a 3.5-hour caucus call by House Democrats on Friday, demanding an investigation not only into the decisions by the Capitol Police leadership but by some rank-and-file officers caught on camera. But the lawmakers also raised general concerns that the rioters had some sort of outside help not necessarily attributable to the Capitol’s police corps.https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/08/congress-democrats-capitol-riot-inside-job-456725
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) told his colleagues he thought the riots were “an inside job,” according to two lawmakers on the call.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) mentioned that looters had found their way to his unmarked, third floor office and stole his iPad. He questioned how they could locate that office but not his clearly marked ceremonial office in Statuary Hall. Later, another Democrat on the call, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) specifically raised the question of possible collusion among some Capitol Police officers, according to several people listening.
In an interview airing Sunday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said she believes some Capitol Police officers aided the rioters and may have helped steer them once inside the building, calling it “one of the most troubling things” about the assault.
“I am very sad to say that I believe that there were people within the Capitol police and within the Capitol building that were part of helping these insurrectionists to really have a very well-coordinated plan for when they were going to come, how they were going to come,” Jayapal said on Gray TV’s “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren.”
Pressed further on whether some Capitol Police officers were not just looking the other way but actually involved, Jayapal said, “It appears that way, both from what happened, how coordinated it was, how easy it was.”
"Also this week, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., told radio host Rashad Richey that he believed the attack was an "inside job."https://www.salon.com/2021/01/14/was-the-capitol-raid-an-inside-job-some-democrats-think-so--and-evidence-is-mounting/
[...]
On Friday, House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina told CBS News that he believed "somebody on the inside" had helped the insurrectionists.
"They knew where to go. I've been told ... by some other congresspeople that their staff are saying that they saw people being allowed into the building through side doors," Clyburn said.
"Who opened those side doors for these protesters, or I call them these mobsters, to come into the building, not through the main entrance where magnetometers are but through side doors. Yes, somebody on the inside of those buildings were complicit in this," said the veteran Democratic leader."
***
Politicians asserting the coup vote wasn't intended to overthrow the election, thereby revealing it was merely the build up to the insurrection.
Now that Trump's coup attempt has certainly failed, Republicans are doing damage control to cover their asses by gaslighting the public into believing they didn't commit any crimes with the coup vote. By doing so, they actually reveal their culpability for the insurrection.The Republican leader of the House says he knew voting to throw out the election results wouldn't really overturn the election. By admitting this, he is in essence admitting that the entire point of the Republican party spending months pushing the hoax about voter fraud and claiming Trump was the rightful President was to serve as a pretext for mobilizing Trump supporters for the planned insurrection. Why else would McCarthy and 146 other Republican politicians go all-in with the coup vote when it had 0% chance of succeeding, unless it was merely part of a larger coup plan, which they believed had a possibility of succeeding?
As a reminder, McCarthy was one of the first Republican politicians to begin throwing the word coup around--back in 2019--thereby desensitizing us to that word while telegraphing Trump's intentions.
"McCarthy Falsely Denies Voting To Overturn Election Results.https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mccarthy-falsely-denies-voting-overturn-election-results
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Thursday denied that he, in fact, voted to overturn the election results as he failed to take responsibility for egging on former President Trump’s incitement of the mob behind the deadly insurrection of the Capitol earlier this month.
“What I voted on wasn’t to overturn an election — because it wouldn’t,” McCarthy said. “It would not overturn.”"
Josh Hawley, who became the leader of the coup vote in the Senate, has said the same thing. This sounds a lot like a bunch of criminals who got together to discuss what story they were going to tell the cops...
"Josh Hawley isn’t sorry about challenging the result of the 2020 election. In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju on Friday, the Republican senator from Missouri attempted to defend his actions in the lead-up to the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, accusing his critics of distorting his words and unfairly villainizing him.
Asked about how the rioters and rallygoers thought they could change the electoral results, pointing to his and other Republican objections, Hawley claimed: “I was very clear from the beginning that I was never attempting to overturn the election.”"
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/01/josh-hawley-is-lying-about-his-election-stunt/
Again, what was the point of making a giant production about election fraud for months and taking the massive risk of committing sedition to throw out the results of an election, if not to whip Trump voters into a frenzy and signal to them that the party was willing to take any means necessary to stage a coup?
How do these politicians have the nerve to spend months telling us Trump was the real winner of the election and would do everything in their power to keep him in office, just to now tell us it was all a big prank and misunderstanding?
Lock them up already.
***
Domestic enemies of the US received donations from foreign enemies not long before the insurrection.
Not necessarily evidence of an inside job, but this now means that Republican politicians who aided and abetted this sedition and insurrection gave aid and comfort to not only domestic enemies, but foreign enemies as well. They are unambiguously guilty of treason."On Dec. 8, someone made a simultaneous transfer of 28.15 bitcoins — worth more than $500,000 at the time — to 22 different virtual wallets, most of them belonging to prominent right-wing organizations and personalities.https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-large-bitcoin-payments-to-rightwing-activists-a-month-before-capitol-riot-linked-to-foreign-account-181954668.html
Now cryptocurrency researchers believe they have identified who made the transfer, and suspect it was intended to bolster those far-right causes. U.S. law enforcement is investigating whether the donations were linked to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
[...]
Right-wing figures and websites, including VDARE, the Daily Stormer and Nick Fuentes, received generous donations from a bitcoin account linked to a French cryptocurrency exchange, according to research done by software company Chainalysis, which maintains a repository of information about public cryptocurrency exchanges and whose tools aid in government, law enforcement and private sector investigations. Chainalysis investigated the donations after Yahoo News shared the data points about the transaction.
[...]
Chainalysis researchers discovered a blog post from the bitcoin user that reads like an apparent suicide note, bequeathing his money to “certain causes and people” in light of what he describes as “the decline of Western civilization,” though the researchers were unable to confirm that the user was in fact dead. Chainalysis declined to publish the user’s name, citing privacy concerns due to the inability to conclusively confirm his death and out of concerns over ongoing law enforcement investigations."
***
***
In the coming weeks, months, and years, much more information will come to light about how deep this coup attempt goes.
Already, from the information available and summarized above, it is clear multiple Capitol Police officers were complicit with the insurrectionists, and the failure of Capitol Police leadership is so extreme it cannot be waved away as mere negligence. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was fired months ago to make way for Trump lackey Christopher Miller to illegally become the "Acting" Secretary of Defense. Under Miller, the National Guard was delayed despite numerous besieged politicians begging the Guard be sent in. Pence had to sidestep the normal chain of command to get the National Guard deployed.
Most damningly, Representative Mikie Sherrill witnessed members of Congress giving people "reconnaissance" tours of the Capitol the day before the insurrection. Dozens of Congressmen have now called for an investigation into this. Representative Steve Cohen confirms he and Representative John Yarmuth saw Representative Lauren Boebert giving a tour the day before the insurrection. Insurrectionists had knowledge of unmarked and difficult-to-find offices within the Capitol which, in part, has led to many members of Congress explicitly calling this an inside job.
Representative Ayanna Pressley had panic buttons in her office (which she installed due to prior death threats) sabotaged soon before the insurrection. Representatives Biggs, Gosar, and Brooks worked with Ali Alexander, a far-rightist who advocated for the insurrection and who led one of the rallies organized outside of the Capitol. Evidence thus far suggests they were working with the Arizona Proud Boys, who spearheaded the siege of the Capitol. Politicians who may not have directly organized with the insurrectionists in advance nevertheless gave terrorists aid and comfort through their actions on that day, the months leading up to the insurrection, and after the insurrection.
Dozens of mainstream conservative political, activist, and donor organizations have been implicated in organizing the January 5th and 6th rallies and funding/supporting politicians who have been on the front lines to incite the insurrection and support overturning the election. Foreign group(s) have given money to some of the organizers of the rallies, making it clear politicians who supported the insurrection have given aid and comfort to both foreign and domestic enemies of America.
Some are already calling for a 9/11-style inquiry into the insurrection. Yikes, do we even remember how the 9/11 investigations went? We're going to need much more than that to actually uncover all the anti-American far-right Trumpist plotters in the government and the police forces who made the insurrection possible.
The world is watching. If we can't root out all this corruption and lock up all the Republicans who are guilty of treason, sedition, and supporting a coup, we will end up being a shithole like Russia. But Republicans have already made it clear that's what they want.
We can't let that happen. We MUST act now to hold all those responsible accountable. Politicians who ORGANIZED AN INSURRECTION AND ATTEMPTED A COUP cannot be allowed to remain above the law, or our laws are meaningless and they will attempt more coups in the future until they finally succeed.
We must place maximum pressure on the Biden administration to hold them accountable, boycott all businesses which continue to donate to these terrorists, and use all our energy to counteract right-wing propaganda attempts to whitewash the insurrection and gaslight us into believing the Republican party didn't just attempt a bloody coup. All who don't are helping them with the coverup and are complicit.
I believe we can overcome this, but we must convert beliefs into action or else America will die from the cancer that has been plaguing us for far too long.
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