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The US Capitol has been Breached [Action and Developing stories]


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56 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

There’s a non-zero chance Tommy Tubberville gets indicted for a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the United States government, which is nuts. 

I guess next you'll be telling me Joe Paterno ran interference for a known pedophile for decades on end. 

Actually, Tuberville as failed revolutionary is even more bizarre. 

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Well Tuberville's team has always been an also ran---be it Auburn, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, the Confederacy, or the 2021 Insurrection---Tommy has always been on the side of the runner-up.  A second class man in every sense of the word.  Congrats Fuckface.  

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8 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Well Tuberville's team has always been an also ran---be it Auburn, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, the Confederacy, or the 2021 Insurrection---Tommy has always been on the side of the runner-up.  A second class man in every sense of the word.  Congrats Fuckface.  

And yet he’s made 20+ million as a football coach, won a statewide election to national office, and has secured (seditious conspiracy notwithstanding) the salary of a US senator for the rest of his natural life. 

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Nobody said you couldn’t get rich promising stupid people the blessings of nostalgia and Jesus.  I never knew until the last few years just how easy it was to Grift if you just stopped caring.  

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On 1/26/2021 at 11:42 AM, Lobo said:

Well, it starts with an "S", doesn't it?  HAHAHAHAHA! 

I don't know why but I'm honestly thinking about buying another firearm.  I'm worried as shit about having it in my house with my overly-curious two little girls.  But I get a bad vibe from some sore-loser Trumpers lately.  Not so much the rage-filled asshole ones, but the ones with this blank stare in their eyes now like, 'Yeah, I would have preferred the election go a different way.  Uh, will you excuse me...I'm just gonna go in my garage for a few minutes.'  

   In the immortal words of Malice from Clipse Lord Willin

"I got guns cause they got guns
I get cash, they get none
So I'm sure you see where that leaves me
In the streets with two heats, both ones within my reach
I speak slow, let 'em understand my speech
When I say, "Get low, these hold ten shots each"

  I currently have an arsenal because my neighbors also have arsenals. I stay strapped. However, I do not need any of these guns, and could give them up at a moments notice. They are just peace of mind that if the apocalypse happened I could at least get some groceries.

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24 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

And yet he’s made 20+ million as a football coach, won a statewide election to national office, and has secured (seditious conspiracy notwithstanding) the salary of a US senator for the rest of his natural life. 

Uh, are you saying he is going to die within the next six years?

Edited by Dahobbs
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5 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Uh, are you saying he is going to die within 6 six years?

After some light reading, I’ll retract the statement and rephrase. He’s 5 years away from a nice pension, that I cannot after 3 links figure out how much it will be, but it is partially dependent on the amount he contributes to it during his time in office. 

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Just now, Pato del Muerto said:

After some light reading, I’ll retract the statement and rephrase. He’s 5 years away from a nice pension, that I cannot after 3 links figure out how much it will be, but it is partially dependent on the amount he contributes to it during his time in office. 

No, no, I prefer my interpretation. 

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42 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

   In the immortal words of Malice from Clipse Lord Willin

"I got guns cause they got guns
I get cash, they get none
So I'm sure you see where that leaves me
In the streets with two heats, both ones within my reach
I speak slow, let 'em understand my speech
When I say, "Get low, these hold ten shots each"

  I currently have an arsenal because my neighbors also have arsenals. I stay strapped. However, I do not need any of these guns, and could give them up at a moments notice. They are just peace of mind that if the apocalypse happened I could at least get some groceries.

Comin' even harder in the paint:

 

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1 hour ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Actually, Tuberville as failed revolutionary is even more bizarre. 

Agree.

Tuberville as a thuggish and reactionary boss is on brand . . . and also treasonous. He has tight guardrails. If he strays into the forbidden void of conspiracy to commit treason, he will perish politically. 

He is dumb enough to cross the line. 

 

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On 1/26/2021 at 10:20 PM, TwiceHorn said:

It's 40 years old and has never drawn blood.  But .22 semis ought to be outside the ambit of gun control.

Just one person's perspective,  but the .22, as far as I know,  is the pistol of choice for a lot of hits.

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13 hours ago, C-Man said:

Hmm. Leader of the Proud Boys was apparently a snitch.

https://news.trust.org/item/20210127130008-0o116

 

this is not shocking at all.  Terrio is a felon who should be precluded from owning guns,  but yet he still does.  It's these rat motherfuckers that get all the good treatment because they roll over on everyone they know, but they're the sneakiest,  worst mitherfuckers on the planet. 

This is the worst.  A piece of shit rat gets to influence a ton of buckshot freely, while all the people that had any actual standards gets completely fucked. 

Terrio is the worst.  They work their way out of consequences by being a fucking rat,  and keep on doing these fucked up crimes because the governed let them off. 

You have no idea how many snitches continue to perpetuate heinous crimes while the government gives them a fuckload of cover because they turn other people in. 

It's sick

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this is not shocking at all.  Terrio is a felon who should be precluded from owning guns,  but yet he still does.  It's these rat motherfuckers that get all the good treatment because they roll over on everyone they know, but they're the sneakiest,  worst mitherfuckers on the planet. 
This is the worst.  A piece of shit rat gets to influence a ton of buckshot freely, while all the people that had any actual standards gets completely fucked. 
Terrio is the worst.  They work their way out of consequences by being a fucking rat,  and keep on doing these fucked up crimes because the governed let them off. 
You have no idea how many snitches continue to perpetuate heinous crimes while the government gives them a fuckload of cover because they turn other people in. 
It's sick
One of the reporters for Brietbart ( mostly on border issues last I looked a few years ago) was a former " radical leftist" turned informant that entrapped a bunch of kids and basically encouraged them to plan for violence then sold them out.

You know, deplorables.
Was dating a Fox news chick as well. Weird dude
Used to hang around Austin.
FBI was def keeping ears on him and people he contacted. No comment how I fucking know.
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8 hours ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

There’s a non-zero chance Tommy Tubberville gets indicted for a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the United States government, which is nuts. 

I imagine Pat Dye would've been an agent of gridlock. 

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11 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

And yet he’s made 20+ million as a football coach, won a statewide election to national office, and has secured (seditious conspiracy notwithstanding) the salary of a US senator for the rest of his natural life. 

Don't forget that he's also lost 20+ million in multiple Ponzi schemes.

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On 1/27/2021 at 6:29 AM, Mo Horn said:

 

How fucked up is it that they and their super tight bestie freedom fighter idiot cult colleagues get to be the jurists in what will ultimately  be the trial about their co=conspirators?  This is another instance of fox guarding the henhouse and, yes, it makes total sense why Rupert operates his media conglomerate under that name, as well.

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14 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Nunes isn’t a senator, so I’ll go with Cruz and Hawley. 

Devin traveled to Europe with aides to conduct his own investigation.  Sure it may have been to dig up intel on Hunter but it also smacks of desperation.  The man had shady as fuck involvement.

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A heightened threat environment expected to “persist in the weeks following the successful presidential inauguration” drove the Department of Homeland Security to issue a National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin today focusing on domestic extremists.

The bulletin, which is a grade below elevated alert or imminent alert advisories under the NTAS, goes into effect today and expires April 30.

“Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,” the bulletin states.

Domestic violent extremists (DVEs), ranging from those motivated by issues including “anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force” have “targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, non-violent protest activity” and “have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities,” the bulletin notes.

“Long-standing racial and ethnic tension — including opposition to immigration — has driven DVE attacks, including a 2019 shooting in El Paso, Texas, that killed 23 people,” it continues. “DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities.”

The department also “remains concerned” about the threat posed by homegrown violent extremists inspired by foreign terrorist groups, who committed three attacks targeting government officials in 2020.

“Threats of violence against critical infrastructure, including the electric, telecommunications and healthcare sectors, increased in 2020 with violent extremists citing misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 for their actions,” the bulletin states.

DHS along with other federal agencies and law enforcement partners “will continue to take precautions to protect people and infrastructure across the United States” and the department “remains committed to preventing violence and threats meant to intimidate or coerce specific populations on the basis of their religion, race, ethnicity, identity or political views.”

State, local, tribal, and territorial homeland security partners are urged by DHS “to continue prioritizing physical security measures, particularly around government facilities, to protect people and critical infrastructure

 

https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/infrastructure-security/new-national-terrorism-advisory-system-bulletin-warns-of-domestic-extremists-fueled-by-false-narratives/

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17 minutes ago, Satchel said:

“Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,” the bulletin states.

"What's the harm in humoring him?".

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On 1/27/2021 at 2:18 PM, burntorangebongos said:
Meeting at Trump hotel on Jan 5th, with Sen Tubby denying being there for some reason. The Republican AG association peeps were there. They paid for some of the rally and helped organize it, iirc. Interesting. New shit is coming to light. 

Tubbs will flip to save his own speckled ass.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-capitol-riot-coordination-planning/2021/01/30/c5ef346e-6258-11eb-9430-e7c77b5b0297_story.html

 

Quote

When die-hard supporters of President Donald Trump showed up at rally point “Cowboy” in Louisville on the morning of Jan. 5, they found the shopping mall’s parking lot was closed to cars, so they assembled their 50 or so vehicles outside a nearby Kohl’s department store. Hundreds of miles away in Columbia, S.C., at a mall designated rally point “Rebel,” other Trump supporters gathered to form another caravan to Washington. A similar meetup — dubbed “Minuteman” — was planned for Springfield, Mass.

 

Quote

That same day, FBI personnel in Norfolk were increasingly alarmed by the online conversations they were seeing, including warlike talk around the convoys headed to the nation’s capital. One map posted online described the rally points, declaring them a “MAGA Cavalry To Connect Patriot Caravans to StopTheSteal in D.C.” Another map showed the U.S. Congress, indicating tunnels connecting different parts of the complex. The map was headlined, “CREATE PERIMETER,” according to the FBI report, which was reviewed by The Washington Post.

 

Quote

“Be ready to fight. Congress needs to hear glass breaking, doors being kicked in,” read one posting, according to the report.

FBI agents around the country are working to unravel the various motives, relationships, goals and actions of the hundreds of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some inside the bureau have described the Capitol riot investigation as their biggest case since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and a top priority of the agents’ work is to determine the extent to which that violence and chaos was preplanned and coordinated.

 

Spoiler

Investigators caution there is an important legal distinction between gathering like-minded people for a political rally — which is protected by the First Amendment — and organizing an armed assault on the seat of American government. The task now is to distinguish which people belong in each category, and who played key roles in committing or coordinating the violence.

Video and court filings, for instance, describe how several groups of men that include alleged members of the Proud Boys appear to engage in concerted action, converging on the West Front of the Capitol just before 1 p.m., near the Peace Monument at First Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Different factions of the crowd appear to coalesce, move forward and chant under the direction of different leaders before charging at startled police staffing a pedestrian gate, all in the matter of a few minutes.

An indictment Friday night charged a member of the Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, 43, of Rochester, N.Y., with conspiracy, saying his actions showed “planning, determination, and coordination.” Another alleged member of the Proud Boys, William Pepe, 31, of Beacon, N.Y., also was charged with conspiracy.

Minutes before the crowd surge, at 12:45 p.m., police received the first report of a pipe bomb behind the Republican National Committee headquarters at the opposite, southeast side of the U.S. Capitol campus. The device and another discovered shortly afterward at Democratic National Committee headquarters included end caps, wiring, timers and explosive powder, investigators have said.

Some law enforcement officials have suggested the pipe bombs may have been a deliberate distraction meant to siphon law enforcement away from the Capitol building at the crucial moment.

'Ready for war'

The FBI is also trying to determine how many people went to Washington seeking to engage in violence, even if they weren’t part of any formal organization. Some of those in the Louisville caravan said they were animated by the belief that the election was stolen, according to interviews they gave to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Much of the discussion of potential violence occurred at TheDonald.win, where Trump’s supporters talked about the upcoming rally, sometimes in graphic terms, according to people familiar with the FBI investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an open matter.

After the riot, a statement posted on the website said moderators “had been struggling for some time to address a flood of racist and violent content that appeared to be coming primarily from a small group of extremists who were often brigading from other sites,” leading to inquiries from the FBI.

One of the comments cited in the FBI memo declared Trump supporters should go to Washington and get “violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die.”

Some had been preparing for conflict for weeks.

Prosecutors say Jessica Marie Watkins — an Ohio bartender who had formed her own small, self-styled militia group and had joined Oath Keepers, according to prosecutors — began recruiting and organizing in early November for an “operation.”

Days after the election, Watkins allegedly sent text messages to a number of individuals who had expressed interest in joining her group, which called itself the Ohio State Regular Militia.

“I need you fighting fit by innaugeration,” she told one recruit, according to court papers.

The same day, she also asked a recruit to download Zello, an app that allows a cellphone to operate like a push-to-talk walkie-talkie, saying her group uses it “for operations.”

In conversations later that month, Watkins allegedly spoke in apocalyptic terms about the prospect of Joe Biden’s being sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

“If he is, our way of life as we know it is over. Our Republic would be over. Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights. . . . If Biden get the steal, none of us have a chance in my mind. We already have our neck in the noose. They just haven’t kicked the chair yet.”

In December, prosecutors say, Donovan Ray Crowl, a 50-year-old friend of Watkins’s, attended a training camp in North Carolina, while another friend, Thomas E. Caldwell, a 66-year-old Navy veteran from Berryville, Va., booked a room at an Arlington hotel, where Watkins also had a reservation for the days surrounding the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally.

Prosecutors say Caldwell had written earlier to Watkins that “I believe we will have to get violent to stop this, especially the antifa maggots who are sure to come out en masse even if we get the Prez for 4 more years.”

In the week leading up to the rally and riot, Watkins and Caldwell were in regular contact as they talked about various groups of people meeting up on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, according to an indictment filed this past week against them.

At different points, according to court filings and people familiar with the investigation, Watkins and Caldwell indicated a degree of impatience with Stewart Rhodes, the national leader of Oath Keepers, for not providing more direction.

Watkins messaged Caldwell that if Rhodes “isn’t making plans, I’ll take charge myself, and get the ball rolling,” according to the indictment. Caldwell replied that he was speaking to another person who expected a bus with 40 people to come from North Carolina. Caldwell allegedly told her that person, identified only as “Paul” in other court papers, “is committed to being the quick reaction force [and] bringing the tools if something goes to hell. That way the boys don’t have to try to schlep weps on the bus” — an apparent reference to weapons.

Caldwell added in a subsequent message that he didn’t know whether Rhodes “has even gotten out his call to arms but it’s a little friggin late. This is one we are doing on our own. We will link up with the north carolina crew,” according to court papers and the people familiar with the investigation.

On New Year’s Eve, according to the indictment, Watkins “responded with interest to an invitation to a ‘leadership only’ conference call” for what was described as a “DC op.”

The leaderless resistance concept

Such exchanges are critical early clues in the planning and coordination that went on before, during and after the riot. Videos from the Capitol show Oath Keepers such as Watkins dressed in military-type gear, moving in coordination with Crowl through the crowds around the building.

Watkins used the walkie-talkie app to tell others she was part of a group of about 30 to 40 people who are “sticking together and sticking to the plan,” according to court documents.

Caldwell, for his part, posted images to Facebook, writing: “Us storming the castle. Please share. Sharon is right with me. I am such an instigator!” Sharon Caldwell, his wife, has not been charged with any crime; Caldwell, Crowl and Watkins are accused of conspiring to obstruct Congress and other violations.

Thomas Caldwell’s lawyer has said his client expects to see the charges dropped or to be acquitted at trial. Caldwell, the lawyer said, is not a member of Oath Keepers.

Watkins has previously denied committing any crimes. “I didn’t commit a crime. I didn’t destroy anything. I didn’t wreck anything,” Watkins told the Ohio Capital Journal, adding that the riot was a peaceful protest that turned violent.

Crowl’s lawyer has described his client as a law-abiding citizen who helped protect people during the riot.

In a phone interview this month, Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, told The Post that he gave no direction or signals to members of his group to storm the Capitol, and that he considers the entry by rioters a mistake that played into the hands of critics.

Rhodes said the only “mission” the Oath Keepers had organized to undertake in D.C. on Jan. 6 was dignitary protection for far-right personalities who had traveled to the city to participate in “Stop the Steal” events.

At the time of the riot, Rhodes said, he had just escorted one of the VIPs to a nearby hotel. Rhodes said one of his deputies “called and said, ‘People are storming the Capitol.’ I walked back over and found” fellow Oath Keepers, Rhodes said, but did not enter the building.

Rhodes disavowed any meaningful connection to Caldwell or Crowl. Rhodes said Watkins had played an important part in the group’s mobilization in opposition to demonstrations around police abuse in Louisville last year.

Former domestic terrorism investigators say the alleged discussion by Watkins and Caldwell about the group’s leader points to a longtime pattern among such extremists.

“Historically, within the right-wing extremist movements, leadership has produced rhetoric to spin up their members, increase radicalization and recruitment, and then stand back and let small cells or individual lone offenders follow through on that rhetoric with violent action,” said Thomas O’Connor, a former FBI agent who spent decades investigating domestic terrorists. “Domestic terrorism actually developed the leaderless resistance concept, taking the potential blame away from the leadership and putting it down into small groups or individuals, and I think that is what you’re starting to see here.”

Current law enforcement officials said they have not reached any conclusions about the interactions between leaders of extremist groups and their members or followers.

Investigators are examining who may have joined Caldwell and Watkins’s group, and whether any of those individuals, “known and unknown,” had links or communications with others at the Capitol that day or elsewhere.

Colin Clarke, a domestic terrorism expert at the Soufan Group, said the Jan. 6 attack represents a “proof of concept” for dangerous extremists.

“They talk about things like this in a lot of their propaganda, and the fact that the Capitol Police allowed this to happen, you can call it a security breach, or intelligence failure, but these people do not look at this as a failure, they look at it as an overwhelming success, and one that will inspire others for years.”

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/fbi-capitol-riot-coordination-planning/2021/01/30/c5ef346e-6258-11eb-9430-e7c77b5b0297_story.html

 

 

 

 

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Investigators caution there is an important legal distinction between gathering like-minded people for a political rally — which is protected by the First Amendment — and organizing an armed assault on the seat of American government. The task now is to distinguish which people belong in each category, and who played key roles in committing or coordinating the violence.

Video and court filings, for instance, describe how several groups of men that include alleged members of the Proud Boys appear to engage in concerted action, converging on the West Front of the Capitol just before 1 p.m., near the Peace Monument at First Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Different factions of the crowd appear to coalesce, move forward and chant under the direction of different leaders before charging at startled police staffing a pedestrian gate, all in the matter of a few minutes.

An indictment Friday night charged a member of the Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola, 43, of Rochester, N.Y., with conspiracy, saying his actions showed “planning, determination, and coordination.” Another alleged member of the Proud Boys, William Pepe, 31, of Beacon, N.Y., also was charged with conspiracy.

Minutes before the crowd surge, at 12:45 p.m., police received the first report of a pipe bomb behind the Republican National Committee headquarters at the opposite, southeast side of the U.S. Capitol campus. The device and another discovered shortly afterward at Democratic National Committee headquarters included end caps, wiring, timers and explosive powder, investigators have said.

Some law enforcement officials have suggested the pipe bombs may have been a deliberate distraction meant to siphon law enforcement away from the Capitol building at the crucial moment.

'Ready for war'

The FBI is also trying to determine how many people went to Washington seeking to engage in violence, even if they weren’t part of any formal organization. Some of those in the Louisville caravan said they were animated by the belief that the election was stolen, according to interviews they gave to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Much of the discussion of potential violence occurred at TheDonald.win, where Trump’s supporters talked about the upcoming rally, sometimes in graphic terms, according to people familiar with the FBI investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an open matter.

After the riot, a statement posted on the website said moderators “had been struggling for some time to address a flood of racist and violent content that appeared to be coming primarily from a small group of extremists who were often brigading from other sites,” leading to inquiries from the FBI.

One of the comments cited in the FBI memo declared Trump supporters should go to Washington and get “violent. Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest. Go there ready for war. We get our President or we die.”

Some had been preparing for conflict for weeks.

Prosecutors say Jessica Marie Watkins — an Ohio bartender who had formed her own small, self-styled militia group and had joined Oath Keepers, according to prosecutors — began recruiting and organizing in early November for an “operation.”

Days after the election, Watkins allegedly sent text messages to a number of individuals who had expressed interest in joining her group, which called itself the Ohio State Regular Militia.

“I need you fighting fit by innaugeration,” she told one recruit, according to court papers.

The same day, she also asked a recruit to download Zello, an app that allows a cellphone to operate like a push-to-talk walkie-talkie, saying her group uses it “for operations.”

In conversations later that month, Watkins allegedly spoke in apocalyptic terms about the prospect of Joe Biden’s being sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

“If he is, our way of life as we know it is over. Our Republic would be over. Then it is our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights. . . . If Biden get the steal, none of us have a chance in my mind. We already have our neck in the noose. They just haven’t kicked the chair yet.”

In December, prosecutors say, Donovan Ray Crowl, a 50-year-old friend of Watkins’s, attended a training camp in North Carolina, while another friend, Thomas E. Caldwell, a 66-year-old Navy veteran from Berryville, Va., booked a room at an Arlington hotel, where Watkins also had a reservation for the days surrounding the Jan. 6 pro-Trump rally.

Prosecutors say Caldwell had written earlier to Watkins that “I believe we will have to get violent to stop this, especially the antifa maggots who are sure to come out en masse even if we get the Prez for 4 more years.”

In the week leading up to the rally and riot, Watkins and Caldwell were in regular contact as they talked about various groups of people meeting up on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, according to an indictment filed this past week against them.

At different points, according to court filings and people familiar with the investigation, Watkins and Caldwell indicated a degree of impatience with Stewart Rhodes, the national leader of Oath Keepers, for not providing more direction.

Watkins messaged Caldwell that if Rhodes “isn’t making plans, I’ll take charge myself, and get the ball rolling,” according to the indictment. Caldwell replied that he was speaking to another person who expected a bus with 40 people to come from North Carolina. Caldwell allegedly told her that person, identified only as “Paul” in other court papers, “is committed to being the quick reaction force [and] bringing the tools if something goes to hell. That way the boys don’t have to try to schlep weps on the bus” — an apparent reference to weapons.

Caldwell added in a subsequent message that he didn’t know whether Rhodes “has even gotten out his call to arms but it’s a little friggin late. This is one we are doing on our own. We will link up with the north carolina crew,” according to court papers and the people familiar with the investigation.

On New Year’s Eve, according to the indictment, Watkins “responded with interest to an invitation to a ‘leadership only’ conference call” for what was described as a “DC op.”

The leaderless resistance concept

Such exchanges are critical early clues in the planning and coordination that went on before, during and after the riot. Videos from the Capitol show Oath Keepers such as Watkins dressed in military-type gear, moving in coordination with Crowl through the crowds around the building.

Watkins used the walkie-talkie app to tell others she was part of a group of about 30 to 40 people who are “sticking together and sticking to the plan,” according to court documents.

Caldwell, for his part, posted images to Facebook, writing: “Us storming the castle. Please share. Sharon is right with me. I am such an instigator!” Sharon Caldwell, his wife, has not been charged with any crime; Caldwell, Crowl and Watkins are accused of conspiring to obstruct Congress and other violations.

Thomas Caldwell’s lawyer has said his client expects to see the charges dropped or to be acquitted at trial. Caldwell, the lawyer said, is not a member of Oath Keepers.

Watkins has previously denied committing any crimes. “I didn’t commit a crime. I didn’t destroy anything. I didn’t wreck anything,” Watkins told the Ohio Capital Journal, adding that the riot was a peaceful protest that turned violent.

Crowl’s lawyer has described his client as a law-abiding citizen who helped protect people during the riot.

In a phone interview this month, Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, told The Post that he gave no direction or signals to members of his group to storm the Capitol, and that he considers the entry by rioters a mistake that played into the hands of critics.

Rhodes said the only “mission” the Oath Keepers had organized to undertake in D.C. on Jan. 6 was dignitary protection for far-right personalities who had traveled to the city to participate in “Stop the Steal” events.

At the time of the riot, Rhodes said, he had just escorted one of the VIPs to a nearby hotel. Rhodes said one of his deputies “called and said, ‘People are storming the Capitol.’ I walked back over and found” fellow Oath Keepers, Rhodes said, but did not enter the building.

Rhodes disavowed any meaningful connection to Caldwell or Crowl. Rhodes said Watkins had played an important part in the group’s mobilization in opposition to demonstrations around police abuse in Louisville last year.

Former domestic terrorism investigators say the alleged discussion by Watkins and Caldwell about the group’s leader points to a longtime pattern among such extremists.

“Historically, within the right-wing extremist movements, leadership has produced rhetoric to spin up their members, increase radicalization and recruitment, and then stand back and let small cells or individual lone offenders follow through on that rhetoric with violent action,” said Thomas O’Connor, a former FBI agent who spent decades investigating domestic terrorists. “Domestic terrorism actually developed the leaderless resistance concept, taking the potential blame away from the leadership and putting it down into small groups or individuals, and I think that is what you’re starting to see here.”

Current law enforcement officials said they have not reached any conclusions about the interactions between leaders of extremist groups and their members or followers.

Investigators are examining who may have joined Caldwell and Watkins’s group, and whether any of those individuals, “known and unknown,” had links or communications with others at the Capitol that day or elsewhere.

Colin Clarke, a domestic terrorism expert at the Soufan Group, said the Jan. 6 attack represents a “proof of concept” for dangerous extremists.

“They talk about things like this in a lot of their propaganda, and the fact that the Capitol Police allowed this to happen, you can call it a security breach, or intelligence failure, but these people do not look at this as a failure, they look at it as an overwhelming success, and one that will inspire others for years.”

 

 

These people are pieces of fucking work.  I didn't do anything wrong.  No, you fucking planned a violent insurrection.  Fucking morons.

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1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

These people are pieces of fucking work.  I didn't do anything wrong.  No, you fucking planned a violent insurrection.  Fucking morons.

Yeah, terrorists don't normally think what they're doing is wrong. It's kind of their thing. 

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I'd compare that to the normal procedure before freaking out, honestly. Cops are bad. The military is bad. That all seems like the normal shit, but I'd have to be able to compare it to previous events.

Treating the military and police state's prep/response to 1/6 as a Trumpian aberration is a real danger, because it wasn't a Trumpian aberration. Democrats are pushing to increase the budgets and increase militarization of the Capitol right now.

15 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

What about the cap pol?

I think police forces are white supremacist in structure and effect, so my guess on it is simply that they thought the MAGA horde was good and wouldn't do anything bad because it's a bunch of white people. It's why they gear up for WWIII if a handful of black people sneeze; it's an institution of white supremacy and it doesn't require anyone from above to say, "LET'S DO A RACISM NOW!" because they are just always doing that by default.

Defund the police. Defund the national guard. Defund the military.

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34 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

I'd compare that to the normal procedure before freaking out, honestly. Cops are bad. The military is bad. That all seems like the normal shit, but I'd have to be able to compare it to previous events.

Treating the military and police state's prep/response to 1/6 as a Trumpian aberration is a real danger, because it wasn't a Trumpian aberration. Democrats are pushing to increase the budgets and increase militarization of the Capitol right now.

I think police forces are white supremacist in structure and effect, so my guess on it is simply that they thought the MAGA horde was good and wouldn't do anything bad because it's a bunch of white people. It's why they gear up for WWIII if a handful of black people sneeze; it's an institution of white supremacy and it doesn't require anyone from above to say, "LET'S DO A RACISM NOW!" because they are just always doing that by default.

Defund the police. Defund the national guard. Defund the military.

I agree with some of what you're saying, especially with the institutional supremacy perspective, but wasn't it reported that they (all of the agencies) had specifically received intel that this type of 'thing' was a potential threat? Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought I heard on NPR or one of the other national broadcasts that this threat was why the one guy (Sargent at Arms or Chief or whatever) had initially requested the assistance as posted in the letter above.

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3 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

That’s for the NG. They didn’t show up until way late. What about the cap pol?

I think DC Metro was held back in an effort to avoid appearing draconian by Bowser.

I am sure you will hear a similar excuse from DoD about the Guard. "We were not going to repeat the mistakes we made in Portland  . . . . "

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24 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

That's funny because most of her attention horsing comes in the form of dunking on conservatards like Cruz.

Are they not then equally drama queens?

No, see, these guys are just standing up "for the Constitution"*, SHE is the one bringing the drama.

 

 

* By the way, if there's a more bullshit phrase in use by fake conservatives than "I was just standing up for the Constitution!", I can't think of it.  Ted Cruz could push a child out of his place in line to get ahead on getting some Dipping Dots at a Spurs game, and claim "I was just standing up for the Constitution!"  It's just a fucking meaningless excuse for every shitty thing they do, without any regard for whether what they are doing relates in any meaningful way to a Constitutional grant/limitation on power.  And it works brilliantly on the ignorant, and provides rote ammo for the trolls.  When we say "WTF -- he shouldn't shove a child to the ground to get his ice cream of the future faster!", the trolls whine "Why do you oppose the Constitution?!"

Moron or troll.  Those are the only two choices you have when considering these fucksticks.

Edited by Brisketexan
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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

No, see, these guys are just standing up "for the Constitution"*, SHE is the one bringing the drama.

 

 

* By the way, if there's a more bullshit phrase in use by fake conservatives than "I was just standing up for the Constitution!", I can't think of it.  Ted Cruz could push a child out of his place in line to get ahead on getting some Dipping Dots at a Spurs game, and claim "I was just standing up for the Constitution!"  It's just a fucking meaningless excuse for every shitty thing they do, without any regard for whether what they are doing relates in any meaningful way to a Constitutional grant/limitation on power.  And it works brilliantly on the ignorant, and provides rote ammo for the trolls.  When we say "WTF -- he shouldn't shove a child to the ground to get his ice cream of the future faster!", the trolls whine "Why do you oppose the Constitution?!"

Moron or troll.  Those are the only two choices you have when considering these fucksticks.

Given that trolls, by nature and fairy tales live under a bridge, it could be both.

The troll of Harry Potter fame was put into the bathroom by Professor Quirrell and therefore is disqualified as being a moron because we have no evidence that he was other than a booger coated wand jammed up his nose and that could happen to anybody. But  people, sometimes through no fault of their own, occasionally take shelter under a bridge semi-permanently and cannot be classified as morons or trolls without examining each situation individually.

But someone on the internet in the example you listed above. Definite crossover material there.

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9 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

No, see, these guys are just standing up "for the Constitution"*, SHE is the one bringing the drama.

 

 

* By the way, if there's a more bullshit phrase in use by fake conservatives than "I was just standing up for the Constitution!", I can't think of it.  Ted Cruz could push a child out of his place in line to get ahead on getting some Dipping Dots at a Spurs game, and claim "I was just standing up for the Constitution!"  It's just a fucking meaningless excuse for every shitty thing they do, without any regard for whether what they are doing relates in any meaningful way to a Constitutional grant/limitation on power.  And it works brilliantly on the ignorant, and provides rote ammo for the trolls.  When we say "WTF -- he shouldn't shove a child to the ground to get his ice cream of the future faster!", the trolls whine "Why do you oppose the Constitution?!"

Moron or troll.  Those are the only two choices you have when considering these fucksticks.

Yeah, every time a MAGAT invokes the COnsTiTuTion!1!1!!! I throw up a little in my mouth.

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