1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

MAGA rioter busted for recruiting extremists behind bars



On Friday, Law & Crime reported that federal prosecutors are warning in a sentencing recommendation that Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a convicted Capitol rioter with a history of cosplaying Hitler and extremist neo-Nazi ideology, is trying to organize extremists behind bars.

"'It is well established in the record at this point that Hale-Cusanelli subscribes to White-Supremacist and Nazi-Sympathizer ideologies that drive his enthusiasm for another civil war and formed the basis of this Court’s pretrial determination that Hale-Cusanelli was a danger to the community,' Justice Department attorney Kathryn E. Fifield observed in the memo," said the report.

"'Sources inside the jail also reported that Hale-Cusanelli has used the power of a fundraising organization spearheaded by his adoptive aunt to organize inmates and curry favor,' the sentencing memo states. 'One inmate said the situation was like ‘the movie Mean Girls, but with racist, antisemitic extremists.''"

Hale-Cusanelli was convicted in May on felony obstruction and four misdemeanors — and prosecutors are recommending six and a half years in prison.

"A former Army reservist and a security contractor, Hale-Cusanelli held a 'secret' clearance, and his access to classified information alarmed many after his ideology became apparent," reported Adam Klasfeld. "Court papers showed him with a Hitler mustache and hairdo, aping the dictator’s overwrought expressions in faux-stern selfies with his hand over his heart. It was more than World War II-era cosplay. People who knew Hale-Cusanelli told federal investigators that the former reservist expressed support for killing Jews and 'babies born with any deformities or disabilities,' and said that 'Hitler should have finished the job.'"

According to earlier reports, Hale-Cusanelli bragged to his former Black roommate about beating a police officer with a flagpole while in the crowd attacking the Capitol on January 6. He has also fantasized about a "f*****g civil war" and said that if he were made king of the U.S., he would give all Jews "24 hours to leave the country" — including Jewish members of Congress.

"A former Army reservist and a security contractor, Hale-Cusanelli held a 'secret' clearance, and his access to classified information alarmed many after his ideology became apparent," reported Adam Klasfeld. "Court papers showed him with a Hitler mustache and hairdo, aping the dictator’s overwrought expressions in faux-stern selfies with his hand over his heart. It was more than World War II-era cosplay. People who knew Hale-Cusanelli told federal investigators that the former reservist expressed support for killing Jews and 'babies born with any deformities or disabilities,' and said that 'Hitler should have finished the job.'"

According to earlier reports, Hale-Cusanelli bragged to his former Black roommate about beating a police officer with a flagpole while in the crowd attacking the Capitol on January 6. He has also fantasized about a "f**king civil war" and said that if he were made king of the U.S., he would give all Jews "24 hours to leave the country" — including Jewish members of Congress.

At trial, he tried to defend himself by telling jurors that he never intended to obstruct Congress, and didn't actually know the Capitol building was where Congress gathered to do business, adding, "I know this sounds idiotic, but I'm from New Jersey. I feel like an idiot, it sounds idiotic, and it is."

Read More Here:

https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-breach/mean-girls-but-with-racist-antisemitic-extremists-hitler-posing-ex-army-reservist-convicted-for-jan-6-is-organizing-behind-bars-feds-say/

[Rick Plant]

Court schedules plea hearing for next week in Capitol breach case of Paula Conlon of West Virginia, who's accused of telling police to "back off".. while on a front line of the mob.

[Rick Plant]

'The worst is yet to come': Experts warn MAGA violence is spreading -- and law enforcement should prepare



According to two different experts on the rising tide of domestic terrorists since the election of Donald Trump, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better as long as the former president remains free to incite violence in much the way he did on Jan 6, 2020.

Speaking with the New York Times' Blake Hounshell, authors Luke Mogelson and Andy Campbell, both of whom have new books on right-wing extremists, waved the red flag about what they see coming as Trump continues to egg his followers on -- which is setting the stage for more violence.

As Hounshell summed up their warning: "The worst is yet to come."

Getting right to the point, Campbell, who has a new book out on the Proud Boys, told the Times, "I really do believe that, going forward, it’s not just going to be MAGA rallies. It’s not just going to be political violence at Proud Boys rallies or leftist rallies or B.L.M. events. It’s going to be political violence at any civic event that happens to fall in the cross hairs of Donald Trump and company.”

According to Hounshell, "In the United States, it is not illegal to be a part of a domestic extremist group. To go after specific threats, the government has limited tools, meaning that federal officials often must find links to groups overseas in order to crack down on homegrown extremists or prosecute them under other provisions of law," adding, "Complicating matters, Republican politicians like Trump — who instructed the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during a presidential debate in 2020 — often provide rhetorical cover."

Mogelson claims the violence he saw on Jan 6, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol, reminded him of covering armed conflicts around the world for the past decade.

"He witnessed a mob killing of someone in Iraq, which gave him an understanding of what he called the 'intoxicating' feeling that can whip a crowd of seemingly ordinary people into a frenzy," the Times reports before noting, "he began reporting on anti-lockdown groups that mobilized against the pandemic measures put in place by governors like Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat, he immediately saw that the story was much larger."

He told the Times, "I soon realized that these groups and this movement was rapidly mutating.”

Campbell chimed in to add the Republican Party appears unable -- or unwilling -- to rein the far-right extremists in.

“The Republican Party seems to not know what to do,” he claimed before warning, “It seems like their inability to rebut the Proud Boys and other extremists is pushing this machine forward so much faster and really making it hard for law enforcement to keep up.”

Read More Here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/us/politics/domestic-extremism-warnings.html

[Rick Plant]

In Sunday night filing, military vet Mark Mazza seeks leniency at sentencing in Jan 6 case, defense argues:

Jan 6 Cmte "announced that the riots that day were caused at the instigation of President Trump who lied about a stolen election. We agree completely with this assessment".

[Rick Plant]

In newer court filings, Justice Dept has emphasized the impact of the large metal Trump sign (with huge wheels) that was used as a battering ram on west front of Capitol on Jan 6.

Detailed here in a sequence ===>

[Rick Plant]

Pre-trial motions are expected within a week in the high-profile Jan 6 case of Richard "Bigo" Barnett

[Rick Plant]

America First ‘Groypers’ arrested on J6 charges: report



Five men associated with the far-right "America First" movement have been charged for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"Joseph Brody, 23, of Springfield, Virginia, is charged in a criminal complaint with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers, causing bodily injury, interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, and obstruction of an official proceeding, all felony offenses. He also is charged with two misdemeanor offenses," the Department of Justice announced. "Four other defendants also face misdemeanor charges. They include Thomas Carey, 21, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Gabriel Chase, 22, of Gainesville, Florida; Jon Lizak, 21, of Cold Spring Harbor, New York, and Paul Ewald Lovley, 23, of Halethorpe, Maryland."

All five men have been arrested in recent days, DOJ says.

"According to court documents, all five defendants communicated with one another in advance of Jan. 6, 2021, and eventually illegally entered the Capitol as a group, at approximately 2:16 p.m. They moved throughout multiple levels, corridors, and rooms of the building, including the office and conference room of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi," DOJ announced. "After about 35 minutes, the group exited the building and moved to the north end of the Capitol, witnessing the breach of the North Door. Brody assisted another person in the mob in using a metal barricade against a U.S. Capitol Police officer, knocking the officers back as he attempted to secure the North Door. Brody and Chase also participated in the destruction of media equipment."

In a 45-page statement of fact, DOJ said, "Additionally, the investigation has shown that Lovely, Brody, Chase, Lizak, and Carey were associated with a group known as America First."

"Leadership of America First has espoused a belief that they are defending against the demographic and cultural changes in America. Lovely, Brody, Chase, and Lizak initially met at an America First event and attended subsequent events together," DOJ argued. "After meeting, they continued to communicate through a social media platform. Carey traveled with Lovely, Chase, and Lizak and met Brody in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021."

Devotees of Fuentes' America First refer to themselves as "Groypers."

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors hate groups, described America First founder Nick Fuentes as a "white nationalist livestreamer who advocates pulling the Republican Party further to the extreme far-right end of the political spectrum. An outspoken admirer of fascists such as Mussolini, Fuentes emerged as an influential figure on the national stage during the now-infamous 'Stop the Steal' movement, which relied on misinformation to falsely claim that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election and sought to overturn the results of it."

The Anti-Defamation League explains, "Groypers want to confront mainstream conservatives about positions that Groypers believe are not in the best interests of whites. They believe that the mainstream conservative movement is just as responsible as liberals and the left for destroying white America, and that Groypers are the true future of the conservative movement."

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

https://www.rawstory.com/j6-america-first-groypers/

[Rick Plant]

"Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

The Select Committee investigated how Trump’s call to arms inspired extremists to go to Washington on January 6th.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1569684573289693185