Tag: Trump insurrection

Capitol Rioters Blamed Antifa For The Insurrection. You’ll Never Guess What Happened Next.

They got arrested, not antifa.

Peter Stager was at the Jan. 6 “Save America” protest rally that descended into an insurrection after then-President Donald Trump told attendees to march on the U.S. Capitol and “show strength” as part of a plot to stop the counting of electoral votes taking place at that time.

“Death is the only remedy for what’s in that building,” Stager is heard saying in a video posted to social media that was recorded as the rioters approached the Capitol building.

Soon afterward, Stager could be seen using a wooden pole bearing an American flag to beat a Metropolitan police officer who had been dragged down the west-facing steps of the Capitol. Stager later told an acquaintance — who then reported him to federal investigators — “that he thought the person he was striking was ANTIFA,” the left-wing anti-fascist group that often clashes with the far-right, according to charging documents. The words “Metropolitan Police,” were clearly visible on the fallen officer’s clothing as Stager beat him. Stager was arrested in Arkansas on charges of civil disorder on Jan. 14.

Actions by Proud Boy at Capitol show ‘planning, determination, and coordination,’ U.S. alleges

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A police riot shield used to break a window, then a door kicked open from the inside — new court documents detail the first moments of the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead and more than 100 police officers injured.

A criminal complaint against two Montana brothers and a detention memo against a prominent member of the Proud Boys help explain how, the government believes, one segment of a mob overran a small, poorly defended line of Capitol Police officers. In these and other filings, prosecutors trace the actions of possible key instigators in the storming of the Capitol, including members of the Proud Boys — a far-right nationalist and nativist group with a history of violence — and other right-wing extremist groups.

According to prosecutors, citing surveillance video and social media, Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola was one of the first to lead the charge both outside and inside the Capitol, helping overwhelm police defenses after stealing an officer’s riot shield. Continue reading.

Feds Track Down Bearded Proud Boy Seen Smashing Capitol Window With Police Shield

Dominic ‘Spazzo’ Pezzola was allegedly one of the first people to shatter a window at the Capitol, allowing rioters to stream inside and unlock doors.

Prosecutors have arrested and charged two Proud Boys members on Friday—one of whom allegedly led hordes of angry MAGA supporters into the Capitol and spoke about killing Vice President Mike Pence “if given the chance,” according to court filings.

The FBI has identified Dominic Pezzola as the Capitol rioter known as “Spaz” seen breaking into the building with a police shield. According to a criminal complaint, Pezzola encouraged rioters after smashing the glass protecting the west side of the building.

Pezzola’s successful shattering of the window was one of the first breaches of the Capitol and allowed other rioters to stream inside and unlock doors for more people to storm the building. A series of open-source photographs also confirm Pezzola was the individual who broke the glass. Continue reading.

Montana Brothers Who Accosted Lone Black Cop During Capitol Riots Are Charged

Joshua and Jerod Hughes are accused of confronting Capitol Police cop Eugene Goodman, who heroically diverted the mob away from the Senate chambers.

Two Montana brothers accused of being among the first 10 people to storm the U.S. Capitol—before chasing a lone Black cop through the building and wreaking havoc inside the Senate chamber—have been charged.

Joshua Calvin Hughes and his brother Jerod Wade Hughes have been charged with a slew of offenses, including obstruction of an official proceeding, destruction of property, and entering the Capitol without authorization. The brothers are among more than 150 rioters who have been charged for the Jan. 6 insurrection, including several members of far-right organizations and former law enforcement officials.

Prosecutors allege the brothers were among the initial mob who broke into the building via a window and advanced toward the Senate chamber. The pair confronted Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who was alone trying to protect the Senate chamber and was caught on video heroically shoving one of the rioters and diverting the mob. Goodman ended up being chased through the hallways of the building and up the stairs. Continue reading.

Most Americans Blame Trump For Violence At Capitol Riot: Survey

White evangelicals are an exception, according to a new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute.

Most Americans blame former President Donald Trump, at least in part, for a mob of hundreds invading the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a new Public Religion Research Institute survey.

About 57% of U.S. adults surveyed said Trump bears a lot of responsibility for the violent actions of the rioters, with another 16% saying he bears at least a little responsibility. The survey, published Thursday, found about 25% said the former president is not at all responsible.

White evangelical Protestants, who have been a significant part of Trump’s base, stood apart from other religious groups on this question. Only 23% of white evangelicals said Trump bears a lot of responsibility for the riot, compared to 74% of all Protestants of color who said the same.  Continue reading.

‘Stop the Steal’ Protest Organizer Thinks Trump Foes Should be Executed

An organizer of the “Stop the Steal” protest that descended into a failed insurrection on Jan. 6 called for the “execution” of anyone who helped Joe Biden legitimately defeat Trump, according to a video unearthed by Mother Jones. At a “Stop the Steal” rally in Huntington Beach, California, on Dec. 12, Alan Hostetter told the crowd: “President Trump must be inaugurated… the enemies and traitors of America both foreign and domestic must be held accountable. And they will. There must be long prison terms, while execution is the just punishment for the ringleaders of this coup.” Hotsetter, founder of American Phoenix Project, appeared at the rally beside former GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. 

Another “Stop the Steal” rally organizer, Ali Abbas, was filmed two weeks before the Jan. 6 riot saying that his group wasn’t violent—“yet.”

View the post here.

‘A world of denial’: Conservative writer blasts GOP voters for being ‘delusional’

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Conservative Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin has made no secret of the fact that on January 20, she was delighted to see President Joe Biden sworn into office and former President Donald Trump exit the White House. Rubin was hoping — not expecting, but hoping — that the GOP would abandon Trumpism after Trump was voted out of office. Instead, Rubin laments in a column published this week, Republicans are doubling down on it. And she argues that a party that has been overtaken by dangerous extremists and insurrectionists must be kept away “from the levers of power.”

Trump is facing a second impeachment trial following the violent insurrection on January 6, when a violent mob of pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol Building in the hope of preventing Congress from certifying Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 presidential election. Yet many Republicans, Rubin notes, are still unwavering Trump supporters.

“The vast majority of Republicans prefer to live in a world of denial, even at the price of refusing to hold the instigator of a domestic terrorist attack responsible,” Rubin laments. “The party’s base, at this point, is as delusional as Republican ‘leaders’ who refuse to convict Trump for instigating the assault and who treat conspiracy-monger Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as a member in good standing.” Continue reading.

Did Trump and His Supporters Commit Treason?

For years, Carlton F. W. Larson, a treason scholar and law professor at the University of California, Davis, has swatted away loose treason accusations by both Donald Trump and his critics. Though the term is popularly used to describe all kinds of political betrayals, the Constitution defines treason as one of two distinct, specific acts: “levying War” against the United States or “adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” Colluding with Russia, a foreign adversary but not an enemy, is not treason, nor is bribing Ukraine to investigate a political rival. Ordering the military to abandon Kurdish allies in Syria, effectively strengthening isis, is not treason, either—though that is getting warmer. During Trump’s Presidency, Larson told me, his colleagues teased him by asking, “Is it treason yet?” He always said no. But the insurrection of January 6th changed his answer, at least with regard to Trump’s followers who attacked the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress’s certification of the election. “It’s very clear that would have been seen as ‘levying war,’ ” he said.

Both of Trump’s impeachments, in 2019 and 2021, were for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” but the Constitution also names treason as an offense for which a President can be impeached. Individuals, including a former President, may also be criminally punished for treason, perhaps the highest offense in our legal system, carrying the possibility of the death penalty. Fearing abuse of treason charges, the Framers gave treason a narrow definition and made it extremely difficult to prove.

The Treason Clause dictates that a conviction can rest only “on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.” Partly as a result, there have been around forty treason prosecutions. No American has been executed for treason against the U.S., although Hipolito Salazar (a Mexican who officials thought was American) was federally executed for treason during the Mexican-American War, and some states have executed people for treason, including the abolitionist John Brown. Continue reading.

Behind Trump’s Words, A Criminal State Of Mind

For the senators who will sit in judgment of Donald Trump’s second impeachment a crucial question will be his state of mind on his day of rage, January 6, and his weeks of rage leading up to the attack on the Capitol. 

Trump’s defense cherry-picks a few of his words on that day, pointing out that he used the word “peaceful” while speaking to the White House rally that preceded the insurrection. They ignore that he told them to “fight.” Immediately after a Proud Boys rally in Washington that ended with knifings and beatings in the streets, he urged his rabble to come to Washington for a “wild” demonstration to prevent the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College.

Proving his culpability, however, will depend on more than just his words before the insurrection. Continue reading.

Republican Ties to Extremist Groups Are Under Scrutiny

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A number of members of Congress have links to organizations and movements that played a role in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

WASHINGTON — The video’s title was posed as a question, but it left little doubt about where the men who filmed it stood. They called it “The Coming Civil War?” and in its opening seconds, Jim Arroyo, who leads an Arizona chapter of Oath Keepers, a right-wing militia, declared that the conflict had already begun.

To back up his claim, Mr. Arroyo cited Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona, one of the most far-right members of Congress. Mr. Gosar had paid a visit to the local Oath Keepers chapter a few years earlier, Mr. Arroyo recounted, and when asked if the United States was headed for a civil war, the congressman’s “response to the group was just flat out: ‘We’re in it. We just haven’t started shooting at each other yet.’”

Less than two months after the video was posted, members of the Oath Keepers were among those with links to extremist groups from around the country who took part in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, prompting new scrutiny of the links between members of Congress and an array of organizations and movements that espouse far-right beliefs. Continue reading.