Tag: Trump fake patriots stormed the Capitol

DOJ reviewed reports of potential misconduct, complicity by officers responding to Capitol riot

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The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., said it is providing those reports at the request of multiple lawyers for the accused rioters.

The Justice Department has reviewed reports of alleged misconduct by police officers who responded to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and is preparing to share them with defense attorneys in the sprawling case, prosecutors revealed in a Monday filing. 

The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., said it is providing those reports at the request of multiple lawyers for the accused rioters. Those lawyers have inquired about allegations that some officers may have been “complicit in the January 6 Capitol Breach,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Regan wrote in the filing.

“We have received copies of investigations into officer conduct, have finished reviewing them, and plan to disclose the relevant materials shortly,” Regan wrote in under the heading “certain specific defense requests.” Continue reading.

Trump on Jan. 6 insurrection: ‘These were great people’

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The former president described the participants as loving and patriotic, and said Democrats could be blamed for any violence.

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday widely praised those who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection at the Capitol, repeatedly using the word “love” to describe the tone of the event.

Echoing his rhetoric about the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Trump said, “These were peaceful people, these were great people.”

Speaking on “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” on the Fox News Channel, he also said the rally participants were patriots, that some of them were unjustly arrested and jailed, and that a woman who was shot and killed by law enforcement during the insurrection was a great hero. Continue reading.

McCarthy Decries ‘Partisan’ Jan. 6 Committee — Which Is Exactly Like Benghazi Panel

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is furiously claiming that a newly authorized select committee to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection will be “the least bipartisan committee you can find.” But just seven years ago, he voted for a nearly identical investigation into attacks against the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

On Fox News on Thursday night, McCarthy (R-CA) was asked about the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, created last Wednesday by a majority vote in the House of Representatives over his objections.

“Think about the structure. It’s not an equal number of Republicans or Democrats,” McCarthy complained. “She [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] appointed [Reps.] Adam Schift [sic] and [Jamie] Raskin. This is a impeachment committee. Only Democrats have subpoena power. The speaker has control over anyone who is appointed. She appoints everyone, just with ‘consultation’ with Republicans.” Continue reading.

Members of Congress demand immediate funding for Capitol Police, but face headwinds in the Senate

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Members of Congress are sounding the alarm over the need to immediately fund the U.S. Capitol Police and National Guard or risk both security departments running out of money, potentially leading to hundreds of furloughs and cuts that would mark the latest setback for the forces after a tumultuous year.

Money allotted yearly to an account that pays for the thousands of Capitol Police officers is running out faster than in previous years because of overtime incurred by officers after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The end of the fiscal year is Sept. 30, but Congress has been unable to pass all appropriation bills through both chambers by that date for the past several years, delaying necessary funding to keep the Capitol safe.

House Democrats, in particular, are pressuring the Senate to immediately consider passing a $1.9 billion emergency security supplemental measure during the July session that would quickly allot $31 million to cover overtime pay, a demand that can be made difficult by a packed summer legislative calendar. Continue reading.

Report: 2 Seattle police officers broke law during DC riots

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SEATTLE — Two Seattle police officers who were in Washington, D.C., during the Jan. 6 insurrection were illegally trespassing on Capitol grounds while rioters stormed the building, but they lied about their actions, a police watchdog said in a report released Thursday.

“They were both standing in the immediate vicinity of the Capitol Building in direct view of rioters lining the steps and climbing the walls,” the Office of Police Accountability said in its report, citing video evidence. “OPA finds it unbelievable that they could think that this behavior was not illegal, contrary to their claims at their OPA interviews.”

After the release of the OPA report, Chief Adrian Diaz said he will hold accountable any Seattle Police Department officer involved in the insurrection, including disciplinary action up to and including termination. He said he would make a decision within 30 days. Continue reading.

Senator’s Photos From Capitol On Jan. 6 Show Violent Insurrection Wreckage

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The pictures show yet again that the deadly riot at the Capitol was no “normal tourist visit,” as one Republican lawmaker previously put it.

Shattered glass. Overturned chairs. Broken furniture. This was some of the wreckage at the Capitol after the violent riot of Jan. 6, captured in newly released photos from a Democratic senator.

“I took these exactly six months ago – the morning after the insurrection,” Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown tweeted Wednesday, noting it was the first time he was sharing the footage. “This is what I saw in the Capitol.”

On Jan. 6, an armed mob of hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol where lawmakers were set to certify the results of the U.S. presidential election, which President Joe Biden had won. Five people died in the riots, including a Capitol Police officer.  Continue reading.

Virginia ‘Bible study’ group was cover for violent militia plans, prosecutors say

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After storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, a Northern Virginia man began forming his own militia-like group in the D.C. suburbs and building up a supply of explosives under the guise of a Bible study group, according to federal prosecutors.

Fi Duong, 27, appeared in court Friday and was released to home confinement pending trial, over the objections of prosecutors who sought stricter terms. According to the court record, at the time of his arrest he had several guns, including an AK-47, and the material to make 50 molotov cocktails. Details of the case — one of the first if not the first in which the government publicly disclosed it had someone undercover to continue monitoring a Jan. 6 defendant — were made public Tuesday.

An attorney for Duong declined to comment. Continue reading.

Judge slaps down QAnon shaman’s latest attempt to win a pretrial release

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Despite his attorney’s claim that he’s not a threat and should be released from jail before his trial, Jacob Chansley, also known as the Capitol-storming “QAnon Shaman,” has again been denied pre-trial release.

According to a court document shared by BuzzFeed’s Zoe Tillman, Chansley “has not proffered any new information that has a ‘material bearing’ on whether or not he poses a risk if released.

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Republican lashes out at ‘capitulation’ of GOP to Trump — and says Lauren Boebert clearly knew about Jan. 6

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a 43-year-old Air Force veteran, always assumed that there would be a “career-ending” vote he would have to take. But according to a New York Times profile, Kinzinger assumed it would be about Social Security instead. After the attack on the U.S Capitol Jan. 6, it became clear what he would have to do.

“I made the decision early in my career that I would be willing to take a potentially career-ending vote,” he told the Times. “But I thought that vote would be for something like a Social Security reform bill. I never thought it would be for defending democracy.”

He explained that things have changed because there is so much mistrust, and since Jan. 6 not many other Republicans have joined him. Continue reading.

FBI launches flurry of arrests over attacks on journalists during Capitol riot

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Nearly six months after the U.S. Capitol riot, the Justice Department has begun arresting a new category of alleged criminals — those who attacked reporters or damaged their equipment as journalists documented the violence perpetrated by supporters of President Donald Trump.

The first such charge came last week, when 43-year-old Shane Jason Woods of Illinois was charged with engaging in violence on the Capitol grounds Jan. 6, as well as assaulting a law enforcement officer. Authorities say Woods was caught on video knocking down a cameraman.

The arrests come at a contentious moment for the Justice Department and First Amendment advocates, who have sharply criticized federal law enforcement for secretly issuing subpoenas of reporters’ phone records during the Trump administration. Continue reading.