I continue to be frustrated by the FBI’s slow response in arresting the domestic terrorists involved in the January 6 insurrection at our nation’s Capitol. Of course, if there had been adequate law enforcement presence at the Capitol to begin with, the terrorists could have been rounded up right there on the spot instead of being able to freely and leisurely wander off after their attack on our democracy. But that was part of the plan, I’m sure we’ll soon find out, with complicity of the leadership of the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies.
But I digress. For me, a personification of the FBI’s slowness in holding the insurrectionists accountable for their actions is the case of Josiah Colt from Boise, Idaho. By now we’ve all seen pictures of him jumping from the public gallery to the floor of the Senate chamber and sitting in the Vice President’s chair, raising his right fist in triumph. As reported in the LA Times:
“Ready for any battle,” the Boise, Idaho, man wrote on Facebook after waking up in Memphis, Tenn., to find that a “fellow patriot” had posted a photo of him clutching a handgun while sleeping. His friend wrote that Colt was “ready for the boogaloo,” a far-right term for a violent overthrow of government.
Colt recorded a selfie video in which he breathlessly reported how he “hopped down into” the House chamber and plopped into the seat of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom he referred to as a “treasonous bitch” (note: Colt was seating in the VP’s chair, not Pelosi’s).
On Thursday, Colt made a pathetic attempt at “takesies backsies” by issuing a public apology for his treasonous actions of the previous day:
Following the riots that engulfed the Nation’s Capitol, Colt issued a statement to Boise’s CBS2 News. He apologized for his actions and called the Senate Chamber “sacred ground.”
“[I] sincerely apologize to the American people,” Colt said in the statement. “I recognize my actions that have brought shame upon myself, my family, my friends, and my beautiful country. In the moment I thought I was doing the right thing. I realize now that my actions were inappropriate and I beg for forgiveness from America and my home state of Idaho.”
In my view this is typical white privilege in action. You participate in a violent assault on our nation’s Capitol, clearly commit felony offenses, and then think you can just say “Oops, my bad” and all will be forgiven. I sincerely hope that is not the case.
But my question is this: Colt is one of the most visible participants in the attempted coup. We’ve all known who is is for at least three days. We know where he lives. We know that he is listed as the chief executive of Funnel Craft LLC, a digital marketing firm, whose address is listed as Colt’s apartment in Meridian, a city outside Boise. So why has he not yet been arrested?? If he were a person of color or a Muslim, I’m sure the FBI would have been knocking on his door by now.