Tag: Trump insurrection

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.

The death of Ashli Babbitt offers the purest distillation of Donald Trump’s view of justice

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The night of May 29, 2020, was a frightening one for President Donald Trump. The killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer had spawned massive protests throughout the country, including on the streets of Washington. Concerned about the unrest, the president’s protective detail moved him into a bunker inside the White House, a precautionary measure that Trump would later claim involved nothing more than a tour. (This was not true.)

Always seeking to project strength, Trump the next morning presented the situation as though he was a conquering general.

“Great job last night at the White House by the [Secret Service],” he wrote on Twitter. “ … I was inside, watched every move, and couldn’t have felt more safe.” He praised agents for letting the protesters “scream & rant,” noting that if any “got too frisky or out of line, [agents] would quickly come down on them, hard — didn’t know what hit them.” 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.

‘It’s a crime. So is insurrection’: Steve Schmidt slams anti-vax Republican’s ‘BS’ support of not vaccinating military

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Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt blasted U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) for announcing he supports members of the United States military who are threatening to “quit” if they are required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“The Army has directed commands to prepare to administer mandatory COVID-19 vaccines as early as Sept. 1, pending full Food and Drug Administration licensure,” Army Times reported late last week.

“I’ve been contacted by members of our voluntary military who say they will quit if the COVID vaccine is mandated,” said Congressman Massie, who has degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has suggested he is a science expert while calling climate change “pseudo science.” Continue reading.

Mo Brooks throws Trump under the bus in response to lawsuit that accuses him of inciting MAGA mob

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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) claims in a new court filing that he was asked by a White House official to speak at former president Donald Trump’s infamous “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Alabama Republican was given Trump’s endorsement for the U.S. Senate after making the speech, which a lawsuit alleges helped incite the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, but Brooks’ attorneys responded by insisting he only took part because the former president wanted him there.

“Brooks only gave the Ellipse Speech because the White House asked him to, in his capacity as a United States Congressman,” the new court filing says. “But for the White House request, Brooks would not have appeared at the Ellipse Rally.” Continue reading.

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.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger on the Moral Failure of Republicans and the Big Lie

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Since the horrifying events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois has been a consistent, if lonely, Republican voice speaking out against the big lie that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. After the sidelining of Representative Liz Cheney from leadership, Kinzinger, a 43-year-old Air Force veteran who was first elected to the House in 2010, was further entrenched as one of the most influential sitting Republican politicians willing to regularly and publicly denounce that dangerous fiction. Inhabiting that position is just about the last thing Kinzinger ever imagined his job would entail. “I made the decision early in my career that I would be willing to take a potentially career-ending vote,” says Kinzinger, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the attempted insurrection. “But I thought that vote would be for something like a Social Security reform bill. I never thought it would be for defending democracy.”

How does it feel to have your job these days? I could imagine there’s an even greater sense of purpose. I could also imagine it being demoralizing. You pretty much nailed it. The job has changed because there is so much mistrust. Both within the party and between parties. But yes, there is a sense of aggressive purpose. On the one hand, it’s important for me to do what I’m doing and to speak out. On the other hand, you look around since the election and not many more people have joined me in speaking out about the big lie, and that is a little discouraging.

Released Capitol rioter who wants to ‘play for all the marbles’ stockpiled weapons while awaiting trial

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Federal prosecutors are seeking to revoke the pre-trial release of a former police officer charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, after he purchased 34 guns. Investigators also found a partially assembled pipe bomb at his home.

Thomas Robertson, a former police officer in Rocky Mount, Va., was ordered by a judge not to possess guns following his arrest on several charges stemming from the insurrection, including felony disruption of an official proceeding and misdemeanor disorderly conduct in a restricted building. Robertson and another Rocky Mount officer, Jacob Fracker, were fired in the wake of their arrests after they posted photos of themselves inside the Capitol on social media.

Prosecutors filed a motion to revoke Robertson’s release on Wednesday, after FBI agents served a search warrant at his home, where they found the pipe bomb inside a box labeled “booby trap” in addition to numerous boxes of ammunition. Authorities also tracked online gun purchases made by Robertson, who was allegedly storing his arsenal at a local firearms dealership. Continue reading.

U.S. arrests more than a dozen in Capitol riot, among the most made public in a single day

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More than a dozen arrests in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were announced or unsealed Wednesday, revealing charges against alleged supporters of extremist right-wing groups including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and “boogaloo boys” movement, and individuals accused of attacking the property of news media.

The arrests ranked among the most made public in a single day and came as an alleged Oath Keepers member reached an unexpected plea deal with prosecutors in the largest conspiracy case brought against those accused of obstructing Congress as it met to confirm the 2020 election results.

Mark Grods, 54, of Mobile, Ala., became the second from the anti-government group publicly to flip in the 16-defendant conspiracy case and cooperate with prosecutors in the latest sign of movement in the investigation. Continue reading.