“STOPPING THE STEAL”
PART II
(Rioters #57-79)
__________
“So they readily believed what they desired to be true.”
Josephus, the first-century historian
__________
 |
Almost every syllable that came from Trump's mouth was a lie. |
ONCE AGAIN, we pick up the trail of the Capitol Hill rioters. In Part I, we had four possible Antifa sightings; but we had no actual arrests of any known Antifa or left-leaning persons.
Spoiler
alert: In this post, we don’t either.
*
57. Nathan Watts: The young rioter entered the Capitol around 3:01 p.m. and remained for fifteen minutes. During that time, he stopped by a Senate conference to see what was up.
Not much else to his case – he exited without doing any damage or clubbing any police. But he was inside long enough to get hit with two misdemeanor charges.
He faced four charges, and ultimately pled guilty to a single misdemeanor.
(He
was not charged until February 2023. He is listed here, because I had to fill
in a space, after listing another rioter twice.)
(LIKELY TRUMP FAN.)
*
“We are not
going to take it.”
58. Henry Phillip Muntzer: The headline in his case reads: “Montana appliance store owner charged in U.S. Capitol breach.”
I
think a picture of his Dillon, Montana business establishment should give you a good idea of where he stands
on the political spectrum:
In several social media posts, Mr. Muntzer admitted he had helped “storm” the Capitol, adding, “I did not see anyone get hurt other than tear gas and pepper spray and I got sprayed a lot. We sent the message that we are not going to take it, we want out [our] country back ...”
Also, masks are for sheep and sissies. Tell grandma to suck it up, catch the coronavirus and take her chances.
What, you’d rather have her suffer mind control?
UPDATE: Mr. Muntzer is finally scheduled to go on trial in January 2024. He tells a reporter, “I do not regret being there. I would absolutely want to be there again, that’s how monumental that day was. I mean, it was the greatest time, I believe, to be alive.”
“The reason why I was there was to prevent Congress from committing treason, which they did anyways,” he continued, “so once the truth is told and evidence of election fraud is there and January 6 becomes a cover, you’re going to look back in history that January 6 is going to be our new Fourth of July.” In fact, if we go with the cliché, that Muntzer has sipped the poisonous Kool aid, we could say he asked for seconds and then thirds. “I really believe that Trump won by a landslide; not only did he win, but I believe he won, pretty much, almost fifty states,” he continued.
The reporter wonders if the defendant was “led on,” to participate in the attack. “No, I was actually the one that felt led to go to D.C. because Trump put that out there, or somebody did in the Trump administration, Stop the Steal,” he said.
“I don’t know how this is going to turn out, nor do I care,” he insists, facing trial on February 5. “All I care about is I’m a man of principles, I live by those principles and if this is the sword I die on, so be it.”
Well: It will be the sword you die on – and Trump tripped you so you’d fall and get impaled by the blade.
Trump didn’t win all fifty states.
He didn’t even win the election.
On February 6, 2024, after a brief trial, Muntzer bites the judicial dust. Guilty as charged, he is, both felony and misdemeanor charges.
Trump supporter, QAnon, believed the election was stolen.
*
“I refuse to tell my children that I sat back
and did nothing.”
59. KEVIN JAMES LYONS: Lyons posted two pictures to his Instagram account. One showed a Google map of the route between Chicago and Washington, D.C., by car, with the caption: “I refuse to tell my children that I sat back and did nothing. I’m heading to DC to STOP THE STEAL! #MAGA #KAG.”
(KAG stands for “Keep America Great.”)
The next showed a closeup of a sign for Speaker Pelosi’s office. The caption: “WHOSE HOUSE? OUR HOUSE!”
In a weird sort of way, Lyons decided to cooperate with authorities, once he realized he might face arrest. At one point, he offered to upload videos that might help authorities identify others who were in the Capitol, and sent a message saying, “Hello Nice FBI Lady.”
He also “confessed,” after a fashion. He told agents that nothing in the building had been damaged, and he knew that because he saw it in a dream. “He further stated that in a dream he had, he saw a lot of banging on doors, paper being thrown about, and a mob of people.” Lyons also said it felt like he “was inside for approximately 45 minutes.”
In fact, video evidence from that terrible day – not some dream sequence – showed Lyons far more involved in the attack. As Ryan J. Reilly explained in his book, Sedition Hunters, Lyons was one of the rioters who broke into Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s conference room.
“Lyons grabbed a coat off the rack and reached into a pocket,
pulling out a brown wallet that contained about fifty dollars in cash, a TSA
pre-check card, two bank cards, and a driver’s license. Lyons stuffed the
wallet into his pocket and walked out, heading for Pelosi’s conference room…
where another rioter who stormed the Capitol with his mother was complaining
about Pelosi’s chocolate selection.
“They don’t have caramel! That’s the problem, they have no
caramel,” said Raphael Rondon.
Lyons, stolen wallet in his pocket, grabbed a pair of pink
boxing gloves from a nearby table. “Anybody want Nancy’s fucking boxing
gloves?” he asked. “You want Nancy’s pink boxing gloves?”
On a fireplace mantle, covered in shattered glass from a broken mirror, Lyons noticed a framed photo of Pelosi with the late civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis. Lyons stuck it under his sweatshirt, and when police finally pushed the rioters out of the building, he took it with him. (Sedition Hunters, pp. 221-222.)
In April 2023, Lyons was convicted on six charges related to his riotous antics, and could have faced up to twenty years in jail.
In July 2023, the judge suggested that she might depart from sentencing guidelines in his case. It had only then come to her attention that Lyons had stolen the wallet and picture during his time inside the Capitol. According to court documents, “The photograph was never recovered.”
After leaving the scene of the crime, Lyons texted friends a picture of the picture he had stolen, boasting, “I ‘m pretty confident I am now a multiple Federal felon.” Sadly, he is indeed.
(The picture he sent to friends was snapped by his Uber driver, at Lyons’s request – and the driver promptly turned his dumb ass in to federal authorities.)
On July 17, 2023, Lyons learned the very high costs of his felonious actions: 51 months in prison.
Trump supporter, believed in a
“stolen election.”
*
60. ANTHONY R. MARIOTTO: Mr. Mariotto’s defense was clearly hampered by the fact he took a selfie of himself in the Senate chamber during the attack on Capitol Hill. Perhaps he could plead insanity?
Mariotto told an F.B.I. agent on January 16, that he and his wife had come to Washington to listen to President Trump. He said he entered the building because he “was being part of history.” He said he chanted, “U.S.A.!” as part of his role as history-maker. Based on a brief overview, this particular defendant did not seem as dangerous as most. He did have a concealed-carry permit, however. So, if he wanted to chant, “U.S.A., U.S.A.!” I would not have wanted to try to stop him.
He told a reporter he went to D.C. to stop the certification of the vote. “When you have that many people who are not happy, they’re not happy for a reason,” Mariotto said. “You can’t just discount these people.”
He’s right of course. They were unhappy for a reason. They listened to the president’s lies about a stolen election. “I just thought I was doing something patriotic,” he continued. He admitted he never thought about the fact he might be breaking any laws when he helped invade the halls of Congress.
“I just don’t know how to explain it. It’s just an overwhelming feeling to get in there with all the other patriots.”
Only this wasn’t true patriotism. It was idiocy.
(He has since plead guilty to one count, and been sentenced to three years’ probation, 500 hours of community service, and ordered to pay $500 in restitution and a $5,000 fine.)
Trump supporter.
*
“Not to take or destroy anything.”
61. MATTHEW MAZZOCCO: Texas man, 37; arrested after the F.B.I. raided his house on Jan. 17 for participating in the riot. Initially, he remained free on bond, but was fired from his job as a loan officer.
We should also note that he was turned in by other parents of players in a youth sports league after they recognized Mazzocco, who also had a child playing, in pictures from the riot and tipped off federal authorities.
As KSAT Channel 12, Serving San Antonio, Texas, reports:
[In videos recorded during the mayhem],
Mazzocco could be heard telling other people who stormed the Capitol not to
take or destroy anything. In that video, Mazzocco also admits he knew they were
probably going to get in trouble for the breach.
Prosecutors also found flight information that showed Mazzocco flew to Washington D.C. and a selfie he posted on his Facebook profile with the caption, “The capital (sic) is ours!”
It does seem clear that a number of individuals arrested so far, did not mean to do grave harm. Mazzocco was inside the Capitol for only twelve minutes; but the judge at his trail noted he came to D.C. to “interfere with the transition of power.” That is: He intended to disrupt democracy.
He quickly decides to plead guilty and in October 2021, is sentenced to 45 days in jail.)
Trump
supporter, he
believed the election was stolen.
*
“I hope 45 goes to war if he doesn’t I will.”
IAN
ROGERS: The California businessman
is not numbered because he was hit with charges unrelated to the riot on
Capitol Hill, but springing from the same toxic soil.
HuffPost explains:
An extremist supporter of former
President Donald Trump is facing federal charges after law enforcement raided
his home and business in Napa County, California, and discovered dozens of
weapons, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and materials that could be used to
build pipe bombs.
Ian Rogers, a 44-year-old auto
repair shop owner previously
charged with state offenses after his Jan. 15 arrest,
is charged with the federal crime of unlawful possession of unregistered
destructive devices after he admitted to authorities that he built pipe
bombs.
Rogers, according to an FBI affidavit, claimed the pipe
bombs were for entertainment purposes. But authorities said he had a sticker
for the extremist group the “Three-Percenters” and had “intent to attack
Democrats and places associated with Democrats in an effort to ensure Trump
remained in office.”
After raiding his
home, the FBI found text messages on his phone discussing potential targets.
“We can attack
Twitter or the democrats you pick,” Rogers allegedly wrote two days after the
social media service permanently suspended Trump from the platform.
“We can attack
Twitter and democrats easy right now burn they’re shit down,” Rogers allegedly
wrote. “I want to blow up a democrat building bad.”
“I hope 45
goes to war if he doesn’t I will,” Rogers allegedly wrote.
The FBI said it
believed Rogers’ messages showed an “intent to engage in acts of violence
himself locally if there was not an organized ‘war’ to prevent Joe Biden from
assuming the presidency.”
Rogers also discussed attacking the offices of Gov. Gavin
Newsom; and he was found to have in his possession a “White Privilege Card.” It
read: “TRUMPS EVERYTHING” and included the number “0045 0045 0045 0045.”
UPDATE: When I check in on Mr. Rogers, and various January
6 rioters, in May 2023, I discover that he has been sentenced to 108 months in prison, as a result of a plot he and a buddy hatched
to blow up the headquarters of the Democratic Party in Sacramento, California.
His co-conspirator, Jarrod Copeland, gets 54 months for his part in the plan.
 |
Even Rogers' hair is kind of Trumpian. |
Trump supporter, ready for violence.
*
62. PHILIP ANDREW BROMLEY: In the case of United States of America v. Philip Andrew Bromley, we learn that the defendant, a 47-year-old nurse anesthetist, was featured on Parler in a video shot on Jan. 6.
According to federal authorities, in that video,
In his narrative of events on Video 1, BROMLEY
states: “listen…everybody needs to know the truth.” BROMLEY proceeds to
describe how he “breached the right side,” “went in,” and “came to two large
glass doors.” When he reached the doors, BROMLEY continues by stating he was
talking with SWAT officers and reminding them “of their oath,” at which time “a
gunshot went off” and a woman was “shot her in the neck.” BROMLEY continues by
stating it “did not look like a survivable wound” and that “she [the woman who
was shot] was eight feet in front of me on a line.” BROMLEY further describes
the clothing he observed the woman to be wearing when she was shot and states
“they shot her and she is dead.”
BROMLEY concludes his narrative by stating: “my
name is PHILLIP BROMLEY.”
Later, an unidentified pastor asks Bromley to pray for the woman, Ashli Babbitt, and Bromley and others do.
Initially, the defendant faced two misdemeanor charges. During one court appearance, 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.”
The judge in his case was not sympathetic. Bromley was sentenced to 90 days in jail, a year of supervised release, fined $4,000, and ordered to pay an additional $2,000 in restitution.
(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER.)
*
““American needs to wake up.”
63-64.
RACHEL LYNN PERT and DANA
JOE WINN: The couple drove to Washington D.C. together, live-streaming their experiences on the way:
We’re on our way to DC because us as American patriots, we’re tired of
this shit,” Winn…said in their live-stream. “It’s time to make a stand. I never
really knew how deep and corrupt all this crap was and how far back it’s gone.
But American needs to wake up. We’re on the verge of fucking losing it.”
In photos taken during the riot, Pert can be seen with a Trump flag draped round her shoulders.
Winn has the “Stars and Stripes” on a flagpole in his left hand. Later, he told authorities that he brought the flag and pole along to “hit antifa in the head if need be.” He has since pleaded guilty to one count. He was sentenced to ten days in jail, two years’ probation, community service and restitution.
Pert has also pleaded guilty to a single count. She receives a sentence similar to Winn’s, but does not have to spend time in jail.
Trump
supporters,
both believed in
the “stolen election” myth.
*
“Where were you on 06JAN21?”
65. DANIEL D. PHIPPS: This Texas man noted interest on Facebook about a bus headed for D.C. ahead of the January 6 electoral vote certification. That post read: “ATTN: The founder of Stop The Steal has got a bus from DFW [Dallas-Fort Worth Airport] to DC. There are 50 spots available and cost $50 round trip. Please go to the link below, and send your email and phone number so we can register you on the official STOP THE STEAL BUS! #MAGA.”
After the attack, he posted a picture of himself, an American flag draped over his right shoulder, and explained:
“Everyone talks about being a patriot until its
time to do patriot [expletive],” the complaint says.
“I went to DC. I helped take the Hill. I helped
other patriots prevent antifa from damaging anything.”
“I exercised my 1st amendment right
to take grievances to our representatives. It was a (mostly peaceful) political
protest. Where were you on 06JAN21?”
I, the blogger myself, can say I was sitting at home, peacefully minding my business, in the knowledge that Biden thumped Trump in the popular vote. I can also attest, based on evidence so far, that the only Antifa types Mr. Phipps or anyone else had to worry about on January 6, were like “imaginary friends.”
Phipps was clear about who he thought would be heading for the nation’s capital. In late December, he had posted on Facebook, “Hey Marxists, Trump is coming on January 6. And the deplorables are coming with him!”
He was first arrested after a local police officer back home in Fort Worth saw his pictures from the riot and tipped off the feds.
His journey through the legal system was long, but came to an end at last, on August 10, 2023. will not be coming to D.C. again, any time soon. Nor will he be voting in the 2024 election.
He will be jailed for two years, three months, and will spend an additional three years on supervised release.
Trump supporter,
violent, believed in a
“stolen election.”
*
66. HUNTER ALLEN EHMKE: He was arrested and charged with breaking a window in the Capitol Building, and other crimes. According to a statement prepared by a special agent with the U.S. Capitol police, Ehmke was seen on video pointing toward the window and gesturing to the mob “as if to summon others over to his position.” An officer reached Ehmke and shouted to get away from the window, striking him in the lower torso and upper leg in an attempt to push him away, according to the document.
“This disoriented Ehmke, but he remained
standing on the ledge,” eventually falling to the ground, the officer stated.
“While Ehmke lay face-down on the ground, two
other officers with the U.S. Capitol Police pulled Ehmke’s arms behind his back
and detained him with handcuffs,” according to the statement, which says an
officer obtained Ehmke’s California driver’s license and positively identified
him.
“Due
to the growing aggression of the large crowd that far outnumbered the officers
and the exigent circumstances at the time, officers made the decision to allow
Ehmke to depart under his own power,” the statement reads. “Officers took
photos of Ehmke and the damaged window ... (and) advised Ehmke that his actions
were criminal and that they would seek a warrant for his arrest. Ehmke was told
to immediately leave the Capitol grounds.”
He was later arrested while having dinner with his grandparents, which must have put a damper on everyone’s appetite. Grandpa told police that his grandson 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.”
(His participation eventually earns him four months in prison, three years on probation, and $2,281 in restitution.)
Trump supporter.
*
67. VALERIE ELAINE EHRKE: on social media, the California woman admitted she was part of the mob that stormed the Capitol. Authorities also report that her Facebook profile page shows a flaming “Q” and a map commonly associated with QAnon, a far right conspiracy group.
Ehrke eventually pleads guilty to minor charges and gets three years’ probation and an order to pay $500 in restitution.
Believed in QAnon.
*
“V,” the
mysterious blogger.
FUN FACT: To show you how daffy these dupes can be, on November 2, 2021, hundreds show up in Dallas to await the Second Coming of John F. Kennedy Jr., dead now more than twenty years.
As the Washington Post explains:
In
rainy Dallas with temperatures dipping into the low 60s, hundreds huddled with
umbrellas, flags and signs to wait for history to be made on Tuesday. Some even
brought folding chairs.
At
the site overlooking where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated nearly
six decades ago, scores of QAnon believers outfitted with “Trump-Kennedy 2024”
shirts, flags and other merchandise gathered. They forecast the president’s son
John F. Kennedy Jr., who has been dead for over 20 years, would appear at that
spot, emerging from anonymity to become Donald Trump’s vice president when the
former president is reinstated. The prophecy foretold online, of course, did
not come true.
When 12:30 p.m. came, the time
when Kennedy was shot, they recited the Pledge of Allegiance, journalist Steven
Monacelli reported. The crowd lingered, some for more than an hour, eventually
trickling away, a few vowing the
Kennedy known as John-John will reappear at a Rolling Stone concert later in the night
Apparently, some believers in “Q” imagine that John-John
himself is their mysterious prophet. The Post adds:
Believers
speculated Trump would return to the White House based on an unfounded belief
that no president was legitimate after 1871 centered around a misreading of the law. When Kennedy Jr. emerged, Trump
would be reinstated and make the Democrat his successor when he stepped down,
according to one Telegram post.
“We’re
expecting a parade,” an attendee from Nebraska named Ginny told the Rolling Stone. “JFK is going to be here.”
Attendees
like Ginny claimed to see dead celebrities, including Robin Williams and
Michael Jackson.
Meanwhile, even the mysterious “Q” has tried to convince followers that what all sane people already know is true. Is John F. Kennedy Jr. still alive? “No,” Q posted – three years ago.
And is Trump going to be reinstated anytime soon? Or ever? “No,” says “V,” the mysterious blogger, who might be typing this actual sentence right now. “Trump is never going to be reinstated. That’s not even a thing under our system of government. And thanks for reading this fine blog.”
You can also send me a check for $100 and I will send you a t-shirt that reads, “QAnon is nuts.”
I’m going to profit off these poor suckers yet.
*
68. KEVIN LOFTUS: Loftus, age 52, admits he entered the Capitol illegally. He was carrying a flag when photographed inside. According to WXOW, La Crosse, Wisconsin’s Ch. 7 News, “Local Republican and former state Senator Dave Zien said he first met Loftus several years ago, but got to know him well last summer and fall through local Trump campaign events, describing the veteran as a very patriotic and commendable individual.”
Loftus claims he did not act maliciously once inside, nor did he touch anything. But he did text from inside the building that day, “That’s right folks. Some of us are in it to win it.”
He pleads guilty in October 2021. He is sentenced to three years of probation, ordered to do 60 hours of community service and pay $500 restitution.
Trump supporter.
*
Act like an American.
69. SCOTT KEVIN FAIRLAMB: Scott “Wildman” Fairlamb is a former mixed martial arts fighter, and bouncer, age 43. In one video from the day of the attack, he can be seen screaming at police defending the Capitol, “Are you an American? Act like a f***ing one! … You guys have no idea what the f*** you’re doing. Not one single f***ing idea.”
In a second video he is supposedly seen carrying a collapsible police baton, picked up off the ground after some officer dropped it during the melee.
A third video shows Fairlamb shoving and punching a police officer.
If he had tried to leave a clearer trail, Fairlamb couldn’t have done much better. Again on social media, he posted before the riot, “How far are you willing to go to defend our Constitution? Made the trip solo, looking to meet my fellow Patriots who share the same beliefs. Put up or shut up.” In a Facebook video, now deleted, “Wildman” posed the question: “What Patriots do?” Then he supplied the answer: “We f*ckin’ disarm them, and then we storm f*ckin the Capitol.”
Fairlamb, who owns a gym in New Jersey, defied shutdown orders during the pandemic and called such orders government overreach.
In bonus news, it is reported that in 2010, Fairlamb was convicted of aggravated assault.
In 2018, he pled guilty to a charge of simple assault.
On August 6, 2021, Mr. Fairlamb plead guilty to assaulting officers during the January 6 affray. On November 10, he is sentenced to 41 months behind bars. He quickly replaces his lawyers and says he plans an appeal.
At trial, his lawyer noted that Fairlamb had said he was “duped” and “manipulated” by social media into believing Trump won the election.
Trump supporter, violent, believed the
election was stolen.
*
“I feel like he’s under
a spell.”
70. DOUGLAS SWEET: We’ll let Sweet’s daughter, Robyn, describe what she thinks happened to her father.
She described her father as a
self-employed handyman in his late 50s who lives in rural Virginia and became
increasingly fixated with conspiracy theories after Barack Obama was elected
president. That escalated when Trump rose to power, Sweet said, and her father
attended the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 and has
discussed concerns about child pedophile rings and adrenochrome, a
chemical compound they believe is extracted from captive children’s blood — baseless conspiracy theories spread by
QAnon followers.
“He wholeheartedly believes
this stuff,” Sweet said. “I feel like he is under a spell. Trump has got these
people under a spell.”
Her father defended his participation in a message on Facebook:
Our Goal was to speak to
the house and Senate about “stop the steal” and infiltration by the Chinese
Communist Party of our government. I feel strongly about defending our
Constitutional rights and will not sit on the sidelines and watch as both
parties trample our Rights and commit treason with foreign enemies and Governments.
Robyn Sweet says her father once asked her if she was a member of “Antifa,” and does not believe COVID-19 is real.
Douglas Sweet is apparently friends with “Cindy Sue” (below).
In November 2021, he is sentenced to serve a month on home detention, perform 60 hours of community service, pay $500 in restitution, and ordered to report to a probation officer for the next three years.
Trump “sent us,”
believed in
QAnon.
*
71.
CINDY FITCHETT: The Cobbs Creek,
Virginia woman was charged on four counts, related to her alleged role in the
Capitol Hill debacle. She was freed on bail at her first hearing, on the following
conditions:
Stay
away from D.C.
Surrender
passport
Notify
court if she is traveling
Must
verify her address
Agree
not to have firearms or narcotics
Do not
commit any other crimes
You can get a sense of her political leanings when you consider she was a member of a Facebook group called Trump Women Landslide 2020.
On August 17, 2020, she retweeted African American comedian Terrence K. Williams’ tweet asking for a description for Kamala Harris and wrote, “An idiot.”
On November 7, 2020, she retweeted Williams’ tweet claiming that Joe Biden and Harris cheated together and wrote, “They sure did… but I haven’t given up.”
That same day she retweeted Donald Trump’s tweet claiming that he won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and wrote, “This claim is correct.”
She
was wrong, of course, and Trump was a liar, and now Fitchett pays the price.
She is ordered to sit at home for a month on detention, complete 60 hours of
community service, pay $500 in restitution, and report to her brand spanking new
probation officer for the next three years.
Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”
*
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 wrote in one. In another, he noted, “At the protest in DC. I went inside the capitol building and got tear gassed.” He has been required to surrender his passport and ordered to avoid travel to D.C.
In August 2021 he pleads guilty to a single charge, and receives eighteen months’ probation, a fine of $2,000, and $500 in restitution
Trump supporter, believed in a
“stolen election.”
*
73. LEO KELLY: The Iowan man was arrested after talking to reporters about his entry into the Capitol Building. He said he listened to Trump’s speech on January 6, and followed the crowd. He entered the building after many others, thinking, “this is a moment in history.”
“At some point,” he tells the reporter, “there’s enough crimes being committed against the Constitution, committed by the elected officials, that, you know, what are you supposed to do?”
If you watch the video, Kelly is almost eloquent in the way he speaks. Unfortunately, he’s repeating the Trumpian line: that the courts “won’t even take a look at the evidence.” He adds that the people have “been betrayed by Congress, betrayed by the judicial branch, betrayed by our local governments.” Finally, he says, “You come to the end of your rope.” He wanted his voice to be heard “for legitimate votes.” “What were Americans supposed to do” he adds.
Hint: The answer is not, “Riot.”
Kelly decides to exercise his rights as a good American and take his case to trial.
Jurors exercise their duties by finding his dumb ass guilty on all seven charges he faces, both felonies and misdemeanors. His conviction comes on May 10, 2023, exactly 918 days since the 2020 election.
On August 18, he finds that he will miss voting in the 2024 election. He’ll be ensconced in jail for the next 30 months.
He must also hand over $7,000 in fines and restitution.
BLOGGER’S NOTE (5/10/23): As a former American
history teacher, I have always admired those who stand up for their convictions,
despite the dangers often inherent in doing so. William Lloyd Garrison, Susan
B. Anthony, Alvin York – the pacifist who became a World War I hero, Rosa Parks,
and countless others.
I would probably like Mr. Kelly if I met him – and
respect his willingness to stand up for democracy.
Sadly, he had been sucked into a vortex of endless lies. Americans had already done what was needed to protect democracy, before January 6, 2021.On November 3, 2020, in a fair election, they had voted Donald Trump out.
Trump supporter,
believed in a
“stolen election.”
*
“#FUCKCOMMIESCUM.”
74. ANDREW BENNETT: In the affidavit supporting his arrest, law enforcement officials make note of Facebook videos, placing Bennett inside the Capitol.
A sense of his state of mind can be discerned from a post before he headed for the nation’s capital.
You better be ready chaos is
coming and I will be in DC on 1/6/2021 fighting for my freedom! #FIGHTBACK for
Lin Wood and his family!
PS. #BidensLaptopMatters
#FUCKCANCELCULTURE #FUCKANTIFA #FUCKCOMMIESCUM #FUCKCHINA #STOPTHESTEAL This is
my _line___ ether you with me or against me FAFO! Keep thinking I’m crazy!”
A search of his home by F.B.I. agents also turned up a “Proud Boys” hat similar to the one he is seen wearing during the riot.
In October, Bennett was sentenced to three months of home confinement and two years of probation.
He must also pay a fine of $500 and perform 80 hours of community service.
At his sentencing, he had this to say to the judge, “I’d like to apologize to you and the country for entering the Capitol. I was not thinking clearly, pumped up on adrenaline as I was. What I did was wrong and I hold myself accountable for my actions.”
But, of course, the burning question remains. Who do we blame for pumping up all these rioters?
Trump supporter, right-winger, believed in a “stolen election,”
ready for violence.
*
75. Daniel Page Adams: Charged with assaulting an officer; the affidavit of arrest notes his “mullet hairdo” in one photo.
That seems like a low blow to a man’s esteem. (See #76.)
NPR notes: “Adams has a criminal record going back to 2007, when he was found guilty and sentenced for “deadly conduct” in Chambers, County, Texas. He had an assault charge dismissed in 2020.”
The actions of Adams and his cousin, Cody Connell (rioter #496 on our list) are described in part in court documents:
The two
USCP officers who were standing immediately in front of Connell and Adams were
holding up two riot shields to keep the rioters at bay. Adams, seeing his way
blocked by these officers with shields, looked to the other rioters around him
and said, “Let’s go. Are you ready to push? You ready to push?” On Adams’
signal, the crowd began to push against the officers with shields, who, for
approximately five seconds, were able to resist the push of the crowd. In the
first seconds that the crowd began pushing against the officers, Adams harassed
the officers, shouting, “Hey, you’re not even a fucking American!” But, Adams
stopped his invective mid-breath when he saw an advantage had opened: a rioter
standing immediately behind Connell and Adams had sprayed a stream of chemical
irritant over the shield of one of the officers, striking the officer in the
face and causing him to buckle, stumble sideways, and momentarily lower his
shield.
Taking
full advantage of that opening, Adams yelled to the crowd, “Let’s go! Let’s go!
Let’s go!” With the force of the crowd behind them, Connell and Adams crashed
into the officers and began to push against them, exploiting the momentary gap
in the police line. The officers on the stairs, including the one who had just
been sprayed in the face, attempted to push back against Adams, Connell, and
the rioters who were following Adams’ commands. But those officers had to
retreat in the face of the rioters’ substantial numerical advantage and
superior physical force.
In fact, Adams continued to lead the rioters in their attack even after at least one officer hit him in the head with a baton, and left blood streaming down his face. In the end, he was the third rioter that day to breach the Capitol Building itself.
As a result of Adams’s actions on January 6, he faced a battery of very serious charges, and his case dragged through the courts. In November 2022, he requested permission from a judge to go bow hunting – but pre-trial conditions prohibited him from…well…possession of dangerous weapons.
He had already spent 52 days in jail, following his arrest, when he was ordered held without bond, but later released.
On July 28, 2023, in a bench trial, Mr. Adams was found guilty on multiple charges and faces serious jail time ahead. As for why he was there in D.C., on January 6, 2021, his cousin explained that they were going to protest the stolen election. And they were bringing two flags and three pistols.
Trump supporter, violent, believed the election was stolen.
76. Cody Page Connell: According to the F.B.I., Connell posted messages on social media, explaining that he was heading for D.C., stating, “Join President Donald J. Trump at the Save America March.”
Connell also posted a number of videos and photos that placed him and his cousin in the middle of the riot. In one video, law enforcement officials say, Adams can be seen at the front of a crowd, pushing toward a line of United States Capitol Police.
At the beginning of the video, ADAMS repeatedly
asks to those around him, “let’ go. Are you ready to push?” ADAMS is directly
in front of a line of capital police officers who are holding protective
shields up between themselves and ADAMS. At this point, ADAMS starts yelling,
“let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” and he and others appear to sprint up the
Capitol steps, chasing the officers who are now repositioning themselves at the
top of the stairs. ADAMS then engages in a direct struggle with law enforcement
officers who are attempting to prevent ADAMS and others from breaking the line
again. ADAMS continuously shouts, “come on, let’s go, let’s go, come on, let’s
go,” in an apparent effort to encourage others to keep launching forward toward
the officers and the Capitol building. The video then shows ADAMS physically
engaging with another set of officers at the top of the steps. The video ends
with a loud thud and ADAMS holding his head and uttering an expletive.
…Figure 11 depicts ADAMS holding his head and looking into the camera at the end of the apparent altercation.
(Let’s hope his mullet wasn’t damaged.)
The day after the riot, Connell described his role and the role of his cousin, sending a video to a third party.
“That’s my cousin. When we storm the cops there
was 8 of them and 4 of us so he got clubbed and shot with rubber bullet. But we
pushed the cops against the wall, they dropped all their gear and left. That’s
when we went to doors of Capitol building and breached it.” The other
individual responded, “Yall boys something serious lol it lookin like a civil
war yet?” CONNELL answered: “It’s gonna come to it.”
Your affiant believes CONNELL may intend to
return to Washington, D.C. sometime during the week of January 18, 2021.
According to a witness, CONNELL has communicated with at least two other individuals
in Texas about purchasing long-rifle firearms, ammunition, and body armor to
bring with them. According to the witness, CONNELL explain that he was not
returning to Louisiana unless he was in a body bag. Your affiant understood
that to mean CONNELL intended to travel to Washington D.C. to cause violence
that may result in the end of his life.
Arrested along with Adams, soon afterwards, Connell posted warning on social media in reference to the Biden inauguration, “We will be back and it will be a whole lot worse than yesterday.”
He not only wasn’t back – he probably won’t get to vote for Trump again in 2024. He plead guilty to one federal misdemeanor charge in October 2022. He now awaits only sentencing.
Trump supporter,
believed in a
“stolen election,” ready for violence.
*
Patriots! Revolution! Delusion!!
77. BRANDON STRAKA: An organizer of “Stop the Steal” rallies, Straka, 44, urged members of the mob to attack a police officer and take away his shield during the January 6 riot. He called for “a revolution” on that day.
In a report on January 26, NBC news noted that Straka, “a gay Trump supporter who launched the #WalkAway social media campaign encouraging voters to leave the Democratic Party, has been arrested in connection with the assault on the U.S. Capitol this month.”
Straka is well-known in conservative circles, even though many who travel in conservative circles would tell you that any gay man like him is going to end up burning eternally in hell and will deserve it.
We know he was also a featured speaker at the “Stop the Steal” rally in Freedom Plaza in D.C. on January 5.
According to the affidavit for his arrest, the man who describes himself proudly as an “ex-liberal” posted a number of tweets, expressing his disappointment over what happened after the mob stormed the Capitol.
(No, not to the five deaths, nor the scores of injuries.)
“For 6-8 weeks everybody on the right has been saying ‘1776!’ & that if congress moves forward it will mean a revolution! So congress moves forward. Patriots storm the Capitol – now everybody is virtual signaling their embarrassment that this happened.”
“Perhaps I missed the part where it was agreed this would be a revolution of ice cream cones & hair-braiding parties to take our government back from lying, cheating globally interested swamp parasites. My bad.”
As for Antifa, Straka scorned the idea that they had been involved. “Be embarrassed & hide if you need to- but I was there,” he proudly proclaimed. “It was not Antifa at the Capitol. It was freedom loving Patriots who were DESPERATE to fight for the final hope of our Republic because literally nobody cares about them. Everyone else can denounce them. I will not.”
(He pleads guilty to one misdemeanor charge in October 2021 – and the fact a possible felony charge is dropped hints at the very real possibility he may be cooperating with authorities. In the end, he gets three months of home detention, 36 months on probation, and takes a $5,500 hit to the bank account.)
Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election,” ready
for violence.
*
78. RASHA ABUAL-RAGHEB: Ms. Ragheb is a known member of the Three Percenters. She warned in a Facebook chat group 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.
So, she showed up, rioted, and tangibly got herself arrested and charged with a number of federal crimes.
On August 9, 2021, she pleads guilty to one charge (unspecified, apparently as part of a wider investigation) related to the riot. Seven other members of the same right-wing group were, at that time, still facing charges.
November 3, 2022: The defendant is ordered to spend two months on home confinement, three years on probation, and pay $500 in restitution.
Right-winger, ready for violence.
*
“We’re not coming back peacefully.”
79. CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL ALBERTS: Alberts faced nine counts, including six felonies. That included one for entering the Capitol, carrying a pistol and ammunition, “specifically a Taurus G2C, 9mm handgun and 9mm caliber ammunition.”
According to WBAL News Radio, Alberts was still lingering on Capitol grounds after a curfew had been imposed on the evening of January 6. An officer asked him to leave the area, but he was slow to act.
The officer noticed a bulge on his hip, which
the officer believed to be consistent with a handgun. He tapped the bulge with
his baton and confirmed his suspicion. Alberts was also wearing a bullet-proof
vest and carrying a backpack.
The officer told two colleagues Alberts was
carrying a gun. Alberts then tried to run but was detained with the help of two
other officers. They found the handgun along his right hip and a spare magazine
on his left hip, both fully loaded. In his backpack, they found a pocketknife,
a meal ready to eat and a first aid kit.
The affidavit of arrest included a number of other details of interest. Alberts also had a gas mask in his backpack. The handgun had one round chambered and a dozen in a clip. The extra magazine was also loaded with twelve rounds. Having been advised of his Miranda rights, Alberts claimed he was carrying the pistol so he could protect himself.
Also, one would suppose, he was worried that some random mugger might try to get him with poison gas.
The rounds he carried were hollow pointed. He was charged with assaulting officers, among other crimes.
Even after he was forced out of the building, 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.” He also barked at officers, insisting that he and other rioters had “a duty to overthrow the government and reinstate a new government of the people.”
So, why was Alberts even there on that day? He believed Trump’s lies. He believed the election was stolen. In one court memo, his lawyer explains, “Alberts went to bed on election night knowing…Trump held a comfortable lead over Joe Biden.” He “woke the next day to find…suspicious ballot processing in a small number of swing states.”
Only there had been nothing suspicious about the swings – as heavily Democratic mail-in ballots were counted last.
And even President Trump had been warned this would happen.
Alberts won’t be coming back anytime soon – and won’t have a chance to vote for Trump, or anyone else, in the next presidential election. Or probably the next after that. In April 2023, he is convicted on all nine charges.
During a “lighter” moment at the Alberts’ trial, a witness for the defense, David Sumrall, who runs a website advocating and fundraising for January 6 defendants, was asked to identify individual who had gone inside the Capitol but had still not been charged. His lawyer objected loudly, saying prosecutors were trying to turn his client into a “cheese-eating rat.” Sumrall, for his part, had been filming on Capitol Hill on January 6, and has since expressed the belief that 99% of the January 6 defendants should not have been charged.
Too bad, Alberts didn’t have Sumrall acting as his judge. Alberts, who had previously said “instinct took over” when he charged police on January 6, was handed a sentence of seven years behind bars.
He also owes $2,000 in restitution.
At his sentencing,
Capitol Police Officer Stephen Sherman gave a victim impact
statement … saying he thought that rioters were going to take out guns and
begin “assassinating myself and fellow officers” on the western front of the
Capitol. He spoke about being unable to reach his wife, another Capitol Police
officer, after he was attacked by pepper spray for a second time, and how he
thought she was dead.
“You came to the Capitol that day to start a war,” Sherman told Alberts.
 |
Alberts was ready for war. |
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