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Breach of the Capitol: Consequences, Repercussions & Reactions
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The Justice Department and FBI are investigating whether high-profile right-wing figures — including Roger Stone and Alex Jones — may have played a role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach as part of a broader look into the mind-set of those who committed violence and their apparent paths to radicalization, according to people familiar with the investigation.
However, investigators also want to determine whether anyone who influenced them bears enough responsibility to justify potential criminal charges, such as conspiracy or aiding the effort, the officials said. That prospect is still distant and uncertain, they emphasized.
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U.S. alleges wider Oath Keepers conspiracy, adds more defendants in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
U.S. authorities on Friday alleged a broader conspiracy by Oath Keepers to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, charging six new individuals who appeared to be members or associates of the right-wing group.
One self-described leader in the group, which recruits among military and law enforcement, sent a Facebook message claiming at least 50 to 100 Oath Keepers planned to travel to D.C. with him on Jan. 6 and that they would “make it wild,” echoing a comment President Donald Trump made on Twitter rallying supporters to the Capitol.
A 21-page indictment alleged that the defendants “did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and others known and unknown” to force entry to the Capitol and obstruct Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden as president in riots that led to five deaths and assaults on 139 police.
The nine-person indictment named three already charged military veterans — Jessica Marie Watkins, 38, and Donovan Ray Crowl, 50, both of Woodstock, Ohio; and Thomas E. Caldwell, 66, of Berryville, Va. The six new defendants include siblings Graydon Young, 54, of Englewood, Fla., and Laura Steele, of Thomasville, N.C. It also includes married couples Kelly and Connie Meggs, 52 and 59, of Dunnellon, Fla.; and Bennie and Sandra Parker, 70 and 60, of the Cincinnati area.
However, investigators also want to determine whether anyone who influenced them bears enough responsibility to justify potential criminal charges, such as conspiracy or aiding the effort, the officials said. That prospect is still distant and uncertain, they emphasized.
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U.S. alleges wider Oath Keepers conspiracy, adds more defendants in Jan. 6 Capitol riot
U.S. authorities on Friday alleged a broader conspiracy by Oath Keepers to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, charging six new individuals who appeared to be members or associates of the right-wing group.
One self-described leader in the group, which recruits among military and law enforcement, sent a Facebook message claiming at least 50 to 100 Oath Keepers planned to travel to D.C. with him on Jan. 6 and that they would “make it wild,” echoing a comment President Donald Trump made on Twitter rallying supporters to the Capitol.
A 21-page indictment alleged that the defendants “did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and others known and unknown” to force entry to the Capitol and obstruct Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden as president in riots that led to five deaths and assaults on 139 police.
The nine-person indictment named three already charged military veterans — Jessica Marie Watkins, 38, and Donovan Ray Crowl, 50, both of Woodstock, Ohio; and Thomas E. Caldwell, 66, of Berryville, Va. The six new defendants include siblings Graydon Young, 54, of Englewood, Fla., and Laura Steele, of Thomasville, N.C. It also includes married couples Kelly and Connie Meggs, 52 and 59, of Dunnellon, Fla.; and Bennie and Sandra Parker, 70 and 60, of the Cincinnati area.
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Wow, fantastic article
His pastors tried to steer him away from social media rage. He stormed the Capitol anyway.
For weeks last spring and summer, Michael Sparks had watched video of protests for racial justice around the country with growing unease. He could not turn away from his phone, even as he feared it was changing him. He posted his outrage. He posted that he hated seeing what was happening to his country. He posted that it made him want to kill people.
According to the FBI, Sparks was the first to enter the Capitol through a smashed window near the Ohio Clock Corridor. ... In his booking photo ... he is wearing a T-shirt that reads “Armor of God” and cites a Bible verse, Ephesians 6:11: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
While his social media posts make clear he connected the election and his religious beliefs, his church community had also been a force cautioning him against letting online resentment take over his life. That tension — religious rhetoric as a goad to extremism on the one hand; community accountability as a safeguard against it on the other — highlights the complex influence some churches have had through the past tumultuous months, and may yet in the future.
[July 2020 video]: “As you know I consider myself a devout Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, and that’s my passion, has been for many years now,” he said. “As of late, with everything that’s been going on [BLM protests and associated riots] boy it’s been a rough time for me, honestly. And I’ve been fighting really hard with anger. And seeing everything that’s been going on — whew, it is just … it’s eatin’ my lunch.”
“I’m a patriot. I love the United States of America. I love our freedom,” he said in the video. “This is the greatest country in the entire world. And that being said, we are under attack. There’s — It’s good versus evil now.”
“We talked, and me and [my pastor] agreed, I need to get off Facebook, get away from all this stuff,” Sparks said in the July video. “But I just couldn’t let go of it, I was like, I feel like I need to see this stuff, I feel like I need to be informed.”
[His pastor tries to address him personally in a church sermon.] “When Daniel’s very life was threatened, he prayed.” Johnson said in a video of the sermon posted on the church’s Facebook page. “Daniel didn’t draw a Glock 19.”
As the summer of 2020 gave way to the fall, however, the ire in his posts turned from Black Lives Matter protests and pandemic shutdowns to the election, and then to the results, which he refused to accept.
When Trump made a Facebook post of his own on Dec. 30 that read “JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!” Sparks shared it to his page, along with the comment “I’ll be there.”
His last FB post before the riot: “To all my family and friends I love you deeply,” he wrote. “I love this country deeply. Many many brave men and women gave there very lives for OUR FREEDOM. That being said I would give my life to defend them and our country. I will never ever give up on the American people because we are a strong and resilient people. I have however give[n] up on democracy and I believe we have lost it for quite some time.”
His pastors tried to steer him away from social media rage. He stormed the Capitol anyway.
For weeks last spring and summer, Michael Sparks had watched video of protests for racial justice around the country with growing unease. He could not turn away from his phone, even as he feared it was changing him. He posted his outrage. He posted that he hated seeing what was happening to his country. He posted that it made him want to kill people.
According to the FBI, Sparks was the first to enter the Capitol through a smashed window near the Ohio Clock Corridor. ... In his booking photo ... he is wearing a T-shirt that reads “Armor of God” and cites a Bible verse, Ephesians 6:11: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
While his social media posts make clear he connected the election and his religious beliefs, his church community had also been a force cautioning him against letting online resentment take over his life. That tension — religious rhetoric as a goad to extremism on the one hand; community accountability as a safeguard against it on the other — highlights the complex influence some churches have had through the past tumultuous months, and may yet in the future.
[July 2020 video]: “As you know I consider myself a devout Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, and that’s my passion, has been for many years now,” he said. “As of late, with everything that’s been going on [BLM protests and associated riots] boy it’s been a rough time for me, honestly. And I’ve been fighting really hard with anger. And seeing everything that’s been going on — whew, it is just … it’s eatin’ my lunch.”
“I’m a patriot. I love the United States of America. I love our freedom,” he said in the video. “This is the greatest country in the entire world. And that being said, we are under attack. There’s — It’s good versus evil now.”
“We talked, and me and [my pastor] agreed, I need to get off Facebook, get away from all this stuff,” Sparks said in the July video. “But I just couldn’t let go of it, I was like, I feel like I need to see this stuff, I feel like I need to be informed.”
[His pastor tries to address him personally in a church sermon.] “When Daniel’s very life was threatened, he prayed.” Johnson said in a video of the sermon posted on the church’s Facebook page. “Daniel didn’t draw a Glock 19.”
As the summer of 2020 gave way to the fall, however, the ire in his posts turned from Black Lives Matter protests and pandemic shutdowns to the election, and then to the results, which he refused to accept.
When Trump made a Facebook post of his own on Dec. 30 that read “JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!” Sparks shared it to his page, along with the comment “I’ll be there.”
His last FB post before the riot: “To all my family and friends I love you deeply,” he wrote. “I love this country deeply. Many many brave men and women gave there very lives for OUR FREEDOM. That being said I would give my life to defend them and our country. I will never ever give up on the American people because we are a strong and resilient people. I have however give[n] up on democracy and I believe we have lost it for quite some time.”
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Just to emphasize this point.
[L]ong before he was identified as having sat in the chair Vice President Mike Pence had vacated, the 22-year-old had stirred up tensions over free speech at UCLA.
“UCLA, being a government institution, is bound by the requirements of the 1st Amendment,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. “One of the benefits of a free society is having the government not censor for the most part what we can hear.”
That protection extended to Secor.
The now-defunct America First Bruins Twitter account had as its background a banner stating, “communists aren’t people.” Secor’s Twitter account had called fascism “epic”
In an interview published on YouTube last May with a conservative podcast host, Secor discussed the America First Bruins and shared his own views on free speech.
“I don’t support complete free speech, I don’t think that communism should be legal,” he said, going on to say that anarchists and communists “are the proponents of hate speech.”
[Another student upset by Secor's and America First Bruin's extremist posts] also took his concerns about Secor to Mike Cohn, who directed the office that advises UCLA’s campus organizations. He said Cohn told him that nothing he had seen had risen to something UCLA could act on, since there had been no directly violent actions or threats.
Also, in 2019, UCLA hosted a Turning Point talk by Donald Trump Jr that was disrupted by... "supporters of Nicholas Fuentes, a far-right influencer who has attacked the national group’s founder for being a “fake conservative.”" Secor was a follower of Fuentes, who hosts the America First podcast.
In this case, we can see who stands for free speech and who doesn't.
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Of the more than 230 people charged to date, at least 70 are now facing a minimum of one felony count — the most common is obstruction of Congress, which has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. More than 30 are charged with assaulting or interfering with law enforcement officers, and at least 14 are charged with carrying or using a weapon that day. Weapons identified in the government’s court filings so far have included knives, Tasers, a hockey stick, a large metal pipe, baseball bats, fire extinguishers, and batons.
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It turns out that threatening the lives of FBI agents is also a crime. Political Correctness on the march!
The FBI took her comments seriously and charged Kaye in a criminal complaint filed on Feb. 15 with making a communication in interstate commerce that threatened to kill agents from the FBI, the Justice Department announced Friday.
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A leader in an alleged Oath Keepers conspiracy in the US Capitol insurrection claims she was given a VIP pass to the pro-Trump rally on January 6, had met with Secret Service agents and was providing security for legislators and others, including in their march to the Capitol, according to a new court filing.
"On January 5 and 6, Ms. Watkins was present not as an insurrectionist, but to provide security to the speakers at the rally, to provide escort for the legislators and others to march to the Capitol as directed by the then-President, and to safely escort protestors away from the Capitol to their vehicles and cars at the conclusion of the protest," the court filing said on Saturday. "She was given a VIP pass to the rally. She met with Secret Service agents. She was within 50 feet of the stage during the rally to provide security for the speakers. At the time the Capitol was breached, she was still at the site of the initial rally where she had provided security."
The US Secret Service, in response to Watkins' claims in the Saturday filing, denied that private citizens were working with the Secret Service to provide security on January 6.
"On January 5 and 6, Ms. Watkins was present not as an insurrectionist, but to provide security to the speakers at the rally, to provide escort for the legislators and others to march to the Capitol as directed by the then-President, and to safely escort protestors away from the Capitol to their vehicles and cars at the conclusion of the protest," the court filing said on Saturday. "She was given a VIP pass to the rally. She met with Secret Service agents. She was within 50 feet of the stage during the rally to provide security for the speakers. At the time the Capitol was breached, she was still at the site of the initial rally where she had provided security."
The US Secret Service, in response to Watkins' claims in the Saturday filing, denied that private citizens were working with the Secret Service to provide security on January 6.
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Elliewaves
Untouchable internet saint
I read that this morning. Such a weird story. I guess if she didn't live in a fantasy world and was so easily led she could be home enjoying her life, boyfriend, and the bar that she owns instead of facing prison time.
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CNN liveblogging of of Congressional testimony
Former Capitol Police Chief says Jan. 6 rioters "came prepared for war"
"I have been in policing for almost 30 years, and in that time I have been involved in a number of critical incidents, and responded to a number of horrific scenes. The events on January 6, 2021, constituted the worst attack on law enforcement that I have seen in my entire career. This was an attack that we are learning was pre-planned, and involved participants from a number of states who came well equipped, coordinated, and prepared to carry out a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol," he said in prepared remarks.
Sund said that he witnessed the rioters beating officers with "fists, pipes, sticks, bats, metal barricades, and flag poles."
FBI gave Capitol Police "troubling" information on the eve of Jan. 6 — but it was not delivered to leadership
Sen. Gary Peters revealed Tuesday that an FBI report containing “troubling” information was given to US Capitol Police headquarters on the eve of Jan. 6 but never made it to the department’s leadership, a breakdown the Michigan Democrat said is “clearly a major problem."
“How can you not get that vital intelligence on the eve of what’s going to be a major event?,” Peters asked.
White supremacists were involved in Capitol attack, officials testify
DC police chief: Pentagon was "reluctant" to send troops to defend Capitol
Today's witnesses highlight that they prepared for a protest, but not a battle
Former Capitol Police Chief says Jan. 6 rioters "came prepared for war"
"I have been in policing for almost 30 years, and in that time I have been involved in a number of critical incidents, and responded to a number of horrific scenes. The events on January 6, 2021, constituted the worst attack on law enforcement that I have seen in my entire career. This was an attack that we are learning was pre-planned, and involved participants from a number of states who came well equipped, coordinated, and prepared to carry out a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol," he said in prepared remarks.
Sund said that he witnessed the rioters beating officers with "fists, pipes, sticks, bats, metal barricades, and flag poles."
FBI gave Capitol Police "troubling" information on the eve of Jan. 6 — but it was not delivered to leadership
Sen. Gary Peters revealed Tuesday that an FBI report containing “troubling” information was given to US Capitol Police headquarters on the eve of Jan. 6 but never made it to the department’s leadership, a breakdown the Michigan Democrat said is “clearly a major problem."
“How can you not get that vital intelligence on the eve of what’s going to be a major event?,” Peters asked.
White supremacists were involved in Capitol attack, officials testify
DC police chief: Pentagon was "reluctant" to send troops to defend Capitol
Today's witnesses highlight that they prepared for a protest, but not a battle
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Capitol Defendant Bragged About Brawling With Cops On Pro-Trump Forum
Jose Padilla, who the feds say fought with police during the Capitol attack, said on the online forum TheDonald that God was on his side.
Padilla also worked to correct the record about online rumors that “Antifa” was somehow responsible for the pro-Trump mob’s efforts.
“Honestly, the guy breaking the windows weren’t Antifa,” he wrote. “They were Patriots trying to find a new way in so we could flank the cops who were holding the doorway.”
Well, okay then!
Jose Padilla, who the feds say fought with police during the Capitol attack, said on the online forum TheDonald that God was on his side.
Padilla also worked to correct the record about online rumors that “Antifa” was somehow responsible for the pro-Trump mob’s efforts.
“Honestly, the guy breaking the windows weren’t Antifa,” he wrote. “They were Patriots trying to find a new way in so we could flank the cops who were holding the doorway.”
Well, okay then!
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A former Florida police officer has been arrested after he entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and posted a live video to Facebook from inside the building, according to the FBI.
The Miami Herald reports that former North Miami Beach police officer Nicholes Lentz, 41, was arrested on Friday. He has been charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct, the same charges that have been levied against the majority of those arrested for their involvement in the Capitol breach.
Lentz, a former U.S. Marine, left the North Miami Beach police department in August of 2020 after four years, the Herald reports. He is not currently a sworn police officer in Florida.
The Miami Herald reports that former North Miami Beach police officer Nicholes Lentz, 41, was arrested on Friday. He has been charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct, the same charges that have been levied against the majority of those arrested for their involvement in the Capitol breach.
Lentz, a former U.S. Marine, left the North Miami Beach police department in August of 2020 after four years, the Herald reports. He is not currently a sworn police officer in Florida.
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From A Viral Mask Tirade To The Capitol: One MAGA Influencer’s Winding Road Through 2020
“This is our 1776,” she recalled saying that day as word came in that the building itself had been breached.
The video would mark the culmination of a year-long journey for Peters, one in which the fervent Trump supporter took on something of a Forrest Gump quality. Throughout 2020, Peters had been present at flashpoints for the right wing — crusading against masks in grocery stores, protesting outside of the Michigan secretary of state’s home, and rallying around Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election had been “stolen.”
All the while, she was recording culture war fodder that she streamed to online followers.
“This is our 1776,” she recalled saying that day as word came in that the building itself had been breached.
The video would mark the culmination of a year-long journey for Peters, one in which the fervent Trump supporter took on something of a Forrest Gump quality. Throughout 2020, Peters had been present at flashpoints for the right wing — crusading against masks in grocery stores, protesting outside of the Michigan secretary of state’s home, and rallying around Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election had been “stolen.”
All the while, she was recording culture war fodder that she streamed to online followers.
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The devotion of the deep cover Antifa/BLM agents is impressive.
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- [Shaman Guy] Chansley asked then-President Trump for a presidential pardon multiple times but was ultimately not granted one. When the former president pardoned rapper Lil' Wayne, "the Defendant was compelled to reconcile his prior faith in former President Trump with the actions and words of President Trump."
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Friend of Marjorie Taylor Greene among those in Capitol mob
Anthony Aguero, a conservative livestreamer, activist and associate of Greene, said on video following the January 6 assault on the Capitol that he had been among those who entered and [he also] attacked those who falsely claimed it was done by "Antifa."
"We were all there. It was not Antifa and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself," said Aguero in a video posted on January 7.
"I walked amongst all those people," he added, later defending entering the Capitol.
"A message was sent," Aguero said in the video streamed live on January 6 while walking away from the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue following the riot. "These politicians are not going to continue to get away with the abuse as they've been doing. We will continue to press on these individuals."
Aguero confirmed to CNN he was at the Capitol on January 6 and said he was an "independent journalist" there reporting the events. He also reiterated his support for Greene.
Greene and Aguero have worked closely together over the years on causes such as immigration and the border wall and have attended pro-Trump rallies together. In many since-deleted videos saved by CNN's KFile, Greene repeatedly calls Aguero "amazing" and a "friend." On social media, Aguero has called Greene "one of my closest friends."
When Greene was temporarily banned from her personal Facebook page in May 2019, she used Aguero's page to livestream. He has spent much of January and February expressing support for Greene on social media.
Anthony Aguero, a conservative livestreamer, activist and associate of Greene, said on video following the January 6 assault on the Capitol that he had been among those who entered and [he also] attacked those who falsely claimed it was done by "Antifa."
"We were all there. It was not Antifa and it was not BLM. It was Trump supporters that did that yesterday. I'm the first to admit it, being one myself," said Aguero in a video posted on January 7.
"I walked amongst all those people," he added, later defending entering the Capitol.
"A message was sent," Aguero said in the video streamed live on January 6 while walking away from the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue following the riot. "These politicians are not going to continue to get away with the abuse as they've been doing. We will continue to press on these individuals."
Aguero confirmed to CNN he was at the Capitol on January 6 and said he was an "independent journalist" there reporting the events. He also reiterated his support for Greene.
Greene and Aguero have worked closely together over the years on causes such as immigration and the border wall and have attended pro-Trump rallies together. In many since-deleted videos saved by CNN's KFile, Greene repeatedly calls Aguero "amazing" and a "friend." On social media, Aguero has called Greene "one of my closest friends."
When Greene was temporarily banned from her personal Facebook page in May 2019, she used Aguero's page to livestream. He has spent much of January and February expressing support for Greene on social media.
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You can’t spell MAGA without M and G
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