Morning Briefing: Far Right Groups and Right-Wing Media Attempt to Rewrite History of January 6th
Morning Briefing: Far Right Groups and Right-Wing Media Attempt to Rewrite History of January 6th
On the third anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection, far right groups and right-wing media continued to attempt to rewrite the history of the Capitol Riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.
Morning Briefing: On the third anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection, far right groups and right-wing media continued to attempt to rewrite the history of the Capitol Riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.
Members of far right extremists groups staged events and protest on Saturday’s anniversary, including outside of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio―where members of the Proud Boys, the far right violent extremists street gang, which reportedly “clash with groups who had gathered to speak out against them.”
During a campaign speech, former President Donald Trump described the Capitol Riot as "patriotic and peaceful.”
Jonathan Pollock, Olivia Pollock, and Joseph Hutchinson were arrested by federal law enforcement and charged with crimes related to participating in the Capitol Riot, and are reportedly “set to appear in federal court in Ocala, Florida.”
Federal law enforcement is still attempting to identify the who left a pair of pipe bombs outside the Democratic and Republic party headquarters in Washington, D.C. on the night before the Capitol Riot, and “the FBI is offering a $500,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person responsible.”
Jacob Chansley, the so-called "QAnon Shaman,” reportedly “wants the government to return the horned fur headdress that made him the most recognizable figure.”
Patriot Front, the neo-fascist White Nationalist group, has reportedly “been posting signs in Mobile and Baldwin counties over the past few weeks,” including posting White Supremist propaganda on an “electrical box at the intersection of Old Spanish Trail and Town Centre Avenue.”
In Brattleboro, Vermont, local law enforcement announced and investigation into “multiple recent incidents of vandalism that have occurred in town” involving White Supremacist graffiti, and reportedly “no suspects have been identified to date, however the investigation remains ongoing.”
Must Reads
James Risen and Margot Williams write that “nearly every one of the 24 federal judges handling the massive docket of January 6 cases has shown leniency toward the defendants, regardless of whether the judges were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents, the data shows. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that the judges appointed by President Joe Biden have been slightly more lenient than those appointed by former President Donald Trump. Biden appointees issued lighter sentences than prosecutors sought for January 6 defendants in 24 of the 26 cases they handled, or 92 percent, effectively tying with George W. Bush appointees as the most lenient. Judges appointed by Trump, meanwhile, have issued more lenient sentences in 90 percent of their cases. Trump and his allies have repeatedly claimed that the federal judicial system has been unnecessarily punitive in its treatment of January 6 defendants, complaining that they are ‘political prisoners’ who have been unfairly persecuted for trying to prevent the congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election. One leading January 6 defendant compared himself to a Jew living in Nazi Germany and said that his ‘only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country.’” [The Intercept]
Tess Owen writes that “public appearances by the Proud Boys dwindled in the final months of 2023, raising questions about the staying power of the once-ubiquitous street-fighting gang—who previously positioned themselves as Donald Trump’s personal army—ahead of what’s poised to be yet another bitterly polarizing election year. VICE News has tracked uniformed appearances by the Proud Boys for the last three years, ever since the violent riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Our data has shown how the Proud Boys regrouped in the months and years following that riot and became culture war chameleons, embedding themselves into their communities by aligning with local activists around whatever the hot-button conservative issue du jour is. Four of the group’s top lieutenants, including their former chairman Enrique Tarrio, were convicted on seditious conspiracy charges in connection with Jan. 6 and sentenced to decades in prison. Dozens more Proud Boys caught lesser charges. The ongoing prosecution efforts, intense public scrutiny, and reported infighting has repeatedly fueled speculation that the Proud Boys could be circling the drain. For the last couple of years, they’ve been resilient.” [Vice News]
Elad Nehorai writes that “whoever is running Stop Zionist Hate is creating a network of accounts that spread different messages in a closely connected ecosystem, allowing it to maintain plausible deniability in its intentions while shepherding its audience from its anti-Zionist content to overt antisemitism. Among a few such accounts, an account called Defund Israel Now is the most overtly antisemitic. It has a similarly corporate look, as well as the $1,000-a-month gold check, but a typical tweet claims Jews ‘destroyed Christianity through LGBT propaganda & pornography,… stole tax dollars to bomb muslim countries...[and] censored white voices.’ What we are seeing, then, is a full-blown campaign by white nationalists to use the war in Gaza as cover for more and more explicit antisemitism. This has been made infinitely easier by Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, which destroyed any semblance of content moderation or user verification on the site.” [MSNBC]
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.
Ever notice how "groups" like these so-called Proud Boys always have their faces covered? Ever wonder why that is? Sort of like how bank robbers wear a mask so they can't be identified, Eh?