Quote:Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., during a Senate hearing on Tuesday read out a report claiming that the Capitol riot was “probably planned” by people pretending to be supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Johnson read from the article, a first-hand account of the riot titled “I Saw Provocateurs At The Capitol Riot on Jan. 6,” which was written by J. Michael Waller, a senior analyst for the Center of Security Policy, and published by The Federalist.

Waller claims that people “whom I presumed to be Antifa or other leftist agitators” were the ones to attack police officers during the riot last month, which turned “unsuspecting marchers into an invading mob.”

Johnson noted that Waller “said that the mood of the crowd was ‘positive’ and ‘festive,’” and that four types of people “stood out” from the rest of the crowd and “obviously didn’t fit in.”

He described those groups as “Plainclothes militants, agents provocateurs, fake Trump protesters, and then disciplined, uniformed column of attackers.”

Johnson said, “I think these are the people that probably planned this.”

According to Slate, Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, said at the end of the meeting: “I do want to make it clear that there are some items of agreement between most of us on this committee, and I don’t think we should let the words of a few become the story here.”

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Quote:The mother of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick said her son was not beaten with a fire extinguisher by a mob on Jan. 6, saying he likely suffered a stroke instead—refuting reports from the New York Times and other outlets claiming otherwise.

“He wasn’t hit on the head, no. We think he had a stroke, but we don’t know anything for sure,” Gladys Sicknick told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview on Feb. 22. “We’d love to know what happened.”

The NY Times, CNN, and NBC updated their reports weeks after the Jan. 6 breach to assert that Sicknick was not killed by a fire extinguisher. Originally, the NY Times reported, based on anonymous sources, that Sicknick was beaten to death.

According to the NY Times’ update in February, “New information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police.” However, there were reports of new information emerging about the circumstances of Sicknick’s death around the same time the NY Times published its report on Jan. 8.

The allegation Sicknick was killed by a protester was cited during the House impeachment managers’ presentations and arguments that former President Donald Trump should be convicted in the Senate impeachment trial over his speech on Jan. 6. Since the Capitol breach, some pundits and elected officials have cited Sicknick’s death while pushing claims that new domestic terrorism laws are needed.

Sicknick’s brother also disputed the reports about his death in early January. “[Officer Sicknick] texted me last night and said, ‘I got pepper-sprayed twice,’ and he was in good shape,” his brother, Ken Sicknick, said to news outlets last month, appearing to dispute key details of the original NY Times report.

Medical examiners have not released an official report on Sicknick’s cause of death. An autopsy report also was not released.

Meanwhile, there have been no arrests related to the slain officer’s death, and officials have not released details about a potential suspect. And while the breach was captured via live-streaming video, there is no footage that surfaced of demonstrators hitting Sicknick with a fire extinguisher.

An official Capitol Police statement said that “officer Brian D. Sicknick passed away due to injuries sustained while on duty,” continuing to say, “Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters. He returned to his division office and collapsed. He was taken to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.”

Investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald noted last week that Sicknick’s death was referenced so much because it is “the only example the media had of the pro-Trump mob deliberately killing anyone,” adding that “none of the other four deaths” during the riots “were at the hands of the protesters: the only other person killed with deliberate violence was a pro-Trump protester, Ashli Babbitt, unarmed when shot in the neck by a police officer at close range.” Two other protesters, according to officials, died of medical-related causes while another died allegedly due to a crush of fellow protesters.

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Quote:The far-left PolitiFact, a fake fact-checking site run by the far-left Poynter Institute, waited until this week, long after former President Trump’s impeachment trial was over, to finally admit Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was not beaten to death with a fire extinguisher by a Trump supporter.

Although what I call “the fire extinguisher hoax” has been floating around since the Capitol Hill riot on January 6… Although, as far back as January 8, ProPublica reported that Sicknick texted his brother after the riot to tell him he was in “good shape…” Although far-left CNNLOL reported all the way back on February 4 that the fire extinguisher beating story was a hoax… Although the far-left New York Times retracted its false fire extinguisher report on February 15… Despite all this, the utterly useless and dishonest PolitiFact waited until this week to finally admit the fire extinguisher story is a hoax.

The truth is that we do not know why Sicknick died the day after the riot, but we do know he was not beaten to death with a fire extinguisher. Some believe pepper spray may have contributed to his untimely death or that he had some kind of stroke.

Benjamin Philips, a Trump supporter, died of a stroke during the riot. Kevin Greeson, who was also a Trump supporter, died of a heart attack at the riot.

Unfortunately, excitement can bring about a stroke or heart attack.

Back in 2012, a 70-year-old woman died of cardiac arrest after then-President Obama dropped by her diner for breakfast.

The third person to die at the riot was Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, who was unarmed and still fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer. The fourth and final person to die at the riot was Roseanne Boyland, who was trampled as the crowd rushed into the Capitol.

So all four people who died at the riot were Trump supporters.

But the hoax about the fire extinguisher, along with the fables about a Trump supporter bringing handcuffs and this being an armed insurrection, have been allowed to live on for more than a month, straight through the impeachment trial, even though the frauds at PolitiFact had all kinds of conflicting reports almost immediately, and a full-blown CNN report on February 4.

Rather than condemn all the fraudulent reporting, the fake fact-checkers at PolitiFact only condemned this: “Some conservative activists have seized on the changing and differing news accounts to accuse the media of exaggerating what happened to Sicknick.”

Yeah, because telling us a man was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher when he wasn’t isn’t exaggerating, or anything.

Yep, according to the fakes at PolitiFact, the bad guys here are those of us angry at being misled, not the liars who misled us.

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Quote:The former head of the United States Capitol Police, Steven Sund, told a Senate committee Tuesday that cops in charge of Capitol security did not receive a copy of an FBI memo that warned of a “war” at the Capitol on January 6th.

Although Democrats have operated on the theory that President Donald Trump incited an impromptu attack on the Capitol building, encouraging his supporters to disrupt a planned vote verifying the results of the November presidential election, The Washington Post reported that the FBI had compiled a memo detailing a credible threat of planned violence on January 6th.

The memo, the report noted, detailed conversations taking place online between “right-wing extremist” groups plotting to attack lawmakers.

The memo “painted a dire portrait of dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the complex’s tunnels, and possible rally points for would-be conspirators to meet in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and South Carolina and head in groups to Washington.”

“As of 5 January 2021, FBI Norfolk received information indicating calls for violence in response to ‘unlawful lockdowns’ to begin on 6 January 2021 in Washington, D.C.,” the memo said. “An online thread discussed specific calls for violence to include stating ‘Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in, and blood from their BLM and Pantifa slave soldiers being spilled. Get violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die. NOTHING else will achieve this goal.”

The memo contradicts FBI statements indicating that they received no warning of plans for a riot at the Capitol — and the memo likely should have prompted a more significant response from Capitol Police.

Sund told lawmakers Tuesday that he saw no memo and had no warning of what was being planned.

Axios reports that “Sund testified that he just learned in the past 24 hours that his department had received the report from the FBI on the evening of Jan. 5. Sund said a member of the intelligence division at USCP did review the memo — but that ‘it didn’t go any further than that’ and that Sund himself had not seen it.”

Sund also told lawmakers that he believes those coordinating the Capitol attack prepared for weeks in advance because they came to the rally armed and ready for battle and because they seemed to have studied the Capitol security strategy, looking for weaknesses.

“These people came specifically with equipment. You’re bringing climbing gear to a demonstration, explosives, chemical spray – you’re coming prepared,” Sund said. “The fact that the group attacked our West Front 20 minutes before the event at the Ellipse ended – they were planning on our agency not being at full strength at that time.”

The attackers may have also used two pipe bombs as a distraction, Sund noted. Capitol police, he said, were “dealing with two pipe bombs, specifically set right off the edge of our perimeter to draw resources away” when rioters breached the Capitol building.

Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department acting chief Robert Contee backed up Sund’s claims, telling Senators that the rioters used “hand signals” to communicate during the assault.

“I certainly believe it was coordinated,” Contee said.

The hearings on the January 6th Capitol attack are expected to go on for several days, and the agencies testifying are expected to point fingers at each other, effectively sharing the blame for the breakdown in security that lead to the death of five people and dozens of injuries.

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Quote:The January 6th riot at the United States Capitol was planned and coordinated — and not a spur-of-the-moment attack — law enforcement officials in charge of the response told Congress Tuesday.

Several officials testified Tuesday at a Senate committee hearing dissecting the events leading up to the January 6th riot as well as the law enforcement response in an effort to outline how dozens of protesters were able to break through the Capitol’s front doors and get within inches of working lawmakers.

Democrats have been working with the theory that President Donald Trump, who appeared at a “Stop the Steal” rally the morning of January 6th, “incited” the crowd to march to the U.S. Capitol and disrupt a planned vote to certify the results of the Electoral College, making Joe Biden the official winner of the November presidential election.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger, former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, and Metropolitan Police Department acting chief Robert Contee all testified that they witnessed incidents on January 6th that made it clear the attack was “planned” and “coordinated” days if not weeks ahead of January 6th.

Sund even suggested that rioters had studied Capitol Police strategy and knew the building’s weak points.

These people came specifically with equipment. You’re bringing climbing gear to a demonstration, explosives, chemical spray – you’re coming prepared,” Sund said. “The fact that the group attacked our West Front 20 minutes before the event at the Ellipse ended – they were planning on our agency not being at full strength at that time.”

“I think there was a significant coordination with this attack,” he added.

Contee, Fox News adds, “also said rioters used ‘hand signals and radio communication,’ as well as a ‘coordinated use’ of chemicals.”

“I certainly believe it was coordinated,” Contee said. “As they continue to scrub social media, we are learning more and more and more that this is clearly a coordinated effort.”

“Based on the information provided by Contee and Sund, I would agree,” Irving agreed. “The evidence would indicate a coordinated attack.”

Sund noted that, because the attackers were so well-prepared, it would have been difficult for any security force to put a stop to the breach.

“No single civilian law enforcement agency – and certainly not the USCP – is trained and equipped to repel, without significant military or other law enforcement assistance, an insurrection of thousands of armed, violent, and coordinated individuals focused on breaching a building at all costs,” Sund said.

Contee went on to suggest that a pair of pipe bombs, one outside of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters and one outside of the Republican National Committee’s headquarters, were designed to serve as distractions while rioters breached the Capitol doors. The FBI is still on the hunt for the bomber, nearly two months after the attack.

The FBI is still investigating the attacks and, on Tuesday, the agency announced that two rioters were arrested in Kentucky. They also noted, last week, in a memo obtained by the Washington Post, that there was significant evidence that “right-wing extremist” groups were plotting to attack the United States Capitol for weeks ahead of the “Stop the Steal” rally, and had coordinated on strategy.

Although the officials who testified Tuesday agreed on the characteristics of the attack, they disagreed on which security force should take the blame for failing to protect federal lawmakers, including former Vice President Mike Pence.

“The officials, including the former chief of the Capitol Police, pointed their fingers at various federal agencies — and each other — for their failure to defend the building as supporters of then-President Donald Trump overwhelmed security barriers, broke windows and doors, and sent lawmakers fleeing from the House and Senate chambers. Five people died as a result of the riot, including a Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot as she tried to enter the House chamber with lawmakers still inside,” the Associated Press reported.

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Quote:Former Capitol Police Chief Sund said that a pre-Jan. 6 intelligence assessment suggested that Antifa, Proud Boys, and extremist groups would partake in the Jan. 6 event in Washington.

“The assessment indicated that members of the Proud Boys, white supremacist groups, Antifa, and other extremist groups were expected to participate in the January 6th event and that they may be inclined to become violent,” said former Chief Steven Sund in a written statement (pdf) to the Senate.

It added that an “intelligence assessment indicated that the January 6th protests/rallies were ‘expected to be similar to the previous Million MAGA March rallies in November and December 2020, which drew tens of thousands of participants,” adding that faulty intelligence was to blame for the outmanned Capitol defenders’ failure to anticipate the riots.

Accused Capitol rioter John Sullivan, a self-styled Antifa activist, was arrested and charged in connection with the breach. Sullivan previously told The Epoch Times that he’s apolitical but has told other news outlets that he is Antifa or anti-fascist. Antifa is a far-left, anarcho-communist network that has engaged in violence across the country in recent years. Sullivan has also been linked to the Black Lives Matter movement, though he’s been disavowed by the leader of Black Lives Matter Utah.

Sund and other officials attempted to blame various federal agencies—and each other—for their failure to defend the building as demonstrators overwhelmed security barriers, broke windows and doors, and sent lawmakers fleeing from the House and Senate chambers.

But Sund told senators on Tuesday that the incident wasn’t his agency’s fault.

“No single civilian law enforcement agency—and certainly not the USCP—is trained and equipped to repel, without significant military or other law enforcement assistance, an insurrection of thousands of armed, violent, and coordinated individuals focused on breaching a building at all costs,” he testified.

And he argued that the incident was “coordinated,” adding that some rioters had “climbing gear.”

“I’m able to provide you a quick overview of why I think it was a coordinated attack. One, people came specifically with equipment. You’re bringing in climbing gear to a demonstration. You’re bringing in explosives. You’re bringing in chemical spray … you’re coming prepared,” Sund told the senators.

“The fact that the group that attacked our west front [did so] approximately 20 minutes before [former President Trump’s rally] ended, which means that they were planning on our agency not being at what they call ‘full strength,'” Sund added. He noted that alleged pipe bombs found near the Republican and Democratic party headquarters in the District of Columbia were likely used to distract officers from being deployed at the Capitol building.

Acting D.C. Metropolitan Police Department chief Robert Contee III told the Senate panel that rioters were using radio communication and hand signals.

A second hearing, expected next week, will examine the response of the Defense Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI.

The panels may also hold closed-door interviews. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the top Republican on the Senate Rules Committee, said they might want to ask for phone records to clear up some of the discrepancies between officials.

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They were real criminals....and they are going to jail.

Weird the vast majority of the people arrested are trump supporters and qanon cultists.

Did these antifa agents just vansih?

oh, looks like CP has struck a nerve here. Must be some truth to it.

My guess is the people who did most of the harm are anarchists who just want to see the world burn. Assigning them as Republican or Democrat is probably inaccurate.

I mean, who with even a half ounce of sense didn't already know this?

(02-23-2021 05:04 PM)swagsurfer11 Wrote:  They were real criminals....and they are going to jail.

The strollers/trespassers are going to jail. The FBI still hasn't figured out who the troublemakers were.

(02-23-2021 06:55 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(02-23-2021 05:04 PM)swagsurfer11 Wrote:  They were real criminals....and they are going to jail.

The strollers/trespassers are going to jail. The FBI still hasn't figured out who the troublemakers were.

They're still checking FB to see if they lean right or left. The lefties will be ignored and the righties will be the ones charged.

You watch...