This follow-up to the January 6 Capitol assault is
from the AP written by two fine reporters with this headline:
“U.S.
narrows in on organized extremists in Capitol siege probe”
As members of the Oath
Keepers (NY TIMES), a paramilitary group, shouldered their way through
the mob and up the steps to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, their plans were
clear authorities say as someone commanded over an encrypted messaging app that
some extremists used to communicate during the siege: “Arrest this assembly, we
have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud.”
A little while earlier, Proud
Boys (SPLC) carrying two-way radios and wearing earpieces spread out
and tried to blend in with the crowd as they invaded the Capitol led by a man
assigned “war powers to oversee the group's attack,” prosecutors say.
These two extremist groups that traveled to Washington along
with thousands of other Trump supporters weren't whipped into an impulsive
frenzy by then-President Donald J. Trump that day, officials say.
They'd been laying attack plans. Now, their internal
communications and other evidence emerging in court papers and in hearings show
how authorities are trying to build a case that small cells hidden within the masses mounted an organized,
military-style assault on the heart of American democracy as Assistant U.S.
Attorney Jason McCullough said during a recent hearing: “This was not simply a
march. This was an incredible attack on our institutions of government.”
The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers make up a fraction of the more than 300 Trump supporters
charged so far in the siege that led to Trump's second impeachment and resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police
officer. But several of their leaders, members, and associates have become
the central targets of the DOJ’s sprawling investigation. That could mean more
serious criminal charges for some rioters. On the other hand, evidence of the advance
planning could fuel Trump's and his supporters' claims that he did not incite the riot and therefore should
not be liable for it.
Defense attorneys have accused prosecutors of distorting
their clients’ words and actions to falsely portray the attack as a
premeditated, orchestrated insurrection instead of a spontaneous outpouring of
election-fueled rage to stop Congress' certification of Trump's defeat by
Democrat Joe Biden on that day that was overseen by VP Pence.
Also, a case against a man described as a leader in the
Proud Boys attack took a hit last week when a judge ordered him released while
he awaits trial, calling some of the evidence against him “weak to say the
least.”
As far as the Oath Keepers – they began readying for
violence as early as last November. Communications show the group discussing
logistics, weapons, and training, including “two days of wargames.”
Ohio member, Jessica Watkins, told a recruit in last November,
according to court documents: “I need you fighting fit by the inauguration. If
Biden becomes president our way of life as we know it is over. Our Republic
would be over. Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill, and die for our
rights.” She also said in a message later that same month.
As January 6 neared, both groups discussed stationing a
“quick reaction force” outside Washington that could bring in weapons “if
something goes to hell,” that according to court documents.
Days before the attack, one man suggested getting a boat to
ferry “heavy weapons across the Potomac River into their waiting arms.”
That man, Thomas Caldwell of VA said last November in message to Jessica Watkins (cited above) on January 1, via Facebook decrying what he viewed as a “rigged election,” saying: “I believe we will have to get violent to stop this, and we must smite them now and drive them down.”
There were plans
for some Oath Keepers to be there in “grey man” clothing
without any identifiable militia gear so they could blend in with the crowd.
In a January 4 Oath Keepers email said: “For every Oath
Keeper you see, there are at least two you don’t see.”
Two days before the attack, the Proud Boys’ top leader, Enrique Tarrio, was arrested
shortly after he arrived in Washington and was charged with vandalizing a BLM banner
at a historic Black church during a December protest. Tarrio was ordered to
stay away from the nation’s capital, thus Ethan Nordean was given “war powers”
to take charge of the group's January 6 activities, prosecutors say.
Nordean, a Proud Boys chapter president from Washington State
known as Ruffio Panman, tapped his social media following to solicit donations
of money and tactical gear for the rally, prosecutors said.
On the day of Tarrio’s arrest, Nordean posted a link to a
podcast in which he discussed baseless claims about fraud in the election, saying:
“Democracy is dead? Well, then no peace for you. No democracy, no peace.”
Publicly, Tarrio announced on social media that the Proud
Boys wouldn’t be wearing their customary yellow-and-black polo shirts on
January 6 so they could be “incognito.” Joseph Biggs, a self-described Proud
Boys organizer from FL echoed that same view in a social media post directed at
counter-protesters, saying: “We will be blending in as one of you. You won’t
see us. We are going to smell like you, move like you, and look like you.”
Privately, according to prosecutors, the Proud Boys arranged
for members to communicate using specific frequencies on BaoFeng radios,
Chinese-made devices that can be programmed for use on hundreds of frequencies,
making it difficult for outsiders to eavesdrop.
One of the Proud Boys who heeded the call to meet in DC was
Dominic Pezzola who traveled from Syracuse, NY on January 5 and stayed with
other members at a hotel there, authorities say.
Another group of members came from the Kansas City area.
Investigators believe their chapter leader, William Chrestman, brought a helmet, a gas mask, and an ax handle that he would conceal
as a flag. They were ready for a fight, prosecutors say.
Even long before the riot, Trump refused to condemn the
Proud Boys during his September 29 debate with Joe Biden, instead saying the group should “stand back and stand by.” Proud Boys members celebrated those Trump words
on social media (especially the “stand by” part), even before Trump later
claimed he did not to know who they were or the word impact.
It's unclear whether the Oath Keepers were on the White
House radar at that same time.
My 2 cents: More on all
this at
the AP link above. As I said, very good reporting. Now we wait and see what
the prosecution results in, and hopefully it will mean some very long jail time,
and rightly so.
For anyone who thinks
Trump did not know or even approve or bless all that January 6 planning and
rioting – all designed for his benefit by disrupting the EC final election certification
and allow him to stay in office, that what I say to them “how naïve you are and
totally out there in la-la land wearing a tin foil hat.” Trump knew that be
sure he did.
Thanks for stopping by.
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