Tag: Trump insurrection

Retired NYPD Officer Who Guarded City Hall Charged in Capitol Riot

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Thomas Webster turned himself in on charges that he assaulted a Washington police officer with a flagpole during the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

A retired New York police officer who once was part of the security detail at City Hall was charged on Tuesday with assaulting a police officer with a metal flagpole during the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The former officer, Thomas Webster, served in a New York Police Department unit that provided security for the mayor, Gracie Mansion and City Hall, according to a law enforcement official. He retired from the force in 2011.

Mr. Webster, 54, a former Marine, surrendered to the F.B.I. on Monday and was charged with six counts relating to the attack on an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and his participation in the violent attempt to stop Congress from certifying the presidential election results. Continue reading.

Amy Klobuchar shuts down a GOP senator spreading a ‘conspiracy theory’ at the Capitol riot hearing

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On Tuesday, members of the U.S. Senate held a hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection — and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin promoted a debunked conspiracy theory claiming that the insurrectionists were really left-wing militants. But Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a centrist Democrat, pushed back against that false claim.

According to far-right conspiracy theorists, members of Antifa attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6 in order to make supporters of then-President Donald Trump look bad. But there is no evidence to support that claim, and the participation of QAnon, the Proud Boys, White nationalists, various militia groups and others on the far right has been well-documented. Axios’ Jonathan Swan, on Jan. 12, reported that when Trump floated that conspiracy theory, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pushed back and told him, “It’s not Antifa, it’s MAGA. I know. I was there.”

But Johnson, on Tuesday, promoted false claims that on Jan. 6, the U.S. Capitol Building was attacked by “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters.” And when Klobuchar spoke, she made it clear that she saw no validity in those claims. Continue reading.

Five big takeaways on the Capitol security hearings

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Former Capitol security officials clashed publicly on Tuesday over the events surrounding last month’s deadly assault on the Capitol complex, casting blame at the intelligence community and the Pentagon while delivering conflicting accounts of how the tragedy unfolded.

Here are five takeaways from the day’s proceedings.

Congress will need to probe contradictions

There were major discrepancies between former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund and former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving as they recounted their actions before and during the Jan. 6 attack. The two officials couldn’t even agree whether a phone call had taken place between them as rioters were breaking into the building. Continue reading.

Two Trump supporters charged for allegedly threatening officials to overturn the 2020 election

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In Michigan — which saw more than its share of political extremism in recent months — state Attorney General Dana Nessel has announced criminal charges against two men accused of threatening officials on Tuesday.

The men are 62-year-old Daniel Thompson, who is from Clare County, Michigan, and 43-year-old Douglas, Georgia resident Clinton Stewart.

Thompson, Nessel’s office alleges, made threats against Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Elisse Slotkin, both Democrats. Those threats, according to Nessel, include threats against Stabenow in a message left on Jan. 5 and threatening remarks during a Jan. 19 conversation with one of Slotkin’s employees. In addition, Nessel’s office alleges that Thompson made a threatening phone call to Slotkin on April 30, 2020. Continue reading.

How the effort to deny the reality of the Jan. 6 attack is evolving

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It is probably not a strong indication that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) commands a lot of respect from his peers that the claims he offered during a hearing Tuesday about the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 generally were met with a shrug.

After claiming that he had a battery of questions for the officials testifying about security lapses on that day, Johnson instead spent his time delineating baseless claims about how the day unfolded written by a lone observer that had been published on a far-right website. The gist of the assessment is that since most of those present in D.C. that day were run-of-the-mill Trump supporters, those who stormed the Capitol must almost necessarily have been something else.

“He describes four different types of people: plainclothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake Trump protesters, and then a disciplined, uniformed column of attackers,” Johnson said of the article. “I think these are the people that probably planned this.” Continue reading.

DC police chief stunned by ‘reluctance’ to deploy Guard during Jan. 6 attack

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The head of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) told senators Tuesday that there was an initial “reluctance” to send the National Guard during the Jan. 6 rioting at the U.S. Capitol — a resistance that left him “surprised” and “stunned,” given the gravity of the violent attack.

Testifying before a pair of Senate committees, acting Chief Robert Contee said that at 2:22 p.m. on Jan. 6 — more than an hour after his forces were summoned to the Capitol — he was part of an emergency phone call that included leaders of the Capitol Police, the National Guard and the Department of the Army.

“I was surprised at the reluctance to immediately send the National Guard to the Capitol grounds,” Contee told senators on the Rules and Homeland Security committees. Continue reading.

Lawmakers propose draft bill to create Capitol riot commission

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Congressional leaders are discussing draft legislation for a bipartisan commission that would investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, with the latest proposal giving Democrats more sway over its membership.

According to a senior Democratic aide, a draft bill under discussion would allow each of the four top House and Senate leaders of each party to appoint two members. President Biden would also choose three additional members, including the commission’s chair.

That would give Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Biden the ability to choose a total of seven members, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would choose a total of four members. Continue reading.

Oath Keeper Claims She Met with Secret Service Before Capitol Riot

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A leader of the far-right “Oath Keepers” group charged in the deadly U.S. Capitol riots said she was in Washington on Jan. 6 to provide security for legislators and meet with Secret Service agents, according to a court filing.

Jessica Watkins, 38, is one of nine associates of the anti-government group charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Prosecutors said Watkins entered the Capitol building illegally. According to a defense petition filed on Saturday: “Ms. Watkins did not engage in any violence or force at the Capitol grounds or in the Capitol.” Continue reading.

The Lost Hours: How Confusion and Inaction at the Capitol Delayed a Troop Deployment

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As violence grew out of control on Jan. 6, the head of the Capitol Police made an urgent request for the National Guard. It took nearly two hours to be approved.

WASHINGTON — At 1:09 p.m. on Jan. 6, minutes after protesters had burst through the barricades around the U.S. Capitol and began using the steel debris to assault the officers standing guard, the chief of the Capitol Police made a desperate call for backup. It took nearly two hours for officials to approve the deployment of the National Guard.

New details about what transpired over those 115 minutes on that dark, violent day — revealed in interviews and documents — tell a story of how chaotic decision-making among political and military leaders burned precious time as the rioting at the Capitol spiraled out of control.

Communication breakdowns, inaction and confusion over who had authority to call for the National Guard delayed a deployment of hundreds of troops who might have helped quell the violence that raged for hours. Continue reading.

‘Stop the Steal’ organization hasn’t filed IRS reports — and its registered agent has disappeared

A political nonprofit with ties to longtime Trump associate Roger Stone, which was supposedly created to challenge the 2020 election results, has missed two federal deadlines to disclose how much money it spent and received before and after the election. Furthermore, the law firm that employed the group’s registered agent told Salon that she no longer works there, and her LinkedIn page appears deactivated.

“Committee to Stop the Steal” was registered with the federal government as a 527 tax-exempt political organization on Oct. 16, a few weeks before the election, by a clerk at a Southern California personal injury firm called Jensen & Associates. The IRS does not require 527 groups to disclose their donors, but it does mandate that they publicize how much money they raise and spend, including in post-election and year-end reports. Committee to Stop the Steal has missed the deadlines for both.

Jensen & Associates is led by Paul Rolf Jensen, a friend of Stone’s who has represented the right-wing provocateur in an array of matters for at least two decades. The firm’s website appears to have been unattended in recent months, but an archived version from last February does not mention political work. While Jensen himself isn’t listed on the IRS registration for the Committee to Stop the Steal, the group’s listed address is a UPS Store mailbox located near the firm’s physical address, and its custodian of records, Ashley Maderos, worked at Jensen for a time as a post-bar law clerk. Continue reading.