Category Archives: Proud Boys

Smyrna man Joshua John Portlock was arrested Wednesday in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, records show.

Video footage from the riotappeared to show Portlock pushing and moving barriers outside the Capitol, assaulting officers and joining a mob yelling"heave-ho" as they pushed into a tunnel on the Capitol's lower west terrace, according to a court document with a statement of facts from the FBI.

He faces seven charges:

Portlock is the 19th person with Tennessee ties to be arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 riot. Court records show heis set to make an initial appearance beforeMagistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather on Nov. 9.

RIOT ARRESTS: 19 with Tennessee connections arrested in Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot investigation

Multiple tips came in to the FBI about Portlock.One tipster said they used to work with him in Dallas, Texas,and recognized him from photos posted to the FBI's Capitol violence page, the document said. That person also provided a phone number for Portlock. The FBI then identified Portlock through public records andfootage from the attack, along with speaking to a more recent co-worker of his that recognized him.

The document saidPortlockwas wearinga white cowboy hat with the words Trump 2020 on the front and Stop the Steal in red letters on the back. The hat also had anAmerican flag pattern printed under the rim. Under the cowboy hat, he was wearing a black beanie with an emblem the FBI said is affiliated with the Proud Boys, a sometimes violentfar-right group composed of all men.

Footage from Jan. 6 showsPortlock pushing against and moving barricades manned by officers and later joining other rioters in assaulting officers, the documentstated. At one point he grabbed what appeared to be a piece of plywood and used it to ram into and climb over officers with other rioters.

Footage showed him in a tunnel on the lower west terrace where rioters pinned officers against doors as they tried to force their way into the Capitol, according to the document. Footage from the tunnel attack was widely circulated on social media and across the news.

'THIS IS HOW I'M GOING TO DIE': At Jan. 6 hearing, officers tell of harrowing attacks

"Significantly, on at least two occasions, Portlock participated in 'heave-ho'efforts, by which multiple rioters collectively used their body mass for greater effect in pushing back officers by gaining momentum through leaning back and then pushing forward while chanting 'heave-ho'to coordinate their efforts," the document read.

Footage showedhim passing what appeared to bestolen U.S. Capitol Police riot shields to others to help fortify them during the "heave-ho" push, the document stated. He repeatedly disobeyed commands from officers to leave the tunnel. At one point during the tunnel altercation, Portlock appeared to stand aside with his hands up as another rioter struck an officer with a baton, according to the document.

Later, the document said, he appeared to check on oneofficer who had been beaten by rioters on the lower west terrace. He also grabbed the collar of another officer who had been beaten and pushed him into a handicap elevator, getting him away from other rioters.

Find reporter Rachel Wegner at rawegner@tennessean.com or on Twitter @rachelannwegner.

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Tennessee man wearing 'Trump 2020' hat arrested after U.S. Capitol riot, documents show - The Tennessean

Heres the thing about starting fights: You can always get your butt kicked. As drunk as any barroom brawler on Trumpist lies, many Americans appear to be fantasizing about political violence. According to a poll reported in The Washington Post, a large number of Republicans 3 in 10 believe violence might be justified to save our country.

That translates to about 12% of the American people, roughly 30 million. Its almost as if Jan. 6 never happened. I fear the fever wont break until theres a real shootout and a bunch of people get killed. This is America, after all. Next time, the Proud Boys are apt to bring more guns.

Also next time, the authorities will be better prepared. It appears that the single biggest factor in police and military unreadiness last January was sheer disbelief. Nobody imagined that a MAGA mob would actually storm the Capitol until they did it.

Alternatively, Trump could exit the scene, one way or another. There appears to be nobody else in American politics with his peculiar mix of shamelessness and showmanship to keep the MAGA masses enthralled.

Thats why the work of the bipartisan congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is so important, and why Trump is so determined to run out the clock filing nonsense lawsuits to keep the evidence of his chicanery from being revealed before the 2022 midterm elections. Seditious conspiracy is a serious crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Not that anybodys about to prosecute a former president. Actually, its more the cynicism and sheer incompetence of Trump and his inner circle that he needs to hide. Court filings showed him trying to prevent congressional investigators from examining more than 700 pages of evidence including handwritten notes, call logs of Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, White House visitor records and much more.

He doesnt even want people knowing who was there, much less what they were talking about, before, during and after the storming of Congress.

But we already know plenty.

If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore, he told the crowd, vowing to march with them down Pennsylvania Avenue. A typically empty promise. Hes always preferred to lead from behind. Indeed, its doubtful Trump could actually walk that far in his girdle and elevator shoes.

Lets you and him fight is his favorite motto.

Nevertheless, Trumps henchmen understood. As Rep. Liz Cheney has pointed out, it appears that Mr. [Steve] Bannon had substantial advance knowledge of the plans for Jan. 6th and likely had an important role in formulating those plans. The day before this all occurred on Jan. 5th Mr. Bannon publicly professed knowledge that All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. He forecast that the day would be extraordinarily different than what most Americans expected.

Bannons podcast spoke of revolution. He urged listeners, Lets get ready. Its all converging, and now were on the point of attack tomorrow.

So was Bannon present at the White House on Jan. 6? Were he and Trump in regular contact? Theyd like to keep everybody from knowing.

Out in the street, groups styling themselves as the MAGA Militia had established three checkpoints: Cowboy, Minuteman and Rebel.

Like a bunch of kids playing guns. Now those hombres are headed for the hoosegow, poor dopes.

For two months, Trump had been bitching and boasting about the stolen election he lost by 7 million votes. On Nov. 21, he tweeted: The proof pouring in is undeniable. Many more votes than needed. This was a LANDSLIDE!

Meanwhile, his Rudy Giuliani-led team of bad lawyers filed 60 separate lawsuits charging electoral fraud. Because nothing says Trump like a bullsht lawsuit. In an astonishing display of incompetence, they lost all 60 for lack of evidence.

Come January, Trump found yet another legal crank who persuaded him that Pence a contestant in the election had the constitutional authority to determine the winner. He told the mob outside the White House that everything depended upon Pence.

At 2:24 p.m., as the MAGA mob breached the Capitol, Trump tweeted: Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.

A chant went up in the crowd: Hang Mike Pence.

John Eastman, the crackpot lawyer, emailed Pences chief of staff, then hiding with his boss in the Capitol basement: The siege is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary.

Now he says he was just kidding it was a purely academic exercise.

Trump followed the action on TV for another three hours. When House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy begged him to act, Trump refused. You know what I see, Kevin? I see people who are more upset about the election than you are. They like Trump more than you do.

Any questions?

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Arkansas Times columnist Gene Lyons is a National Magazine Award winner and co-author of The Hunting of the President (St. Martins Press, 2000

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Committee forges ahead while Trump stalls | Opinion | goshennews.com - Goshen News

The Washington Post on Sunday published an astounding piece of investigative journalism on the Jan. 6 insurrection.

If you dont already have a subscription, its worth getting one.

The report represents the work of 75 journalists who interviewed more than 230 people, studied thousands of pages of documents and internal law-enforcement reports and reviewed videos and audio recordings.

The three-part series concludes the attack was premeditated. Its an indictment.

This comes as the U.S. House commission on Jan. 6 continues its inquiry, and former President Donald Trump has sued to prevent it from obtaining records, claiming executive privilege.

It also comes after Trump encouraged others to ignore the commissions subpoenas. Former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon is now facing criminal contempt proceedings for doing so.

The Posts timeline serves as the most complete accounting leading up to the Jan. 6 attack. It details calls, meetings, social media posts, official reports and other events that led to a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Insurrectionists missed by seconds capturing Vice President Mike Pence and other congressional leaders as they certified 2020 election results. One report showed that the life of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was particularly threatened.

So was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose homes were vandalized weeks prior to the attack, the newspaper reported.

The Post investigation puts to rest doubts about the far-right forces that continue to threaten U.S. democracy.

Among the newspapers investigation findings: Domestic terrorists used social media sites to communicate, plan, arm themselves and execute the attack.

They took direction from Trump, who did nothing for 187 minutes as the attack unfolded on television.

The investigation lays out how agencies failed to listen, especially to one another; were consumed by political events; or were unprepared or unwilling to respond to an attack led by white, middle-aged rioters, the newspaper reported.

The Post concludes the violence wasnt a unique event but part of a long scheme, one battle in a war.

The newspaper strings together events beginning in spring 2020, when Trump began questioning state elections in which he sensed hed lose.

The big tell came during the first presidential debate when he was asked to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. He wouldnt.

Instead, he told the far-right Proud Boys to stand back and stand by.

The groups leader responded in real time, the Post revealed, saying, Standing by, sir.

When Pennsylvania went to President Joe Biden, giving him the electoral votes to win, groups like the Three Percenters and QAnon extremists began converging on state capitals, the Post reported.

They were a prelude.

Two months before Jan. 6, Proud Boys and other extremists rallied in Washington. A Capitol police officer sensed they were sizing up the force.

By Dec. 12, Trump supporters were in Washington again with 700 Proud Boys. Some wore earpieces to communicate with each other.

The FBI believed the principal danger was street clashes. The Post concluded that would prove to be a grave miscalculation.

The Stop the Steal rally got a permit, applying for it under a different name. The National Park Service later allowed the permit to grow from 5,000 people to 30,000.

The Proud Boys raised money online for communications equipment and protective gear. Another group, the Boogaloo Boys, coordinated efforts with avowed neo-Nazis, the newspaper reported.

Members of this unholy alliance traveled to Washington as would other Trump supporters.

A week before Jan. 6, the FBI lost its third-party monitoring service that alerts agents and analysts to social media posts of note. A new service limited its understanding of what was going on.

The Post investigation criticizes Capitol Police leadership with a pattern of miscommunication, poor planning and sloppiness that left their officers ill-equipped.

The FBI got tougher criticism for its long-running institutional unease with investigating domestic extremism. The bureau was accused of tempering its reaction to threats of violence from White, middle-aged and middle-class Americans.

The consequences of that day are still coming into focus, the report states. But what is already clear is that the insurrection was not a spontaneous act nor an isolated event.

It was a battle in a war propelled by lies about voting fraud. Its a war against U.S. democracy.

Whats worse is the man largely responsible remains the leader of the GOP party.

eayala@express-news.net

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Ayala: Investigation connects the events that led to Jan. 6 - San Antonio Express-News

Mark Lee wore a camouflage shirt and tactical vest as he walked down SW Alder Street on Aug. 8. Slung across his shoulder was what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle.

A person who had crossed paths with Lee called 911. It was 10:09 p.m., and the first such call dispatchers would receive that night. The caller described the scene as fucking weird and said the 23-year-old was kinda talking about how I was safe, but maybe others werent.

He had a very large assault rifle, the caller said.

It would take another 16 minutes for police to learn Lee was not carrying a real rifle, but instead an airsoft replica, according to call logs and dispatch recordings reviewed by OPB.

Mark A. Lee, 23, of Portland pleaded guilty to menacing and unlawful use of a weapon after he pointed a realistic looking airsoft rifle at several people during a protest on Aug. 8, 2021.

Portland Police Bureau

In total, over the course of about 30 minutes, nine people dialed 911 to report the incident or request police assistance.

Right in front of Pioneer Courthouse Square, theres a fellow with a long gun walking down the road there, one caller reported.

When the dispatcher said they had received multiple calls about a man fitting that description with an AR-15 over his shoulder, the caller responded more urgently.

Oh hes holding it, hes got his finger on the trigger, he said, explaining that people were following him screaming, Hes got a gun.

Officers did not dispatch to the scene as Lee strolled through downtown Portland, pointing his replica rifle at protesters and journalists. Those bystanders and the rest of the public wouldnt learn the rifle was fake for hours.

The incident took place after violent street clashes between members of the far right extremist group the Proud Boys and anti-fascists attempting to chase them out of town. The Proud Boys, a violent far right group which played a central role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, had been providing security at Waterfront Park for a religious event hosted by fringe Christian songwriter and anti-COVID restriction activist Sean Feucht.

The Portland Police Bureau later explained its lack of response to the calls about Lee by stating its officers were occupied responding to several higher priority calls, including a homicide and a person in a mental health crisis.

In the weeks that followed, the bureau came under intense criticism for failing to respond to a violent Aug. 22 protest between far right demonstrators and anti-fascists in the Parkrose neighborhood. Police were also largely absent in October as a crowd of approximately 100 anarchists smashed windows downtown.

The calls about Lee reviewed by OPB show people contacting 911 expressed urgency over a seemingly armed man pointing a gun at people.

Theres one guy whos got tactical gear on. Hes got an AR-15 slung in front, wearing a camo shirt, another caller reported. He definitely has an AR-15.

As Lee moved east on Alder toward the Morrison Bridge, he pulled out his phone and called 911 himself.

Im being tailed by antifa and I need immediate evac, Lee told the dispatcher at 10:23 p.m. If they get too close again I will

Lee, who reported the crowd had been threatening him, cut himself off to yell at people heard screaming in the background.

Around two minutes into the conversation, the dispatcher asked Lee if he had any weapons on him.

Yes, I have an airsoft M4, he said in a quieter voice.

Over the next several minutes, the dispatcher relayed communications between an unnamed Portland police sergeant and Lee as the officer attempted to guide him toward another officer, first on Alder Street near the Morrison Bridge and then toward the bureaus Central Precinct, located at 2nd Avenue and Main Street.

Im not going south on 2nd, Lee told the dispatcher. Thats too risky. I will meet them at the Morrison Bridge. They better be there.

Lee told the dispatcher there were protesters along 2nd Avenue, and that going toward the precinct would be risking his life.

Four and a half minutes later, as Lee was trying to make his way to Central Precinct, he told the dispatcher a police cruiser had driven past him. Lee said he needed to be met at the federal courthouse, and the dispatcher assured him protesters were not at the police precinct.

Alright, I need them to be at the entrance to the back. I need to just walk in, Lee said. There needs to be officers inside, ready for me to walk in.

As Lee approached the precinct, the dispatcher asked him to put the rifle on his shoulder because the waiting police officers wouldnt want him carrying it.

I cannot because they are too close to me, Lee replied, referring to a crowd of journalists, protesters and onlookers near him. I will turn the safety on at least.

As an officer came into his view, Lee continued to make demands to the dispatcher and officers. He told the dispatcher to have the officer approach, explaining he needs somewhat of a buffer to get up to you guys.

The waiting officers wanted Lee to approach with his hands on his head, the dispatcher said, but he refused.

I cant do that, he said. Once I hit the corner, I will and I will get off the phone with you.

After 18 minutes and 15 seconds on the call with 911, Lee hung up. Video of the incident shows him surrendering to the waiting officers.

Lee was released that night but was eventually arrested and charged with menacing and unlawful use of a weapon. He pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to two years probation for menacing, with the stipulation that he not possess firearms or airsoft weapons. Sentencing for the felony weapon charge was deferred pending the outcome of his probation.

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A far right protester carried an airsoft gun through downtown Portland for 16 minutes before police knew it wasnt real - OPB News

At one point in the Oct. 17 New York Times article about the Jan. 6 insurrection, 90 Seconds of Rage (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/16/us/capitol-riot.html), the authors state that, Nearly a quarter of the more than 600 people arrested in connection with the riot have been charged with assaulting or impeding police officers. But only a handful of that subset have any ties to extremist provocateurs like the Oath Keepers or the Proud Boys. The most violent on Jan. 6 were the most ordinary. The seven citizens the article then focuses its attention upon as being representative examples of ordinary people, and who have since been charged with the most serious crimes, are To a man, described in superlatives by relatives and friends: perfect neighbor, devout churchgoer, attentive father, good guy.

It is this ordinary and good guy appearance about so many of those who participated in the D.C. riot, as well as the millions of Trump supporters, in general, who are convinced by his Big Lie that the election was stolen that especially concerns me. For as the Times article makes clear, these average Joes were not present at the Capitol as curious tourists; one was armed, for example, with brass knuckles, another with a clutch of zip-tie handcuffs, and all of them were caught on videos as actively participating in the sustained and vicious attacks on the police, punching, kicking, stomping on, clubbing with hockey sticks and flag poles, pulling down stairs these guardians of our democracys citadel from their treasonous assault. Rather than the acts of far right militias, these were the behaviors of uninhibited rage by our neighbors, our friends, members of our families who normally go about their business, not causing any fuss. They were everyday folks: people like us.

Thus the question arises: how might we respond to apparently good people whose loyalty and devotion to the former president nevertheless represents a very real threat to our democracy?

This exercise begins with an acceptance of our basic connection with Trump supporters as fellow living beings, and hence appreciating how much we have in common with them. For some of us, this became apparent during the 2016 election when we realized that Bernie Sanders could probably win over many Trump voters had he been the Democrat candidate (instead of Clinton and her alienating deplorables neo-liberalism), because of his no BS, well-grounded, populist proposals that he had espoused his entire political career, and which were presented without Trumps racist, misogynist overlay. Speaking from the gut level concerns of working and middle class people, beyond their political affiliations, Bernie was the real deal.

This congruence between two seemingly irreconcilable camps is still alive today. Despite the destructive filibusters of Republican politicians, polls demonstrate that a large majority of Americans (including many rank and file Republicans) support President Bidens trillion dollar infrastructure plan as well as taxing the very rich to help finance this effort.

Our connection with Trumpers is further suggested by the observation in the Times piece that the police and rioters on January 6 had differing understandings of patriotism. In the minds of both, they saw themselves as the true patriots. Rather than shaking our heads in disbelief and disgust as to how people could so easily be taken in by the Big Lie so as to commit treasonous acts, we might better consider that many rioters saw themselves as doing the right thing as patriotic Americans, much as the police believed about themselves in their heroic efforts to protect the Capitol from an insurrectionist mob.

By increasingly recognizing this interconnection with our fellow living beings, so are we better able to realize wholesome relationships, including with Trump supporters. We see that were all together in this business of living life, doing the best we can to realize the happiness we all want for ourselves. In this way, we begin to introduce into our everyday practice an acceptance of each other and ourselves for the imperfect, mixed bags we are. This is the basis of righteous relationships.

No longer do we waste our time trying to convince others of their wrongheaded opinions and the correctness of ours, or insult and put them down when they invariably resist us. Rather than opposing, we spend our time with them just being fully present, listening to what they have to say, learning about and appreciating, while most likely continuing to disagree with them. Not only do we understand that it is a fools errand to try to change others, it invariably only exacerbates the ill will that is already present when were oppositional.

More importantly, it is only with unconditional acceptance of the other that we can behave with the kindness, compassion and wholehearted, everyday friendliness that are the necessary ingredients of virtuous relationships. While forceful resistance, such as the police exercised on Jan. 6, may be necessary at times, maintaining intentional goodwill our true nature toward all, including those whose anti-democracy attitudes and behaviors we oppose, is the ultimate antidote for the fascist threat that currently stalks the land. Nothing less will do. The only answer to fascism and its effort to destroy democracy is a practice infused with everyday moral values, lived as a way of life by we the people.

Tim Stevenson is a community organizer with Post Oil Solutions from Athens, and author of Resilience and Resistance: Building Sustainable Communities for a Post Oil Age (2015, Green Writers Press). The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer.

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Stevenson | Living with the Long Emergency: The most ordinary folks - Brattleboro Reformer

The prosecutors in the upcoming trial of Kyle Rittenhouse cannot refer to the two people he stands accused of killing in Kenosha, Wisconsin during racial justice protests last year as victims, a judge has decided.

Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder decided on Monday that the term was too loaded, but that Mr Rittenhouses legal team can use words such as rioters and looters to refer to the men who were shot if they could produce evidence to back up the designations.

If more than one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting or looting, then Im not going to tell the defence they cant call them that, the judge said during a hearing on Monday.

The word victim is a loaded, loaded word. And I think alleged victim is a cousin to it, he added. Rulings like this arent uncommon in trials deciding cases of self-defence, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Mr Rittenhouse reportedly shot and killed two men and injured a third man in August of 2020. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, died following the shooting, while Gaige Grosskreutz, also 26, survived the ordeal.

The city was at that time in an uproar over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. After being shot several times in the back, Mr Blake was partially paralyzed.

Prosecutors say the then-17-year-old Mr Rittenhouse came from his home in Illinois to Kenosha, in between Milwaukee and Chicago, close to the border between Wisconsin and Illinois. Prosecutors say Mr Rittenhouse used an AR-15-like rifle to shoot some of the protesters. The 18-year-old is facing several counts of felonies, such as reckless homicide and reckless endangerment. He also faces some misdemeanour counts, including being a minor in possession of a firearm.

The teenager has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the trial is scheduled to begin on 1 November. The lawyers for Mr Rittenhouse have argued that he was acting in self-defence and that he was in Kenosha to protect businesses from looters.

When he turned himself in to police in Illinois some hours later, he claimed that the men attacked him. Use-of-force expert John Black, a member of Mr Rittenhouses defence team, has argued that he was in reactionary mode when he discharged his firearm.

Numerous conservatives have lauded Mr Rittenhouse for pushing back against the protests. His supporters raised more than $2m to pay for his bail. The judge decided last month that the prosecutors cannot draw connections between Mr Rittenhouse and the far-right group the Proud Boys.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger requested that he be allowed to make the case that Mr Rittenhouse subscribed to the White supremacist beliefs of the Proud Boys. Mr Binger cited the January meeting between Mr Rittenhouse and members of the Proud Boys at a bar, as well as his meeting with the groups national president last year. But the judge instead ruled that theres nothing that proves that Mr Rittenhouse was close to the group at the time of the shooting in August 2020.

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Judge in Kyle Rittenhouse trial says lawyers cannot refer to two people he's accused of killing as 'victims' - The Independent

The flurry of violence from far right street gangs and militias in cities like Portland, Oregon, have become so common in the years since former President Donald Trumps rise that they have become an expected part of the U.S. political theater. Groups like the Proud Boys regularly descend into liberal cities to attack counterdemonstrations, notably when the Black Lives Matter protests erupted around the country in 2020 in response to the killing of George Floyd.

Rather than being able to depend on the police for protection, activists have regularly pointed to the inability or unwillingness of police to intervene in these attacks, often seeing police standing far away when the far right readies weapons, only to return to policing when its only anti-racist demonstrators left. This has been seen in the dozens of confrontations that have happened between the far right and anti-fascists in Portland, including on August 22 of this year, when activists pushed a Proud Boy rally away from the city center.

One year earlier, on August 22, 2020, a Back the Blue rally was held in Portland in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center, the legal building that had been the center of abolitionist protests for months. There, Proud Boys and other far right groups led a string of assaults on counterdemonstrators, including hitting them with batons, shooting them with paintball guns and mace, and even drawing loaded firearms. Police stayed several blocks away, asking all protesters to police themselves over their megaphone, yet were heavy-handed with nonviolent anti-racist protesters later that same day. With the far right groups allowed access to the city and leaving without intervention, it seemed as though they simply were given impunity to attack the anti-racist protesters.

That was until one of the leaders of the group, Alan Swinney, was arrested and charged with multiple violent felony counts stemming from his behavior during the protest. Over a year later, the guilty verdict has been handed down, making a clear statement to the community about what kind of violence these figures are capable of.

Swinney had become a staple of these far right rallies that often sought out left-wing activists for attack. With a large Proud Boy tattoo on his arm (though the Proud Boys claim he is not a member), and an imposing height, he often made his presence known through aggressive confrontations while livestreaming.

On August 22, 2020, he led a crowd that inflicted numerous assaults and was even photographed pointing a handgun at a protester, finger on the trigger. He was eventually arrested under numerous charges related to his violent behavior on that day, and he also faced a $1 million lawsuit from people who say they were victimized by him. Swinneys trial brought the question of his guilt to the forefront of the community.

Jury selection began by asking potential jurors how they felt about key political issues, such as the left/right divide, gun rights and the police. D, who asked to be identified by an initial due to fears of retaliation from Swinneys supporters, is a juror who sat on Swinneys trial. D tells Truthout that during jury selection, court officials asked them questions about their views on gun rights, whether D owns a firearm and whether they have ever been a victim of assault.

The court seemed to prepare for potential violence from the start by holding three court rooms for the proceedings, D says: one for supporters of Swinney, one for people not clearly identified as his supporters and one for the actual proceedings. This allowed the jury to remain anonymous to the public and disallow Swinneys supporters to potentially intimidate them.

D told Truthout that Swinneys attorneys continually argued he was acting in self-defense, claiming Swinney was feeling nervous and fearful in response to each new piece of evidence put forward by the prosecution. [The prosecution] showed a lot of Parler and social media posts where [Swinney] literally said, This is civil war, were ready to fight. This is where we attack, D tells Truthout.

The prosecution also played a leaked video from Swinneys body-worn camera that was previously published by this reporter in a Bellingcat story. The leaked video was dropped August 22, 2020, and contains private conversations from multiple prior rallies in which Swinney appears to plan for acts of violence. In one audio portion, he suggested that his comrades should videotape counterdemonstrators with the hope that they can catch anti-fascists engaging in violence so that they can legally justify their violent retaliations. Everybody needs to have their cameras rolling in case anyone gets an assault, just like yell out, Got one. We need to make sure weve got assaults on video, Swinney says in the leaked footage. If weve got [an assault] on video and stuff, and we know we got it on video and we have several on video, then nothing is going to happen because we just show the judge the video. In other videos, captured by Swinney himself, he admits to macing dozens of anti-fascist activists.

This made an impact on the jury in revealing that Swinney had planned attacks ahead of time and simply viewed claims of self-defense as a ruse to justify violence against anti-fascist demonstrators. In the same leaked footage, Swinney says that bear mace, an extremely volatile form of mace, is worth every penny when you get to spray antifa with it, and that supporters who provide money for the mace get a lot of satisfaction knowing they were responsible for that pain.

Swinneys public defenders tried to cast both Black Lives Matter protesters and anti-fascists as equally responsible for violence. Swinney himself took the stand during the trial to try and build up the claim of self-defense, but this did little to sway the jurys decisions. The leaked video, which clearly showed Swinney pulling a firearm and assaulting multiple people, was clear.

You see the juxtaposition as a really tall guy with all of that gear, versus someone who looks like they just walked up off the street. It was impossible for me to think that he genuinely felt scared with all of that evidence put together, D tells Truthout.

D voted along with the other members of the jury to convict Swinney on 11 of the 12 counts against him, including one count of assault in the second degree, two counts of unlawful use of mace in the second degree and pointing a firearm. (He was found not guilty on one assault charge.) Swinney is now awaiting sentencing, which could lead to a lengthy prison stay.

Convictions like these reinforce the idea that the Proud Boys are a violent street gang, says John Tilly, a local Portland activist who alleges he was assaulted by Swinney on August 15, 2020, and who has faced numerous other assaults while photographing Proud Boy events.

Many activists question whether this verdict will actually effect lasting change, or, despite getting one violent figure off the streets, will allow the conditions that created Swinney to continue.

I think that [the verdict] might dissuade some non-long-haul fascists. [But] I dont think were suddenly going to see folks open their eyes to the violence that is deeply rooted in these groups, says A, the person who originally leaked the video used as evidence at the trial. A is also using an initial due to fears of retribution from Proud Boys or their supporters. While I personally object to a carceral system, I feel that looking at the justice system as it exists right now, this was a very favorable outcome for anti-fascists.

These mixed feelings were shared by a number of people who are survivors of violence by Swinney and other far right groups.

Verdicts like these are incredibly rare, says Melissa Lewis, who says she was attacked by Swinney and supporters on August 22, 2020, and witnessed him brandish a revolver. The verdict means very little to me, which Im sure will surprise a lot of people. [I am] an abolitionist, and I know prison will only make people like Swinney worse [when] he will be released in a few years. But I dont shed any tears for fascists who go on the stand and make absolute fools of themselves.

D had similarly mixed feelings even while voting to convict, which they said was the only accurate verdict given the evidence that was presented. On the one hand, the prison system is awful, and it is not anything I necessarily agree with. On the other hand, Swinney definitely should not be able to have such a large audience and should not be able to move as freely as he does. He literally travels the country to go to these events. Hes violent, says D. [Its] one less violent white supremacist on the street. However, I know he is going to come out of the prison system even more radical than he is. This is a victory for the left in a way, but it is not a cure. It is hitting at a symptom of the system, rather than an overhaul.

While the Swinney verdict does appear as a bright spot for those who have been concerned that groups like this are able to operate with impunity, it is not a real solution to the issue. Instead, deeper reforms and community accountability are necessary to unseat the conditions that allow groups like the Proud Boys to flourish in the first place. This is part of the role that anti-fascists see themselves playing: creating a solution to community protection that relies on solidarity and mutual aid rather than the carceral approach that police present.

Even though the cops and media would like folks to believe otherwise, anti-fascism is self-defense. These groups want us dead, says A. People need to see for themselves any time there is an opportunity to expose them.

That exposure is a key part of anti-fascist strategies, which are only continuing in the post-Trump years as the far right continues to descend on city after city. In that reality, there will likely be more court cases like Swinneys, yet the limitations of this legal approach to public safety are glaring and many radical organizers are looking to build up alternatives.

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Leaked Video Helped Lead to the Conviction of a Far Right "Proud Boy" - Truthout

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Since January 6, Republican lawmakers attempting to cover up the Trump-driven insurrectionhave claimed that no one brought guns to the US Capitol. That claim is false, as we showed in a recent Mother Jones investigation documenting an array of criminal casesfrom a defendant who was armed on Capitol grounds and called for the overthrow of the US government, to an alleged operation in which numerous members of the so-called Oath Keepers, a loose-knit far-right militia, stockpiled firearms at a hotel near downtown DC for potential battle in support of Trump.

Since the end of September, further evidence has emerged linking armed extremists to the events of January 6, including in the case of an additional Oath Keeper charged with participating in the Capitol riot. According to a complaint and arrest warrant filed in DC federal court, 47-year-old Jeremy M. Brown of Florida, a US Army special forces veteran and briefly a 2020 congressional candidate, faces charges for his presence on restricted Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct in confrontation with police. The complaint contains photos showing that Brown was outfitted that day in full military gear, including a helmet, radio, a tactical vest, and prominently displayed large surgical trauma shears tucked into a pack sitting on the vest, according to the FBI. Brown also displayed a Trump logo on his tactical belt, the photos show.

The complaint further alleges that Brown and other unidentified individuals coordinated travel for January 6 using an encrypted messaging platform, communications in which Brown described plans to drive a recreational vehicle he referred to as GROUND FORCE ONE from Florida to DC.

Plenty of Gun Ports left to fill, he said in the encrypted group chat, according to evidence from the FBI. We can pick you up. The plan was to stop overnight in North Carolina and arrive in DC about a day before the congressional certification of President Joe Bidens victory. This will give us the 4th/5th to set up, conduct route recons, CTR (Close Target Reconnaissance) and any link ups needed with DC elements, Brown messaged. According to the complaint, Brown brought guns with him on the trip but left them with unidentified people in Virginia and didnt take them to the Capitol.

In a second case, Brown faces federal gun charges stemming from the investigation of him since January 6. According to court documentsfiled in the middle district of Florida, federal agents who searched Browns home in Tampa in late September found a short-barreled semiautomatic rifle and a sawed-off shotgunboth unregistered in violation of federal lawas well as two military ordinance grenades.

Browns defense attorney did not reply to a detailed request for comment.

In court filings and during an October 5 detention hearing, federal prosecutors presented evidence in support of their argument that Brown remains too dangerous to release from custody, including an alleged threat Brown directed at the FBI and other federal and local law enforcement agencies. According to court filings, and prosecutors remarks as reported in the Tampa Bay Times, Brown called out those agencies in a handwritten sign he posted in front of his house following a visit from federal agents earlier in the year:

Re-read your Oath. You are being used as a Pawn by the Enemies of this Republic & your Liberties. If you dont care & say to yourself Im just following orders, then Go Fuck Yourself. P.S. Better bring a bigger Tactical Package

Despite his apparent reference to the amount of force the feds would need to take him into custody, Brown said during the October 5 hearing that he was not making a threat with the sign, according to the Times. Brown said that he respected police and that he was not antigovernment, but was anti-tyrannical government. In arguing for his pretrial release, Brown and his attorney further suggested that the government was targeting Browns freedom of speech and his skepticism of law enforcement.

District Judge Sean P. Flynn ordered Brown detained, acknowledging in his ruling that Brown had a long and distinguished career in military service and no criminal history. Judge Flynn further emphasized that his decision was not due to Browns political beliefs or ownership of weapons. You made a specific threat to law enforcement, he told Brown, according to theTimes, and thats something I cant ignore.

Browns actions in early January as described in the FBI complaint echo the alleged activity of other Oath Keepers charged in the insurrection. They include several Oath Keepers from Florida who drove to DC by way of a stopover in North Carolina, according to an Oath Keepers lawyer,and went on to stash guns at the Comfort Inn Ballston in northern Virginia, about 7 miles from the US Capitol, between January 5 and 7. As detailed in our recent investigation, multiple Oath Keepers stockpiled an arsenal at the hotel, as one group member described it, for potential use by a quick reaction force inside DC to battle perceived enemies of Trump, according to court documents.

The FBI complaint against Brown stated that just ahead of January 6, Brown deposited his guns with individuals in Virginia and retrieved them after the riots.

It is unclear whether Browns case connects with actions of other Oath Keepers facing charges. According to the FBI, evidence of his alleged crimes was corroborated by Defendant 4, an unidentified person in the complaint who has pled guilty to Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding relating to his conduct and the conduct of others in breaching the US Capitol.

Since June, as we previously reported, three Oath Keepers have admitted guilt on conspiracy chargestwo of whom drove to DC from Florida. According to the GW Program on Extremism, a total of 69 Floridians face charges stemming from the events of January 6, the highest number of such cases of any state.

Other developments further pointing to extremists carrying guns during the attack on Congress include recent reporting about an indicted Proud Boys leader who allegedly had a concealed weapon at the Capitol, newly unsealed evidence of a defendant stating he was armed during the riot, and a recently disclosed document showing that FBI agents were aware before January 6 of specific intelligence about armed people traveling to DC.

According to the New York Times, defendant Ryan Samsel, who is charged with assaulting police at the Capitol, told FBI investigators that Joseph Biggs, an organizer for the Proud Boys, had a gun in the crowd on January 6 and flashed it at Samsel as he urged Samsel to confront officers defending Capitol grounds. (Samsel has no publicly known connection to the Proud Boys.) A lawyer for Biggs denied the allegations to the Times, saying they amounted to a tall tale. Biggs currently faces charges including conspiracy, civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, and destruction of government property, to which hehas pleaded not guilty. He has not been charged with any gun crimes.

In the case of January 6 defendant Thomas H. Smith of Mississippi, who was indicted in May on 10 counts including assault on police, a court filing unsealed Tuesday described evidence suggesting Smith was armed at the Capitol. According to prosecutors, Smith sent a private message through Facebook in which he claimed that he had a pistol in his pocket during the riot on January 6.

As our recent investigation detailed, law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol testified to Congress that they believed the mob of Trump extremists was far more heavily armed with guns than is definitively known. Internal communications from January 6 among US Park Police and other agencies that have since been made public support that view. The lack of certainty, the officers told lawmakers, was a result of their limited capacity to make arrests that day amid the sheer number of people, compounded by fears that taking more aggressive action could set off perilous violence.

A document obtained recently by a government transparency watchdog, Property of the People, contains indications that the FBI had specific intelligence, prior to January 6, about armed people headed for the nations capital. According to emails circulated among FBI agents in the bureaus Seattle field office on January 5, intelligence analysts with the Washington State Fusion Center had specifically noted social media comments suggesting that some residents of the state were planning to travel armed to Washington D.C. for tomorrows protests there.

Excerpt from:

Evidence of Armed Trump Extremists Continues to Emerge in January 6 Cases Mother Jones - Mother Jones

The ruckus in Nashua, where members of the far-right Proud Boys and neo-Nazis have attended previous meetings, is not an isolated occurrence. The business of local and state government in New Hampshire is under increasing strain as antigovernment activists including foes of COVID-19 vaccinations, mask mandates, and even federal grants to fight the virus have turned traditionally quiet meetings into ugly shouting matches.

Such behavior still stands out in long-staid New England, even if its increasingly common in other parts of the country.

Its really awful, frankly, said Raymond, who also asked fellow board member Paula Johnson to leave the Oct. 5 meeting because she refused to wear a mask.

Another board member, Gloria Timmons, said she has received alarming threats via social media after she supported the masking policy. One, from Aug. 21, warned: No communist or socialist should be allowed ANY place in ANY government, but should be hunted down and exterminated along with their followers, just to be sure.

Timmons, who is Black, is a disabled Army veteran and former president of the Greater Nashua branch of the NAACP.

Elsewhere, State Police arrested nine people Wednesday at a meeting of the states Executive Council in Concord. The protesters had urged the council, which shares authority with the governor to administer state affairs, to reject $27 million in federal money to support the states vaccination effort. The Republican-dominated board complied with a 4-1 vote along party lines.

On Sept. 29, an earlier protest over the issue prompted the Executive Council to adjourn because of safety concerns for state employees. Some protesters yelled at the councilors, We know where you live.

In Merrimack, a September meeting to reconsider the mask mandate in the schools was disrupted by protesters, one of whom targeted state Representative Rosemarie Rung, a local Democrat, with insults and obscene gestures, she said. In February, Rung found a headless chicken in her yard.

On Oct. 2, about 1,200 people shut down traffic outside the State House with an impromptu march for medical freedom. And in Hollis, a longtime Republican selectman resigned last month after being heckled for wearing a mask to a meeting.

That selectman, Peter Band, explained that he wore his mask because of concerns for people such as his 101-year-old mother-in-law and two medically vulnerable relatives. Band later switched his party affiliation to Democrat.

Raymond said the Nashua school board now typically posts two police officers at its meetings.

This is my fourth year on the board, and this is the first time weve needed to do this. Its not good for our community, Raymond said. The Proud Boys started showing up at our meetings in June, and then in July we had the NSC-131 group come. Theyre neo-Nazis and came in full regalia with swastikas on their arms.

Although those groups no longer show up, their unnerving effect has lingered.

Weve allowed people to share their thoughts even if they were yelling, but its gotten to the point where people arent waiting for the comment period. Theyre shouting during the meeting and interrupting what we need to do, Raymond said.

To opponents of vaccination and mask mandates, the swelling anger at public meetings is a natural progression from long-simmering alarm at the reach of government.

Thousands of New Hampshire citizens are angry and hurt because they are losing their jobs for no apparent reason, or theyre having their children put in masks that have been proven not to work, said Andrew Manuse, founder of RebuildNH, an activist group that opposes any COVID-related mandates or restrictions.

These are people who arent used to engaging in public meetings. They are people who just want to go about their daily lives, Manuse added. Theyre not used to being oppressed by their country.

Manuse said his group, which helped organize the Concord march, does not endorse disruptions that interfere with public business.

RebuildNH wants to be a vehicle for these people to express themselves, Manuse said. To disrupt meetings and close them down, I dont feel thats effective activism. I dont think its a successful strategy.

Manuse said he hopes the anger does not lead to violence, but he added that unrest is likely to grow.

The civil methods are not working, and theyre resorting to these other methods, Manuse said. I think youre going to see more of it, unless some of these boards start listening to more of these parents.

Manuse, a financial consultant from Derry, cited Nazi war crimes as an example of the dangers of medical tyranny. He also forwarded to the Globe a sermon by an online ministry that, over the course of 90 minutes, moved from the mark of the beast in the New Testaments Book of Revelation, to Nazi regimentation, to questions of satanic connections with the COVID-19 vaccine.

What youre seeing with the vaccine mandates and the mask mandates certainly are concerning when you look at the patterns of history that have led to tyrannical regimes, Manuse said.

What some New Hampshire legislators see is a deliberate, organized assault on democracy.

I think its an effort to intimidate and an effort by some people who dont believe in government to undermine government, said state Representative Renny Cushing, a Democrat from Hampton who is House minority leader.

We have people who hate government but want to have control over it, Cushing said. Were in very dangerous times, and its building upon the big lie that our elections arent fair.

Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, said that the state has long had a libertarian streak, and that its COVID mandates appear to have given fresh voice and energy to that wing. Free speech isnt always polite, he said.

Our system of government is supposed to allow citizens to have voice even loud voice, even impolite, even raucous. We should err on the side of allowing that, Scala said.

However, he said, governmental bodies should prepare when conflict is possible to ensure that the peoples business can proceed.

Cinde Warmington, a Democrat on the Executive Council who voted to accept the federal COVID funds, said she will not be deterred by belligerent protesters.

I was very upset that the business of state government was disrupted by these people, Warmington said. I stood ready to do the work of our government, and I will not be intimidated by these right-wing extremists.

Sometimes, she added, it just takes courage to govern.

Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie@globe.com.

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Proud Boys started showing up. N.H. government roiled by protests over COVID mandates - The Boston Globe

We should all condemn, in no uncertain terms, the violent Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. George Packer, in his book, Last Best Hope, claims, A mob of freedom-loving Americans [were] hunting down elected representatives to kidnap and kill. In New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait likened these efforts to the 1933 Reichstag Fire. But murderous images are not consistent with at least some of the evidence of what happened in Washington while Congress was certifying the 2020 election results.

None of those arrested after the Capitol breach has been charged with gun possession or assault while inside the Capitol. Moreover, one of the most identifiable groups among the protesters the Proud Boys may have had no intention to use violence or attack the Capitol, according to an embedded FBI informant. Even liberal commentator Glenn Greenwald apparently was disgusted by false and exaggerated claims made about the events of Jan. 6.

The Capitol assault also has been used as a blanket condemnation of all those who gathered in D.C. that day to protest the elections outcome. About 20,000 people attended the rally at the White House, and perhaps about 1,000 of them then moved to the Capitol, where somewhat over half of them actively participated in the breach. That means about 3 percent of the days protesters took part in the assault and yet the entire group that peacefully rallied was indicted in social media and some media posts. Compare this to the rallies across America following the May 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis most media outlets took pains to distinguish participants in looting and vandalism in some cities from the vast majority of protesters who were peaceful.

Indeed, the vilification of all who rallied at the White House is extended by some to anyone who is Republican. For some time, Republicans have been broadly labeled as white supremacists. After the Capitol assault, they increasingly have been accused of threatening democracy. As Bill Zeiser reported in The Spectator, liberal commentator Dean Obeidallah claimed, If you ever wondered what it was like to live in early 1930s Germany, you are getting a taste of it courtesy of [former President] Trump and the GOP. On Twitter, heoffered thatthe GOP is no longer a political party its an openly fascist movement. That is undisputed.

Indeed, a summer 2021 survey conducted by the University of Virginias Center for Politics found that 56 percent of President BidenJoe BidenPressure grows for breakthrough in Biden agenda talks State school board leaves national association saying they called parents domestic terrorists Sunday shows preview: Supply chain crisis threaten holiday sales; uncertainty over whether US can sustain nationwide downward trend in COVID-19 cases MOREs voters believe there is no real difference between Republicans and fascists.

In Antifascism: The Course of a Crusade, Paul Gottfried claims alluding to the impending dangers of fascism underpins the dark vision for America expressed by Packer, Chait and Obeidallah and also a large share of social justice advocates. In explaining the contrasting view of the Jan. 6 Capitol assault, compared to violence during urban demonstrations last summer, one of the books reviewers, James McElroy, claimed that [f]ascism is a permanently lurking evil that can re-emerge at any moment so that the black-clad [antifa] thugs from last summer are not the enemies of power but its unwitting shock troops.

Short of fascism, many social justice advocates label the danger right-wing authoritarianism, linking Trumpism with Brazils president, Jair Bolsonaro, and Hungarys prime minister, Viktor Orbn. While right-wing authoritarianism is well-documented, researcher Thomas Costello and his Emory colleagues have found that left-wing authoritarianism is far from inconsequential. While Costello estimated that in the United States right-wing authoritarians are probably three times the number of left-wing authoritarians, Sally Satel, a psychiatrist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, noted in an article in The Atlantic, One doesnt need to believe that left-wing authoritarians are as numerous or as threatening as their right-wing counterparts to grasp that both phenomena are a problem.

Right-wing authoritarians appear to be more significant in rural, less populated areas and their efforts may result in illiberal policies in some states. However, at universities and in much of urban America, there appears to be more danger from liberal authoritarians who are often emboldened by some in the media who amplify their exaggerations of dangers posed by the fascist right.

Most troubling, labeling Republicans as fascist, right-wing authoritarians or white supremacists has nothing to do with finding solutions to two pressing social problems in America: gun violence, especially in predominantly Black communities, and the educational deficiencies of too many Black youngsters. Indeed, one might argue that left-wing authoritarians by trying to silence all those who want to look beyond white racism to understand the persistence of racial disparities stand in the way of finding solutions to these problems.

Robert Cherry is a retired professor of economics at Brooklyn College and a member of the Woodson Centers 1776 Unites forum.

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Vilifying Republicans is part of the problem, not part of the solution | TheHill - The Hill