Morning Briefing: Capitol Rioter on the GOP Primary Ballot in West Virginia
Morning Briefing: Capitol Rioter on the GOP Primary Ballot in West Virginia
Derrick Evans, who served three months in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to participating in the Capitol Riot, is on the GOP primary ballot in West Virginia.
Morning Briefing: A primary candidates for the U.S. House to represent West Virginia's 1st Congressional District is among GOP candidates for state and federal office who have been arrested and charged for participating the January 6th Insurrection.
Derrick Evans, who served three months in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to participating in the Capitol Riot, told USA Today that he has received a positive feedback from GOP voters: "When they find out that I'm the elected guy who got arrested for January 6, they shake my hand and they thank me and tell me they're gonna vote for me.”
Federal prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 11 years and 8 months for Leo Brent Bozell, who participated in the Capitol Riot, and if the sentence recommendation is accepted the prison term “would be one of the longest sentences given to a Jan. 6 defendant among the more than 740 who have been sentenced.”
Gerald Powell was arrested and charged with “moving police barricades during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and waving an American flag while walking around the perimeter of the Rotunda inside the U.S. Capitol building.”
Lincoln Deming was arrested and charged for participating the Capitol Riot, and is alleged to have attempted to “break through a barricade, throwing an object at officers, and entering the Senate gallery.”
In Niagara Falls, Ontario, local law enforcement is reportedly “investigating after more than 100 antisemitic pamphlets were distributed in clear plastic bags to multiple neighborhoods,” and the pamphlet were distributed by White Lives Matter, the White Nationalists group.
In Sweetwater County, Oklahoma, “stickers advertising organizations supporting white supremacist views have been appearing in Green River and Rock Springs,” and these stickers have been attributed to Patriot Front, the neo-fascist White Nationalist group.
Must Reads
Steven Monacelli writes that “for decades, various far-right, faith-based organizations have been working to train pastors and turn congregants into school board activists and candidates. But now, the Remnant Alliance has united several powerful conservative Christian groups. The overarching ideology of these groups is Christian nationalism, which is ‘an ideology that seeks to privilege conservative Christianity in education, law, and public policy,’ according to David Brockman, a religious scholar with the Baker Institute at Rice University. While conservative churches and outspoken pastors have long played roles in local politics, the Remnant Alliance represents a deepening and broadening of efforts to elect candidates who promise to infuse right-wing Christian values into policy. From Keller to Katy, such right-wing religious candidates continue to run for school boards in 2024, increasingly with the vocal support of pastors and congregations in the Remnant Alliance orbit. While some deep red areas like Llano have become flashpoints, most of the action appears clustered in suburban districts around Houston, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth.” [Texas Observer]
Aidan Orly writes that “it’s not entirely new for Right-wing Christian leaders to lead rallies against Palestine-solidarity demonstrators. Pastor Russell Johnson, leader of the Pursuit Church in the Pacific Northwest who has has compared Palestine solidarity demonstrators to Nazis, and preaches End Times theology, marched with StandWithUs — which equates anti-Zionism with antisemitism — at the Univ. of Washington in November in a counter protest to students who were demanding a cease-fire. But as Israeli forces descend on Rafah, where more than 1 million Gazans have taken refuge since October 7, Right-wing Christian leaders appear to be getting bolder. Flying across the country to confront students, calling on supporters to rally an army for Israel, claiming Columbia, USC and other university campuses ’for God,’ and scaling the fences surrounding university students while members of the crowd yell ‘Go to Gaza’ appears to be an unprecedented phenomena for these Blue-state campuses.” [In These Times]
Anne Applebaum writes that “Russian information-laundering and Chinese propaganda have long had different goals. Chinese propagandists mostly stayed out of the democratic world’s politics, except to promote Chinese achievements, Chinese economic success, and Chinese narratives about Tibet or Hong Kong. Their efforts in Africa and Latin America tended to feature dull, unwatchable announcements of investments and state visits. Russian efforts were more aggressive—sometimes in conjunction with the far right or the far left in the democratic world—and aimed to distort debates and elections in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and elsewhere. Still, they often seemed unfocused, as if computer hackers were throwing spaghetti at the wall, just to see which crazy story might stick. Venezuela and Iran were fringe players, not real sources of influence. Slowly, though, these autocracies have come together, not around particular stories, but around a set of ideas, or rather in opposition to a set of ideas. Transparency, for example. And rule of law. And democracy. They have heard language about those ideas—which originate in the democratic world—coming from their own dissidents, and have concluded that they are dangerous to their regimes. Their own rhetoric makes this clear.” [The Atlantic]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Narratives of the Right delivers weekly analysis of the current narratives in far right online spaces and promoted by right-wing media; and Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right.
