Topics: White Nationalist, Capitol, Trump
Quote: “Fingers crossed that nothing goes too crazy.” - Senior Master Sergeant Clapper
As the nation considers how to move forward after January 6th, partisan headlines and opinion pieces are debating how we should remember this event; A protest went wrong? Capitol Riot? A few extremists? or was it an insurrection? or maybe a failed coup?
Historic events are built on historic roots. To understand what happened on January 6th, 2021, I will present in three parts a collaboration of public records to break down exactly what happens, and what it means for America.
Part 1: The Federal City
This is part 2, of 3.
March to Save [White] America
Before his participation was announced, Trump first promoted the rally in mid-December. His campaign would use its considerable social media presence to boost the rally to millions of people on Twitter and Facebook while continuing to push disinformation.
Statistically impossible to have lost the 2020 Election. Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild! - @therealdonaldjtrump
It wasn’t until Saturday, 4 days before, that Trump would officially be announced as a speaker of the event.
The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal! - @therealdonaldjtrump
In the permit obtained by Kyle Jane Kremer, the executive director of the [Dark Money] Women for Trump, [Trump's] "March to Save America" event was initially expected to be for about 5,000 attendees.
With half as many people planned as during peak Black Lives Matter protesting over the summer, this wasn't exactly going to new territory for anyone.
Over the Weekend, Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said that he conferred with D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III, about securing potential reinforcements in case of emergency.
Monday
People from all over the country started to pour into the D.C. Metro Area. Online chatter is escalating on social media as groups continue to organize for the rally.
“If this does not change, then I advocate, Revolution and adherence to the rules of war,” wrote a user identifying themselves as I3DI in response to a poster shared on the website MyMilitia.com that urged violence if senators made Biden’s victory official. “I say, take the hill or die trying.”
The FBI is fast at work running down leads into the potential of violence and coordinating with D.C. Police to pick up Proud Boys Leader Enrique Tarrio entering the area with two personalized empty high-capacity rifle magazines.
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, growing increasingly worried about the event, decided to approach his superiors House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger hoping to secure authorization to place the National Guard on alert.
“We looked at the intelligence. We knew we would have large crowds, the potential for some violent altercations. I had nothing indicating we would have a large mob seize the Capitol.”
Sergeant Irving, appointed by McConnell, was concerned with the "optics" and wasn't comfortable declaring an emergency head of the demonstration, and instead wanted to get approval from the House Leaders.
Sergeant Stenger, as a workaround, suggested that Sund should reach out to his National Guard contacts and get the troop to "lean forward" just in case.
On the way home that evening, Sund did as Stenger suggested, calling Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, to tell him that he might call on him for help. “If we can get you leaning forward,” Sund said, “how long do you think it would take to get us assistance?” Walker said that he could mobilize an attachment of 125 personnel fairly quickly.
By Monday Evening the Planning Permit with The National Park Service had been adjusted the crowd estimates by a factor of 6, for a total of 30,000 people.
Tuesday
Mayor Muriel Bowser and her team, not wanting a repeat of Trump's use of force, but still needing support, turned to Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, Commanding General of D.C.'s National Guard
"No DCNG personnel shall be armed during this mission, and at no time, will DCNG personnel or assets be engaged in domestic surveillance, searches, or seizures of US persons" Bowser, wrote in a letter to Maj. Gen. William J. Walker.
The plan for the National Guard to be tasked with traffic routing and metro policing problems. This then left the D.C. Metro Police, with 3,800 rostered officers, to focus on the more high touch reactionary incidents throughout the city.
The Pentagon, now mixed with Loyalist placements, responses to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request, now that it’s been pushed up the chain a few links. Of the about 1,100 Guards still in the D.C. area, 340 units to be made available to Mayor Bowser for the D.C. Metro Area. A third of those units, 114, would be out in the field at any given time. Any change in the mission had to be explicitly signed off by Miller.
“We've explicitly been told there is no weaponry of any kind for this mission. They literally have a vest, and it's like a vest that somebody at Walmart would wear”
Senior Master Sergeant Craig Clapper, D.C. National Guard spokesperson, relaying the next day’s mission to reporters.
"This is not a civil disturbance mission for us. If anything came to that, yes, they would have to facilitate transportation back to the armory. Fingers crossed that nothing goes too crazy.”
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund reconvened with Sergeant at Arms Irving, and Stenger, who confirmed that the 125 "leaning forward" Guards sounded sufficient.
That night, Eric Munchel, 30, a Bartender from Nashville, Tennessee would sit in the lobby of Grand Hyatt Hotel with his mother doing interviews, excited for the next day.
During these interviews he can be seen donning his Black Rifle Coffee hat, the company who did a brand deal with Kyle Rittenhouse after he was released on bail for shooting three people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, resulting in two deaths.
Meanwhile, back in his room sat plate carriers, with a Thin Blue Line Morale patch, zip cuffs, hard knuckle gloves that he had prepared for the next day.
Eric would be joined anonymously by people all over the country, including Boogaloo supporters, the Three Percenters, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, the Groyper Army, National-Anarchism, Neo-Confederates, and Black Hebrew Israelites.
The Oath Keepers, which claims to count thousands of current and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, have become fixtures at protests and counter-protests across the country, often heavily armed with semi-automatic carbines and tactical shotguns.
QAnon would inspire Retired Senior Airman [12 years], Ashli Babbitt, 35, and Retired Airforce Lt. Col. [24 years] Larry "Torch" Rendall Brock Jr., 53, to fly in from California and Texas, respectively.
“ISIS and al-Qaeda would drool over having someone with the training and experience of a U.S. military officer,” said Michael German, a former FBI agent, and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “These people have training and capabilities that far exceed what any foreign terrorist group can do. Foreign terrorist groups don’t have any members who have badges.”
While most of these individuals throughout the mob did not know each other, they all showed up acting as individual cells sharing an overlapping set of core beliefs.
Wednesday
On the morning of The March to Save America, their website under "Participating in…" listed 11 organizations, most of which are dark money pools. The Rule of Law Defense Fund, as one such group, helped organize the protest by robocalling supporters.
“I’m calling for the Rule of Law Defense Fund with an important message,” the robocall stated. “The march to save America is tomorrow in Washington D.C. at the Ellipse in President’s Park between E St. and Constitution Avenue on the south side of the White House, with doors opening at 7:00 a.m. At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal. We are hoping patriots like you will join us to continue to fight to protect the integrity of our elections. For more information, visit MarchtoSaveAmerica.com. This call is paid for and authorized by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, 202-796-5838.”
Republican Attorney General Association (RAGA)'s IRS 527s from earlier this year help to paint a picture of where some of the financings came from; Let's just say there are no teachers or labor unions on the list.
Supported by this dark money, one group organized 80 busloads of people, while an off-duty PSYOPs Officer from North Carolina brought her closest 100 friends; Making this event at least 83 more buses than "Antifa" had during the summer.
Lending Credibility to the event Trump would be joined by at least thirteen Republican current and former state legislators. Tens of Thousands of people from all over the country had finally coverage for the March to Save America rally.
I really cannot. Stress enough, how many people showed up? We’re talking tens of thousands.
It was almost like a college football game. If your college is populated by conspiracy theorists, vigilantes, paramilitaries, and a whole lot of people who hated the government. - We Went Undercover at the DC Riots - Vlog #2.5
This crowd included people like representatives of the State recognized Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, who Trump came to visit and promised to extend Federal recognition in order to secure their vote in the 2020 election.
During interviewing they expressed how they were hopeful about still getting recognition, despite Nancy Pelosi blocking it. It should be noted that H.R.1964 passed the House in November, but was never brought to vote in McConnell's Senate.
11:00 am
The Rally was about 3 hours of speeches, with about an hour of music cut between them; but not to be forgotten is a 3:45s long Anti-Socialist [ Attack-Ad | Propaganda ], that gives Senator Warren’s preference of Popeyes Chicken the same level of importance as the policy choice of police defunding; Subtle
Eric Trump
And it should be a message to all the Republicans who have not been willing to actually fight the people who did nothing to stop this steel. This gathering should send a message to them.
This isn’t their Republican party anymore. This is Donald Trump’s Republican party.
This is the Republican party that will put America first. This is the Republican party that will fight for the American worker.
Rudy Giuliani
Uh, just very briefly to make a very important two points. Number one, the single thing that has been outlined as the plan for today is perfectly legal. I have professor Eastman here with me to say a few words about that.
Giuliani did not in-fact seem to make a second point. However, his stressing of how "perfectly legal" everything was, does not make it sound particularly legal.
Professor Eastman would continue to explain the questionable legal grounds that Trump is pursuing, nothing about the day’s plan was mentioned.
And if we're wrong, we will be made fools of, but if we're right, a lot of them will go to jail. So. Let's have trial by combat!
Donald Trump
And after this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you.
He, in fact, was not.
Something’s really wrong. Can’t have happened. And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.
Our exciting adventures and boldest endeavors have not yet begun my fellow Americans for our movement, for our children, and for our beloved country.
And I say this, despite all that’s happened. The best is yet to come.
Trump danced a bit to the Village People’s Y.M.C.A, before walking off stage; and presumably heading back to the White House. At about 12:40 protestors started to march towards the capitol building from the North West.
1:00 PM
Video shared by a protestor shows one of the outer western gates, where two cops are standing. The protestors approach with their hands up while talking to close the ground. Then as the crowd forms around then, the word is quickly passed, and the men pick up the gate shoving into the cops as things break into a skirmish, before the officers pull back.
“As soon as they hit the fence line, the fight was on,” Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said. “Violent confrontations from the start. They came with riot helmets, gas masks, shields, pepper spray, fireworks, climbing gear — climbing gear! — explosives, metal pipes, baseball bats. I have never seen anything like it in 30 years of events in Washington.”
“I realized at 1 p.m., things aren’t going well,” Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said. “I’m watching my people getting slammed.”
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund immediately called D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee, who dispatches 100 officers for reinforcement.
As the protesters swarmed the Capitol, "Stop the Steal" national organizer Ali Alexander posted a video of himself overlooking the crowd descending onto the nation's capital saying, "I don't disavow this. I do not denounce this.”
1:09 PM
As Chief Contee’s reinforcements start to arrive, Chief Sund calls Sergeant at Arms Irving and Stenger, telling them it was time to call in the Guard. That he wanted an emergency declaration. Both men said they would “run it up the chain” and get back to him.
1:15 PM
As the mob outside of the Capitol Building is met with resistance, a Lieutenant calls out over the radio to restrict the rules of engagement from deadly force. Effectively reducing their power to stop a mob, to that of Mall cops.
In the chaos of assaults and reinforcements, protestors with badges start trying to walk their way in on credentials.
One current Metro D.C. police officer said in a public Facebook post that off-duty police officers and members of the military, who were among the rioters, flashed their badges and I.D. cards as they attempted to overrun the building. “If these people can storm the Capitol building with no regard to punishment, you have to wonder how much they abuse their powers when they put on their uniforms,” the officer wrote. - Politico
Among the chaos a Riot equipped Capitol Police Officer captured on camera as being grabbed from the line inside a doorway, pulled to the ground, and beaten with American flags, turned pole-arms, as the onlooking crowd chants "U.S.A! U.S.A!..."
1:46 PM
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, is working to evacuate both the RNC and DNC buildings, after the discovery of two bombs; Both targets pulling officers directly to the South East side of the Capitol Building, away from the riot.
Losing patience after calling to check in with the Sergeants, Sund breaks channels and calls Maj. Gen. William J. Walker to read him into the situation.
2:10 PM
House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving would finally call back, with approval to call the guards.
2:13 PM
Police Radio calls out, The Capitol has been breached.
As Congressional staff seeks refuge, Plain Clothes officers start barricading the door to the Speaker’s Lobby, just off the House Chamber. In the Chamber itself, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is escorted out of the Chamber.
Meanwhile at the other side of the building, in the Senate, James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, is told “protesters are in the building” as he delivers a speech objecting to Biden electors. Officers move to quickly lock the doors to the Senate.
2:19 PM
Capitol Police issue a Memo to the building’s staff, with “a security threat inside the building”.
2:22 PM
Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund joined a conference call to the Pentagon organized by D.C’s Homeland Security Director, Chris Rodriguez, joined by D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III, D.C. Mayor Bowser, and Maj. Gen. William J. Walker to plead for additional backup.
“I am making an urgent, urgent immediate request for National Guard assistance,” Sund recalled saying. “I have got to get boots on the ground.”
Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, dialed in from across the river at the Pentagon, pushed back, “I don’t like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background,” saying that he prefers to have Guard soldiers take up posts around Washington, relieving D.C. police so that they could respond to the Capitol instead of guardsmen.
Again and Again, Sund pleaded, “The situation is dire,” recalled D.C. Mayoral Chief of Staff John Falcicchio. D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III tried to push for the order, “Let me be clear, are you denying this?”
To which Piatt responded that he wasn’t denying the request; he simply didn’t have the authority to approve it. That authority had been laid in the hands of Security of Defense Miller.
“It was clear that it was a dire situation,” D.C. Police Chief Contee explained. “[Piatt] didn’t want to commit to anything without getting approval.”
As this call is taking place, the crowd in the Crypt grows to critical mass and overruns the cops holding the line; Separately above this in the Rotunda, a lone Officer in riot gear trying to hold a doorway but is forced off his position.
2:24 PM
As Vice President Mike Pence is being escorted out of the Senate chamber, Trump takes to Twitter.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!“
2:30 PM
Ashli Babbitt makes her way past the National Statuary Hall, joins a crowd yelling “Whose house? Our house!”; As they attempted to batter down doors moving through the building in search of congress members.
*
Nearby a different video captures Eric Munchel among the crowd, being funneled into a fire-alarmed door, that is being opened from the inside by Capitol Police on the western side of the building. One of the Officers can be identified as saying "I disagree with it, but I respect..."
*
West-Virginia State Delegate Member Derrick Evans makes his way into the Capitol building proclaiming over live stream "We're in, we're in! Derrick EVANS is in the Capitol!".
2:33 PM
The call for help goes out over Police Radio.
Please be advised the U.S. Capitol .. all military and sworn officers to come to ..
Team 2 Copy, I got that last part. What is the first part of the transmission?
Military as well as all sworn officers due to a breach at the Capitol. Do you copy?
2:38 PM
Trump tweets, "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!"; Which, Stay peaceful, was not the thing he was saying into the microphone.
2:44 PM
Babbitt, now at the Speaker’s Lobby yells "Go, Go" as she attempts to breach a makeshift barricade. As she crossed the line, the on-duty Capitol Police Officer fires a single shot, hitting Ret. Airman Ashli Babbit once, in the chest. Rapid Response Units would take over the scene moments later, as Babbit bled out in front of a column of live streaming rioters.
Nearby, House members locked into the House Chamber are and are hiding in the seats of the upper level; As they hear the shot, worried about being identified, the call is made to start removing their pins.
As this happens Eric “Zip Ties Guy” Munchel, and separately Larry “Torch” Brock Jr, are photographed moving through the Senate chamber, while donning tactical equipment and zip cuffs, with what looks to be a firearm in Eric's Hostler.
3:38 PM
As photos of protestors waving Confederate flags through the halls of the Capitol Building start to go viral online. Mayor Muriel Bowser with the support of an elected Council, tweets that their requests to the Defense Department to intercede have again been denied.
Montgomery County Police Reinforcements arrive and are spotted in riot gear near the front of the capitol building.
3:51 PM
The Pentagon Offical Timeline Reports, District of Columbia’s National Guard is authorized and is finally able to mobilize to support local law enforcement.
4:05 PM
Congressional Leaders are being evacuated from the Capitol.
4:15 PM
Biden broadcasts his speech to condemn the actions of everyone involved, and call to Trump to deescalate the situation.
I call on President Trump to go on national television now, to fulfill his oath and defend the Constitution and demand an end to this siege
Moments later, Trump would respond by publishing, reaffirming that the election was stolen, but telling people to go home.
I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. ... So go home. We love you, you’re very special. ... I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace.
4:40 PM
Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland in the middle of a video conference with the Japanese ambassador is interrupted by his Chief of Staff, no doubt carrying a sense of urgency in his voice, with "the U.S. Capitol is under attack".
Hogan immediately excuses himself and convenes a meeting in order to start mobilizing the Maryland State forces, which included the dispatching of 200 specialty-trained Maryland State Troopers.
As this is happening, Hogan is interrupted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, and New York Senator Charles Schumer calling from an undisclosed bunker in the Capitol Area.
Hoyer explained that U.S. Capitol Police were “overwhelmed.” and “was pleading” to send in the National Guard, but Hogan still had not received the authorization.
“Hoyer was yelling across the room to Schumer who, and they were back and forth saying, ‘We do have the authorization,’ and I’m saying: ‘I’m telling you, we do not have the authorization.’”
The Pentagon continued to deny Hogan's request. While governors do have the ability to deploy the Guard, at their own expense, they may do so only within their operational jurisdiction.
The DoD system is structured to require permission from the Secretary of Defense for out-of-state Guard units to enter the NCR. - Statement, Army
5:40 PM
Police response teams reached the capitol and are seen clearing the rooms, and herding people out into the streets a half-hour after sunset.
6:00 PM
Mayor Muriel Bowser places Washington, D.C. under [ Curfew | Martial law ].
At about this time, Governor of Maryland Hogan gets a call “out of the blue” from an unknown number on his cell phone. He answers it, to discover that it’s Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy; Looking to provide the necessary authorization to mobilize the National Guard into D.C.
“Can you come as soon as possible?” - McCarthy
“Yeah, we’ve been waiting. We’re ready.” - Hogan
It would take until 10:00 am the following morning for the Maryland Guards to touch down in the Capitol, as the first out of state units. Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller’s office, would later release a statement confirming the authorization.
8:06 PM
The Senate reconvened, affirms Joe Biden as President-Elect. The day ends with 41 onsite arrests, 5 deaths, and a lot of injured. Of the 68 arrests made that day, only one individual was from was Washington D.C.
Part 3: A Presidency