According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, prior to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Tarrio created a special chapter of the Proud Boys known as the “Ministry of Self Defense,” which included co-defendants Nordean, Biggs, and Rehl, conspired to prevent, hinder and delay the certification of the Electoral College vote and to oppose by force the authority of the government of the United States.
In the days leading to Jan. 6, 2021, Tarrio and the other leaders of the Ministry of Self Defense hand-selected members of the organization, including co-defendant Dominic Pezzola, to serve as “rally boys” during the attack on the Capitol. To prepare for the attack on the Capitol, Tarrio and the other leaders of the Ministry of Self Defense established a chain of command, chose a time and place for their attack, and intentionally recruited others who would follow their top-down leadership and who were prepared to engage in physical violence if necessary.
On Jan. 6, 2021, the group began their assault that day at 10:00 a.m. when Nordean, Biggs, Rehl, and others marched an assembled group of nearly 200 individuals away from speeches at the Ellipse and directly toward the Capitol. At 2:11 p.m., Pezzola smashed open a window, allowing the first rioters to enter the Capitol as Biggs and those with him entered close behind. Court documents say that Nordean, Biggs and Rehl, and the men they recruited and led, participated in every consequential breach at the Capitol that day.
Both Proud Boys and Oath Keepers showed up to assault, capture or potentially kill Mike Pence or members of Congress, if enough of the Dems were out of the picture the Republicans could win the vote.
Oath Keepers packed a set of long guns nearby at a hotel across the Potomac for a “Quick Reaction Force” if they felt they met enough resistance to warrant greater force. So yes, they did “bring guns” for the Insurrection. Police resistance just wasn’t forceful enough for them to use them.
A member of the Oath Keepers who traveled with the group to Washington D.C. ahead of the Jan. 6 riot described a massive stockpile of firearms and other weaponry that allies had stashed in an Arlington, Va. hotel.
“I had not seen that many weapons in one location since I was in the military,” recalled Terry Cummings, a Florida resident who said he joined the Oath Keepers in 2020 amid concerns about left-wing violence in Portland, Ore. and joined the group leaders’ private chats in advance of their Jan. 6 trip to D.C.
Prosecutors have described that arsenal — known as a “quick reaction force” or QRF — as a key element of the Oath Keeper leaders’ plot to subvert the 2020 election and help forcibly keep then-President Donald Trump in power. The group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, and several regional leaders are charged with conspiring to disrupt the transfer of power and preparing for violence to enforce their will.
If they didn’t have a “plan” why did they stash rifles in a nearby hotel? If it was only a “protest” why did they bring a stash of guns?
And why did they bring zip-ties?
It was also why they went around breaking their way into offices, they were looking for representatives to "Arrest" (Kidnap), if not to Rape and Kill them.
The leadership of both the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been convicted of “Seditious Conspiracy” which in the U.S. Codes is actually one step worse than “Insurrection.” The punishment for being involved in an Insurrection is 10 years in prison, while the punishment for a Seditious Conspiracy can be as high as 20 years.
If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
Trump wanted a big crowd to attack the Capitol - he told them to "Fight" or said "Fighting" 20 times — even though he said "peacefully" [which was included by the speechwriters, not Trump] just once to cover his ass [the wolf he fed the most is the one that ruled] — so that they'd force Secret Service to pull Pence out and then Chuck Grassley could implement the plan.
Rep. Madeleine Dean said that one of Trump’s key defenses is that he says during his speech: “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
But Dean said that was a “few seconds” in a nearly 11,000-word speech and that it was the “only time President Trump used the word peaceful or any suggestion of nonviolence.” She said that wasn’t the overarching message.
She said, “President Trump used the word ‘fight’ or ‘fighting’ 20 times, including telling the crowd they needed to ‘fight like hell.'”
Choking back emotion, she said, “So they came, draped in Trump’s flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon. And at 2:30, I heard that terrifying banging on House chamber doors. For the first time in more than 200 years, the seat of our government was ransacked on our watch.”
The plan didn't work with Pence in place, he needed the crowd to force him to leave and that meant attacking the building. This again is why they brought flag spears, gas masks, flack jackets, pepper and bear spray, handguns, helmets, body armor, walkie-talkies and again, zip ties. Nobody brings that stuff to a "peaceful protest."
In the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a popular narrative has emerged: that because rioters did not fire guns that day, they were not really "armed."
But a review of the federal charges against the alleged rioters shows that they did come armed, and with a variety of weapons: stun guns, pepper spray, baseball bats and flagpoles wielded as clubs. An additional suspect also allegedly planted pipe bombs by the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties the night before the riot and remains at large.
Those weapons brought violence and chaos to the Capitol. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died one day after two rioters allegedly sprayed him and other officers with what prosecutors describe as an "unknown chemical substance." Four other people in the crowd died in the insurrection, and more than 100 police officers suffered injuries, including cracked ribs, gouged eyes and shattered spinal disks.
One of the rally organizers actually stood up and warned Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that things were going to turn violent.
The two unnamed sources, who were involved in organizing the main pro-Trump rally at the Ellipse, a park near the White House, told Rolling Stone that Meadows played a major role in their conversations.
The rally, which included a speech by then-President Donald Trump, was one of many that preceded the attack on the US Capitol.
"Meadows was 100 percent made aware of what was going on," one of the rally organizers told Rolling Stone. "He's also like a regular figure in these really tiny groups of national organizers."
Both organizers also said that prior to the rally they were in talks with Ali Alexander, the leader of Stop the Steal, one of the main groups promoting efforts to dispute Trump's 2020 election loss.
They said Alexander initially agreed the main rally should not be held at the Capitol and that the Ellipse would be the main location. But when he went against their plans, both sources said they immediately notified Meadows.
"Despite making a deal … they plowed forward with their own thing at the Capitol on Jan. 6 anyway," one of the organizers said of Alexander, per Rolling Stone. "We ended up escalating that to everybody we could, including Meadows."
Not only was Meadows made aware, but several Congress members who had been involved in the planning meetings at the White House were also involved in planning the rally.
Both organizers told Rolling Stone they have been in communication with the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack, saying they were cooperating because they were unsettled by how the rally eventually turned violent. They also listed multiple members of Congress who were involved in the planning of the rally, including Reps. Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorne, and Paul Gosar.
Trump also knew damn well there was going to be violence. He argued after he was told that people in the crowd were armed, that the Secret Service should “take the f-ing mags way — they aren’t here to hurt me.” But then again, who were they here to hurt?
WASHINGTON — In vivid detail, and under the bright lights of the House Jan. 6 committee’s hearing room, a former West Wing aide described the final furious — and violent — hours of President Donald Trump’s futile campaign to cling to power by all means available to him.
Cassidy Hutchinson, who served as a senior aide to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, detailed outbursts of rage from Trump the day he urged supporters to march to the Capitol, portraying him as angry and supportive of the Capitol attack — as his last, desperate grasp to overturn the will of voters failed.
“I don’t f---ing care that they have weapons,” Trump fumed in urging aides to take down magnetometers near the White House before he addressed a “Stop the Steal” rally, Hutchinson testified. “They’re not here to hurt me. Take the f---ing mags away.”
While the violence erupted in the Capitol, Trump sat in his study and watched it, while ignoring calls for him to demand the violence to end.
WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - Donald Trump sat for hours watching the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol unfold on live TV, ignoring pleas by his children and other close advisers to urge his supporters to stop the violence, witnesses told a congressional hearing on Thursday.
[...]
"President Trump sat at his dining table and watched the attack on television while his senior-most staff, closest advisors and family members begged him to do what is expected of any American president," said Democratic Representative Elaine Luria.
The panel played videotaped testimony from White House aides and security staff discussing the events of the day.
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone was asked question after question in the recorded testimony about Trump's actions: did he call the secretary of defense? The attorney general? The head of Homeland Security? Cipollone answered "no" to each query.
"He's got to condemn this shit ASAP," Trump's eldest son, Don Jr., appealed in a text message to Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows. "They will try to fuck his entire legacy on this if it gets worse."
Instead of asking for the violence to end for a total of 187 minutes, Trump tweeted an attack on Mike Pence just as he and his family vacated the Senate Chambers.
He also made a call, attempting to reach Tommy Tuberville to ask him to continue to object to the certification of the electoral votes.
President Donald Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani both mistakenly made calls to Republican Sen. Mike Lee as deadly riots were unfolding at the US Capitol earlier this week, a spokesman for the senator confirmed to CNN – calls that were intended for another GOP senator the White House was frantically trying to convince to delay the counting of Electoral College votes.
Lee’s spokesman said the calls from Trump and his attorney were intended for Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a newly elected Republican from Alabama.
He’s not trying to stop the violence, he’s not trying to make sure Mike Pence is ok — instead, he’s threatening Pence and riling up the crowd — he’s trying to call Tubervile to stop the count.
Even when he finally did ask people to “go home” he still refused to acknowledge that any violence even happened. He said “stay peaceful”, and he praised the insurrectionists by telling them they were “very special.” [Why did he say that if the rioters were really “Antifa” and “undercover FBI?”]
And, remember it took him nearly an hour to even do that recording — because he kept blocking and changing what he was going to say to avoid admitting that he had lost or that violence had even happened.
Secret Service was complicit while the FBI, Homeland Security and the Pentagon all stood down and let it happen. Even some members of Capitol Police stood aside...
Stopping the electoral count was the goal in an effort to “Make Trump the winner.” Simply having people wave flags and yell outside the Capitol was not going to do it. They needed to disrupt what was happening, they needed to dislodge Pence from his position so that the “Green Bay Sweep” with fake electors could be implemented.
And all of that was absolutely, part of the plan.