January 6 Rioters - Part VII - "That Wasn't Trump People" (203-253)

 

“THAT WASN’T TRUMP PEOPLE”

PART VII

(YEAH, IT WAS.)

 (Rioters #203-253)

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“If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act right, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth by which no man was ever injured. But he is injured who abides in his error and ignorance.” 

Marcus Aurelius
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I FEEL BAD saying this, but there are times when it becomes painfully clear. An alarming percentage of Trump fans will believe anything. 

If Donald J. Trump claimed that Joe Biden had been snacking on babies in the Oval Office, they’d start hunting for bones. 

(Wait: That’s the QAnon shtick.)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene - typical of too many Trump supporters.

“It was all staged.”

The most recent example comes by way of Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey. He’s the top elected Republican in that state. In a February 3, 2020, meeting with party luminaries, including at least one who had attended the Trump rally in Washington D.C. on January 6, Shirkey played detective. 

A daft detective. 

Like all good Americans, Shirkey was shocked by scenes of violence on Capitol Hill. The question in Detective Shirkey’s mind: Who would stoop so low as to attack democracy itself? Like so many Trump fans, willing and able, even happy to believe anything, Shirkey “solved” that crime with ease. “That wasn’t Trump people,” he told his listeners. “That’s been a hoax from day one [emphasis added]. That was all prearranged.”  

According to a recording of the conversation, one member of the audience suggested that police tear-gassed “their own guards.”

Shirkey agreed. “Why wasn’t there more security there? It was ridiculous. It was all staged.” He insisted that Mitch McConnell “was part of it. ...They wanted to have a mess.” He did admit that Trump backers “probably got caught up in the emotion” of the mob. But who could blame those patriots?  

Right? 

Once the tape leaked, Shirkey apologized for sounding like a fool. So allow me to help anyone who is still operating under this misconception. It wasn’t a pack of wild liberals busting up democracy on January 6. It was Trump guys, led on by other Trump guys, and incited by Trump himself. It was a whole bunch of right-wing extremists, a rock-solid subset of the GOP base. 

Picking up the numbering where we left off in a previous blog post, we add the most recent arrestees: 

 

*

He could start keeping count right here.   

203. SUZANNE KAYE: First up is Ms. Kaye, a profoundly stupid Trump fan from Florida. She not only claimed to have participated in the riot on January 6, she decided to make a video explaining what she would do if F.B.I. agents showed up at her door to talk.  

As the Daily Mail, a British tabloid explains, “Kaye released a rage-fuelled [sic] video of herself chugging Jack Daniels Cinnamon Spice from the bottle while ‘Every Breath You Take’ plays in the background.”  

In the clip, she says she has already been contacted by phone about her possible involvement in the attack on the Capitol. She told agents, “I ain’t gonna talk to you unless I have counsel.” But she can’t afford counsel. So fuck them. Besides, they just “spent four years persecuting a three-star general [she means Michael T. Flynn], without evidence …. I’m an American,” she sneers. “I know my rights.”  

Actually, she doesn’t. She’s right about free speech, and the right to “carry a gun…” but when she adds, “to shoot your fucking ass if you come to my house,” she goes a bit too far. She closes with several “fuck you’s” and goes back, we assume, to chugging Jack straight from the bottle.  

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.  

If Mr. Shirkey ever reads this blog, he could start keeping count right here. That would be:  

Trump supporters:    1

Liberal types:             0

 

I still don’t see evidence that Kaye has been charged with entering the Capitol on January 6. However, in April 2023, a judge decides Ms. Kaye needs time in the can to cool down, and maybe stop drinking. 

For threatening F.B.I. agents, she earns 18 months in prison. 

Trump supporter.

 

*  

On the 12 day of Christmas my President said to me ... (come to DC).

204. DANIEL DEAN EGTVEDT: Mr. Egtvedt can be seen in pictures on social media, hanging with Lara Trump and Mike Pence.  

According to The Daily Beast, social media accounts that appear to belong to Egtvedt show that he is “well-connected in conservative and right-wing circles. He has visited the White House at least twice – including the 2018 Christmas party at which he met the actor Jon Voight.”  

In the days leading up to the riot, Egtvedt made it clear why he was heading for D.C. “Good Day patriots!” he posted, “....on the 12 day of Christmas my President said to me ... (come to DC) ... (1776/2?) be a part of history...(see you soon) ...(truth revealed) ... (victory is ours...) it going to be huuuuuge!” 

 

Prosecutors say Capitol Police tried three times to eject Egtvedt from the building. He resisted each time, even telling a female officer, “Shoot me.” At least one male officer was knocked down and injured while trying to drag the big, burly, law & order-loving Trump fan out.  

And, in bonus, right-wing-nut news: Egtvedt is a big fan of QAnon conspiracy thinking. “Stop the Steal” meets “Stop the Cannibal Liberals from Sucking the Blood of Our American Babies.”  

And the plot keeps thickening, as they say. The circumstances of his arrest are surely worth noting. He was nabbed shortly after Maryland law enforcement officers visited a relative’s home. Egtvedt was trying to stop that relative from going for a COVID-19 test. “Egtvedt allegedly told the officers at the time that he wouldn’t let his relative leave because of a fringe conspiracy theory that the vaccine would ‘eventually kill off a lot of people as a population control method from the government.’” 

Officers then ran his name, discovered he was wanted as a suspect in the Capitol Hill riot, and returned to cuff him. 

(Let’s hope his relative got the shots.)

 

He was convicted in January 2023, on four felony and three misdemeanor charges. At his trial, his lawyer insisted that Egtvedt “hung on every word” Trump spoke on Jan. 6. 

At his sentencing hearing, Officer Michael DeCruz, of the D.C. Metropolitan Police, who was injured trying to restrain Egtvedt, said he understands the defendant viewed himself as a patriot on the day of the attack, but he views himself as a patriot as well. “I was not born in this country. I had to earn my citizenship through the Marine Corps,” DeCruz tells the court. 

As for his lawyer, she asks the judge to be lenient, blaming former President Trump for stirring up her client. 

“Mr. Egtvedt had no idea he was being used as a pawn in a game far more sophisticated and complex than anyone could imagine,” she explains. 

In the end, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentences the pawn to 42 months in prison. 

“I’ve seen a lot of these cases and you were among the most disruptive and threatening and dangerous instigators there,” Cooper told the defendant. “I think you were part of a group that overran police lines outside of those doors and afterward you tried to call in more folks.”

Trump “sent us,” QAnon, believe the election was stolen.

 

* 

“Calls for America to become a whites-only nation.”

205. CHRISTIAN SECOR: This twenty-two-year old UCLA senior was quickly arrested and, like Egtvedt, charged with assaulting an officer.  

Secor is a self-described fascist – the pole opposite of the Antifa type – and president of “America First Bruins,” a UCLA club. Federal agents were tipped off by several of his college peers, who said Secor had “posted threats online and openly posted calls for America to become a whites-only nation.”  

In fact, believing Trump had been cheated out of the win in 2020, the young right-winger was ready for the most drastic possible action. “Any Republican governor who doesn’t begin drafting articles of secession if the election is stolen,” Secor wrote, “is a traitor to their constituencies.” (Sedition Hunters, p. 74)

He should be out of jail in time to vote for Trump in 2024, unless he lives in a state that bars felons from the polls. 

He pled guilty in May 2022. In October, the self-described fascist is sentenced to 42 months behind bars, ordered to spend an additional three years on probation, and pay $2,000 in restitution. 

Trump supporter, right-wing, violent,

believed the election was stolen.

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 Dear Diary: “Bear Spray.”  

206. FELICIA KONOLD: This 26-year-old Arizona woman’s claim to fame is having been recruited by the Proud Boys. ABC News has called the Proud Boys + Felicia, “a neofascist organization that describes itself as ‘Western chauvinists’ and has long forbidden female members.” 

In the past, the Boys have displayed a pronounced misogynistic streak. When one young woman inquired about setting up a “Proud Girls” group, she was quickly rebuffed. “Want to support us? Get married, have babies, and take care of your family,” leaders of the Boys scoffed.  

Prosecutors allege that William Chrestman (#208, below), described as the leader of Kansas City Proud Boys cell, “readily recruited” Felicia Konold and her brother, Cory Konold, from Arizona, to join the group. 

As for Ms. Konold, she vowed in her last diary entry before the riot that her purpose in life would be “to make sure good TRUMPS Evil.” 

Certainly, she was proud of what she did that day, posting on social media, and writing in her diary on January 8, 

I never could have imagined having that much of an influence on the events that unfolded today. Dude, people were willing to follow. You fucking lead, and everyone had my back, dude …

.

We took our capitol back. The United States took a stand a majority peacefully pushed back 6+ lines of security and persisted through rubber bullets, chemical sprays, baton beating, physical resistance and doors. And occupied the Capitol building in Washington since the British hundreds of years ago.

 

 

In fact, they didn’t take the capital back, they rioted and lost, and on November 1, 2023, Felicia and her brother pled guilty to felony charges, related to their participation in the wild attack.

 

FUN FACT: In another diary entry, Felicia describes her favorite chili recipe, and then her “to do” list, preparatory to her trip to D.C. Among other items she makes a point to list: “bear spray.”

 

UPDATE: Felicia gets 45 days in jail, and two years on probation.

 

 

Trump supporter, right-winger.

 

* 

“A larger group of Proud Boys members and associates.” 

207. CORY KONOLD: The lawyer for Cory Konold, 25, insists he went to D.C. only out of concern for his sister’s safety, and is not a member of the Proud Boys, although prosecutors say he is.  

In any case, Felicia and Cory’s father offered up the same kind of explanation of the riot as Sen. Shirkey – which is to say, pure deny-reality idiocy. “It couldn’t have been Trump guys,” Robert Konold told reporters. “I’m thinking it could’ve been more antifa or you know Democrats wanting to make Trump look bad or something. No normal Republican would go nuts.” 

This seems particularly dumb, in retrospect, since both brother and sister have since pled guilty to felony charges. 

A press release from the Department of Justice shows clearly enough that the siblings weren’t tricked into joining the attack. 

According to court documents, on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Cory and Felicia made contact with a group of men that included co-defendants William Chrestman, Christopher Kuehne, Luis Enrique Colon, and Ryan Ashlock, all of whom were members of the Proud Boys from the Kansas City area. After joining with the Kansas City Proud Boys, the Konolds followed the men to the National Mall, where they joined with a larger group of Proud Boys members and associates  from around the country.

 

On November 1, 2023, the Konold siblings plead guilty to felony charges. On January 25, 2020, they are sentenced. Cory gets off easier, with 30 days behind bars, and 730 more on probation. 

Right-winger.

 

* 

The defendant believed President Trump had authorized his actions. 

208. WILLIAM CHRESTMAN: The 47-year-old from Olathe, Kansas was charged for his participation in the riot. He was one of five Proud Boys whose arrests were announced not long after the actual riot.  

At his first court hearing, prosecutors argued that bail for Mr. Chrestman should be denied. The U.S. Army veteran, they said, would be “a flight risk and a danger to society” if he were set at liberty. 

Chrestman’s lawyers argued that he should not be charged, saying that their client believed President Trump had authorized his actions. 

He was charged, and in October 2023, he went one step better and pled guilty to a single felony charge. At one point, during the riot, Mr. Chrestman (who needed no encouragement by leftist “plants” in the mob) threatened police trying to hold back the attackers with an axe handle he was carrying. “Hey, if you shoot, I’ll f— take your a— out.”  

Later, he yanked another rioter out of police hands, and that rioter got away, perhaps to riot or vote for Trump another day.

 

UPDATE: On January 12, 2024, Chrestman here’s the gavel come down in his case. He’ll spend more time in prison (55 months) than Donald J. Trump spent in the White House (48 months), and that’s not even adjusting for the fact that Donald spent more than 300 days playing golf. 

The good news for Chrestman? He’d already spent almost three years in custody, so he’s got a real head start on his sentence. 

Sadly, he also owes the federal government $2,000. 

Trump “sent us,” right-winger.

 

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“Violence so utterly massive that we send a message.” 

209. CHRISTOPHER KUEHNE: Kuehne, a second Olathe man, was arrested and charged with participating in the riot. He was released on his own recognizance and confined to house arrest, complete with an electronic monitoring device. “Kuehne, a retired Marine Corps officer, told the judge that he is being treated at the Department of Veterans Affairs for PTSD and a traumatic brain injury.” 

His lawyer noted that her client had served for twenty years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and was awarded a Purple Heart during a tour in Iraq.  

He’s yet another member of the Proud Boys. 

According to court documents, Kuehne, an associate of the Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys, made plans with other members of the group to attend a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. Prior to his arrival, Kuehne sent a message to others in the group regarding a potential confrontation with Antifa and BLM, stating, “Be prepared not only to beat down but when you do action of violence so utterly massive that we send a message.”

 

In September 2023, he pleads guilty to one felony charge for his actions that day. 

In February 2024, he learns that he will spend 75 days in prison, and two year on probation, including 60 days on home detention. 

Right-winger, ready for violence.

 

*

A proud Proud Boy

210. Louis Enrique Colon: Also arrested, Colon is yet another proud member of the Proud Boys. 

 In a Department of Justice press release, for April 27, 2022, we learn that Colon has plead guilty and could face up to five years in prison. 

He and others drove from Kansas City to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Colon brought a handgun with him on the trip but did not bring it into Washington. On Jan. 5, he and two others went to a hardware store to purchase items to use on Jan. 6. Colon purchased and modified an axe handle to be used as both a walking stick and a weapon.

 

On Jan. 6, Colon and others met with a large group of Proud Boys at the Washington Monument. They then marched to the Capitol, making their way to the west side of the grounds. At the time, Colon was carrying a pocketknife and wearing a backpack, tactical vest, tactical gloves, boots, and a helmet adorned with orange tape. Colon and others proceeded past the police barricades and onto the Capitol’s West Plaza. He climbed a wall to gain access to a higher level of the Capitol’s exterior and unlawfully entered the building at approximately 2 p.m. While inside the Capitol, Colon obstructed police officers who were attempting to lower retractable doors to stop rioters from proceeding further into a portion of the building. Colon used his hands to stop one door and placed a chair in its path. He remained in the Capitol building until about 2:50 p.m. 

Trump supporter, right-winger.

 

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“Now he knows that he was misled by his president.”

211: GLENN WES LEE CROY: The Colorado gentleman has been arrested for joining in the January 6 extravaganza.  

According to one witness, a social media account belonging to Croy replied to a question posed by right-wing wild woman, Rep. Lauren Boebert, recently elected to her first term in Congress. “Who is going to be in DC on January 6^th to stand with President Donald Trump?” she wondered.  

The Twitter account linked to Croy responded, “fellow Coloradan we will be there,” court documents say.  

* 

On August 9, 2021, Croy pleads guilty to one misdemeanor charge, and in November 2021 he learns the price of his errors. He gets 14 days in jail, home confinement for 90 more, three years on probation, and has to pay $500. Croy admits he was an “idiot” for following the crowd that day. 

“False claims were made on media sources, as well as by the President himself, that the election system had been corrupted and that the integrity of the election should be questioned,” his lawyer explained, by way of mitigation. “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. 

Trump “sent us,” believed the “stolen election” myth.

 

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“The greatest charlatan of them all.”  

212. Leo Brent Bozell IV: Bozell, 41, earned his day in cuffs and his first trip to court after joining the assault on Congress.  

NPR described him as “the son of a prominent conservative activist and media critic.” He was identified after being photographed inside the Capitol wearing a sweatshirt bearing the logo and name of the Hershey Christian Academy, a small private school in Pennsylvania where his children attend. One tipster told the F.B.I. that Bozell had been girls’ basketball coach at the Academy.  

NPR further reported: 

His father, Leo Brent Bozell III, is the founder and president of the nonprofit Media Research Center, which describes its mission as working “to expose and neutralize the propaganda arm of the Left: the national news media.” The organization runs the NewsBusters website, which frequently accuses mainstream media organizations – including NPR – of liberal bias.

 

On the day of the Capitol insurrection, the elder Bozell said on Fox Business that he condemned the violence but said, “This is an explosion of pent-up outrage from middle America.”

 

“They are furious that they believe this election was stolen [emphasis added],” he added. “I agree with them.”

 

In other words, dad didn’t really condemn the violence. Also, he was ill-informed, in his faith in mythic “stolen election” evidence.  

The Bozell family has a good deal of money, and they can pay for legal counsel, but on September 8, 2023, they learn what “FAFO” really means. Having heard the evidence in his case, Leo is convicted on ten charges, including assault. 

The young man is going to spend some real time in prison. 

And all he really wanted to do that day, as he admitted in a social media post, was break in and trash Nancy Pelosi’s office. 

 

FUN FACT: Young Bozell’s grandfather was a ghost writer for Barry Goldwater and a man who supported Joseph McCarthy. 

His father had once called Trump “the greatest charlatan of them all.” 

Now dad insisted there was “no doubt president Donald J. Trump is the lawful winner of the presidential election.” He condemned the riot, but his son was later seen smashing a Capitol window. 

(Sedition Hunters by Ryan J. Reilly, pp. 250-252.) 

Trump supporter.

 

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“President Trump is calling us to FIGHT!” 

213. BRUNO JOSEPH CUA: Next up, we have Mr. Cua, 18, also arrested for joining the rioters. 

According to prosecutors, the teen was brought to Washington D.C. by his parents. Bruno explained his motivation beforehand on social media. “President Trump is calling us to FIGHT!” he posted on the right-wing social media website Parler. “This isn’t a joke, this is where and when we make our stand.” He added, “It’s time to take our freedom back the old fashioned way.”  

In another post, he called on other like-minded “patriots” to join the fight: 

ATTENTION PRESIDENT #TRUMP IS CALLING ALL#PATRIOTS TO RALLY IN #WASHINGTONDC JANUARY 6^TH!! This is extremely important because this is the day Congress will finalize the election! If they don’t do what’s right MILLIONS of us will BREAK DOWN THEIR DOORS! #LIVEFREEORDIE #FREEDOM.

 

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.” 

For good measure, the day after the attack, Cua added, again on Parler: “The tree of liberty often has to be watered from the blood of tyrants. And the tree is thirsty.” 

(See: Sedition Hunters, by Ryan J. Reilly, pp. 120-121.) 

 

Dad told judges during a bail hearing for his son, that the boy had bought into the Trump lies, and had become convinced there was “all this fraud and the election was stolen.” Testifying in hopes of securing his son’s release, Joseph Cua said he recognized that he too had been deceived.  

“I share responsibility in that,” he said. “As a middle-aged man, I feel like I can filter a little bit of that with reality, but I felt like as a teenager, he was drinking it in, and just believed it too much.”  

Bruno, his father said, “parroted stuff from other leaders on social media and leaders – like the president – or the attorneys like Lin Wood and all these people saying, ‘We have all this information and everything’s gonna come out.’”

 

“I myself feel pretty embarrassed that I think a lot of us felt like this happened and we believed these people and be disillusioned that there was no big reveal, and nothing came out. It’s disillusioning, disheartening and embarrassing, quite frankly,” Joseph Cua said.

 

“I feel like I maybe should’ve known a little bit better at my age,” he continued. “At some point, you’re like, ‘I think this is a bunch of B.S.’” 

(This blogger would argue that that point was in the summer of 2016.)

 

(Bruno was in the middle of finishing his online high school course work when he was arrested.) 

On February 24, 2023, the young man is convicted on two felony counts, and awaits sentencing. 

On July 26, he learns his fate.  The judge takes pity on him, due to his youth at the time of the attack. But Bruno will still spend one year and one day in jail. Dad had already said in court he felt “ridiculous” because he had fallen for Trump’s lies. At sentencing, Bruno’s mom, Dr. Alice Cua, said of Trump’s garbage, “I believed what I was hearing … be careful who you’re listening to.” 

Cua's post on social media.

Trump “sent us,” election was stolen, violent.

 

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Republican precinct committee member.

214. William Pope: One of a pair of brothers, as recently as October 2020 Pope was listed as a Republican precinct committee member in Shawnee County. 

He has admitted, “I was at the Capitol [on January 6] to exercise my first amendment rights and remain loyal to the United States of America.” He said he was not violent during the riot, and reported himself to the F.B.I. a few days later because “it was the right thing to do.” 

Again, to get a sense of who the people who attacked Capitol Hill actually were, you can simply read what they say. Pope was a member of a Facebook group called Blue Shield, which formed after the death of George Floyd, to protest various police reforms. 

Group posts show that Laura Tawater, 1st District chairwoman for the Kansas Republican Party, and several members of Blue Shield attended the Trump rally in D.C. on January 6. And, again, attending a rally is legal. 

Still, Tawater is under no illusions about who took part in the attack, howling on social media at 5:10 p.m., January 6: “RIGGED ELECTION! Communists hijacked our country and destroyed our election process. TAKE IT BACK PATRIOTS!” 

The post included the hashtags “#LibertyOrDeath” and “#AmericanRevolution” and a photo of Tawater with U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, a Republican from the First District who attempted to block the counting of Electoral College votes. 

“Will miss the presence of so many freedom-loving Patriots from coast to coast that joined together to support President Trump and stand against election fraud,” Tawater wrote on her return to Kansas soon after. “We didn’t riot or hurt anyone like the fake news would have you believe. It’s a lie! We prayed together, served one another, and made our voices heard.” 

Trump supporter, (Pope, we mean – but Tawater, too).

 

Rep. Tawater, right in both pictures.

 

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215. Michael Pope: The brother of William, he traveled to Washington D.C. from Idaho, allegedly participated in the riot, and has been arrested. Not much information about Pope, 32, is available. 

And why was Michael in D.C. that day? In an interview with F.B.I. agents, William explained that they were there to “express their concern about the direction of the nation.” Specifically, he said, 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.” 

UPDATE: In November 2023, the brothers decide to seek trial separately. Michael will opt for a bench trial. William will go with a jury.

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

216. CONNIE MEGGS: The 59-year-old Florida woman was one of several Oath Keepers who decided to play insurrectionist on January 6. 

Again, that’s a far-right group if you’re keeping track. Ms. Meggs is no “Democrat.” She and her husband, #217, and rioters #218-221, were all part of a “military stack” that invaded the Capitol Building that day. 

After a two-month trial, on March 20, 2023, a jury finds Ms. Meggs guilty on all charges, including both felonies and misdemeanors. 

On August 30, 2023, Ms. Meggs has her final day in court. She tells the judge, “My husband destroyed this family.” At her trial, another member of the Oath Keepers testified that they went into the Capitol because Kelly Meggs told them they were there “to try to stop the vote count.” 

His wife said she never heard that, and does not appear to have been involved in all the group chats, where the Oath Keepers planned for the riot – or insurrection, if you prefer. (She did take part in a “gunfight-oriented training,” however. The judge in her case also 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. You decided to go up those steps. You decided to follow Kelly Meggs into Speaker Pelosi’s suite.” 

But he decided Mrs. Meggs was more a follower than a planner and gave her a much lighter sentence than prosecutors wanted, and the one her husband is almost certain to receive. 

Fifteen months in prison. 

She will also spend three years on probation, hand over a check for $500 in restitution, and she had already served 45 days in jail, after her initial arrest. 

Trump “sent us,” right-wing.

 

* 

“Sir Yes Sir!” 

217. KELLY MEGGS: When not rioting, Mr. Meggs, 52, was general manager at a car dealership in Florida – not to mention a top lieutenant in the right-wing Oath Keepers organization. See if you can figure out who he supported politically and why he went to D.C. on January 6! 

In a Facebook message he wrote, “Trump said It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!!  It’s gonna be wild!!!!!!!  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***!!” 

On January 12, 2022, Mr. Meggs and ten others were indicted for seditious conspiracy. Lawyers for the defendants decided to split the trials, and after a lengthy court battle, on November 29, a jury found Meggs and Elmer Stewart Rhodes III (#601 on our list), head of the Oath Keepers, guilty of sedition and obstruction of Congress. Each of those felonies carried a maximum sentence of twenty years. 

If Meggs, or Rhodes, or the other three members of the group (who were convicted on the single charge of obstruction), hoped prosecutors might look upon them with a kinder eye, they might have been wise to start cooperating. We know these fives felons were in close contact with some of the smarmiest members of Team Trump. Roger Stone, for example, comes to mind. So they may have evidence to show who might have encouraged them in their plotting. 

“Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander and former Trump national security aide, Gen. Michael Flynn, are also known to have been in contact with Rhodes and other members of his group – and attorney Sidney Powell’s nonprofit raised legal defense funds for the quintet of insurrectionists. 

Also convicted at trial: Kenneth Harrelson, 42, a former Army sergeant from Titusville, Fla.  (#335 on our list), Jessica Watkins, 39, Army veteran and bar owner from Woodstock, Ohio (#152), and Thomas Caldwell, 68, retired Navy intelligence officer. Caldwell (#151) remained outside the Capitol during the riot but hosted the others at his farm in Berryville, Virginia, in days leading up to the attack. 

Rhodes and Meggs are both sentenced to prison on May 25, 2023, exactly 933 days since the 2020 election. 

Zero proof of significant voter fraud has been uncovered since. 

Zero. 

Meggs will be sitting in jail for twelve years, and won’t get a chance to vote for Trump in 2024, or 2028 or 2032, assuming Trump keeps losing elections and insisting he won despite all evidence. Through tears, in court, during his sentencing, Mr. Meggs apologized to his family.

Trump “sent us,” right-wing, violent.

 

* 

“A shadowy conspiracy.”

218. BENNIE PARKER: Mr. Parker, 70, from Ohio was allegedly recruited to go to D.C. by Jessica Marie Watkins, a leader of the Oath Keepers in the state. According to prosecutors, the group believes the federal government has been “co-opted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights.” 

We should probably state the obvious here: These people are much too old to be playing soldier. 

The jury takes a little longer to deliberate in Mr. Parker’s case; but on March 21, 2023, he joins his wife (below) among the ranks of America’s convicted felons. At sentencing, you could say the Parkers catch a real break. With Bennie in a wheelchair, and his wife as his caretaker, they get 60 months on probation. 

Trump “sent us,” believed the election was stolen, right-wing.

 

*  

“To believe in something that really was unbelievable.” 

219: SANDRA PARKER: Bennie’s wife, 60-year-old Sandra, got nervous after the F.B.I. started making dozens of arrests. 

Watkins texted her reassuringly on January 9, “I’ve been following FBI wanted list, seems they’re only interested in people who destroyed things. I wouldn’t worry about them coming after us.”  

Unless, of course, you consider “destroying things” like the results of a free and fair election, a big deal. 

On March 20, 2023, we learn that a jury does consider it a “big deal” when people like Mrs. Parker try to overturn the results of a presidential election. Along with three others, she is found guilty on all charges against her, including both felonies and misdemeanors. You would have imagined she was facing a lengthy stay in prison. The judge in her case considers the fact her husband is in a wheelchair and sentences her to one year of home arrest, and five years of visits to her probation officer. 

Mrs. Parker showed up on the day of the attack, wearing a U.S. military helmet, a pair of goggles, and dressed like she was going into battle. 

Meanwhile, Defendant Bennie Parker had waited outside the Capitol, where he 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.” Bennie and Sandra Parker were among those Americans, having brought their firearms from Ohio for the events of January 6 at the direction of Ohio Oath Keepers leader Jessica Watkins. 

 

The judge also noted the power of “stolen election” lies spread by President Trump and the right-wing media, leading both Mr. and Mrs. Parker “to believe in something that really was unbelievable.” 

Trump “sent us,” right-wing, violent.

 

*

“The President calls us up as part of the militia.”   

220. LAURA STEELE: Steele, 52, hails from North Carolina. The criminal complaint against this group details an email sent January 4 from oathkeepers.org, with a subject line, “Call to Action: Oath Keepers Deploying to DC to Protect Events, Speakers & Attendees on Jan 5-6: Time to Stand!” As CBS reports, the email noted that the group 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.”  

If President Trump called Ms. Steele up, a jury of her peers, questioned her decision to answer that fundamentally undemocratic call. On March 20, 2023, she is convicted on all charges, including a felony effort to obstruct the counting of the electoral votes, finalizing Joseph Biden’s win in the 2020 election. 

In a plea for leniency, prior to sentencing, Ms. Steele’s lawyer blames right-wing media for infecting the client’s brain. 

It is, her attorney explains: “A sad indictment of our times [that] media outlets have become increasingly polarized & seek not to inform their respective audiences, rather cater to the already-apparent biases of their target demo[.]” 

We’re looking at you, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and all the other Fox News fools. 

In any case, Tucker and those jerks won’t be going to prison, but Ms. Steele will. On September 15, 2023, she is sentenced to spend one year and a day in prison, six more months on home confinement, and complete three years of law-breaking-free behavior after. 

Trump “sent us,” right-wing, violent.

 

*  

“There are at least two you don’t see.” 

221. Graydon Young: Young, 59, a Florida resident, joins the growing list of Trump supporters and right-wing kooks (often one and the same) under arrest. And there are certainly others involved in the riot. The email on January 4 notes, “As always, while conducting security operations, 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.” 

On June 16, 2021, Mr. Young is offered a plea deal, if he agrees to two charges, with a likely sentence ranging between 63 and 78 months in prison. On June 23, he pleads guilty to the most serious of the two. 

In October 2022, Young broke down sobbing in court, and said he was sorry for what he had done. Along with Jason Dolan, another member of the group, he has testified in the case against Stewart Rhodes and other Oath Keeper leaders. Young told the court about a call he participated in with Rhodes and others, during which Rhodes seemed to say he had a direct line of communication to President Trump. Young also described being part of a security detail, protecting Roger Stone, in December 2020.

 

What was he thinking on January 6, as the pro-Trump mob stormed the halls of Congress? he was asked. 

“Unfortunately for me,” he explained, “at the time, it meant I felt it was like a Bastille-type moment in history, where in the French Revolution it was that big turning-point moment. It was exhilarating. I felt like I was going to be an important or an integral part of what was happening.” 

In another discussion, members of the group focused on the kinds of body armor the Capitol Hill police might be wearing that day. “They had on plastic armor covering,” he said, and “we talked about how effective or ineffective that would be against weapons, firearms,” he added. 

Young’s sister, Laura Steele (#220, above), also a member of the Oath Keepers, has been sentenced to a year and a day in jail.

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE (11/23/23): On “X,” formerly known as Twitter, Ryan J. Reilly continues to track the stories of the rioters. According to court documents, Mr. Young, and six other Oath Keepers are already cooperating with investigators. Those others include Joshua James (#256), Jason Dolan (#279), Mark Grods (#387), Caleb Berry (#417), Brian Ulrich (#603) and William Todd Wilson (#623). 

Trump “sent us,” right-wing, violent. 

 

*  

IMAGINE NOW that you are incredibly ill-informed, like Michigan’s own Sen. Shirkey. You may be able to convince yourself – and other Trump lovers – that other Trump lovers would never try to blow up at least one, if not two branches of U.S. government. You could argue, as have GOP lawmakers and conservative commentators like Rep. Matt Gaetz, the incredibly dense Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Televangelist Mark Burns, Texas AG Ken Paxton and assorted hosts at Fox News and Newsmax, that elements from the left fomented and carried out the attack. 

You’d be deluding yourself, for sure.

 

Are you smarter than a U.S. Senator? 

I’M NOT GOING to mince words. Compared to Sen. Ron Johnson from Wisconsin, I’m way smarter for sure. 

And so are you. 

TThat’s not bragging. It’s like saying, “I’m smarter than Mr. Potato Head.”

 

 

Six weeks since the riot, and Sen. Johnson is as clueless as ever. I’m not sure, if he weren’t a member of Congress, he could even tell you where Washington D.C. is located. 

This week he tried to argue that the rioters weren’t Trump fans at all, a claim that even Mrs. Potato Head could tell the senator is nonsense. 

Even worse, Johnson cited as “evidence” a January 14 article in The Federalist. In that piece, J. Michael Waller, insisted that “a small number of cadre appeared to use the cover of a huge rally to stage its attack.” Those people you saw storming the halls of Congress might have been Trump fans! But they were led on by left-wing “agent provocateurs” who provoked the riot. 

That “cadre” made all those upstanding, patriots shouting, “Hang Mike Pence!” look bad. What a dirty trick! 

It was bad enough that Waller’s entire argument rested on absurd supposition. It was worse to think that Sen. Johnson hadn’t bothered to keep up with current events. We have ample evidence to prove what kind of people were arrested in regard to the Capitol Hill riot. And if this blogger can uncover it with ease, you’d think one of the hundred members of the U.S. Senate could educate himself too. 

 

* 

“Urged on by our former president.” 

222. THOMAS WEBSTER: Webster, 54, a retired New York City police officer, was charged with assaulting a Capitol Hill police officer (ironic) during the riot, using first a metal flagpole and then his fists. 

His lawyer claimed that the former Marine was defending himself after the officer punched him first. Also, Webster’s attorney thought the courts should cut his client a break because Mr. Webster had traveled to Washington to engage in protest of an election that he felt was unfair. 

“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,” Webster’s attorney added. “That’s protecting the Constitution.” 

So, next time you want to assault a police officer, just tell the officer, and later the judge, and maybe the jury, you were urged on by the president and you were there protecting the Constitution. 

Webster asked for a jury trial, and was convicted on all six counts, in May 2022. They jury took only two hours to decide his fate – after evidence showed that Webster was not hit first by anyone – and that he also tried to gouge out the Capitol Hill officer’s eyes. Evidence also showed that Webster had been swept up by online stories, fueled by Trump, about a stolen election which we now know was never stolen. 

In August 2022, the Justice Department asked the judge to sentence him to 210 months in prison. 

Webster “lucked out” and will spend only a decade in jail. He will then enjoy a length stint on probation; and he has been fined $2,060. 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

Running for a seat in Congress. 

223. Philip Grillo: Grillo hails from New York City, where he might be in the minority of voters, but he’s a big Trump fan. 

A member of the Knights of Columbus, on the day of the Capitol debacle, Grillo showed up prepared for a riot, carrying a megaphone to shout out commands. On Facebook, USA Today notes, he identifies himself as “The Republican Messiah.” He is a Republican state committeeman for the 24^th assembly district, Queens, which he says is “President Trump’s Hometown District.” 

He has admitted he was inside the Capitol on January 6, but by way of excuse says he “was drunk at the time.” 

In April 2023, during one court appearance, Grillo’s lawyer offered this defense of his client’s participation in the insurrection: On January 6, 2021, “the defendant was and believed he was authorized to engage in the conduct set forth in the indictment by the Capitol Police and by the Executive Branch of the United States and its various agents and representatives...” 

That defense failed – and on December 6, 2023, a jury found Grillo guilty. 

FUN FACT: This may put a dent in Mr. Grillo’s chances of winning the 2024 race to be New York’s Third District representative in Congress. 

Trump “sent us.”

 

* 

224. LORI ANN VINSON (a.k.a. Lori Ann Utley): She and her husband traveled to D.C. to help save President Trump’s “win” in November, by stopping the steal. Mrs. Vinson told at least one witness she had entered the Capitol Building during the riot. Eight days after the attack, she told a reporter, “I felt like I have done nothing wrong and I wouldn’t change it.” 

Prosecutors don’t agree. She has been arrested and charged. Mrs. Vinson was also fired from her job as a nurse at an Evansville, Indiana hospital. 

(In October 2021, she agrees to plead guilty, serve five years on probation, pay a $5,000 fine, and perform 120 hours of community service.) 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

Eleven thousand dollars down the conspiracy toilet. 

225. THOMAS ROY VINSON: The Kentucky man traveled to Washington D.C. to “Stop the Steal.” 

He also agrees to plead guilty and receives the same punishment as his wife (above). Let’s hope the couple enjoyed their riotous excursion, since their trip to D.C. cost them a total of $11,000.

 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

*

__________ 

“You attempted, with others to undermine one of the country’s bedrock acts, which is the peaceful transfer of power.” 

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg

__________

 

226. DEREK JANCART: The Canal Winchester, Ohio man, 39, was turned in by several tipsters, including a family member. Photographic evidence appears to place him firmly inside the Capitol Building during the riot. 

He later manages to rat out a friend, Erik Rau (#249). Both men eventually plead guilty and both get 45 days in jail and fines of $500, each. 

Jancart is a U.S. Air Force veteran and did a tour of duty in Afghanistan, which would normally garner this blogger’s respect. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, however, is blunt at their sentencing, noting that both Jancart and Rau brought gas masks to the riot, knowing trouble was almost certain. 

“You attempted, with others, to undermine one of our country’s bedrock acts, which is the peaceful transfer of power,” he tells Jancart. 

And who helped? Well, Rau, of course. Not to mention Donald J. Trump. 

Trump supporter

 

* 

227. NICHOLES LENTZ: Mr. Lentz, 41, claims he tried to help control the crowd that stormed into the Capitol Building. He has been charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct. 

As USA Today explains, 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 [possibly in a video he posted during the riot; the story here is unclear]. “I love my boys in blue, but this is overwhelming for them. There’s no way they can hold us back.”

 

(Whatever Mr. Lentz was there to do in D.C., what he ended up doing was getting indicted, pleading guilty, and getting to spend 30 days in home detention. He’ll also remain on probation for three years, and must complete 100 hours of community service. Plus: Pay $500 in restitution.) 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

Trump underwear?

228. PAUL ALLARD HODGKINS: Hodgkins told F.B.I. agents he traveled alone to D.C., by bus, from Florida. He can be seen in photos and videos taken on Jan. 6, inside the Senate chamber, nattily attired in a Trump sweater and carrying a Trump flag. 

(I am wondering: do these poor dupes also buy Trump underwear?)

 

Hodgkins claims he engaged in no violence, but admits he saw others breaking windows, and even involved in a knife fight. 

On June 2, 2021, Hodgkins plead guilty to one of five charges against him. In return, four other charges were dropped. 

His lawyer admitted that Hodgkins had no excuse for entering the Capitol, but had agreed to pay $2,000 for his share of any damage done. “Paul is an Eagle Scout with no prior record, a working Joe who is a crane operator at a steel processing plant,” his lawyer said, noting that – Scout’s honor – Hodgkins spent no more than fifteen minutes inside the Capitol. 

Hodgkins is sentenced to eight months in prison on one felony count, followed by two years of supervised release. 

Judge Randall Moss takes note of the defendant’s lack of any previous criminal record, what seems like his true remorse, and cuts him a break, after prosecutors recommended a sentence of 18 months. 

But Moss is also clear about the grave threat Hodgkins and other rioters posed, noting that, 

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.”

 

The Washington Post adds: 

So far, nearly 20 Capitol rioters have entered guilty pleas, and two have been sentenced for misdemeanor crimes: one, Anna Morgan-Lloyd, was sentenced to three years’ probation and no jail time, and another, Michael Curzio, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, although the courts credited him for the nearly six months he had already spent incarcerated as he waited for the courts to hear his case.

 

Hodgkins also acknowledged in court that he now realizes Joseph R. Biden Jr. is the duly elected President of the United States.) 

Trump supporter.

 

* 

“This is history in the making Saving America.”

229. DEBORAH SANDOVAL: The 54-year-old Iowa woman and her son traveled to the nation’s capital to take part in the protests. Both posted videos from inside the building, during the attack. Mom exclaimed at one point, “This is history in the making Saving America.” Mom is described as a “die-hard supporter of Donald Trump in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. 

In fact, her motivation was clear. “Trump has called all patriots,” she wrote in wrote a Facebook post, before traveling from her home in Des Moines, Iowa, to Washington D.C. “If the electors don’t elect,” she warned – meaning Trump, “we will be forced into civil war.” 

Scott MacFarlane, reporting from her sentencing hearing, noted that the judge told the defendant: 

Unlike the Americans of 1776, electoral means remain available. Insurrection cannot be warranted … under our democratic system of government[.] Judge then mentions a 2nd group on Jan 6 … who knew the election wasn’t stolen ... but were nevertheless part of the mob.

 

One would guess that the judge is referencing President Trump and his feloniously inclined allies. 

Sentencing begins to come down: $500 restitution…Ms. Sandoval can self-report to prison. 

…gets five months behind bars. 

Trump “sent us.”

 

* 

230. SALVADOR SANDOVAL JR.: The younger Sandoval was charged with a variety of crimes, including shoving two police officers defending the Capitol and trying to wrestle away the shield of a third. On social media, he admitted he was pepper-sprayed during the attack. 

He and his mother faced a 12-count indictment and made it clear they would seek a jury trial. 

Jr. decided on a bench trial, instead, which did not go well. He was convicted on all twelve counts, including six felonies. 

On August 7, he sees his grim fate: 88 months behind bars, 36 more on probation, and $2,000 handed over in restitution. 

Trump supporter.

 

* 

“The world heard us!!!” 

231. JONATHAN MELLIS: The 34-year-old James City County, Virginia man was arrested and charged with attacking law enforcement officers during the Capitol riot. Mellis was said to have made his sentiments clear on social media, posting: “Storming the Castle. The world heard the US!!! Finally not ignored.” And “We are fighting for election integrity. They heard us.” 

Apparently, Mellis had never heard of – for example – the three recounts of the votes in Georgia. 

Or the report from the Department of Justice, that there was in no way enough voting fraud to have changed the outcome. 

Neighbors describe Mellis and his family as “nice.” But the fact he’s living at home at age 34, is a bummer. Even his brother, in a bid for leniency, describes Mellis, at Jonathan’s trial, as a “fuckup,” and says his “cognitive thinking was off.” 

On June 12, 2023, Mellis pleads guilty to felony charges. According to one F.B.I. agent, the defendant was seen during the attack, wielding a stick of some kind and “attempting to strike the officers’ necks between their helmets and body-armor where they are not protected.” 

Mellis has already served two years in pre-trial detention. 

UPDATE (December 20, 2023): The “stick of some kind” was four feet long and three inches thick, according to prosecutors. (I think they mean three inches around.) They were asking the judge to sentence Mellis to five years in prison. In the end, he gets 51 months, with credit for time served. 

Trump supporter, violent, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

A rioter with a good heart, possibly, and not the best brain? 

232. Joseph W. Fischer: When not rioting, Fischer, 55, is a patrolman with the North Cornwall Township Police Department in Pennsylvania. He traveled to D.C. to attend a “Stop the Steal” rally and later bragged about having broken into the Capitol Building. According to prosecutors, video footage shows him shouting, “Charge!” and leading an attack on a police line outside the Capitol. Mr. Potty Mouth can also be heard shouting “mother**kers” as he battles with officers. 

During the scuffle, Fischer allegedly tried to help an officer who fell down, and said, “I am a cop, I am a cop.” 

So, a rioter with a good heart, possibly, and not the best brain? On social media, the day after the riot, Fischer claimed the people who stormed the Capitol were “98% peaceful.” Furthermore, “entry into the Capital was needed to send a message that we the people hold the real power.” 

He admitted he might soon lose his job. Word was out that he had participated in the attack. His chief confronted him about it. “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.” Fischer added, “Sometimes doing the right thing no matter how small is more important than ones own security.” 

In several pictures, the portly patrolman poses for selfies with members of a group holding signs, “Blacks for Trump 2020.com.”

 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

233. JAMES ALLEN MELS: The Michigan man says he entered the Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 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. 

In the charging document against him, Mels reportedly told F.B.I. agents “that he traveled to the Capitol with 11 other ‘like minded Patriots’ that he met through online platforms such as ‘The Patriot Hour’ and ‘X-22’ because he believed the 2020 presidential election to have been fraudulently decided.” 

(Plead guilty in July 2022. Hit with 90 days, home confinement, and the works, in October 2022.) 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

234. Steven Omar Maldonado: Maldonado was taken into custody at the Orlando, Florida airport, where he and his girlfriend were waiting to catch a flight to Puerto Rico. They had hoped to visit family and enjoy a few relaxing days at the beach. Maldonado got cuffed and carted away to jail, instead. 

He has admitted that he is the man seen in video and photographs from the riot, wearing a white baseball camp emblazoned with the word “Trump” in blue, and carrying a “Trump 2020” flag on a pole over his shoulder. 

Maldonado, 40,  reportedly has five children, and is divorced. He sometimes operates a charter boat. According to Florida Today, 

Brevard court records show Maldonado has a long history of run-ins with the law, mostly traffic citations and speeding, but also a case from 2000 in which he was arrested on armed burglary charges but adjudication was withheld. He also faced battery, mischief, affray and riot charges in 1998 but prosecution was dropped. In 2018 and 2020, he was fined for speeding in a manatee zone.

 

Maldonado told F.B.I. agents that he and a friend traveled to D.C. to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally. 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

“Promotes central tenets of the QAnon conspiracy theory.”

235. EDUARDO NICOLAS ALVEAR GONZALEZ: Nicknamed the “Doobie Smoker,” after a video showed him firing up a joint inside the Capitol Building during the riot, the California man was arrested for violent entry of a restricted building. According to the complaint against him, Gonzalez was heard yelling, “It’s time to smoke weed in here.”  

In another video, he explains that he decided to light up, because he believed in “freedom.” Finally, he explained that he had come to Washington to “take our country back.” 

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? The defendant was not just there sitting in his basement, absorbing this material. He’s acting on it, amplifying it and rebroadcasting it.” 

 

Another delusional Trump fan!  

On March 3, 2022, he is sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to perform 200 hours of community service, and learns he must cough up $1,500 in fines and restitution. 

Trump supporter, QAnon.

 

* 

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 on January 6. On the return trip, several riders said they overheard Aungst bragging about having been inside the Capitol Building. 

R.I.P.: Mr. Aungst takes his own life before he can be sentenced on a single misdemeanor count.

Trump supporter.

 

* 

Trump just made her life worse. 

237. TAMMY A. BRONSBURG (a.k.a. TAMMY A. BUTRY): In days leading up to the attack on Capitol Hill, Ms. Bronsburg described herself as a “pissed off patriot.”

She was scared too – but scared by figments of her imagination – and maybe a diet of too much right-wing news. As Ryan J. Reilly has written, in the wake of Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, “she recorded a YouTube video talking about a vision she had that members of antifa were coming across a bridge in her town in military tanks. ‘They had, like, Biden signs on the tanks,’ Bronsburg said.” She also believed there were Illuminati symbols all over her Pennsylvania town. 

(Sedition Hunters, p. 42)

Bronsburg (foreground); Aungst (circled); his shirt spells out “We the People” in the form of a semi-automatic rifle. 

So, a whole busload of delusional Pennsylvanians headed for the nation’s capital. They were going to do their part to stop the imaginary Antifa tanks, to defeat the imaginary Illuminati, and save a second term for their imaginary hero, Donald J. Trump. Who lost the election by millions of votes. 

According to the affidavit for her arrest, Bronsburg’s Facebook page included the logo for Trump/Pence 2020 inside a circle, with her own picture in the background. 

(We can probably figure she went home after January 6, and blotted Pence out of the picture entirely.) 

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.”  

By the time she went to trial, she had begun to see the light. At sentencing, the judge asked her what President Trump had ever done that was so great, that she put her life on the line on January 6. 

Bronsburg replied, “This morning I was wondering to myself: What has Trump done for me? Why did I do this? Really…he didn’t make my life any better. He just made it worse.” 

The judge sentenced her to twenty days, and she’ll also serve additional time on probation. 

Trump supporter.

 

* 

238. PHILIP S. YOUNG: The 59-year-old from New Jersey was charged with assault and other crimes as a result of his participation in the events of Jan. 6. He was identified in part based on the fact he wore a Boilermakers Union Local 28 jacket during the assault on democracy. 

Video from that day also shows Young using a tool of some kind to slash a tire on a police vehicle, and later leading a rush that knocked back police lines defending the Capitol Building. 

And a ray of hope for Trump fans eager to lay the blame for the entire debacle at left-wing types’ door: Young was, until earlier this year, registered to vote as a Democrat. 

As of November 2, 2022, after he agrees to plead guilty, Mr. Young is also a convicted felon, and could be sentenced to a maximum of eight years in prison. 

He catches a “break” of sorts, and on January 31, 2023, a judge sentences him to eight months behind bars.

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: We can also scratch that “ray of hope” idea for Trump fans who want to deny reality. For example, Young’s case makes clear: Police weren’t just letting people into the Capitol that day. At trial, Mr. Young’s lawyer says his client was “apolitical” until Trump was elected in 2016. Young himself, said he had believed, at the time of the riot, that the election was stolen. (Any idea who led him to believe that?) He only wanted to hear Trump speak that awful day – and now, he told the judge, he was ashamed of himself. He said he now understood the truth. 

I will paraphrase: As of May 12, 2023, when I lightly edit this post, there is still no credible evidence – proven in any court of law in America – that the 2020 election was rigged, stolen, kidnapped, or taken over by robots or space alien. 

Trump was lying all along. 

He still is.

Trump supporter, he believed the election was stolen.

 

* 

239. ADAM AVERY HONEYCUTT: Video evidence appears to put Mr. Honeycutt squarely inside the Capitol Building, including footage of him holding a broken table leg, identified as part of the Senate Sergeant at Arms’ table. 

The prosecutor said that when FBI agents raided the Clay County home Thursday morning, they seized four guns. She noted that they were not properly secured and there were three children in the house. Agents also reportedly found marijuana and drug paraphernalia, which is why the prosecutor said Honeycutt shouldn’t be released on bond.

 

(Sentenced  to 90 days in jail, 5/11/22. Then, after a search of his home, in regard to his Capitol Hill charges, turns up four unsecured guns, and marijuana, he gets 18 more months in prison.) 

(STILL UNABLE TO DETERMINE HIS POLITICAL AFFILIATION.)

 

*

“A pawn in the setup.”  

240. KYLE FITZSIMONS: Video evidence shows Mr. Fitzsimons leading the charge against police blocking one of the entrances to the Capitol Building. At one point he lowers his shoulder like a football player, trying to clear a hole. After apparently being struck in the head by a police baton, he retreated into the crowd, and later required six stitches to his scalp. 

According to the affidavit for arrest, Fitzsimons later gave an interview to the Rochester Voice. He explained how he came to be involved in the riot: 

“The speeches from the morning were overtly preaching the election was not over, there was a path to victory through decertification, there was a plan to delay the certification by the House and Senate and then state legislatures would convene and (certify) the right result.” FITZSIMONS stated that as the rally at the Ellipse ended, the crowd was asked by President Trump to walk to the Capitol to “give our Republicans, the weak ones ... the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”

 

For reasons unclear, the suspect “went to his car at a local parking garage and changed from regular clothes to his butcher whites and carried an unstrung bow with him, which was meant to signify his peaceful intent.” 

The suspect also stated at one point that he believed, “Trump is a lion leading an army of lambs through ‘lawfare,’” possibly a play on the word “warfare” through lawful means. (Who knows, with these guys?) 

Fitzsimons told authorities that he was determined, if this “was the last day of the republic,” to live it like any ordinary day. 

In another social media post, said to express the opinions of the suspect, a call is issued for patriots to go to D.C. and put a stop to “the pretty obvious fraud being perpetuated since Trump lost the election.” Fitzsimons, had seen the Trump flags in his town. He knew there were supporters of the president he could call to action. “I’m also seeing flags that this election was stolen and we are being slow walked towards Chinese ownership by an establishment that is treasonous and all too willing to gaslight the public into believing the theft was somehow the will of the people.” 

His reasons for going to D.C. on January 6 were clear – at least to him. He feared tyranny. He called on others to join the fight to stop a stolen election. Yet, prosecutors note, “FITZSIMONS said this was a peaceful protest gone wrong and the violence at the protest was a set up, and it wasn’t the MAGA crowd. FITZSIMONS further identified himself as a pawn in that set up.” 

He was indeed a pawn. 

Of the “lion” in the White House, then-President Donald J. Trump. 

In May 2022, Fitzsimons waives his right to a jury trial. Like several rioters, he is forced to employ a public defender. In September, he is convicted on all eleven charges he faced, including seven felonies, three for assaulting police. 

His path through the courts is long, but on July 13, 2023, he finally learns when the end will come. He is sentenced to spend 87 months in prison, as punishment for attacking multiple police during the riot. Considered dangerous, Fitzsimons has already spent more than two years behind bars. He will also be required to complete three years of supervised release without further incident, and has been ordered to pay $2,000. 

Day 982, since the 2020 election. STILL no proof the election was stolen. 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election,” violent.

 

* 

THE F.B.I. has a tip-line with pictures of hundreds of suspects, if you think you might know anyone who took part in the riot. 

Donald Trump’s last Secretary of Defense, in an “acting” capacity, Christopher Miller, recently had harsh words for his former boss. Which we can add to the harsh words his first Secretary of Defense, Gen. James Mattis, shared; and the less-than-flattering words offered up by his second Sec. of Defense, Mark Esper. 

(This is what we who study history call a “historical trend.”)

 

In an interview with Vice on Showtime, Miller posed this question: “Would anybody have marched on the Capitol, and overrun the Capitol, without the president’s [Jan. 6] speech? I think it’s pretty much definitive that wouldn’t have happened.” 

“It seems cause-and-effect,” he added. “The question is, did he know he was enraging the crowd to do that? I don’t know.” 

Did Trump care, if he did? 

Nope.

 

* 

IN FACT, Rejected-President Trump garnered another in a long list of “Five Potato Head” ratings last week. The latest proof of his imbecility was offered up during  a talk with Laura Ingraham on Fox News. 

Don wanted Laura and everyone watching to know that the rioters who stormed Capitol Hill on  January 6 were no more dangerous than a troop of Girl Scouts selling cookies in front of the supermarket. 

__________ 

“It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat.” 

Rejected-President Trump

__________ 

 

“It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat,” Trump insisted, in reference to the mob that stormed Congress. “Look, they went in – they shouldn’t have done it – some of them went in, and they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know? They had great relationships,” Donald continued. “A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in, and they walked out.” 

Not counting Rosanne Boyland, a Trump fan trampled to death by other Trump fans, who “walked in” and “walked out” over her lifeless body. 

And that is how you win the rare “Five Potato Head” rating.

 

 

 

* 

241. Charles Donohoe: Proud Boy leader; charged with conspiracy to storm Congress and thwart the election. 

He has plead guilty to a felony charge and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Trump supporter, right-wing, ready for violence.

 

* 

Should be out in time to vote in 2040. 

242. ZACHARY REHL: Also a Proud Boys leader, a group known for brawling with Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters. 

June 6, 2022: Rehl is hit with an additional charge of seditious conspiracy, attempting, by violence, to thwart certification of a fairly-decided election. 

He and four other pals are convicted on May 4, with Rehl being guilty of perjuring himself fourteen times during his trial, including lying about spraying cops with a chemical agent during the riot. Breaking down in tears, and asking for mercy so he could help raise his daughter, Rehl promised, “I’m done with politics. I’m done peddling lies for people that don’t care about me... Jan. 6 was a despicable day.” 

I think by “people,” he meant President Trump. At one point, he does say he fell for the president’s lies, “hook, line, and sinker.” In any case, he won’t be voting for Trump in 2024, or 2028 or 2032, or 2036. 

He is sentenced to fifteen years in prison. All in service to a host of Team Trump lies. 

Trump supporter, right-wing, violent.

 

*

The man with the can…of bear spray. 

243. JULIAN KHATER:  Khater, 32, was charged with using some unknown toxic substance – since identified – to spray at least three police officers in the face. His targets included Officer Brian Sicknick, who experienced a debilitating reaction, and died the next day. According to one report, in days following the attack, Khater touted the virtues of then-President Trump, criticized Capitol security – ballsy for sure – and referred to President-elect Joe Biden as an “idiot.” 

When not rioting and spraying police officers with chemicals, Khater runs (or did) a smoothie shop near the campus of Penn State. 

(In September 2022, he reaches a plea agreement, and admits to assaulting and injuring police with a deadly weapon – namely bear spray. He was scheduled for sentencing in December 2022, and faced between 78 and 97 months in prison. He had already been incarcerated for 17 months at the time. 

Sentencing was delayed, but on January 27, 2023, Khater drew a sentence of 80 months behind bars, including 22 months already served. He was also nailed to the wall on fines and restitution to the tune of $12,000.)

Gladys Sicknick, who attended the sentencing, spoke about her son Officer Brian Sicknick, who died from heart failure the day after the riot, likely as a result of the stress he suffered under brutal attack. 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.” 

Trump supporter, violent.

 

* 

“Malignant, self-important egomaniac.” 

244. GEORGE PIERRE TANIOS: A friend of Khater, Tanios operates a sandwich shop in Morgantown, W. Va. On social media he calls himself the “Sandwich Nazi” and the “King of the Fat Sandwich.” 

When a dissatisfied patron left a one-star review, Tanios proudly posted it because he liked the comparison. His critic noted: “If Donald Trump was a restaurant manager, this is who he would be.” 

To Tanios, such words were praise to right-wing ears. “To [sic] epic not to share,” he said on Instagram. 

In the indictment against the pair, Department of Justice officials charge them with working in concert on the day of the riot. 

During the investigation, law enforcement discovered open source media video of the incident from January 6, 2021. On the video, KHATER is seen making his way towards TANIOS. KHATER then states, “Give me that bear shit,” and reaches into the backpack on TANIOS’ back. TANIOS then states, “Hold on, hold on, not yet, not yet… its [sic] still early.” KHATER is then seen emphatically telling TANIOS, “They just fucking sprayed me,” and KHATER is seen holding a white can with a black top that appears to be a can of chemical spray.

 

Video evidence shows Khater spraying three officers, who “retreat” to wash out their eyes, including Sicknick. 

Tanios pleads guilty in July 2022. 

In evidence to support a finding of guilt (which Mr. Tanios admits), prosecutors note that prior to their trip to D.C., Tanios “purchased two cannisters of Frontiersman brand bear spray, and two additional cannisters of pepper spray.” One cannister of pepper spray, he turned over to Khater before their arrival in Washington. 

Only Khater, however, used bear spray on officers, and so Tanios was able to plead guilty to two misdemeanors and in January 2023, to get sentenced only for time already served – which amounted to five months. He must also perform 100 hours of community service, and successfully avoid further trouble during a year on probation. He is also required to pay $1,748 in fines and restitution. 

The judge in his case spoke of Tanios and Khater having been influenced by, and agents of, the “lynch mob mentality.” 

The guy who brought the rope: Donald J. Trump. 

Or, as a relative of Officer Sicknick put it during the trial, the former president was a “malignant self-important egomaniac.” 

Trump supporter, violent.

 

* 

An “uncivilized display of reckless behavior.” 

245. THOMAS F. SIBICK: Sibick was initially accused of assaulting a federal officer during the riot. 

Federal authorities said the officer, who is identified in court documents as M.F., was assisting Capitol police on Jan. 6 when a rioter pulled him into a crowd where he was “beat, tased, and robbed” of his badge, radio, and 17-round magazine.

 

The rioters also tried to “forcibly remove” the officer’s gun from his holster but were unsuccessful, according to a criminal complaint.

 

“As a rioter attempted to get Officer M.F.’s gun, Officer M.F. heard him yell words to the effect that he was going to take Officer M.F.’s gun and kill him,” the complaint states.

 

(Officer “M.F.” no doubt disagrees with Rejected-President Trump that the rioters were “no threat” at all.) 

According to federal agents, during an initial interview, Sibick claimed he tried to help the fallen officer. He said he dropped the badge and radio soon after leaving the Capitol grounds. In fact, he took them home to Buffalo. He later threw the radio away and buried the badge in his backyard. 

In March 2021, a federal judge overruled a decision to allow Sibick to remain free on bail. He was remanded to custody until trial. The judge cited his “lawless behavior” and called him “a danger, then, now, and in the future.” 

More recently, Sibick admitted (after offering up a variety of false stories) that he did make off with Officer Fanone’s badge and radio. First, he said he dropped them immediately. Then he said he tossed them in a dumpster in D.C. Eventually, he admitted he buried them in his backyard. The badge has since been recovered. The radio, valued at $5,500.79 remains buried somewhere, or lost. 

Sibick pled guilty, on March 3, 2023. He had to hope he’d be lucky, in the sense that he had already served seven months in jail – getting an excellent head start on any time he’d be required to serve. 

And…the envelope please! 

On July 28, the 997^th day since the “Stolen Election” of 2020, Sibick is hit with the full penalty of the law. He will spend a total of 50 months in prison (minus seven served previously) and must repay $7,500.79. 

According to a report from NBC, Sibick, 37, admitted in a letter to the judge, that the trauma Officer Michael Fanone experienced that day – including being repeatedly tased by other members of the mob (see Daniel Joseph Rodriguez, #553 on our list ) was “undeniably sickening. He said he took full responsibility for his “uncivilized display of reckless behavior.” 

“It was an attack on the institutions of our democracy and not as some would make you believe legitimate political discourse,” Sibick continued. “The attack was far from peaceful, my actions played a role that will follow me for the rest of my life.” 

Violent. 

(LIKELY TRUMP SUPPORTER, NOT DEFINITIVE.)

 

* 

“He believed election fraud may have compromised his vote.” 

246. Jeovanny Montano Alvarado: The Houston-area man was charged with a multiplicity of federal crimes. In an interview on Fox News, he admitted having been inside the Capitol Building, but said he took no part in any violence directed at police. According to his indictment, “Montano admitted that he flew from Houston to the U.S. Capitol to participate in the January 6, 2021 ‘protests’ because he believed election fraud may have compromised his vote.” 

That is: He fell for the lies then-President Trump was peddling. 

A review of video evidence showed the suspect “wearing a U.S. flag neck gaiter,” and sporting “a red, white and blue” stocking cap, bearing the word “TRUMP” in white letters, inside the Capitol. 

Alvarado initially told authorities he was “pushed” into the building by the crowd. In reality, video showed him at the forefront of those assaulting a line of officers defending a hallway. He also had the distinction of being hit in the head by another rioter, who was aiming at a line of police. Alvarado can be seen on film grabbing the back of his head, and displaying blood on his hand. 

“Hey, who threw that speaker?” he shouts. 

And, on October 25, 2023, the judge in his bench trial hits Alvarado in the head with a conviction on all charges against him, including three felonies. 

Trump supporter, he believed the “stolen election” myth.

 

* 

Unsubstantiated allegations of mass voter fraud.

247. BRIAN MCCREARY: The 33-year-old Domino’s Pizza worker turned himself in and admitted he was inside the Capitol on January 6. He claimed he did no damage and merely followed the crowd. 

Sadly, a Boston TV station noted that, 

multiple co-workers told FBI investigators that he repeatedly expressed political views at work, including the unfounded belief that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. McCreary also told a co-worker that he “raided” the Capitol after returning home…

 

Officials say McCreary told FBI agents in an interview that he traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump’s rally on the National Mall, because he was frustrated that an audit was not performed to address unsubstantiated allegations of mass voter fraud perpetuated by the former president and his allies.

 

(Sentenced to 42 days in jail, served intermittently, 2 months’ home detention, placed on three years of probation, fined $2,500, and ordered to pay $500 in restitution.) 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

248. ALEXANDER SHEPPARD: The 21-year-old Ohio man was clear in explaining why he went to Washington D.C. 

On social media he explained: “Millions of us will be in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to protest the rigged election and the acts of war that China committed on our country. I’ll see you there!”  

In another post he scoffed at the idea of hanging Vice President Pence. “Firing squad!” he suggested enthusiastically. 

Actually, Sheppard will “see you there” in prison soon. On January 27, 2023, he is convicted on several charges related to his participation in the riot, including both misdemeanors and at least one felony. 

(He also said the whole riot was a “false flag” planned by Antifa.)

 

The cost of believing in the “stolen election” lie, and spending ten minutes inside the Capitol, riling up the mob, 19 months in prison, 24 more on probation, and $3,170 in restitution. 

As late as August 24, 2023, poor dumb Mr. Sheppard was posting on social media that he and President Trump were both being prosecuted for saying the election “was STOLEN.” In his mind – he still thought it was. He even had fun, creating a fake mugshot of himself, with the Fulton County, Georgia background. 

Like his hero, Donald. 

(No proof yet in any court of that, when I edit this post on April 16, 2024, and by now 1,260 days have passed since the last presidential election.) 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

(CLAIMED THE RIOT WAS ANTIFA.)

 

 

* 

249. ERIK RAU: Rau gets busted in June after another rioter, Derek Jancart (#226) spills a can of pork and beans on him.

 

The Ohio man pleads guilty to one charge and gets 45 days in jail and a fine of $500 for his participation in the January 6 attack.

 

At his sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Goemaat asks for a longer sentence, noting that Rau was on probation for a domestic violence incident at the time he joined the attack on democracy.

 

Goemaat also noted that Jancart had “endorsed and celebrated” the violence – noting that he posted a video on Facebook showing Rau yelling “we have you surrounded” at Capitol Police. Other rioters can be heard nearby yelling “hang the traitors!”

 

Trump supporter.

 

* 

“He shared Trump’s belief that the election results were wrong.”

250. JASON DANIEL RIDDLE: The New Hampshire man made headlines by chugging wine from a bottle he lifted from an office inside the Capitol. As Boston’s NBC Channel 10 explains, “The supporter of former President Donald Trump said he has no regrets about joining the mob that entered the Capitol, but criticized those who committed acts of vandalism and violence.” 

Riddle allegedly stole a book (supposedly a copy of Senate Procedure) from inside the building and sold it for $40 after exciting. That got him an extra criminal charge to add to his rap sheet. 

The defendant was inside for about half an hour and described to F.B.I. agents “seeing individuals in body armor [likely a group from the right-wing Oath Keepers] moving through the building ‘with a sense of urgency.’” 

He told Channel 10 that he was a veteran “and proud supporter of Trump’s. Riddle said he made the trip to D.C. — and took part in the pro-Trump rally that preceded the riot — because he shared Trump’s belief that the election results were wrong.” He told reporters he took videos outside the Capitol. Then he followed the mob inside, where people “were smashing computers and printers and breaking things and throwing papers and lamps around.” 

In June, Riddle tells reporters that he still has to live his life and announces he will be running for Congress. (We know he already knows his way around Capitol Hill.)

 

In April 2022, a judge sentences him to 90 days in jail, 60 hours of community service, $754 in restitution, and three years of probation. Riddle is not daunted. Previously, he explained to a reporter that he was not worried about having been arrested for taking part in the riot. “In the long run,” he opined, “if you’re running for office, any attention is good attention, so I think it will help me.” In that regard, news of his sentence can be seen as good publicity too. 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

 

* 

251. HOWARD BERTON ADAMS JR.: The South Florida man, 60, was one of the first rioters to breach the Capitol Building, and remained inside for over an hour. Originally, he was charged with six riot-related crimes that could have landed him in jail for twenty years and cost him fines that would bankrupt most Americans. 

Did he plan to be part of an insurrection? Did he plan anything at all that day? Or was he led on by the almost daily barking of President Trump, who claimed repeatedly, starting the day after the November election, that he had been cheated out of a second term? 

We do know, when federal agents visited his home, that Adams admitted being inside, but said he had no ill intent: 

This was not anything I had planned at all. I went for a, to go hang out with the rest of the crowd, got up too close to the front, and wound up just, just getting caught up. I’ll be honest. I would never, I was actually even praying for some of the cops when I was in there. Um, so you already have the picture.

 

Shown a photo of her husband entering the Capitol that day, his wife remarked, “Oh my gosh, you look angry.” 

He was. He listened to Trump. He likely believed the election was stolen. I’d be angry too – if I believed that. 

But I know Trump is an unabashed liar. 

In November 2022, Adams ran into a new bout of trouble when he began claiming he was a “sovereign citizen” and no longer bound to respect orders of the court. This led to the poor dope getting his dumb ass arrested again. Appearing in court shortly after, he had the gall, however, to ask to be represented by…a public defender…at taxpayer cost. 

Adams pays the price for being deluded. On January 26, 2023, he pleads guilty to a single felony charge related to his role in the attack. 

Listening to Trump’s lies nets Mr. Adams eight months in prison, three years on probation and $4,000 in fines and restitution. 

Right-wing type.

 

*

252. KEVIN CORDON: The California man made it clear why he took part in the assault on democracy. In an interview with a reporter from a Finnish TV station, he explained, “It’s clear that this election is stolen, 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.” 

(What he is going to take, upon conviction, is a $4,000 fine, $500 in restitution, 100 hours of community service, and a year of probation.)

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”

* 

“Not auditing the vote is further criminality.” 

253. SEAN CARLO CORDON: Like his older brother, Sean is a Trump supporter. The Los Angeles Times nails down his reasons for taking a red-eye flight to D.C. on a January 5. (He flew home the day after the attack.) 

The Twitter feed of Sean Carlo Cordon includes a post showing his admiration for Trump and his belief in the former president’s lies about winning an election that he actually lost by 7 million votes.

 

In December, Sean Carlo Cordon posted complaints about vote recounts in Georgia, one of the states Trump narrowly lost. “Not auditing the vote is further criminality,” he wrote.

 

We should point out again that the votes in Georgia were counted three times and no fraud was found. 

In fact, in two subsequent elections, Democrats defeated a pair of GOP candidates for U.S. Senate. 

Neither candidate claimed they had been cheated or explained their loss as the result of a “rigged” voting system. 

(He, too, is convicted, fined $4,000, ordered to pay $500 in restitution, and placed on probation.) 

Trump supporter, believed in a “stolen election.”