Meet the January 6
Rioters:
In Their Own Words.
THERE ARE MANY REASONS which explain why I can’t stomach Donald J. Trump. So let’s stick, in this post, with his plot to attack democracy from within and above. That attack continues, even, as the next election approaches.
Just one day short of the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021 riot in Washington D.C., the former president could be heard claiming that leftist types and government agents were “leading the charge” during the violence.
Lately, he’s taken to calling the January 6 prisoners “hostages,” and GOP sycophants are aping his language.
Pardon my language, but fuck!
The evidence to the
contrary is massive and easy to find.
Trump firing up the crowd on January 6. |
***
FORTUNATELY, we can read for ourselves what the rioters have said. They weren’t a bunch of patriotic lemmings. Court records are clear. Many of the defendants spoke to reporters as violence unfolded. Others posted on social media, before and afterward, after videotaping friends and themselves.
A shocking number express a willingness to kill in his name.
I’ve looked up the stories of every rioter charged to date. In the first section, below, we look at a sampling of recent cases. In the second section rioters are numbered in the order I read about their arrests. In a number of examples, those who were at the Capitol, but not charged, are included.
(That
includes Roseanne Boyland, who was trampled to death by the mob.)
You can click on the links if you want more detail. Rioters whose names are underlined have pled guilty to, or been convicted of crimes. Names in CAPITALS are persons who have been sentenced.
Section One: Recent Arrests and Updates.
UPDATED TO APRIL 24, 2024
Who is ready for civil war? Dead Rebel soldier - 1865. |
132. BRANDON FELLOWS was recently sentenced to 37 months in prison. He was one of many rioters ready for blood:
“Guns…That’s it. One word. The First
Amendment didn’t work, we pull out the Second. We’re all civilized people and
we love going to work and praying to God on Sundays and having nice family
barbeques…and that was every single person there. No one wants to take this
and…and die for our rights, but dying for our rights is the only option [emphasis
added] that any person with a logical brain sees right now. This is it.
*
312. ROBERT SCOTT PALMER: Palmer was hit in the stomach with a rubber bullet and showed off his bruise. For his part, he was filmed spraying police with a chemical agent. He has been sentenced to five years and ten months in prison.
Now he admits, “Trump supporters were lied to by those that at the time had great power, meaning the then sitting president, as well as those acting on his behalf.”
(Yeah, we knew that.)
(Rioters #308-362 can be found here.)
*
“Execution
is the just punishment of the ringleaders of this coup”
325. DEREK
KINNISON: In June, 2021, six California men, all members
of the right-wing Three Percenters group, including Kinnison, were arrested by federal authorities. They were charged with conspiracy in the
attack on Congress. We have already noted two of these six on our list: Allan
Hostetter (#198 on our list)and Russell Taylor (#199.)
To get a good idea of what type of men these are, and on whose side they stand, Mr. Hostetter is accused of advocating “violence against certain groups and individuals that supported the 2020 election results.”
Speaking at a rally in favor of Donald Trump’s “right” to enjoy a second term, Hostetter added, “Execution is the just punishment of the ringleaders of this coup” against his favorite president.
All six men are said to have communicated through social media, with Mr. Taylor calling for “able bodied individuals that are going to DC on Jan. 6” and warning them they should be “ready and willing to fight.”
Kinnison admitted that he and his friends would be coming to D.C. ready for war, bringing “bear spray, knives, flags, plates[,] goggles, helmets.” Members of one militia group involved in communicating with Kinnison and this crew, were recruited on the principle that they would be “comfortable with violence.”
(Since the real coup was being pushed by Team Trump, it might be fun to ask Hostetter if he still thinks execution is the correct remedy.)
On November 8, 2023, Mr. Kinnison and his pals are all convicted. His lawyer says his client was “a patriotic citizen who wanted to show his support for President Trump,” and believed he “was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. He regrets his involvement in the events of January 6.”
Trump, of course, is still roaming free.
Kinnison receives his sentence on April 19, 2024: 33 months in prison. He apologizes for his actions on the day of the riot, and say he is a man of faith, and will pray for the judge and prosecutors, too.
Trump supporter, believed in
a “stolen election,” believed in violence.
*
326. FELIPE ANTONIO MARTINEZ: See above.
Mr. Martinez is convicted on November 8, 2023 – and, still, no proof in any court to show that the last presidential election was stolen. In one message to his insurrectionist-curious pals, Martinez expressed his readiness to fight, explaining, “Our President is mustering his troops.”
Another message posted in the group chat read, “This is tyranny and our constitution states we can put b**ches 6 ft. deep[.]”
On April 19, 2024, he is sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Trump “sent us,” believed in
a stolen election, believed in violence.
*
327. RONALD MELE: See above.
Mr. Mele is convicted on November 8, 2023 – and, still, no proof in any court to show that the last presidential election was stolen.
In the wake of the riot, Mr. Mele proudly created a “Capitol Action
Badge” that he and the other conspirators could wear. He also posted a picture
of guns
and ammunition, he and his comrades brought to their hotel,
in preparation for the riot.
(In jail???)
Mele and his pals all get hit with sentences on April 19, 2024. The cost to Mr. Mele of listening to Trump? Thirty-three months in prison.
Trump supporter, believed in
a “stolen election,” believed in violence.
*
328. ERIK WARNER: See above. In
his case, Warner posted a picture, modeled after The Shining, hinting that he’d
be coming after Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez with an axe on January 6.
Warner's dream for January 6? |
Killing a member of
Congress - funny, right?
A former Marine, he is convicted on November 8, 2023 – and, still, 1,099 days since the last presidential election:
0 proof
That any significant voter fraud occurred.
He is finally sentenced on April 19, 2024, now 1,263 days since the election. Warner gets 27 months in jail.
Let’s check to see how much proof we have now, showing there was significant voter fraud in 2020.
Okay, still,
0 proof
(We can also add that all four of these men will spend three additional years on probation, and all will be fined $2,000)
Trump supporter, believed in
a “stolen election,” believed in violence.
*
Cholod attacks. |
857. Raymond Cholod: According to the Statement of Facts in his case, Cholod was clear about why he came to D.C. While battling the police (above), he shouted, “This is our house . . . This is our fucking house. They fucking stole it and you fucking know it. They stole it and you know it. They fucking stole it.”
(Rioters #801-874 can be found here.)
*
967. SCOTT MILLER: Mr. Miller took off from work on January 6, 2021, telling his boss he had totaled his truck and had to go shopping for new transportation. What he really needed to do was head for Washington D.C. and participate in the riot.
The Smithsburg, Maryland man, 36, was arrested just nine days before Christmas 2022, nearly two years after the riot. Initially, he found himself facing multiple charges, including one for felony assault. That is: using a long wooden pole to batter several officers.
He remained under home confinement starting in December 2022, and had to seek special permission to leave the home and get a haircut. He agreed to plead guilty and see what his final punishment would be.
In January 2024, his formal guilty plea is entered.
The Justice Department includes this reminder in its news release, regarding his arrest:
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Originally, I had him listed as:
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION UNKNOWN
AT THIS TIME.)
New information, by way of Kyle Cheney, the senior legal affairs writer at Politico helps clear up where Miller stands. According to court documents, prior to the attack, he made his beliefs clear.
Yep. Neo-Nazi:
Only the National
Justice Party has the will to break this corrupt cabal once and for all. We are
mobilizing the toughest, most resilient and most politically savvy elements of White
America in order to wage a real struggle for our country and for our birthright…The
sham of this election is the wake up call to all decent White Americans to the
existential peril we face, to the ruthless and malevolent nature of the system,
and the need to put aside all fear and hesitation in the fight for our future.
He also wrote:
If one takes
a deep enough look into who has been driving the communist and capitalist
empires of the 20th century they can see the dark hands of Judaism being rubbed
together behind closed doors while their puppets and pawns fight each other in
public to fight for their jewish masters.
“National socialism,” Miller writes, “opposes the evil forces of Judaism so that the best people of the world can flourish and be perfected.”
And, for fun, Miller had a Halloween costume – a police shirt, bearing the name “Chauvin,” and the words, “Minneapolis Police,” to honor the man who knelt on George Floyd’s neck until he died.
At sentencing, Mr. Miller’s wife spoke – and said she was working to help him rid himself of “disgusting” beliefs. She was 20 months pregnant, she said, and Judge Tanya Chutken was sympathetic to her, and the couple’s soon to be born child. She told the defendant that fatherhood could be “life changing,” and said she believed, “Every person is capable of redemption.”
Still, he would be jailed for 66 months.
Right-winger, he believed the election was stolen.
(Rioters #950-1128 can be found here.)
1028. DAVID ELIZALDE: First Class Petty Officer Elizalde was serving aboard the U.S.S. Harry Truman in January 2020. Feeling the call of the president, to “get wild,” he took leave from his base in Norfolk, Virginia and headed for D.C., in time to join the riot in support of President Trump.
Arrested in April 2023, he became the fifth active duty service person charged in connection with the attack on democracy.
(Roughly 13% of all those
charged have some military background.)
The defendant was inside the Capitol for only three minutes, but long enough to jeopardize his military career.
And have we mentioned?
As of December 11, 2023, 1,133 days have passed since Joe Biden smoked Donald Trump in the last presidential election.
Not a scrap of proof has so far been uncovered to prove that the election was anything but legitimate.
As for Mr. Elizalde, he decided to go for a jury trial, wasted a lot of time and money, and still got convicted on a single misdemeanor charge. Had he done what many non-violent rioters did – and taken a plea deal – he almost certainly would have had to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor.
But Donald’s lips are still moving – and that means he’s still lying about what happened in November 2020.
On April 19, 2024, sure enough, 1,263 days have passed since the last election; and Donald is still lying about winning; and courts are still not finding any evidence of significant fraud; and the judge cuts Elizalde a break, in light of his good record of service, and gives him only 30 days, home confinement.
He was also fined $2,500.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER.)
*
1070-1071. STEVEN MICHAEL DRAGOO and KIMBERLY RAE DRAGOO: The husband and wife team from St. Joseph, Missouri made it to D.C. just in time to join the mob that stormed the Capitol. Evidence showed Mrs. Dragoo entering through a broken window – which she later told F.B.I. agents struck her as “funny.” Court documents also note that the missus appeared in a news article about the riot from New Press Now, in which she was quoted as saying: “Where I was everybody was happy ... I didn’t see anything I saw on the news.”
The couple was interviewed just two weeks after the riot, admitted they had been inside, but were not charged until more than two years later. Kimberly even started her own “Stop the Steal” page on Facebook.
Oddly enough, in another video, she filmed
herself, she can be heard describing the scene in much less peaceful terms:
“They stormed the Capitol … We got stuck in
the crowd for like an hour … I’m not getting back in it again.” In addition,
Kimberly Dragoo stated, “They stormed the Capitol a while ago. I called my
sister and my son. He said that they are not sharing it, but anyway, there were
some guys who walked by that got maced. I think they are getting ready . . .
I’ve seen another crowd go up there – getting ready to do it again.”
According
to court documents:
During the video, flash bang diversionary
devices can be heard going off in the background as Kimberly Dragoo asked,
“What is that?” An individual I believe, based on my knowledge of his
appearance and voice, to be Steven Dragoo replied, “I think they must just be
smoke canisters.” Loud emergency vehicle sirens can be heard in the video,
police vehicles are seen arriving at the Capitol, and gray smoke is visibly
rising from the area. From a different location within the then-closed grounds
of the Capitol, Kimberly Dragoo reported – and I have confirmed by watching the
video – that she also filmed a large contingent of Metropolitan Police Officers
from a close distance as the officers arrived in riot gear and walked toward
the Capitol Building, ignoring taunts and objects thrown from the crowd.
Steven was so proud of his wife, and willingness to riot, that he couldn’t resist taking her picture that infamous day.
In other pictures, also taken by Steven, his wife seems to really be enjoying her time:
The happy husband and wife faced two federal counts, each. As of August 12, 2023, the two have agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor.
Each.
UPDATE:
In April 2024, prosecutors ask for Mrs. Dragoo to be sentenced to 21 days. They
note that even after she was charged, and local news reported that fact, Kim
decided to respond
by saying “no charges have been filed!!!” One might suspect, should she be
canned, that she will tell other prisoners, “I’m not in this jail.”
UPDATE #2: Now we’ll find out. On April 19, we learn – and she learns – that she will be spending the next three years on probation, and the next two weeks in the slammer. Mr. Dragoo will not have the chance to study the prison system from within, but will spend three years on probation – and can the pair both have the same probation officer, to give them a break.
Mr. Dragoo, however, is hit with a bill for $5,500 in fines and restitution.
Trump supporters,
Kimberly, at least, believed
the election was stolen.
*
1088. Nathan Baer: Mr. Baer was quickly identified after the attack, having joined the battle in front of a tunnel entrance into the Capitol. It was here that Officer Michael Fanone was dragged into the mob and came to fear for his life.
The battle in the tunnel was intense. Baer - circled in green. |
*
1096. CODY LEE TIPPETT: Tippett was arrested after he appeared in pictures posted by Dustin Martin (#1095 on our list). Martin explained on social media that he and “Cody” were headed to D.C. “to support President Trump.” In one open-source video from January 6, another member of the mob emerges, saying officers had “started shooting at us,” adding, “rubber bullets, it hurts.”
Tippett left the Capitol, via window, at around 2:53 p.m. The two friends continued to join in battle against the police. Martin “is hit directly in the face” by police chemical spray. He will later message a friend, “It was worth getting sprayed it hurt like a bitch I thought I was going to be blind ...”
Tippett
is sentenced to 30 days in jail. He’ll spend three years on probation, and owes
a $500 fine.
*
1239-1240. Daniel Valdez and Payton Valdez: It is never a good day for a family, when dad (Daniel) can post on social media, regarding his son, “it looks like Payton and I are going to get arrested.” In one video from January 6, Payton can be heard saying, “The next time we come back, it ain’t gonna be fucking unarmed. That’s for goddamn sure.” Father and son were hit with misdemeanor charges, but no felonies.
Maybe next time.
(Rioters #1129-1394 can be found here.)
*
1247. Gregory C. Yetman:
The gentleman from New Jersey was, at the time of the riot, serving as a member
of the New Jersey National Guard – ironically, as a police sergeant. Yetman has
admitted he was at the Capitol that day, but insists he is not the man in the photo
below, using
an industrial sprayer to hit a line of police with chemical irritants.
Authorities, however, say he is.
*
1415. Charles Espinosa: Mr. Espinosa appears to have shown up for the riot armed with a large, fixed-blade knife. And, like so many rioters, he had to share (allegedly) proof of his behavior on social media – in his case on Instagram.
According to the Statement of Facts in his case, one video from January 6, shows the defendant on the steps of the Capitol speaking to the crowd through a megaphone, held by another rioter, saying, “I think this should be happening in every single major city in the country.”
(Rioters #1395-1438 can be found here.)
*
“Howie Feltersnatch.”
1417. Steve Saxiones: The Texas man, and Proud
Boy, came to D.C. and joined the attack on police lines defending barricades in
front of the Capitol. He was briefly detained that day by badly outnumbered
police. Saxiones is
accused of showing up, dressed to riot, and ready to engage. After joining the
fight over the bike rack barricade, he grabbed a female officer in what she
later called a “wrestling move” and “tried to “take
her to the ground.”
According to investigators, Mr. Saxiones, had a vanity
social media on Telegram under the alias, “Howie Feltersnatch.” During one
exchange of messages, three days before the attack, a member of the chat group
posted: “Gonna
be war soon ……”
The original poster responded, “Yes Sir time to stack those
bodies in front of Capitol Hill[.]”
Section Two: Who the Rioters Were.
In this section, rioters are listed in the order I read about their cases. The first arrestees had often left a broad social media footprint. So we know quite a bit about who they were and their motivations.
Again: These are not
harmless people. They didn’t need to be “led on” by leftist types or F.B.I.
“plants” in an otherwise “peaceful” crowd.
Part I – “Trump Sent
Us.”
(R.I.P) Roseanne Boyland: She went to D.C. to support Trump, because
she believed he won the 2020 election. A QAnon thinker (that’s an oxymoron),
she was trampled to death by the mob.
1. TOMMY FREDERICK ALLAN: He believed the election was stolen.
Before the attack, he posted, “Fine! Here [sic] my Roar you fucking communist
bastards. Give me freedom or give me death.”
BLOGGER’S NOTE: Keep in mind: Many of these rioters are ready for battle, which means they are ready to die.
But also to kill.
“The greatest president ever.”
2. FELIPE MARQUEZ went to
D.C. “to protest against communism and prostitution.” A QAnon believer, he said
he learned the truth from Trump.
3. KENNETH
GRAYSON hoped Vice President Pence would
refuse to count all the electoral votes. “OR IM THERE IF TRUMP TELLS US TO STORM
THE [expletive] CAPITAL IMA DO THAT THEN!” he posted.
4. NOLAN
COOKE said he was going to Washington D.C. because he
“wanted to be heard, and to be part of the “revolution.”
5. WILLIAM
VOGEL told people before the riot that he believed the
election had been stolen.
6. SIMONE
MELISSA GOLD railed about vaccinations and
mask mandates. Gold was all in on Trump’s idea of taking hydroxychloroquine to
protect against COVID-19.
7. JOHN HERBERT STRAND: He called himself a “proud patriot,” said he was standing up for Trump.
“WE ARE
NEVER CONCEDING A STOLEN ELECTION,” he warned.
BLOGGER’S NOTE: To this date – no matter what date you read this – no court in this great land has found any evidence of significant voter fraud. I promise, if that changes, I’ll alter this post.
8. VAUGHN GORDON traveled all the way from Louisiana to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally.
9. TROY ANTHONY SMOCKS: Smocks called Trump “the greatest president ever.” Said if the effort to stop the certification failed, he and others would “return on January 19, 2021, carrying our weapons.”
You
know: the day before the Biden inauguration.
10. ANDREW
HATLEY went to D.C. to attend “the protests against the
certification of the election.”
11. MATTHEW
COUNCIL had worked on
an unsuccessful Republican campaign in North Carolina.
12. GRACYN DAWN COURTRIGHT: The clueless young woman was attending the University of Kentucky at the time of the riot. She believed posting on social media would gain attention.
“INFAMY IS JUST AS GOOD AS FAME,” she wrote.
(LIKELY TRUMP FAN; NOT DEFINITIVE.)
13. JENNY
LOUISE CUDD: After the attack, she posted,
“We did break down Nancy Pelosi’s office door and somebody stole her
gavel.” Also: “F*** yes, I am proud of my actions. I f****** charged the
Capitol today with patriots.”
14. ELIEL
ROSA: A friend of Cudd, he worked on the campaign of Jamie Berryhill, a Texas Republican who ran for a seat in Congress.
Paul
Davis: Davis was not charged, but said he was at the
Capitol because the election was not “legitimate.” “We’re all
trying to get into the Capitol to stop this, and this is what’s happening,” he
told a reporter.
15. ANTOINE BRODNAX: Brodnax is a rapper, and said he went to the Capitol to get material for his music.
Could be a government plant, I suppose. But I don’t “suppose.” I like to stick to the proven facts.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION UNKNOWN.)
“Where We Go One, We Go All.”
16. MICHAEL SHANE DAUGHTRY: On November 2, 2020, the day before the election, he offered to sell worried “patriots” AR-15s and ammo, if the vote didn’t go Trump’s way. (It didn’t.)
He
later posted: “Ain’t our Purple Anti-Liberal Bullets
pretty.”
17. KEVIN STRONG: Flying above his home, Strong had a flag emblazoned with the letters: “WW1WGA.” That’s the QAnon abbreviation standing for “Where We Go One, We Go All.”
Some of these poor QAnon dorks believe John F. Kennedy is going to come back and help Trump drain the swamp!
(And you think Biden and Trump are old!)
18. NICHOLAS DECARLO: Here we have the first Proud Boy on our list, the first member of that right-wing group. (There will be dozens.) Like his hero, DeCarlo referred to the media as “the Enemy of the American People.”
Who else hated an unfettered free press?
This guy:
Hitler. |
19. PATRICK ALONZO STEDMAN: Who was Stedman? He tells us if we really want to know. “I was pretty much in the first wave, and we broke down the doors and climbed up the back part of the Capitol building and got all the way into the chambers,” he reported on the day of the attack. He felt “grief” over the election of President Biden.
CLAIMED HE SAW AN ANTIFA INDIVIDUAL AT THE RIOT.
20. Tyler Ethridge was a youth pastor, back home. In one video he said he had a “radical love for this nation,” adding that he believed that the “prophets” said Trump should be president for two terms.
(Voters said, “Nope.”)
21. MELODY
STEELE- SMITH: A long-time Trump supporter.
After the riot she posted, “I was there. I’m trying to figure out how I could
be there all day and miss all this violence and destruction I’m seeing on tv. I
think photos for the news were staged.” (She should have talked to Rioter
#19, or Rioters #23 and #24.)
22. JACOB LEWIS: Tipsters said Lewis was gathering guns and ammunition in preparation for violence on January 6, and that he was going to Washington to stop the certification of the votes.
CLAIMED HE SAW ANTIFA AT THE RIOT.
23. MARISSA
A. SUAREZ: Described her role and what she
saw that day: “When we found out Pence f---ed us, we
all stormed the Capitol building and everyone forced entry and started breaking
s---. It was like a scene out of a movie.”
24. PATRICIA TODISCO traveled to the capital with Suarez. Here’s how she described the scene at the Capitol: “Shit was crazy inside..everything was broken. People were flipping out.”
CLAIMED SHE SAW ANTIFA AT THE RIOT.
25. EDUARD
FLOREA: His wife told police Eduard had been “radicalized”
by the Proud Boys. “Donald Trump is a cult leader, and his legacy
will be the Capitol riots, the Proud Boys, and Parler [a right-leaning social
media site],” she said. Eduard was arrested again later for threatening to kill
U.S. Senator Ralph Warnock (D-Ga.).
26. ROBERT
SNOW: One of the least dangerous rioters, but still did his
mite to overturn election results. The 79-year-old told authorities he drove
all the way from Arkansas, just to hear Trump speak.
27. JACOB G. HILES posted his plans on social media for the day of the attack: “Feelin cute…might start a revolution later, IDK – in Capitol Hill.” His communications with a police officer sympathetic to the goals of the MAGA mob lead to the arrest of that officer, Michael Angelo Riley, #1037 on our list.
“This is our 1776!”
28. BRADLEY WAYNE WEEKS: In videos he shot on January 6, 2021, Weeks talks about “having to break things” to get into the building. “We’ve gotten through, and we are going to take back the Capitol!” he exulted. “We’re taking back our country! This is our 1776!”
(Again: killing is implied – but not Redcoats this time.)
29-30. ISRAEL TUTROW and JOSHUA WAGNER: The two young men drove to D.C. together. A tipster told F.B.I. agents that Wagner, “vehemently opposes Joseph Biden as President.” Even Tutrow’s lawyer admitted his client was “misinformed” regarding the 2020 election.
Yeah.
Biden won, you fool.
31-32. DUSTIN THOMPSON and ROBERT ANTHONY LYON: Thompson’s lawyer said his client was “inspired” by Trump’s lies, and believed the election was stolen. At trial, Thompson testified he believed we were going to lose our country if Trump wasn’t given a second term.
Lyon is
his Trump-loving pal.
33. ANDREW
WILLIAMS: Williams’s lawyer told the judge, in
mitigation for his client’s actions, that Trump had “encouraged despicable
behavior.”
34. RILEY
JUNE WILLIAMS: I had to do some serious
digging to find out where Ms. Williams stood. She was young, and
I thought she might finally be the Antifa type, I kept hearing
about. It turned out she was both a wide-eyed Trump fan and a white supremacist, neo-Nazi type of
gal.
35-36. CHANCE ANTHONY UPTMORE and JAMES HERMAN UPTMORE: Father James, and son Chance, took a road trip to D.C. – a bonding experience – to hear Trump ramble in a speech about how he won a landslide victory.
CHANCE CLAIMED HE SAW ANTIFA AT THE RIOT.
37. BRIAN
GUNDERSEN: A person with a close personal
relationship to the defendant described him as “an
avid supporter of former President Trump and a follower of commentator Nick
Fuentes, a far-right commentator.” Nick is the neo-Nazi guy who says
Hitler didn’t go far enough.
38. Christopher Raphael Spencer: Christopher’s dad told a reporter that his son believed Biden’s victory in 2020 was stolen.
Also,
he and his boy are QAnon fans.
39. BARTON
WADE SHIVELY may have been or may be a member
of the “Three Percenters,” a right-wing group. He served seven years with the
Marines.
“Trump is my president.”
40. Michael Sparks: Sparks was the first rioter to climb through a broken window, into the Capitol. Like so many others that day, he believed the election had been stolen, and said he was ready to die for his freedom. At one point, he posted on social media, “We want a civil war just to be clear.”
Implied: A willingness to kill Americans who voted against Trump.
41. JORGE
A. RILEY: Somehow, Democratic politicians
never show up on this list, but Republican politicians do. And Riley
does. “I’m
here to see what my President called me to DC for,” he explained.
Jamie
Allman: Mr. Allman was not charged, but was present on January 6.
Once a reporter himself, he had been booted from the air after tweeting that
he’d like to “ram a hot poker up the ass” of a Parkland High School shooting
survivor. Allman told friends January 6 was “one of the most beautiful days
I’ve seen in America.”
42. ANDREW C. ERICSON: At sentencing, Ericson’s lawyer said his client watched too much right-wing news, and fell for “false claims” about a “stolen election” and an “election system that had been corrupted,” those lies having also been peddled by President Donald J. Trump.
(He’s still selling the same tired lies to the sadly ill-informed.)
43. DAMON MICHAEL BECKLEY: In the weeks after the 2020
election, Mr. Beckley was increasingly angry. In December he wrote, in a menacing tone, about going to D.C.
on January 6, with violent intent. “It’s not a slap in the face; it’s a DARE
for hardened patriots,” he wrote, “to Charlie Hebdo these traitors and end
their audacious tyranny. Coups demand revolutions. Congress should be pulled
into the DC streets Khaddafi style!”
44. CRAIG
MICHAEL BINGERT: A supporter of President Trump,
he was charged with assaulting police, along with Isaac
Steve Sturgeon (#258 on our list), and Taylor James Johnatakis (#486).
45. THOMAS
GALLAGHER: A friend said Gallagher went to
D.C. to hear Trump speak, after “watching far
too much Fox News.”
46. Chad Barrett Jones: Mr. Jones helped break the window in the door of the Speaker’s Lobby, which would have opened a route for rioters to reach the floor of the House of Representatives. Ashli Babbit (#56 on our list) was shot and killed while trying to climb through that window.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION UNKNOWN.)
47. NICOLAS MONCADA: A neighbor described Moncada, 20, as “a wonderful kid.” Nicolas, Daniel Christmann, (#425 on our list) and Edward Jacob Lang (#131) were connected in their roles in the riot.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER.)
48. JOSHUA
MATTHEW BLACK: “Once we found out
Pence turned on us and that they had stolen the election, like officially,”
Black explained, “the crowd went crazy. I mean, it became a mob.”
January 6, 2021 |
Mike Pence didn't have
the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our
Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not
the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously
certify. USA demands the truth! |
“We can’t loose (sic) our America.”
49. JOSHUA
R. LOLLAR: Lollar sounded like he was
channeling Trump when he posted, “Just got gassed and fought with cops that I
never thought would happen ... I don’t know what we can do, but I’m trying my
best to get it done peaceful. We can’t loose (sic) our America.”
50. JESUS
RIVERA (a.k.a J. D. RIVERA): Rivera served with the Marines.
In the six months leading up to the attack, he had “amassed
a large social media following as he toured the country holding rallies for
then-President Donald Trump.”
51. JORDEN R. MINK: Mink used a baseball bat to break a window at the Capitol, because he believed the election was stolen. “The ballot is stronger than the bullet – Abraham Lincoln,” he posted on social media at one point. “Well ... my magazines will be fully loaded just in case it’s not.”
Rioters used bats, hockey sticks, and table legs to pound police. |
52. (R.I.P.) MATTHEW PERNA: Perna hopped aboard a tour bus bound for D.C., along with other excited Trump fans. After he was charged for his role in the riot, he committed suicide.
(Two lives wasted, so far.)
53. GARRETT
MILLER: Mr. Miller is another one of those Trump fans who
was hoping for a little blood to be spilled. He later threatened to assassinate
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and said he hoped the officer who shot Babbitt
would face a “televised execution.”
When arrested, Miller was wearing this shirt, which read, "I was there." |
54. MATTHEW RYAN MILLER: Miller’s lawyer told the court his client was in D.C. on January 6 at the “behest” of Mr. Trump. “Never has there ever been more voter fraud in [the] history of our country,” the defendant posted on his way to Washington by train. “If our Republic is going to survive, we must have fair elections!!”
(We did. Trump lost. By seven million votes!)
55. DAVID
C. MISH JR.: I have him listed as a “Trump
supporter” but don’t remember why. My blog description is short – although Mr.
Mish’s criminal record, prior to the riot, is not.
56. (R.I.P.) ASHLI BABBITT: Babbitt wasn’t some left-leaning, Antifa type. She believed in the QAnon myth and thought Trump was “one of gods [sic] greatest warriors.”
(Three lives wasted – in service to Trump.)
Part II
– “Stopping the Steal.”
In my second post, we have:
57. Nathan Watts: He was neither violent nor destructive of government property. So that’s good.
(LIKELY TRUMP FAN.)
58.
Henry Phillip Muntzer: Mr. Muntzer, from Montana, said
he helped “storm” the Capitol, but also claimed he saw no violence. “We sent
the message that we are not going to take it, we want out [our] country back
...”
Muntzer's place of business. |
59. KEVIN JAMES LYONS told everyone why he was going to Washington. “I refuse to tell my children that I sat back and did nothing,” he posted. “I’m heading to DC to STOP THE STEAL! #MAGA #KAG.”
(KAG stands for “Keep America Great.”)
60. ANTHONY
R. MARIOTTO: Mariotto told an F.B.I. agent that he
and his wife went to Washington to listen to Mr. Trump. They were there to do
their part to stop certification of the electoral votes.
61. MATTHEW
MAZZOCCO: Mazzocco can be heard in videos
shot on January 6, telling other people who stormed the Capitol not to take or
destroy anything. That’s good.
He believed the election was stolen.
That isn’t.
IAN ROGERS: Rogers was not in D.C. on the day of the riot; so he’s a bonus right-wing nut. He was arrested after federal agents raided his home and found bomb making materials. Rogers had previously posted a few thoughts on social media. For example, “I want to blow up a democrat building bad.”
And: “I hope 45 goes to war if he doesn’t I will.”
(Many Trump fans love America so much they say they’re
ready to kill other Americans to prove their patriotic love.)
Even Rogers' hair is kind of Trumpian. |
62. PHILIP ANDREW BROMLEY: At trial, Mr. Bromley’s lawyer described his client as “a well-respected member of the community who served his country and has no prior criminal record whatsoever.” Bromley was nearby when Babbitt was shot.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER.)
63-64. RACHEL LYNN PERT and DANA JOE WINN: Winn said she brought a Trump flag to the riot so she could hit Antifa folks on their heads. “We’re on our way to DC because us as American patriots, we’re tired of this shit,” she live-streamed, while driving to east with her friend. America needed to “wake up,” she warned. “We’re on the verge of fucking losing it.”
Pert is
her bud.
“And the deplorables are coming with him!”
65. DANIEL
D. PHIPPS: Phipps was excited to catch a
charter bus, leaving Texas and heading for the capital, urging others to join
him. He was going to do his part to stop the steal! “Hey Marxists, Trump is
coming on January 6,” he warned. “And the deplorables are coming with him!”
66. HUNTER
ALLEN EHMKE: Grandpa told police that
grandson Hunter was “a very shy person,” “a very friendly person,” and just got
caught up in the moment. He said the young man went to D.C. to hear President
Trump and take part in what he felt would be a “peaceful protest.”
67. VALERIE
ELAINE EHRKE: If Antifa defendants prove
impossible to find, QAnon fools, abound. She went to D.C. to stop the pedophile
Democrats from harvesting the blood of babies, I guess.
68. KEVIN
LOFTUS: Wisconsin state Senator Dave Zien
told reporters he first met Loftus several years before, but got to know him
well in the summer and fall of 2020, through local Trump
campaign events. He described the veteran as “a very
patriotic and commendable individual.”
69. SCOTT
KEVIN FAIRLAMB: Fairlamb shouted at police
during the riot, calling on them to “act like Americans” and join the mob to
overturn the counting of the votes. He said he went to D.C. to “defend our
Constitution.” As for the police, he suggested a course of action for the mob:
“We f*ckin’ disarm them, and then we storm the f*ckin Capitol.”
70. DOUGLAS
SWEET: According
to his daughter, Sweet had fallen for all kinds of conspiracy theories, about
President Obama’s birth certificate, and Democratic-run child pedophile
rings. “He wholeheartedly believes this
stuff,” she said. “I feel like he is under a spell. Trump has got these people
under a spell.”
71. CINDY
FITCHETT: On Facebook, Ms. Fitchett was a
proud member of a group called Trump Women Landslide 2020. When
the president tweeted that had won the election, she responded, “This claim is
correct.”
72. ANDREW
WRIGLEY: The artist from Jim Thorpe,
Pennsylvania was arrested in part based on social media
posts. “At the protest in DC at the capitol building
#stopthesteal,” he said in one.
73. LEO KELLY: “At some point,” he tells a reporter on January 6, “there’s enough crimes being committed against the Constitution, committed by the elected officials, that, you know, what are you supposed to do?”
So,
like many a MAGA fool, he joined the mob.
74. ANDREW
BENNETT: His state of mind, in days
leading up to the riot can be deduced from his comments on social media. Such
as: “You better be ready chaos is coming and I will be in DC on 1/6/2021
fighting for my freedom!” And: “PS. #BidensLaptopMatters #FUCKCANCELCULTURE
#FUCKANTIFA #FUCKCOMMIESCUM #FUCKCHINA #STOPTHESTEAL.”
Three pistols for fun.
75. Daniel
Page Adams: Charged with assaulting
an officer; the affidavit of arrest in his case notes his “mullet
hairdo” in one photo. (That can hurt a man’s pride.) He and his cousin,
#76 below, said they went to D.C. to protest the stolen election. For “fun,”
they decided to bring three pistols along.
76. Cody
Page Connell: The day after the riot, Connell
admitted that he and Daniel helped “storm the cops,” although his cousin “got
clubbed and shot with rubber bullet. But we pushed the cops against the wall,
they dropped all their gear and left.”
77. BRANDON
STRAKA: An organizer of
“Stop the Steal” rallies, Straka urged members of the mob to attack a police
officer and take away his shield during the riot. He called for “a revolution”
that day.
78. RASHA ABUAL-RAGHEB: Ms. Ragheb is a member of the Three Percenters. She warned in a Facebook chat that the “revolution will start not by standing by but by standing up” and said civil war was coming. People needed to “show support and rise up and fight” for the Constitution.
(To paraphrase: “Hey, let’s kill people for Trump!”)
79. CHRISTOPHER
MICHAEL ALBERTS: Alberts brought a loaded pistol
to the riot and got caught with it in his pocket. He was
heard shouting at police that the mob was “going to come back even more, and
we’re not coming back peacefully, and we’re not coming back unarmed.”
Part III – “Fooling the ‘Patriots.”
As a
dedicated blogger, I am tenacious in pursuit of the truth. The sarcasm is an
added bonus. So, I kept looking for proof that the rioters on January 6 might
not be Trump fans, but found none.
80. BLAKE AUSTIN REED: What happened in Washington D.C., on that fateful day for our nation? Reed said this: “We the People have spoken and we are pissed! No antifa, no BLM…We the People took the Capitol! Every American ethnicity was here. Democratic tyranny WILL NOT STAND! WE HAVE SPOKEN!!”
Zip ties and mom.
81. LISA MARIE EISENHART is the mother of Eric Munchel (Rioter #116). Eric could be seen during the attack, carrying a fistful of zip ties inside the Senate chamber. In court, Eisenhart’s lawyer would claim she and her son were “invited” into the Capitol by Trump, and all they did was listen to his call.
(Don’t forget the zip ties in case you catch Speaker Nancy Pelosi!)
82. EMILY HERNANDEZ: She was seen in pictures from the day of the riot, posing proudly with part of the broken wooden name plate from Speaker Pelosi’s office. More or less a typical Trump fan.
Her
lawyer described her as “the girl next door.”
83. JENNIFER
LEIGH RYAN: On a live-stream feed, Ryan
talked about breaking windows to get into the Capitol Building. “We are
frontline patriots who are fighting for liberty,” she insisted. A
story some months later, noted that on January 6, Ryan posted a picture of
herself from the Capitol, with a warning, “if the news doesn’t stop lying
about us we’re going to come after their studios next...” She said she
“deserved a medal” for participating in the attack and bragged that she had
“blonde hair white skin a great job a great future and I’m not going to
jail[.]”
(Attacking the free press. That’s the way to fight for liberty, for
sure.)
P.S.: She
did go to jail.
Brian
Miller: Miller flew to D.C. on the same private plane as Ms.
Ryan. He was not charged. Later, he told the Dallas Observer that
those who “intended to harm lawmakers are ‘terrorists’ and should be
arrested.”
Humor and the Holocaust.
84. ANTHIME JOSEPH GIONET: Gionet is an alt-right troll known as “Baked Alaska” to fans. To say the least, he enjoys toying with neo-Nazi themes. He was kicked off Twitter (now “X”) after he started quoting actual Nazi slogans and “joking” about gas chambers. The Holocaust! So funny!
Am I right!
85. JEFFREY SABOL helped
drag a
police officer down the Capitol Hill steps
during the riot, and joining in his beating. If you think these rioters
were peaceful patriots, you need to read about his case. (He was fined
more than $32,000 and sentenced to 63 months behind bars.)
Sabol with baton. |
86.
Albert Ciarpelli: A harmless rioter, Ciarpelli
had attended a number of pro-Trump rallies. He said he hoped to return to Washington
on January 20, to see Trump’s Second Inauguration.
87. SAMUEL
J. FISHER fancied himself a “dating
coach,” but brought multiple firearms and a bullet proof vest to D.C. “We must
stand up to these people and take our world back. … It’s time to bring the pain
upon them,” he explained. “Trump just needs to fire the bat signal… deputize
patriots… and then the pain comes.”
Ready for war. |
88.
Peter J. Harding: Nothing says, “I love freedom
and the rights we enjoy under the First Amendment,” so much as setting fire to
media equipment during a riot – which Harding is accused of doing.
89. Christopher M. Kelly: In one of the more unfortunate sartorial decisions of that day, Kelly posed shirtless in front of the U.S. Capitol before claiming to have stormed the building. “No worries,” he told a friend before the riot, “I’ll be with ex NYPD and some proud boys.”
Charges
were later dropped because Kelly turned out to have been bragging about joining
the attack.
90. DOMINICK MADDEN: A co-worker described the defendant as someone who “loved his family and always put them before himself.”
Madden’s main problem? He was a QAnon dope.
“Civil War will ensue!”
91. STEPHEN
MICHAEL AYRES: The Ohio man posted on
Facebook, the day after Christmas, 2020, saying that if
President Trump lost the election, “Civil War will ensue!” He later
testified before Congress, admitting that he had been blinded by all of the
president’s lies.
92. THOMAS
BARANYI told a reporter that he and
others “blitzed our way in through all the chambers.” Why? He didn’t like
the outcome of the 2020 election. “But we’re at a point now, it can’t be allowed to stand. We
have to do something. People have to do something,” he said.
93. Leonard Guthrie Jr. was a self-described
street preacher and conservative Christian. He said he crossed police
barricades in an act of “civil disobedience.”
Rick Saccone ran as a Republican for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. He was endorsed by the president but did not win. He was present on January 6, but was not arrested. He did, however, make it clear who he believed was storming the building. Wearing a Trump beanie, he posted a video message to Facebook: “We are storming the capitol. Our vanguard has broken thru the barricades. We will save this nation. Are u with me?”
(Who
stormed the building? “We” did, said Trump’s man.)
94. Glenn Allen Brooks runs a kitchen and bath remodeling business. He was arrested after another member of a prayer group to which he belonged tipped off authorities that he was bragging about being part of the attack.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER.)
95. TERRY
BROWN believed the election was stolen, and had no regrets
about joining the mob. “I came to the conclusion that we needed to be heard,
and nobody was listening,” he told a reporter. “So if this is what it took … to
make the people stand up and listen, then to me it was worth it.”
“Shoot her in the friggin’ brain.”
96-97. DAWN
BANCROFT and DIANA
SANTOS-SMITH: “We broke into the Capitol … we got inside, we did our
part….,” Bancroft later bragged. “We were looking for Nancy [Pelosi] to shoot her in the
friggin’ brain, but we didn’t find her.” Santos-Smith is her good
friend.
98.
William Joseph Pepe: Yep. Pepe is a Proud Boy, associated
with Dominic Pezzola (#135 on our list)
99. LONNIE LEROY COFFMAN: At holiday gatherings, Lonnie’s grandson said grandpa often expressed admiration for President Trump – which is fine.
What
isn’t fine: He drove his red GMC Sierra pickup to D.C., packed with an M4
assault rifle, multiple loaded magazines, three handguns and 11 Mason jars
filled with homemade napalm.
100. CLEVELAND
GROVER MEREDITH JR.: “Headed to DC with a (s — ) ton
of 5.56 armor-piercing ammo,” he texted friends and relatives as he drove
north. The day after the attack he texted again: “Thinking about heading over
to Pelosi (C —’s) speech and putting a bullet in her noggin on Live
TV.”
101. JACOB ANTHONY CHANSLEY: Anyone who follows the news knows Chansley, at least by appearance. He’s known as the “QAnon Shaman.” And why was he there, on January 6, inside the Senate chamber? His lawyer was clear. He said Chansley should get a pardon from the man who sent him off on a fool’s errand. “My client had heard the oft-repeated words of Donald J. Trump. The words and invitation of a president [to stop the counting of the electoral votes] are supposed to mean something.”
(They did. In essence they meant, “You all riot, and I can remain in
power.”)
Chansley gives a shout. |
Part IV – “QAnon and Assorted Nuts.”
102. ROBERT
SANFORD: According to Sanford’s lawyer, he listened to
Trump’s speech on January 6, got all pumped, “and then had followed the
President’s instructions and gone to the Capitol.”
103-104. ANTONIO LAMOTTA and JOSHUA MACIAS: The two men had previously shown up in Philadelphia to protest the outcome of the election. Their “protest” involved bringing an AR-15 to a voting-center.
On January 6, there they
were in D.C., to support Trump. On the evening before the riot, they hung
out with Oath Keeper leaders, and listened to Stewart Rhodes talk about the
necessity of civil war.
“Camp Auschwitz”
105. ROBERT KEITH
PACKER: A
good number of the J6 rioters were anti-Semitic. Packer showed up wearing a
“Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt.
106. ADAM JOHNSON is famous for walking away from the riot carrying Nancy Pelosi’s podium; a big Trump fan.
Johnson with his souvenir. |
107. AARON MOSTOVSKY believed the
election was stolen. “We were cheated. I don’t think 75 million people voted
for Trump – I think it was close to 85 million,” he said, echoing the claims of
the president himself.
108. KLETE KELLER: The former Olympian
posted often about his “ardent love” for Donald J. Trump.
109. JACK JESSE
GRIFFITH (a.k.a. “JUAN BIBIANO”) believed those who stormed the
Capitol were saving a nation, not cracking its foundation.
110. KEVIN SEEFRIED became famous as the rioter who carried a Confederate battle flag into the Capitol. He later admitted he flew the flag regularly at his home.
111. HUNTER
SEEFRIED: Hunter and his dad were on a
birthday road trip, and decided to stop in D.C. and listen to Trump speak.
Donald spoke, dad waved his rebel banner, and father and son got arrested as a
result.
“Death is the only remedy for what’s in that building.”
112. PETER STAGER had cheered for Trump for years. On January 6, outside the Capitol, he made it clear. He was ready for action. “Everybody in there is a treasonous traitor. Death is the only remedy for what’s in that building.” For good measure, Stager added, “every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy, that is the only remedy they get.”
(Again: These are Trump fans talking about death for Trump’s political
foes – and police.)
113-114. JACOB FRACKER and THOMAS ROBERTSON: Robinson sums up the events of January 6 in a video he shot: “CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business…The right IN ONE DAY took the f***** U.S. Capitol.”
115-116. LARRY RENDALL BROCK and ERIC GAVELEK MUNCHEL: Brock, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, and Munchel were seen in pictures of the riot occupying the chambers of Congress while wearing tactical gear and holding plastic zip ties. Brock had a plan for January 6, which included this nugget: “Do not kill LEO [law enforcement officers] unless necessary.”
(Unless necessary – to back up Trump’s lies?)
117.
Dr. Tammy Towers Parry: Another QAnon nut. “Joe Biden
did not win,” she said. “He’s hopefully going to prison.”
118.
Laura Daube Kronen: “I stood up for what’s right today
in Washington D.C.,” she
claimed. “This election was a sham. Mike Pence is a traitor.”
119. DOUG
JENSEN: On Facebook, Jensen posted support for Trump and for
QAnon conspiracies.
“Stand back, but stand by.”
120. NICK OCHS was founder of the Hawaiian branch of the Proud Boys, and a buddy of Nicholas DeCarlo (#18).
And do we all remember that moment during a presidential debate, that Trump was asked about right-wing groups like the Boys? And he told them to “Stand back, but stand by.” Do we remember that?
Ochs
and the Boys certainly did.
121. MICHAEL
THOMAS CURZIO: His lawyer claimed Curzio could not
be faulted for his actions, because he “was merely following the directions of
then-President Trump, who has billed himself as the country’s chief law
enforcement officer.”
122. CHRISTINE PRIOLA: Just another Trump fan, who believed the election was stolen, and QAnon conspiracies made sense.
(One theory: Biden is dead; and he’s been replaced by a robot.)
(Yeah. I’m not making that up.)
123. NICHOLAS
RODEAN: At one point during the riot, Rodean brandished a
hatchet. Another Trump supporter.
124. DERRICK EVANS: Mr. Evans was, at the time of the riot, recently elected to a seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
As a
Republican, of course.
125. William Arthur Nichols Jr used a circular shield to defend himself and strike police during the riot.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION NOT YET KNOWN.)
126. JOSIAH COLT: Along with two others, Nathan DeGrave (#173) and Ronald Sandlin (#174), Colt was ready for war on January 6. His lawyer later claimed that Colt was “a good person who made a series of very bad choices based on misinformation and the emotional oratory of a demagogue.”
That demagogue would be:
The guy on the left. |
127. RICHARD
“BIGO” BARNETT: Barnett’s lawyer will
eventually describe him as “everyone’s crazy redneck uncle from
out of town.” He brings a stun gun to the Capitol on January 6, and gets
photographed with his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk. Even after he was
arrested, he insisted the 2020 election was stolen.
128. BRAD RUKSTALES: An executive at an Illinois marketing company, he donated $20,000 to Trump’s campaign.
“If the orders are given, the people will rise up.”
Jeff (not arrested): A man who gave his name only as “Jeff,” told a reporter, in the midst of the mayhem, that he was an off-duty police officer from York County, Pa. On the way to D.C., he admitted he and his wife, “Amy” didn’t know what to expect. But if there was going to be trouble, he said he was ready to do his part. “There’s a lot of people here willing to take orders,” he predicted. “If the orders are given, the people will rise up.”
(Against whom? And at what price in blood?)
129. MARK
LEFFINGWELL: At sentencing, the judge in his
case considered his military service (Leffingwell’s a disabled veteran – a
traumatic brain injury from his time in Iraq), and gave him a lighter sentence
than you might have expected, since he slugged two cops. He was in D.C. to
“Stop the Steal.”
130. MATTHEW BLEDSOE: In an apparent reference to members of Congress, Bledsoe barked during the attack: “Where those pieces of s**t at?”
Matt’s wife didn’t help his defense when she proudly
posted: “Matt was inside the Capitol, he was one of the first,” she wrote.
“They yelled and screamed, that’s about it. My husband is a Patriot
solider [sic].”
131-132. Edward Jacob Lang and BRANDON FELLOWS: Lang would later defend his actions on January 6, insisting, “I consider myself doing exactly what the founding fathers would have done, and I don’t play the watered-down version of Jan. 6. I think that was well within our rights and constitutional duty to overthrow the chains of tyranny. I am a real 1776 patriot.”
Fellows was recently sentenced to 37
months in prison. He was one of those rioters ready for blood:
“Guns…That’s it. One word. The First Amendment didn’t work, we pull out the Second. We’re all civilized people and we love going to work and praying to God on Sundays and having nice family barbeques…and that was every single person there. No one wants to take this and…and die for our rights, but dying for our rights is the only option [emphasis added] that any person with a logical brain sees right now. This is it.
133. JON
RYAN SCHAFFER: took bear spray to the riot. He
was an “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member.”
134. KASH
LEE KELLY: Mr. Kelly admitted that he and
other rioters wanted to let Trump’s political foes “know this is our house,
this is our country, and that’s our president. And we are not going to let them
(expletive) with us, man, (expletive) with our liberty and our freedoms.”
135. DOMINIC “SPAZZO” PEZZOLA: “Spazzo”
describing himself as “a first-degree Proud Boy.” One of the first rioters to
break a window and open a path inside the building to the mob.
136. THOMAS GRONEK was arrested the
day before the riot, when a bus on which he was riding was stopped
by authorities. Gronek was carrying a rifle, “a large-capacity feeding device,”
and more than 300 rounds of ammunition.
137. ROBERT L. BAUER got his own pair of cuffs after
authorities arrested him for his role in the mayhem. Bauer told authorities he marched to the
U.S. Capitol “because President Trump said to do so.” He said that on
having broken into the Capitol, a police officer shook his hand and said, “It’s
your house now.” His house for 45 days, all because he believed, is jail.
138. DOMINIC
BOX has been described as “an
outspoken supporter of QAnon,” and a “Republican organizer.”
139. JUSTIN STOLL: Before going to Washington, Stoll posted several statements about the upcoming rally and protest. He referred to those opposed to Trump as “enemy combatants” who should be “shot on sight.”
(These people want to shed a lot of American blood.)
Part V – Officer Hodges Fights Back.
We pick
up once more with a fresh batch of rioters – many of whom were clear about
where they stood on January 6. Names in capital letters are those who have
already been sentenced. Names that are underlined are individuals who have pled
guilty or been convicted, but not sentenced.
140. GUY WESLEY REFFITT: Reffitt was, at the time of the riot, a recruiter for the right-wing “Three Percenters.” According to his affidavit, Mr. Reffitt warned his wife and children, “If you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors... traitors get shot.”
(The next Father’s Day must have been fun.)
141. DANIEL
GOODWYN: On the day of the attack on
democracy, Goodwyn tweeted from inside the Capitol, “Await orders from our
Commander in Chief.”
142. CHRISTOPHER
RAY GRIDER: “The president asked people to come
and show their support,” Grider explained to a reporter. “I feel like it’s the
least that we can do. It’s kind of why I came from Central Texas all the way to
DC.”
143. WILLIAM McCALL CALHOUN JR.: In months leading up to the riot, Calhoun had made numerous threats on social media, expressing a desire to “kill every last communist who stands in Trump’s way.”
144.
Samuel Camargo: When an F.B.I. agent tried to
interview him, Camargo questioned the agent’s loyalty to the
Constitution.
145. T.
D. PHAM: Pham was an officer with the
Houston, Texas police department when he joined the mob.
146.
Kim Sorgente: Kim liked to show up at
pro-Trump rallies and assault counter-protesters.
147. PATRICK
EDWARD MCCAUGHEY III: McCaughey traveled to D.C. with
his father to support Trump. His lawyer argued for
his client’s pre-trial release, noting that “the defendant’s somewhat of a de
facto unindicted coconspirator in this case” would be … wait for it …
“President Donald J. Trump.”
148. THOMAS
FEE: Asked about his role in the riot, Fee happily
responded that he was “at the tip of the spear.”
149-150.
Mark Sahady and SUZANNE IANNI: The two were
members of a “strait pride” group, called Super Happy Fun America. The
group’s leaders say he chartered six buses to ferry Trump supporters to D.C. to
protest the outcome of the 2020 race. Nobody had to lead these dopes on –
because they were dopes.
“We have about 30-40 of us.”
151. Thomas E. Caldwell: Caldwell is a member of an Ohio branch of the Oath Keepers. At his trial, it was revealed he had a “hit list” containing two names: Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss – falsely accused by Trump and Rudy Giuliani of having stolen tens of thousands of Georgia votes.
(Freeman and Moss have since won $148.2 million in a defamation case
against Rudy.)
Prior to the attack on January 6, Caldwell suggested having a stash of “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River, in Virginia, where gun laws were less stringent, ready for use if the riot exploded in bloodshed.
152. JESSICA WATKINS: Another member of the Ohio-based Oath Keepers, she showed up on January 6 in full battle gear. As the attack unfolded, Watkins assured others on a comms channel: “We have a good group. We have about 30-40 of us. We are sticking together and sticking to the plan.”
(That
plan: overturn election results; get Trump a second term.)
Watkins dressed for a fight, right. |
153. Donovan
Crowl: Another Oath Keeper.
154. Michael
Joseph Foy is a Marine veteran. He believed
the election was stolen from Trump.
155. MATTHEW
CAPSEL: Capsel’s social media accounts contain frequent
posts supporting Donald Trump along with discredited election fraud and QAnon
conspiracy theories.
156.
Emanuel Jackson: Asked why he was there,
wielding an aluminum bat against cops on January 6, he told a reporter he
was, “Fighting for America. We’ve been taken over by globalists, by the
Chinese. Fighting for America. I’m not here for Trump. I’m here for
America.” His lawyer will later tell the court that Mr. Jackson was
“inspired” by President Trump.
157. Vitali
Gossjankowski: No list of Trump supporters
would be complete without a few racists and anti-Semites. Vitali is both. He
sent the following messages to a female (I think) agent working his case:
You are a disgusting
Jewish evil corpulent rabbi who likes getting raped by your gay colleague.
Unattractive Jewish Orc
Go fuck yourself. You’re
so fucking unattractive with a lot of facial scabs.
You’re worse than a
bunch of low-functioning ghetto niggers in the ghetto street.
158. Gabriel
Augustin Garcia is a former U.S. Army captain.
He also ran for Congress as a Republican. On the day of the attack on Capitol
Hill, he responded to an encrypted message from the Proud Boys, calling for
backup: “Storming the capital building right now!!” and “Get
there[.]”
He
did.
159-160. Alex Harkrider and Ryan Taylor Nichols: Harkrider was clear about why he and his friend were heading to Washington D.C. They and other like-minded right-wingers “were planning a civil war.”
Nichols would explain, in the hours after fighting subsided, “Patriots stood their ground today! We aren’t done yet, either! You want to steal our election, and not hear us in court? Good! Now you’ll hear our civil unrest!”
In another video, he let rip:
So if you want to know
where Ryan Nichols stands, Ryan Nichols stands for violence Ryan Nichols is
done allowing his country to be stolen. And I understand that the first
Revolutionary War, folks, it was violent. We had to be violent and take our
country back. Well guess what? The second Revolutionary War, right now, the
American Revolutionary War that’s going on right now, it started today on a
Wednesday. It’s going to be violent.
So, yes, today, Ryan
Nichols…Ryan Nichols grabbed his f***ing weapon and he stormed the Capitol and
fought for freedom.
The weapon
he was wielding was a crowbar, just right for cracking a police officer’s or
Biden voter’s skull.
Part VI – “Blood Running Out of the Building.” –
If you
haven’t noticed, many of the rioters are perfectly clear about who they are.
Right-wingers and Trump fans, including neo-Nazi, abound.
161. ROBERT
GIESWEIN: Charging documents and videos
showed that the defendant had links to the three extremist groups: the Proud
Boys, Oath Keepers and Three Percenters. “Some of the videos appear to include
members who discussed storming the Capitol about an hour ahead of the
riot.”
162. MARK KULAS
JR.: Mark
came to D.C. with his brother, Christian Kulas (#331 on the
list). Non-violent on the day of the riot, Mark is the generic MAGA
type.
“The Trump kool aid.”
163. Gina
Bisignano showed up for the riot, carrying
a bullhorn. She can be heard at one point, shouting encouragement to members of
the mob, violently assaulting police in a jammed tunnel, “we need weapons...we
need strong, angry patriots to help our boys,” she calls out. “They don’t want
to leave.” In court, her lawyer tells the judge, Gina “drank the Trump kool
aid.”
164. COUY
GRIFFIN: CBS noted the arrest of Couy
Griffin, a Republican county commissioner from New Mexico, and founder of the
group “Cowboys for Trump.” In a video he later posted for his
group, Griffin spoke of organizing
another Capitol rally on January 20 – one that could result in
“blood running out of that building.”
165. BRYAN BETANCUR BATTISTI: Battisti expressed a desire to be a “lone wolf killer” prior to the riot. He told investigators that he was a member of several white supremacist groups. Yeah. Not Antifa.
Keith Lee: Originally, I had Mr. Lee listed as Rioter #166. In weeks leading up to the November election, he helped organize pro-Trump car and truck caravans. Afterwards, he helped raise money online to pay expenses for “patriots” to make the trip to D.C., and claimed to have passed out tens of thousands of dollars.
For his part, Lee was warning online supporters, “We are at this precipice” of “good versus evil.” He would be heading for D.C. himself. “I am going to fight for my president. I am going to fight for what is right,” he promised.
I
cannot find any mention of his arrest, however, so I took him off the list of
rioters, and inserted a new #166:
166. Lee Stutts: Sadly, the United States Marine Corps is well-represented, regarding all the alleged rioters who showed up on January 6. He’s one of hundreds of rioters accused of assaulting police.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION NOT YET KNOWN.)
167. WILLIAM
WRIGHT WATSON: Watson enjoyed listening to Alex Jones on Infowars,
and told authorities he went to D.C.
to “support the patriots, support Trump, support freedom.” He added: “I guess
the overriding thing for why we were there that day is because they were
certifying the fraudulent election that day, and so we [were there], to protest
that.”
MICHAEL
MCKINNEY: McKinney didn’t make the Big Show on
Jan. 6, but if he hadn’t been in jail, you know he’d have loved to go. At
a Trump rally in Iowa he had shown his love for America by firing his handgun
into a car filled with four black teenage girls, wounding one 15-year-old in
the leg.
THE HUNT for the Antifa-type, liberal-leaning rioter continued. Finally, I got what seemed like a solid “hit.”
Namely:
168. John Earl Sullivan: The 26-year-old was identified
as founder of a protest group called Insurgence USA. According to Politico,
“His group claims to oppose police abuse and right-wing violence, while some of
his writings echo language used by the anti-fascist movement.”
He’s a provocateur, for sure, enough though several left-leaning groups had tried to ban him from their protests.
Finally: a left-leaning member of the mob!
169. JONATHAN DANIEL CARLTON acknowledged
traveling to D.C with Bradley Wayne Weeks (#28 on our list) on January 5, 2021.
They hoped to “participate in a peaceful demonstration against the
certification of the vote, and support former President Trump.”
170. ETHAN NORDEAN (a.k.a. “Rufio Panman”): Two days before the riot, the Proud Boy leader could be seen in a video, warning that “blatant, rampant voter fraud” in the presidential election had occurred. “Democracy is dead?” he said. “Well, then no peace for you. No democracy, no peace.”
According
to federal authorities, at least 60
Proud Boys were on hand for the attack. Most participated in an
encrypted messaging channel called “Boots on the Ground.”
171. STEPHEN
MAURY BAKER: His YouTube channel was banned,
save for a few music videos, after he posted “racist, anti-Semitic and
conspiratorial theories.” He appears to have ties to militia groups like the
Oath Keepers and Red Elephants.
172. JAMES
BONET: Bonet earned an interesting footnote in coverage of the
riot after he appeared in one video, smoking a joint in the halls of
Congress. According to a fellow employee, Bonet liked to try to convince
everyone that the election was stolen, and spout conspiracy theories – and, we
can assume, spoil their lunch.
173. NATHANIEL J. DEGRAVE traveled to D.C. with Josiah Colt (#126 ) and Ronald Sandlin (#174, below) Six days before the rally, DeGrave asked for help in a social media post. He wanted a quick primer in gunfire. Who “can shoot and has excellent aim and can teach me today or tomorrow,” he wondered. “I want somebody special forces or ex fbi to teach me … this is for a very patriotic cause.”
He,
Sandlin, and Colt documented their drive to D.C. for posterity. At one point,
Colt captioned a picture: “Nate’s bear mace was going off in his pocket and it
started filling the van (with) bear spray.”
174. RONALD
R. SANDLIN: Like his two friends, Sandlin
believed the election was stolen, and they had already considered occupying a
state capital at one point. As for the decision to go to D.C., Sandlin explained,
“If you are a patriot[,] I believe it’s your duty to be there. I see it as my
civic responsibility.”
“The clarion call of a charlatan.”
175. BLAS SANTILLAN: He urged other members of the mob to storm the Capitol, telling them they were fighting for their freedom.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER; NOT DEFINITIVE.)
176. DENNIS
SIDORSKI: At one point, the Washington
D.C. businessman had an account on Parler. Later, he was was listed on
the right-wing website, American Gulag, as a “political prisoner.”
177-178. CHRISTINA and JASON GERDING: The affidavit in their case indicated that Mr. and Mrs. Gerding were supporters of QAnon. “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts,” Mr. Gerding wrote prior to the attack, “not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”
(Federal judges aren’t elected, by the way.)
179. EDWARD
HEMENWAY stormed the Capitol along with
his cousin, Robert Bauer (#137 on the list). His cousin explained to
federal agents “that people in the crowd,” like he and Hemenway, “were angry
about pedophiles, the news cycle, and losing their businesses during the
lockdown.”
180. JEROD WADE HUGHES: Why was Jerod inside the Capitol – chasing a police officer up a flight of steps? His lawyer would later explain. “He was responding to the entreaties of the Commander in Chief to save the country. It is only in retrospect he has learned that he was responding to the clarion call of a charlatan.”
(True that!)
181. JOSHUA
CALVIN HUGHES: Joshua is Jerod’s like-minded,
Trump-loving brother.
182. BRENNEN MACHACEK: Machacek is another Marine veteran – and another vet with a traumatic brain injury. His wife, Kimberly, will eventually tell a judge that her husband has had many sleepless nights since the attack, and feels “extreme guilt.”
“What our Country witnessed that day was not expected,
condoned, or celebrated in any way by our family,” she
added.
183. ZACHARY MARTIN: Martin’s
obsession with QAnon conspiracy thinking put a strain on his marriage, and he
and his wife split. (They have three kids.) His mother-in-law explained, “It’s
like these people have been programmed and they really have to be
deprogrammed.”
184. JUSTIN MCAULIFFE believed the
coronavirus was “a hoax.”
185. HECTOR EMANUEL VARGAS SANTOS: The headline in
the Hudson County View labels Vargas the “Jersey City Trump
supporter.” Reporters for the View note that he was also
arrested in July for making “terroristic threats” during a domestic violence
incident. He’s an ex-Marine.
186. RACHEL MARIE POWELL: The Pennsylvania woman really, really hated wearing masks during COVID. She didn’t vote for Trump in 2016, but did in 2020. “I appreciate his business mind,” she explained. “Economy-wise, he has it going on. He loves America,” she said.
(Election-wise, of course, he’s a threat to the rule of law.)
The cops didn't let these people in and they weren't peaceful, either. Powell breaks the window. |
187. JORDAN T. REVLETT: In 2018 young
Revlett finished fourth in a “sexy farmer”
contest. He was also a “sexy farmer” who loved Trump.
188. Ryan Samsel: Samsel had a history of violence, even before January 6, when he knocked down a female police officer, who sustained a concussion.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER.)
189. Zachary Jordan Alam: He’s the rioter
who used a helmet to repeatedly strike and break the glass on a door to the
Speaker’s Lobby, which door Ashli Babbitt then tried to climb through, only to
be shot.
Sadly, Zachary was turned in to the F.B.I. by his own mother, because she feared he might do something rash, after he was first identified as one of the rioters and went on the run to relatives. She told the court that her son had had drug and alcohol problems. And how did he come to be so deeply involved in the attack on the Capitol? “Zachary,” she said, “told me he ‘got wrapped up in it,’ inspired by President Trump.
190. Benjamin Scott Burlew: Two days before the
riot, Burlew announced he was heading to D.C. to “storm the Capitol.” During
the riot, he showed his love for freedom by allegedly assaulting a member of
the free press.
191. KATHERINE STAVELEY SCHWAB flew
to Washington on a private plane, with four others. She told federal agents
that she and her friends were “patriots,” who wanted to hear Trump speak.
Anne and Ted Palles: Mr.
and Mrs. Palles did not enter the Capitol, nor were they violent – but they
were typical of the kinds of people who made up the crowd, and then morphed
into a mob. In defense of her and her husband’s decision to march on Congress,
however, she said they were fighting for “free speech,” “the right to
worship,” for the lives “of the unborn,” and in the name of “a legitimate
presidential election.” She described the riot as the “nation’s largest and
most historical protest” and claimed more than a million Americans attended the
“Stop the Steal” rally.
192. PETER SCHWARTZ: The day after the
attack, Schwartz posted, “What happened yesterday was the opening of a
war. I was there and whether people will acknowledge it or not we are now at
war. It would be wise to be ready!” He also insisted that Biden did not
win the popular vote.
(Again with the calls for blood!)
193. MARK SIMON: In a video shot
on the day of the riot, Simon and another man boast about storming “the Capitol
for Trump.” According to the Los Angeles Times, Simon was “known for his far-right
views.”
194. JEFFREY ALEXANDER SMITH: According to the
affidavit in his case, Smith posted online, “I stormed the capital.” He also
stated that his purpose was, “To send a message that Americans are[n’] t going
to take a fraudulent election.”
195. MICHAEL STEPAKOFF was described by
his lawyer as a family
man, a “strong Republican,” and firm in his political convictions. In a
Facebook post the day before the riot, Stepakoff posted to now
Rejected-President Trump’s now Rejected-Twitter account: “I am proud to be an
American, and I made the trip up from Florida to support the effort to save
America. DC swarming with MAGA people. We’re not gonna take it! Thank you
President Trump!”
196. DALTON RAY CRASE: The Kentucky man traveled
to Washington with two like-minded men, including Troy Dylan Williams (#197).
The third, unnamed individual fell ill and spent Jan. 6 in a hospital.
197. TROY DYLAN WILLIAMS: Mr. Williams
believed he and his friends were making a political statement. In one video, he
can be heard telling Crase that what they were doing was “just to let
them know that when push comes to shove, we will fight. We will just walk
into this b****... this is a taste, and if things don’t change, we’ll make a
change.”
War against vipers.
198-199. ALAN HOSTETTER and Russell Taylor: The day before the attack, Hostetter told a crowd to prepare for “war tomorrow” against “vipers” in Congress who refused to nullify President Joe Biden’s win. Taylor added: “We will not return to our peaceful way of life until this election is made right.”
Taylor also expressed his support for QAnon beliefs, and
promised, “In these streets we will fight, and we will bleed before we allow
our freedom to be taken from us.”
200. JASON LEE HYLAND flew
his private plane to D.C., along with several like-minded friends, to support
President Trump. Their purpose, he said, was to “stand up for America.”
201. JEFFREY GRACE told federal
investigators that he and his son Jeremy (#299 on our list) traveled all
the way from Washington State to hear Trump speak at the “Save America March”
on January 6. At the time of the attack, Mr. Grace was a probationary member
of the Proud Boys.
Part VII
– “That wasn’t Trump people.”
In Part VII we uncover a
cluster of Proud Boys for the first time, and another cluster of Oath Keepers.
Names of individuals in all caps have been sentenced. Names underlined have
been convicted but await sentencing at this time.
203. SUZANNE KAYE: The F.B.I. was tipped off about Kaye, after a witness told them she
had posted “anti-Biden” and “anti-Democratic” statements on social media and
bragged about taking part in the Capitol Hill riot.
204. DANIEL
DEAN EGTVEDT: The defendant can be seen in social media posts
hanging with Mike Pence (in better days) and pouty lips Lara Trump. At his trial, his
lawyer insisted that Egtvedt “hung
on every word” Trump spoke on Jan. 6.
205. CHRISTIAN
SECOR: Secor is a self-described fascist and president of
“America First Bruins,” a UCLA club. Federal agents were tipped off by several
of his peers, who said Secor had “posted threats online and openly
posted calls for America to become a whites-only nation.”
206. FELICIA KONOLD: Her claim to fame was having been recruited by
the Proud Boys! ABC News calls the Proud Boys (+ Felicia), “a
neofascist organization that describes itself as ‘Western chauvinists’ and has
long forbidden female members.”
207. CORY KONOLD: Prosecutors said Cory was a Proud Boy. Cory said he
wasn’t. We do know that he and his sister met up with a group of Boys before
the attack.
208. WILLIAM
CHRESTMAN: Chrestman is a Proud Boy.
“Violence so utterly massive.”
209. CHRISTOPHER
KUEHNE: Okay, make it two Proud Boys in a row, if not three,
and a chick. On the day of the attack, he messaged his comrades: “Be prepared
not only to beat down but when you do action of violence so utterly massive
that we send a message.”
210. Louis
Enrique Colon: You guessed it. Colon is proud
to be one of the Boys.
211: GLENN WES LEE CROY: When Rep. Lauren Boebert called for people in her district to rally behind President Trump on January 6, this poor dope responded. He promised he’d be there. At trial, his lawyer explains, “Mr. Croy believed what he read on the internet and heard from the President himself — that the election had been stolen.”
“Now he knows that he was misled by his president,”
she added.
212. Leo
Brent Bozell IV: The Bozell family has deep
Republican roots. Leo’s grandfather, Bozell II, was a ghost writer for Barry
Goldwater.
213. BRUNO
JOSEPH CUA: At one point, young Bruno
posted on Parler, “President Trump is calling us to FIGHT! This isn’t a joke,
this is where and when we make our stand.”
If the First Amendment right to protest wasn’t enough, Bruno favored the Second. “Bring your guns. We’re gonna need them. It ain’t illegal if there’s an army of us. BRING YOUR GUNS. ALL OF THEM.”
(Again with the killing!)
214-215.
William Pope and Michael Pope: A check
in October
2020,
showed that William was listed as a Republican precinct committee member in
Shawnee County, Kansas.
William told federal
agents that he and Michael wanted to make clear to members of Congress
that “questionable things happened during the election and that citizens
deserved a full election audit.”
“Sir Yes Sir!!!”
216. CONNIE
MEGGS: Mrs.
Meggs and her husband, #217, and rioters #218-221, were all members of the Oath
Keepers, and part of a “military
stack” that invaded the Capitol. Mrs. Meggs blamed her husband at trial,
saying his plans had ruined their family. The judge reminded her: “The
decisions that were made that day were also your decisions. You decided to come
to Washington with a truck full of guns.”
217. KELLY MEGGS: “Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!! It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!!,” Meggs promised the others. “He wants us to make it WILD that’s what he’s saying. He called us all to the Capitol and wants us to make it wild!!! Sir Yes Sir!!! Gentlemen we are heading to DC pack your s***!!”
As one of the leaders of
the Oath Keepers, nationally, along with Stewart Rhodes (#601 on our list), he
garners one of the longest prison sentences of all.
218. BENNIE
PARKER: Bennie explained to a foreign journalist that
the riot was the result of American anger over the “stolen” election and
ominously warned that “it will come to a civil war” and that many Americans
were “willing to take up arms.”
219: SANDRA
PARKER showed up on January 6, wearing a U.S. military helmet,
a pair of goggles, and dressed like she was going into battle. The couple
brought their firearms to D.C. from Ohio. Just in case they needed to start
killing people who supported for Joe Biden. Or the rule of law.
220. LAURA
STEELE: As CBS reported, a group email noted that the Oath
Keepers would have “well armed and equipped QRF teams on standby,” referring to
the military acronym for “quick reaction force,” in case of a scenario
“where the President calls us up as part of the militia to to [sic]
assist him inside DC.”
221. Graydon Young: Young and the other Oath Keepers were informed before the riot, that they would be part of a larger force. “As always, while conducting security operations,” their leaders noted, “we will have some of our men out in ‘grey man’ mode, without identifiable Oath Keepers gear on. For every Oath Keeper you see, there are at least two you don’t see.”
(The idea that people like these were “led on” by leftist types is
f**king idiotic.)
222. THOMAS WEBSTER: Webster used a metal flagpole and his fists to attack police on January 6. His lawyer tried to defend his client, saying, “He went there as an American citizen to protest, an event that was urged on by our former president – to protest an issue that Tom felt very strongly about. That’s protecting the Constitution.”
The
jury was not impressed, especially after evidence showed the defendant had
tried to gouge out an officer’s eye.
223. Philip
Grillo: He identified himself as “The Republican
Messiah” on Facebook. Add another Republican official, this time from Queens,
which Grillo proudly claimed was Trump’s home district.
224. LORI
ANN VINSON (a.k.a. Lori Ann Utley): Went to D.C.
with her husband, so they could “Stop the Steal.”
225. THOMAS
ROY VINSON: Same as above.
226. DEREK
JANCART: An Air Force veteran, Jancart did a tour in
Afghanistan, which this blogger respects.
At trial, however, the judge reminded him, “You attempted, with others, to undermine one of our country’s bedrock acts, which is the peaceful transfer of power.”
Which
this blogger does not respect.
227. NICHOLES LENTZ: As USA
Today explained, Lentz was one of many fooled into believing the
“stolen election myth.”
Lentz, a Trump supporter wrote on Facebook:
“America has spoken. You can not stop millions of people. Cannot stop it.
Can’t. It’s impossible. America has a voice. We give them the power.”
“We’re not here to hurt
any cops of course,” added the former police officer and Marine Corps veteran.
“I love my boys in blue, but this is overwhelming for them. There’s no way they
can hold us back.”
Loyalty “to a single individual, over a nation.”
228. PAUL
ALLARD HODGKINS: Hodgkins claimed he had engaged
in no violence on January 6, but admitted he saw others breaking windows, and
even involved in
a knife fight.
Judge
Randall Moss would later cut Hodgkins a break at sentencing, noting the
defendant had no prior criminal record. However, Judge Moss was blunt:
Hodgkins stood beside
the dais of the U.S. Senate and raised a “Trump 2020” flag. The symbolism of
that act, Moss said, was “unmistakable.” Hodgkins had staked a claim on the
floor of the United States Senate, “not with the American flag,” Moss said, but
with a flag that declared his loyalty “to a single individual, over a nation.”
Moss said, “That act
captured the threat to Democracy that we all witnessed that day.”
229. DEBORAH
SANDOVAL: Deborah and her son traveled to
D.C. together, from Iowa, to help “Save America,” as she put it. Mom was described as
a “die-hard supporter of Donald Trump in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
230. SALVADOR
SANDOVAL JR.: Salvador was fired up on
January 6, attacked three police officers, and both he and his mom got sent to
prison, her for five months, him for more than seven years.
231. JONATHAN
MELLIS: How did Mr. Mellis feel about the events of that
awful day?
On social media, he posted: “Storming the Castle. The world heard the US!!! Finally not ignored.”
And “We
are fighting for election integrity. They heard us.”
232. Joseph W. Fischer: When not rioting, Fischer, 55, was a patrolman with the North Cornwall Township Police Department in Pennsylvania. When confronted by the chief of his department, about his participation in the attack, and told he might lose his job, Fischer was less than remorseful.
He
wrote: “I told him if that is
the price I have to pay to voice my freedom and liberties which I was born with
and thusly taken away then then [sic] must be the price. ... I told him I have
no regrets and give zero shits.”
233. JAMES ALLEN MELS believed the election was stolen. He said he entered the Capitol Building, intent on giving a law enforcement officer a copy of the U.S. Constitution and having his voice heard, which is, of course, better than hitting him or her with a metal flagpole or spraying pepper spray in his or her face.
(Of course, the election wasn’t stolen – so all these fools were
fighting for a lie.)
234.
Steven Omar Maldonado: he and a friend traveled to
D.C. to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally.
235. EDUARDO NICOLAS ALVEAR GONZALEZ: According to
prosecutors, the suspect claimed to have
tens of thousands of viewers who go to YouTube to check out his videos.
Gonzalez has talked on his videos
about believing that we may be living in a simulation, that the Earth is flat
and that the Smithsonian Institution is hiding evidence of giants, according to
[prosecutors]. Gonzalez also promotes central tenets of the QAnon conspiracy
theory, including the baseless beliefs that Hollywood celebrities and other
elites are operating a Satanic child sex trafficking cult and sacrificing
children...
“This is sheer wild-eyed nonsense,” [a
prosecutor] said. “But if you believe that, what wouldn’t you do?”
236. (R.I.P.) MARK RODERICK AUNGST: Aungst and Bronsburg
(below) were part of a contingent of 55 Pennsylvanians who took a bus to D.C.,
so they could attend the Trump rally. Mr. Aungst takes his own life before he can be
sentenced on a single misdemeanor count.
237. TAMMY
A. BRONSBURG (a.k.a. TAMMY A. BUTRY): In a series
of social
media posts, after the riot, she repeatedly
discussed politics, “including one [post] of a
picture depicting Jesus Christ with his hands on Donald Trump’s shoulders. The
words ‘My real potus’ (POTUS stands for President of the United States)
inscribed on it.”
238. PHILIP S. YOUNG: At trial, Mr. Young’s lawyer said his client was “apolitical” until Trump was elected in 2016. Young himself said he believed, at the time of the riot, that the election was stolen.
(Any idea who led him to believe that?)
239. ADAM AVERY HONEYCUTT: At one point during the riot, Honeycutt was seen holding a broken table leg, identified as part of the Senate Sergeant at Arms’ table.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION UNCLEAR.)
240. KYLE
FITZSIMONS: He complained about “pretty
obvious fraud being perpetuated since Trump lost the election.”
241. Charles
Donohoe: Just another Proud Boy leader.
242. ZACHARY
REHL was a Proud
Boys leader.
243. JULIAN KHATER: Brought bear spray to the riot, and sprayed – among others – Officer Brian Sicknick. Sicknick died of a heart attack the day after the riot.
At Khater’s trial, Gladys Sicknick, Brian’s widow, was
allowed to make a victim’s statement. In regard to President Trump and his
“stolen election” complaints, she could not resist asking the defendant, “How does it feel to be
headed to jail because of a bald faced lie?”
Then she added angrily, “You, among all the other crazies – you are the reason Brian is dead, Mr. Khater.”
(Five police officers died after the riot, four by suicide.)
(Trump has never once acknowledged their loss.)
244. GEORGE PIERRE TANIOS: He and Khater traveled to D.C. together. Prior to the attack, Tanios “purchased two cannisters of Frontiersman brand bear spray, and two additional cannisters of pepper spray.”
(Just like any other tourist going to Washington D.C. to
see the sights.)
“The attack was far from peaceful.”
245. THOMAS F. SIBICK took a leading role in the attack on Officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten and repeatedly tased by members of the mob.
In an apology to the court, Sibick later wrote of the day’s
events: “It was an attack on the institutions of our democracy and not as
some would make you believe legitimate political discourse. The attack was far
from peaceful, my actions played a role that will follow me for the rest of my
life.”
246. Jeovanny Montano Alvarado flew from Houston to the
U.S. capital “to participate in the January 6, 2021 ‘protests’ because he
believed election fraud may have compromised his vote.”
247. BRIAN MCCREARY: This is getting monotonous;
McCreary believed Trump’s “Stolen Election” lies.
248. ALEXANDER SHEPPARD: Shepard did
too. He
scoffed at the idea of hanging Mike Pence. “Firing squad!” he suggested,
instead.
249. ERIK RAU: Rau was arrested after Derek Jancart
(#226) outed him by mistake. At Rau’s trial,, prosecutors noted
that Jancart had “endorsed and celebrated” the violence – even posting a
video on Facebook showing Rau yelling “we have you surrounded” at Capitol
Police. Other rioters can be heard nearby yelling “hang the traitors!”
250. JASON DANIEL RIDDLE: Yep. Riddle
believed the election was stolen.
251. HOWARD BERTON ADAMS JR.: Adams seems to
have believed the election was stolen. Later he stopped cooperating with the
court orders, claiming to be a “sovereign citizen,” beyond the reach of
ordinary law.
252. KEVIN CORDON: “It’s clear that
this election is stolen,” Cordon insisted, “there’s just so much overwhelming
evidence, and the establishment, the media, big tech are just completely
ignoring all of it – and we’re here to show them we’re not having it. We’re
not just going to take this laying down.”
253. SEAN CARLO CORDON: Once again – we have an election denier who believed Trump won.
As of this posting, on April 12, 2024
1,256 days have passed since the last election.
No proof of significant voter fraud has ever been proven in
ANY GODDAM COURT.
Part VIII – Seditious Conspiracy.
We can keep going, all the way to Rioter #1428; but this “sampling” of the first 308 rioters charged should make clear who these people were, and what motivations really led them to join the mob.
They
didn’t need to be led on – tricked by Antifa, or government agents “planted” in
their midst.
They
were motivated by anger, fear and rage, and above all else by the torrent of
lies told by Donald J. Trump.
254. CHRISTOPHER
WORRELL is another Proud Boy, one who
showed up and sprayed cops in the face with chemical agents.
255. FEDERICO
KLEIN: The 42-year-old Trump-appointed State Department aide was
charged with assaulting police officers during the attack. If you aren’t
noticing a trend here, you’re probably in a cult.
256. Joshua
James: Another member of the Oath Keepers.
257. ROBERTO A. MINUTA, yet another member of the Oath Keepers, he was ready to spill copious blood to keep Donald J. Trump in office.
At his trial,
Jurors…saw a preview of
a video Minuta recorded of himself in which he told viewers “Jesus said sell
your cloak and buy a sword” – a reference to Luke 22:36.
“Millions will die,”
Minuta said in the video. “Millions will die. So what? Get your f***ing soul
ready.”
258. ISAAC
STEVE STURGEON: Sturgeon was charged along with
his friends, Craig Michael Bingert (#44 on the list) and Taylor James
Johnatakis (#486).
259. ANNA
MORGAN-LLOYD: You might say Morgan-Lloyd turned
herself and a friend in by boasting
about their exploits on social media. “I’m here. Best day ever. We stormed
the capitol building me and Dona Bissey were in the first 50 people in,” she
wrote in a Facebook comment, on Jan. 6.
260. DONA SUE BISSEY: On January 7, she posted on Facebook that she and Morgan-Lloyd were glad to be home. “It will be a day I’ll remember forever. I’m proud that I was part of it,” she added. “No Shame.” Then came eight American flag emojis and the admonition, “BTW turn off the #FakeNews.”
Ha, ha. Bissey believed in QAnon.
What a
chump.
261. Clayton Ray Mullins: Mullins was charged with assaulting a Metropolitan Police officer just outside the Capitol.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION UNCLEAR.)
262. STEPHANIE
HAZELTON (a.k.a. Stephanie Wolfe/Wolfe): Hazelton has been
described as a “conservative activist.” She was known before the riot as a
fervent anti-vaxxer.
263. RICHARD MICHETTI: Poor Mr. Michetti may
have one of the lamest stories of any rioter arrested. He was turned in by
his ex-girlfriend after he texted her to say she was a “moron” if she couldn’t
“see the election was stolen.”
264. Jeremy Groseclose and others kept a garage door from closing at one entrance to the Capitol Building, by placing chairs, garbage cans, and other objects under it. While members of the mob drove back outnumbered police trying to close it, Groseclose and many others gained entrance.
Later, he deleted all evidence of his participation on his phone, and urged others he knew to do likewise.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER, NOT DEFINITIVE.)
265. (R.I.
P.) JOHN ANDERSON battled police on January 6, and
took at least one officer’s shield during the melee. He died of natural causes
before he could go on trial.
266. JOHN
D. ANDRIES: Another Proud Boy.
267. RYAN
ASHLOCK: And another.
268. IAN ROSS HORVATH: Not a Proud Boy! And not one of your more dangerous attackers.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER; NOT DEFINITIVE.)
269. Jared Hunter Adams: “We stormed the Capitol building and the senate today! I can tell my grandchildren I was there!” Adams wrote.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION YET TO BE DETERMINED.)
270. CLIFFORD
MACKRELL: Mackrell was recently sentenced for assaulting an officer. He
was of the opinion, after the attack failed, that a second attack on
Inauguration Day 2021 would be necessary.
Mackrell in the middle of a melee. |
271. JAMES
MATTHEW HORNING: “I am (expletive) proud I was
there,” Horning said in the wake of the riot. He said he and others hoped
to “intimidate congress” and block the counting of the electoral votes.
272. TROY FAULKNER: told the court he backed Trump because he was “combatting human trafficking.”
273. RICHARD
FRANKLIN BARNARD: The Marine Corps veteran
believed the election was stolen.
274. JEFFREY
SHANE WITCHER: Like his friend, Mr. Barnard,
Mr. Witcher was a Marine Corps veteran. In a video he posted he said he and
Barnard came to Washington to stop Congress from certifying the votes.
275. JOSEPH
PADILLA: If anyone had a more unrealistic idea of what could be
done by rioting than Padilla (and his hero, Donald Trump), I’m not sure who it
might have been. Padilla’s plan:
If we could have
occupied the Capitol, we could have invoked the right given to us in the 2nd
paragraph of the Declaration of Independence….We would have been in the Seat of
Power. All we would need to do is declare our grievances with the government
and dissolve the legislature, and replace it with Patriots who were there. Then
simply re-adopt the Constitution with amendments added to secure future Federal
elections.
Utter
nonsense.
276. RUSSELL
JAMES PETERSON was a big Trump fan. Soon after
the riot, his mom, Shelly, proudly
posted on social media that her son had
stormed the Capitol and “sat in Pelosi’s chair.”
277. ERIC GENE BARBER: Barber, a former Parkersburg, West Virginia city council member, was elected in 2016, as a Democrat! (When I saw that, I thought we might have proof of a government “plant,” amidst the sea of Trump supporters.
By the time of the riot, however, he had changed his
registration, first to “Independent,” then to “Republican.”
278. JOSEPH
HACKETT: Another Oath Keeper.
279. Jason
Dolan: Also an Oath Keeper. He later admitted that a steady
diet of right-wing news had warped his sense of reality. “I was
watching a lot of videos about the election. At the time I felt like the
election had been stolen.”
280. WILLIAM
ISAACS: Another Oath Keeper!
281.
Unidentified Individual: Federal authorities are still
looking for a fourth associate of Isaac, et. al, also a member of the Oath
Keepers.
282-283. Mark and Jalise Middleton: After she and her husband joined in pummeling law enforcement officers, she posted to social media, “We fought the cops to get in the Capital [sic] and got pepper sprayed and beat but by gosh the patriots got in!” Recently convicted in a jury trial.
Mark Middleton was listed as a precinct chair on the Cooke County, Texas, Republican Party’s website.
(These people toss around the word “patriots” when it doesn’t apply.)
284. TRACI
SUNSTRUM appears to be another believer
in QAnon conspiracy theories.
285. YVONNE
ST. CYR: Yvonne was a passionate foe of
mask mandates. As for January 6, she explained her position: “Super sad that
this is America, and Americans are being beaten for wanting to save their
country. So welcome to communist America ...” Said she was ready to “die
for this country.”
286. PAM
HEMPHILL: She had previously been
involved, in Idaho, protesting against mask mandates, and efforts to close down
businesses. As for her expectations for January 6, she tweeted, a week before,
“It’s not going to be a FUN Trump Rally that is planned for January 6th,
its [sic] a WAR!”
287. MICAJAH JOEL JACKSON: The Arizona man, 25, said on Facebook that he was a 100% disabled Marine.
Oddly enough, he can be seen walking to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and
hobnobbing with members of the Proud Boys. In some pictures Jackson wears an
orange armband, which members of the group used that day to identify
themselves.
288. RICHARD
L. HARRIS: Harris told an officer that
police were outnumbered, that there were “a (expletive) million of us out there,”
and they were “listening to Trump,” court documents stated.
289. DANIEL PAUL GRAY: By obtaining a
search warrant for his social media accounts, the F.B.I. found that Gray had
posted messages saying the election was the “biggest scandal” of his lifetime.
290. BRUCE
J. HARRISON: He and his friend, Douglas
Wangler, traveled from Illinois to attend Trump’s “Stop the Steal”
rally.
291. DOUGLAS
WANGLER: Same as above.
292. SEAN
MICHAEL McHUGH: McHugh is captured on
video carrying a cannister of bear spray in a holster on his hip and
discharging the bear spray into a line of USCP officers. McHugh
later bragged about his exploits, explaining, “I unloaded a whole
can of bear spray on a line of cops I got three of them down really[,] really
good.”
293. Matthew Greene: The Syracuse, New York suspect remained in jail, after a judge noted that when he returned from Washington D.C., Mr. Greene purchased thousands of rounds of ammunition and war gear. Because if one riot is good, bloody civil war would be better.
A little additional checking turns up evidence indicating
that Greene is – yep – another member of the Proud Boys.
294. MICHAEL ORANGIAS: The Kentucky man explained why he went to Washington D.C. and got mixed up in a riot. He was there to hear President Trump speak, and after Trump said march, he marched.
Why?
“To keep American good … keeping the freedom of speech
there. … If we let the left continue what they’re doing, they’re going to keep
taking more and more …” he told reporters.
295. JAMES BURTON MCGREW: McGrew is a QAnon
believer. On social media, McGrew explained his plan to head to D.C. as part of
an effort to “protest” the “stolen vote.”
296. AUDREY ANN SOUTHARD-RUMSEY: Southard-Rumsey was captured in video clips yelling at police, “Tell Pelosi we are coming for that bitch!” “There’s a hundred thousand of us!” …
At sentencing, she has a meltdown, and tosses aside her prepared remarks. She insists she never pushed police on Jan. 6. They pushed her. “I have grievances,” she says, “since they don’t listen to us at the polling place. They don’t listen to us little people in the regular world.”
(“They” did listen to you at the polls, but you lost,
honey.)
297. KERRY WAYNE PERSICK: Apologist will later claim that Persick and other rioters were, “patriots who went to the Capitol because the President of the United States summoned patriots.”
It’s true.
They were definitely summoned by Trump.
298. JOHN JURAN: His lawyer asked for mercy for his client, in part because he traveled to Washington D.C. at President Trump’s call.
Judge Thomas F. Hogan, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan,
made it clear what he thought. He labeled what transpired an “insurrection” and
an “attempt to overthrow our government.”
299. JEREMY
GRACE: His father, Jeffrey, (#201 on our list) was arrested
previously, but denied that his son had been with him inside the Capitol. Dad
also said he was not an advocate of violence, but did admit he knew individuals
associated with the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters, and the 1 Percent
Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. These are not the kind of groups one finds in liberal
circles.
300. JONATHAN
ACE SANDERS JR.: He and two friends drove to
D.C. from Indiana, to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally.
301. LARRY DROPKIN JR.: At the website, American Gulag, Dropkin is listed as a “political prisoner,” and it is said that everyone who went to the Capitol was really a peaceful, misunderstood, patriotic American.
(POLITICAL AFFILIATION NOT
DEFINITIVE.)
302.
Arthur Jackman: Another Proud Boy.
303. Jack
Wade Whitton: The Locust Grove, Georgia man
was one of a group of rioters that attacked a police officer with – among other
objects – a flagpole, a crutch, a police baton, and a skateboard.
304. (R.I.P.) MICHAEL JOHN LOPATIC SR.: The 57-year-old from Pennsylvania was accused in the attack on the same police officer as Whitton. Like Whitton, he faced multiple felony charges related to his conduct.
As for his motivations, NPR reports:
Prior to Jan. 6, 2021, Lopatic
posted threatening messages on social media against election officials and
expressed an intention to gather at the Capitol and “fight.” According to FBI
agents, Lopatic also posted multiple photos of dead pheasants on social media.
One of the captions read: “I got a double today. The dog flushed them up
together. Full choke. Two shots, two kills. Both head shots. I got a rooster
and a hen. I named them Joe and Kamala,” a reference to the president and vice
president, according to court documents.
305. Jonathanpeter Allen Klein: Klein, 21, traveled
all the way from Oregon with his older brother (see below), allegedly to join
in the riot. Jonathanpeter is a member of the Proud Boys in good
standing.
306. Matthew Leland Klein: Mr. Klein, 24, is facing several charges as a result of his alleged role in the storming of Congress, including conspiracy, obstruction, and disorderly conduct.
Matthew is also facing charges for carrying a loaded weapon
during a…wait for it…another Proud Boys rally.
307. PAULINE BAUER: Bauer had fun during the riot, shouting at police officers barring rioters’ passage through one hallway: “Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang that f---ing bitch. Bring her out. We’re coming if, if you don’t bring her out. What are you trying to do, protect a f---ing Nazi?”
As a bonehead bonus, Ms.
Bauer is a Q-Anon dope.
308. WILLIAM
BLAUSER JR.: Blauser was one of those who answered Pauline Bauer’s
call to travel to Washington and stop the imaginary theft of the November
election.
A decorated war veteran, with a Purple Heart on his resume,
Blauser pled guilty and received his sentence in February 2022.
He got off lightly, but apologized to the court, saying, “I was caught up in
something I truly regret. If I had a chance to redeem myself, I would certainly
do that in a heartbeat. All I can do is sincerely apologize to my country and
the court for my actions.”
486. TAYLOR JAMES JOHNATAKIS: Mr. Johnatakis is a right-winger in good standing. Age 37, from Kingston, Washington, he faced eight charges related to his part in the riot, including two counts of engaging “in an act of physical violence.”
As usual, the wheels of justice ground slowly in
Johnatakis’s case. He decided to represent himself at trial. That didn’t go
well, with the judge calling his defense “gobbledygook.” Nor were jurors
impressed – taking but a few hours to find the defendant guilty on all charges,
including assault.
Johnatakis battling police. |
*
677. ADAM LEJAY JACKSON: Mr. Jackson traveled all the way from Texas to take part in the attack on Capitol Hill. With him, we learn, was his “Nazi-tattooed brother.” As for Adam, he was wearing an American flag cape when he assaulted police, first throwing a “heavy object,” and then charging them with a “purloined police shield.”
He was arrested on June 2, 2022, and on
September 29, 2023, he pled guilty to felony assault on a police officer.
*
678. Brian Scott “Skooter” Jackson: The Jackson brothers flew to Washington from Houston, along with a friend. Both were charged with assaulting police. I suppose you could say Skooter was the “smart” brother, because on his return to Texas he began asking everyone he knew to delete any videos or messages he might have sent. He himself closed his Facebook account.
Authorities say that in at least two messages they were able to recover, he refers to black people with slurs.
As for what happened that day, Skooter was pretty clear. On the night of the riot, he messaged a friend:
Oh shit [name redacted] you have no idea we just fought those hoe ass traitor cops
We fought hard inside the capital we are soldiers we fought for America today we made history today!!!
We love our president and we stood up for America today be proud we did it and fuck these hoe ass cops that are traitors we fucked that capital up today!!!
On February 28, he plead guilty, and should be looking at a good little while behind bars. As for what kind of America he wanted to see:
Skooter and his tattoos. |
****
SO THERE you have it, a cross section of the members of the riotous mob that tried to overturn democracy on January 6, 2021.
In later posts, as suspects realize they might be targets for arrest, they scrub their social media footprints. It becomes harder to be sure that arrestees are Trump supporters, but we can say this. The mob was violent on January 6, and those who have told us why they were there, told us they were responding to the call of Donald J. Trump.
They aren’t peaceful patriots, either. Many of them talk about killing, if necessary, to keep Trump in power.
Here’s the gravest problem we still face, regarding the Capitol Hill riots on January 6, 2021. If you convince people that the 2020 election was stolen – and tens of millions of Trump supporters believe it was – then violence to overturn the results was justified in the minds of those who are sadly misinformed.
And many are ready to try violence again.