Written exclusively for Leftist Politics, by Dmorista
As is frequently the case following a major political episode, the actual events are followed by a struggle between the opponents to define and control the narrative. The propaganda, information, and disinformation battle, to define the MAGA / Trumpista riot that took place in the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, is now raging in earnest. Among the early vollies it worth considering the accolades lavished on the riot on far-right message boards and other internet forums including statements like “ 'The 6th was a day to be proud of!' ... 'The most patriotic thing I ever witnessed,' (and) … 'This is only the beginning. Trump was the fuse, we are the bomb.' ”. (See, “ 'Our First Martyr.' How Ashli Babbitt Is Being Turned Into a Far-Right Recruiting Tool”, Jan 10, 2021, Vera Bergengruen, TIME, at < https://time.com/5928249/ashli-babbitt-capitol-extremism/ >). The far-right response began almost immediately, in fact some of it took place while the invasion of the Capitol Building was still underway.
The Right-Wing Media tries to Blame the Left for their Violent Actions at
the Capitol
Despite the reality that ANTIFA does not exist as a cohesive entity, the far-right, and the
Trumpista elements of the Republican Party, are always anxious to find a scapegoat and
“prove” that ANTIFA or Black Lives Matter (BLM) are involved in any protest that turns violent.
The first known attempt to “prove” that ANTIFA members were major participants in the events
on January 6th was posted in The Washington TImes on January 6th (the original story was
altered when it was criticized and by later in the day of the 6th a “corrected” story had been
posted).
The Washington TImes article quoted either an “unnamed FBI source” or an “anonymous 'retired military officer' ” who claimed to recognize ANTIFA people from Philadelphia. It also claimed, on the say-so of the same anonymous source, that Facial Recognition software provided by XRVision had identified 3 ANTIFA members. That unsubstantiated Washington Times article was immediately taken up by the various elements of the Right-Wing Noise Machine and that same day was being used as a “news” story or reliable source. Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas chimed right in stating that “... those who stormed the capitol yesterday were not Trump supporters. They have been confirmed to be Antifa.” Fox News host Laura Ingraham declared it a “developing” story, in a tweet that was recirculated more than 35,000 times. Far right media figures from Fox News to News Max, to Rush Limbaugh and various internet outlets spread the false story far and wide. By the time that Congress had reconvened in the damaged Capitol Building, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said in a speech on the floor of the House that: "I don't know if the reports are true, but The Washington Times has just reported some pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters. They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group antifa." In addition, “Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) tweeted the story as proof of mounting evidence of an antifa scheme” and “Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona made similar comments on Twitter, arguing that the insurrection had all the hallmarks of an antifa provocation.’ ”.
But it only took a few hours for the ANTIFA story to be proven false. The facial recognition software company issued a statement that said, in part that: “XRVision takes pride in its technology’s precision and deems the Washington Times publication as outright false, misleading, and defamatory, ...” Furthermore: “An attorney representing XRVision, … issued a statement to BuzzFeed News refuting The Washington Times story. The statement said XRVision’s software actually identified two members of neo-Nazi organizations and a QAnon supporter among the pro-Trump mob — not antifa members.” (emphasis added) However, before we get carried away, rhapsodizing about the virtues of XRVision, let’s note that The Daily Beast pointed out that: “XRVision is closely tied to right-wing hoax blog The Gateway Pundit and often provides its technology, such as it is, to promote attacks on liberal figures and bogus claims about voter fraud. In 2019, The Gateway Pundit deleted a fake story based on XRVision ‘data’ that falsely purported to show that the father of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was a Somali war criminal.” Apparently The Washington Times, just went too far and did not consult with XRVision on this particular lie.
In understanding the “media landscape” that pertains to the current propaganda, information, and disinformation battles, let’s remember that The Washington Times, is a very reactionary newspaper, founded by none other than extreme right-wing South Korean “Christian” charlatan, Sun Myung Moon in 1982. The paper had to retract the ANTIFA allegations in the story within a few hours. That was only after left-wing journalists discovered the distortions and lies involved. The retraction / corrected version is at “CORRECTED: Facial recognition identifies extremists storming the Capitol”, Jan 6, 2021, Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times, at < https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jan/6/xrvision-firm-claims-antifa-infiltrated-protesters/ >.
But as is always the case, once out there, these stories are very difficult to kill off completely. Trump himself, despite exhorting the MAGA / Trumpista crowd on to action, at the rally before the march and attack on the Capitol building, is promoting the false narrative that ANTIFA played a big role in the violence that ensued. Trump had a contentious 30 minute plus phone call with California Republican House member Kevin McCarthy on Monday, January 11, 2021. The President reportedly blamed ANTIFA for the violence at the Capitol, to which McCarthy replied: "It's not Antifa, it's MAGA. I know. I was there,". McCarthy also said he countered Trump’s complaints about Election Fraud saying: "Stop it. It's over. The election is over." McCarthy also suggested that the President: “... should call Joe Biden, meet with the president-elect and follow tradition and leave a welcome letter in the Resolute Desk for his successor.” In a related issue, The Washington TImes published an article (picked up from the Associated Press {AP} ) on Jan 14, noting that one leftist, John Sullivan of Utah, has been arrested for being inside of the Capitol Building during the Jan 6 attack. Fox News made its contribution with an article about Sullivan on January 8th; that was part of the rightist media effort to implicate anybody possible from the Left side of politics and ideology as perpetrators of this far-right paramilitary MAGA / Trumpista action. Both articles ignore the fact that literally thousands of right wingers were present and at least 100 of them are under arrest or are being sought by various police authorities, including the FBI. {See Note 1 below for a much more detailed set of the pertinent quotes with the appropriate citations}
The Lack of Preparation and Chaos in the Official Response to the Events
Another important issue is the fact that despite open planning for the January 6th Attack on the Capitol, that took place on numerous internet websites and social media platforms, that are monitored by the FBI and other intelligence agencies; the Capitol Police were not ready; the Metropolitan D.C. Police were not mobilized; no other Federal police agencies were activated; the Capitol Police did not ask the Pentagon to deploy the D.C. based National Guard to reinforce their forces, and twice turned down offers of help from the Pentagon. Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser did request, in writing on December 31st of 2020, that the Department of Defense (DOD) mobilize the D.C. National Guard for use on January 6th. (See Note 2 for sources)
As far as the violence of the actions of the MAGA / Trumpista rioters is concerned, one Representative, Tim Ryan from Ohio: “... who chairs a key subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Capitol — just told reporters that as many as 60 Capitol Police officers were injured yesterday, including 15 hospitalized and one in critical condition. Many were hit in the head with lead pipes, the Ohio Democrat said.” Most of the rioters had helmets while those were in short supply for the Capitol Police. (See Note 3 for sources)
A major area of contention was the failure of the National Guard, or any other police forces to arrive at the U.S. Capitol building while it was still under attack. On official who sincerely tried to help and who understood what was going on was Maryland's Republican Governor, Larry Hogan. After being informed “that the U.S. Capitol was under attack”; Hogan immediately mobilized the Maryland National Guard and the State Police. He also contacted the DOD requesting authorization, from the DOD, to deploy those forces to the U.S. Capitol building at the earliest possible moment. His request was held up for over 3 hours. Hogan had been participating in a conference call to Japan when the initial word of the attack arrived. He excused himself and left the call; and convened a meeting with other state officials to discuss the response they should make with regard to the ongoing events in the District of Columbia. All this time, Hogan made various calls to the DOD asking for authorization to send his National Guard and State Police forces to the U.S. Capitol building, and was repeatedly refused that authorization. About an hour and a half later, while Hogan was still in the meeting about the developing situation; Maryland Democratic Representative Stenny Hoyer called him from a bunker in the Capitol Building asking for his help. Hoyer was in the same bunker as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer hiding from the MAGA / Trumpista attackers. Fully another hour and a half, after Hoyer first called, the Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy called the Governor “... who Hogan said asked: ‘Can you come as soon as possible?’. Hogan said he told him: ‘Yeah, we’ve been waiting. We’re ready.’ ” Hogan clearly stated in a press conference later that day that “the state was repeatedly denied permission” by regular DOD channels to send Maryland National Guard troops and state police to the Capitol Building. Sending National Guard forces to the District of Columbia requires DOD authorization, unlike sending one state’s National Guard to another state upon the request of the Governor in the state that requests the help. The Mayor of Washington D. C. does not have the same status for such a request as any of the 50 state governors. (See Note 4 for the source)
Contrast between Law Enforcement handling of Peaceful Unarmed
Protests for Social Justice and Rightist Armed Protests
The extremely minimal preparations and astoundingly poor security communications and
inability to secure emergency assistance, for the well known likelihood of a potentially violent
confrontation at the National Capitol Building on January 6th; contrasts starkly with the many
shows of force used against overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations around the U.S. and in
the District of Columbia itself. The extremely minimal preparations to counter the long-planned
January 6th actions by Trump loyalists included a meeting: ”On Sunday, Jan. 3, (Christopher)
Miller (Acting Secretary of Defense) and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark
Milley, met with Trump. According to the memo, the president ‘concurs in activation’ of the
National Guard to ‘support law enforcement.’ Miller approved the activation of 340 Guard
members the following day.” Ostensibly this meeting took place to discuss security preparations
for the upcoming ‘protest’ and ‘rally’. Of course this was to be the very “Save America” rally
that Trump planned to address; along with his son Don Jr., Rudolph Giuliani, and Alabama
Representative Mo Brooks, adjacent to the White House. All four of them made inflammatory
remarks to the rally crowd.
Presumably the Guardsmen were activated mostly for the expected activities on the 6th, but also for the days before and after. Those 340 D.C. National Guardsmen were approved pursuant to Muriel Bowser’s written request noted above. The 340 Guardsmen were assigned to wait at the Washington D.C. Armory, in case they were needed. In addition: “... despite a near-lockdown of the downtown area on Tuesday night (Jan 5). Trump supporters drove to the Capitol and parked in spaces normally reserved for congressional staff. Some vehicles stopped on the lawns near the Tidal Basin.” There were many videos taken and posted on the internet that show some Capitol Police opening barricades and doors for the MAGA / Trumpista forces. Elements among the Capitol Police who stayed loyal to their charge of protecting Congress were savagely attacked by the MAGA / Trumpista rioters. In the end Bowser the Mayor of D.C. called Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy asking for assistance at 1:34 PM, and the director of the Capitol Police, Sund, called the DOD for immediate help at 1:49 PM. Subsequently at: “3 p.m., more than an hour after the mayor’s call, Miller determined that D.C. National Guard forces were needed to reestablish control of the Capitol, and minutes later, he formally approved the full activation of the D.C. National Guard. At 5:02 p.m., 154 guard members left the D.C. Armory to head to the Capitol, where they arrived roughly 40 minutes later. By 6:14 p.m., law enforcement had successfully established a perimeter around the west side of the Capitol …” Thus it took over 4 hours for the National Guard forces, located just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building to arrive, and another half hour for them to secure the situation.
The contrast with events in Washington in 2020 could not be greater: “On June 1, following a few days of mostly peaceful protests, the National Guard, the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a nonviolent crowd in Lafayette Square outside the White House to allow Trump to pose with a Bible in front of a nearby church.
“ ‘We need to dominate the battlespace,’ then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on a call with dozens of governors, asking them to send their National Guard forces to the capital. (emphasis added)
“On June 2 — the day of the primary election in Washington — law enforcement officers appeared on every corner, heavily armed in fatigues and body armor. Humvees blocked intersections. Buses full of troops deployed into military columns and marshaled in front of the Lincoln Memorial in a raw show of force. Police kettled protesters in alleys. Choppers thudded overhead for days and sank low enough over protesters to generate gale-force winds.”
Another major contrast is the way that the MAGA / Trumpista rioters were treated after the violent events at the U.S. Capitol Building were over for the day. As far as the rioters who had entered the Capitol Building, battled with the loyal members of the Capitol Police, and ransacked the place are concerned: “By the time Congress reconvened on Wednesday evening, National Guard forces had joined local police to escort insurrectionists from the building. Most of them left while waving their hands in triumph, without even a threat of arrest. From there, they retired to their luxury hotels to sit together and share stories and germs while celebrating the perfect day they will always remember.” Posted at the bottom of the article is a short video of several MAGA / Trumpista rioters lounging around in the lobby of some D.C. area luxury hotel trading bullshit stories.
Another report notes that other MAGA / Trumpista rioters were accorded special treatment, noting that: “A group of arrestees freed to await trial for allegedly refusing to leave the U.S. Capitol grounds Wednesday evening were released from detention near District of Columbia police headquarters through a door that funneled them away from media, demonstrators and supporters.
“ … the 30 or so individuals had virtual hearings Thursday in front of a D.C. Superior Court judge. The judge ordered the majority to be released from custody, barring them from the city while their cases remain active and assigning June court dates.
“Most people charged in the city and released while pending trial exited through the cellblock's
main doors, but D.C. police escorted the group of defendants arrested near the Capitol through
a separate exit around the corner.
“Some attorneys and others who work with inmates complained that the group was treated
more favorably than other arrestees, including protesters who were arrested during social
justice demonstrations last summer.”
The contrast between the two responses is more than striking. In fact it reeks of treachery and sedition. The acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller and several key aides were hand picked Trump loyalists ready to do the bidding of the President, and shape the policies for protecting, or better said not protecting the Joint Session of Congress that was meeting in the Capitol building that fateful day. (See Note 5 below for details on sources for the contrast in the planning and response to peaceful Social Justice Protests vs the Armed Right Wing paramilitary attack on the Capitol, also see Note 6 for the important series of articles from the Worldwide Socialist Web Site, that offer excellent analysis in addition to the reporting of the basic facts).
Notes:
1). Below are quotes and citations from articles in The Washington Times, Business Insider, Axios, The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed News, The Washington Examiner, U.S. News and World Report, Daily Kos, and C-Span
The article that first put forth the idea that ANTIFA activists were primarily responsible for the violence at the Capitol Building on Jan 6, 2021 was published in The Washington Times. The original article was removed and a “corrected version” with the following retraction is now posted “Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that XRVision facial recognition software identified Antifa members among rioters who stormed the Capitol Wednesday. XRVision did not identify any Antifa members. The Washington Times apologizes to XRVision for the error.” However the current article still promotes the idea that “Antifa infiltrators” were the main actors in the violent actions of the MAGA / Trumpista rioters, and states that: “Supporters of President Trump, including some who were part of the crowd Wednesday that stormed the U.S. Capitol, had claimed online that Antifa members had infiltrated their numbers. … There is other evidence Antifa members may have been there.
“The New York Post, quoting a law enforcement source, said two Antifa from New York were
in the crowd.
“A video on social media also seems to show people wearing Trump ‘Make America Great
Again’ paraphernalia shouting ‘Antifa, Antifa’ as a man with some type of instrument tried to
smash a window and break into the Capitol. MAGA people then forcibly subdued the man to
prevent further damage. … (Then this quote from some “anonymous law enforcement source”)
“ ‘The professional protesters were in the crowd posing as Trumpers. They were preaching
violence. As they approached it was announced that [Vice President Mike] Pence had said he
has no Constitutional authority. The crowd got mad. The agitators used this to whip-up anger.
If the Feds are really intent on making the linkage between the instigators and Antifa, the
evidence is there.’ ” (See, “CORRECTED: Facial recognition identifies extremists storming the
Capitol”, Jan 6, 2021, Rowan Scarborough, The Washington Times, at
< https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jan/6/xrvision-firm-claims-antifa-infiltrated-protesters/ >).
So even though the article has a Corrected headline it is still very much a propaganda and
disinformation piece trying to blame ANTIFA for the violence wreaked by the MAGA / Trumpista
forces in the Capitol building.
The material from The Daily Beast article “Company Behind Gaetz’s ‘Antifa’ Mob Claim Says It’s a Lie” is here immediately below:
A banner line over the top of article reads:
" 'XRVision takes pride in its technology’s precision and deems the <i>Washington Times</i> publication as outright false, misleading, and defamatory,' the company's statement read, "
The actual text of the article includes the following:
"Trump allies eager to deflect blame for Wednesday’s attack on the presidential vote count have claimed that the rioters were 'antifa' infiltrators, citing a <i>Washington Times</i> report on evidence compiled by a little-known facial recognition company associated with a far-right blog.
"But the company at the center of the story says the <i>Times</i> article is a hoax and wants a retraction and apology.
"As Capitol Police struggled to clear the congressional complex on Wednesday evening, <i>Times</i> reporter Rowan Scarborough published a story claiming that obscure facial recognition company XRVision had proof that some of the rioters were in fact left-wing antifa agitators, including one 'Stalinist sympathizer.'
" ‘Facial recognition firm claims Antifa infiltrated Trump protesters who stormed Capitol,' the headline on the story read.
"Scarborough’s article was based entirely on an interview with an anonymous 'retired military officer' who claimed to have seen XRVision data that proved two of the rioters were members of 'Philadelphia Antifa.' The story didn’t include any pictures of the supposed antifa infiltrators or other evidence.
"Despite the fact that Trump had promoted the rally form weeks while his supporters openly planned the riot on pro-Trump websites, the exculpatory idea that the riot was a secret antifa plot rocketed around right-wing media. Fox News host Laura Ingraham declared it a 'developing' story, in a tweet that was recirculated more than 35,000 times.
"Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) even cited The Washington Times story on the House floor during the electoral vote count.
" 'I don't know if the reports are true, but The Washington Times has just reported some pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters,' Gaetz said. 'They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group antifa.' … (and) Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) tweeted the story as proof of mounting evidence of an antifa scheme.”
Finally concerning just who XRVision actually is and where its ultimate loyalties lie, this article noted that: “XRVision is closely tied to right-wing hoax blog The Gateway Pundit and often provides its technology, such as it is, to promote attacks on liberal figures and bogus claims about voter fraud. In 2019, The Gateway Pundit deleted a fake story based on XRVision ‘data’ that falsely purported to show that the father of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was a Somali war criminal.”
(See, "Company Behind Gaetz’s ‘Antifa’ Mob Claim Says It’s a Lie", Jan. 07, 2021 and updated Jan. 07, 2021, Will Sommer, The Daily Beast, at < https://www.thedailybeast.com/group-behind-gaetzs-antifa-mob-claim-say-its-a-lie >).
The tweet by Arizona Republican House member Paul Gosar that “the insurrection had all the hallmarks of an antifa provocation.” is from “House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly snapped after the president told him 'antifa' led the Capitol insurrection: 'It's MAGA. I know. I was there.' ”, Jan 12, 2021, Julie Gersten, Business Insider, at < https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-mccarthy-tells-president-insurrection-was-maga-not-antifa-axios-2021-1 >, that contains a link to Gosar’s tweet at
< https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1346940816514813953 > though the link reports that “This Tweet is unavailable”.
Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas chimed right in stating that “... those who stormed the capitol yesterday were not Trump supporters. They have been confirmed to be Antifa.” That was a statement that the Austin American Statesman newspaper rated as a “pants on fire level lie”. (See, “Fact-check: Did antifa storm Capitol Hill?”, Jan 8, 2021, Brandon Mulder, Austin American-Statesman, at < https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/01/08/paxton-cites-false-reports-antifa-claims/6589252002/ >)
Buzzfeed has noted that: “A facial recognition company says a viral Washington Times story claiming it identified antifa members among the mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday is completely false.
“XRVision told BuzzFeed News it asked the conservative news outlet for a retraction and apology over the story, which was cited in the House of Representatives after the riot late Wednesday by Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, an ardent Trump supporter. …
“On Wednesday, the Washington Times … claimed one man 'has a tattoo that indicates he is
a Stalinist sympathizer' … (a close-up photo demonstrates that the tatoo, supposedly of a
Hammer and Sickle the purported proof of the 'Stalinist sympathies', was actually a tatoo of
some other symbol)
“An attorney representing XRVision, … issued a statement to BuzzFeed News refuting the
Washington Times story. The statement said XRVision’s software actually identified two
members of neo-Nazi organizations and a QAnon supporter among the pro-Trump mob
— not antifa members.” {emphasis added} (See, “A Facial Recognition Company Says That
Viral Washington Times 'Antifa' Story Is False”, Jan 7, 2021, updated Jan 7, 2021, Craig
Silverman, BuzzFeed News, at
< https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/facial-recognition-antifa-washington-times-false >).
As for Matt Gaetz, after the rioters had been removed from the Capitol and the House Members returned to the floor of the House Chamber, he said in a speech that: "The Washington Times has just reported some pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company showing that some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters, they were masquerading as Trump supporters and in fact were members of the violent terrorist group antifa." Audible boos can<<could? be heard from some of the House members as he said this. The whole ANTIFA talking point line and fraudulent claims about ANTIFA being major actors in this event, need to be understood thus: “By the time Gaetz made his false claims shortly after Congress reconvened in the desecrated Capitol, the antifa claims were already running regularly on Fox News and blazoned across every mention of the violence in right-wing media. There were secret antifa people hidden among the Trump supporters. Lots of them. Within minutes of the capital police giving way on the steps outside Congress, the narrative had already gelled—an unnamed former FBI agent had somehow identified ‘at least one busload of Antifa thugs’ who had infiltrated peaceful Trump supporters. That claim didn’t just become widespread, it became the baseline for ‘reporting’ by Fox and other right-wing sites.”
As far as the rioters who had entered the Capitol Building, battled with the loyal members of
the Capitol Police, and ransacked the place are concerned: “By the time Congress reconvened
on Wednesday evening, National Guard forces had joined local police to escort insurrectionists
from the building. Most of them left while waving their hands in triumph, without even a threat of
arrest. From there, they retired to their luxury hotels to sit together and share stories and germs
while celebrating the perfect day they will always remember.” (See, “Rep. Matt Gaetz providing
cover for Nazis who carried out insurrection against the United States”, Jan 7, 2021, Mark
Sumner, Daily Kos, at
< https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1/7/2006710/-Republicans-trying-to-blame-the-insurrection
-on-antifa-but-they-own-every-ounce-of-this-treason >: posted at the bottom of the article is a
short video of several MAGA / Trumpista rioters lounging around at some D.C. area luxury
hotel trading bullshit stories, The quote from Gaetz’ floor speech is available at a twitter thread
from Aaron Rupar, and is a 33 second clip of Gaetz speaking, the 4th from the top, at
< https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1347020454603710464?s=20 >. It is originally from
C-Span “January 6, 2021 | Clip Of House Debate on Arizona Electoral College Vote Challenge,
Part 3” at < https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4935662/user-clip-matt-gaetz >, there the clip is 36
seconds long, but it stops at about second 25, cutting off the last couple words of his speech,
the Rupar twitter post works flawlessly).
The Washington Examiner (no friend of the Left) reported that: “A facial recognition company is
demanding the Washington Times retract and apologize for publishing a story claiming their
technology identified members of antifa as being among the pro-Trump crowd that stormed the
Capitol on Wednesday.” … “ ‘Shortly after the rioting started, XRVision performed an analysis
on the footage and identified several individuals,’ the company said. ‘This information was
shared with LEA. We concluded that two of (the) individuals (Jason Tankersley and Matthew
Heimbach), were affiliated with the Maryland Skinheads and the National Socialist Movements.
These two are known Nazi organizations, they are not Antifa. The third individual identified
(Jake Angeli) was an actor with some QAnon promotion history. Again, no Antifa identification
was made for him either.’ " (See, “Facial recognition company demands Washington Times
retract story linking antifa to Capitol siege”, Jan 7, 2021, Mike Brest, Washington Examiner,
at < https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/facial-recognition-company-demands-
washington-times-retract-story-linking-antifa-to-capitol-siege >).
In fact the “horned man” identified above as Jake Angeli is actually: “Jacob Anthony Chansley,
an Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob with a painted face and wearing a
costume that included a horned, fur hat, was taken into custody Saturday and charged with
counts that include violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
“Chansley, more commonly known as Jake Angeli, will remain in custody in Arizona …” (See,
“More Arrests in Capitol Riot as More Video Reveals Brutality”, Jan. 9, 2021, Associated Press,
Wire Service Content, U.S. News and World Report, at
< https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-01-09/man-accused-of-stealing-pelosis-
lectern-charged-in-invasion >
For more detail on the reports of Trump’s continued belief that ANTIFA committed the violent
acts at theCapitol and other statements about the election and ongoing events (See “ 'It's
MAGA. I know. I was there.' ”, Jan 12, 2021, Julie Gersten, Business Insider, at < https://www.
businessinsider.com/kevin-mccarthy-tells-president-insurrection-was-maga-not-antifa-axios-
2021-1 >: “McCarthy: "Undisputedly" no evidence Antifa participated in deadly Capitol siege”,
Jan 11, 2021, Alayna Treene, Axios, at < https://www.axios.com/mccarthy-antifa-capitol-siege-
trump-c5b347ad-f902-40f4-9f42-6120fa927137.html >: and “Scoop: Trump falsely blames Antifa
for Capitol insurrection”, Jan 11, 2021, Jonathan Swan, Axios, at < https://www.axios.com/trump-
falsely-blames-antifa-for-capitol-riot-bab4943c-d465-4d05-ae36-1e8d1437f168.html >).
The Washington Times story is “Utah activist who filmed Capitol shooting booked into jail”,
Jan 14, 2021, Sophia Eppolito - Associated Press, at < https://www.washingtontimes.com/
news/2021/jan/14/utah-activist-who-filmed-capitol-shooting-booked-i/ >. The Fox News story is
“BLM activist inside Capitol claims he was 'documenting' riots, once said 'burn it all down’: John
Sullivan has previously called for 'revolution' and to 'rip Trump' out of his office”, Jan 8, 2021,
Michael Ruiz, at < https://www.foxnews.com/politics/anti-trump-activist-entered-capitol-
wednesday >. There have been indications that the right-wing media, whose bogus story fell
flat, the one about hundreds of ANTIFA infiltrators leading the attack on and vandalism of the
Capitol Building.
2). The general discussion of the lack of preparedness, despite the many warnings, is from “Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Weren’t Ready”, Jan 7, 2021, Logan Jaffe, Lydia DePillis, Isaac Arnsdorf and J. David McSwane, Propublica, at < https://www.propublica.org/article/capitol-rioters-planned-for-weeks-in-plain-sight-the-police-werent-ready >: and “Before Mob Stormed the Capitol, Days of Security Planning Involved Cabinet Officials and President Trump”, Jan 9, 2021, Joshua Kaplan, Propublica, at < https://www.propublica.org/article/before-mob-stormed-the-capitol-days-of-security-planning-involved-cabinet-officials-and-president-trump >.
3). The statement by Ohio Representative Tim Ryan is from “Capitol police were hit in the head with lead pipes, congressman says”, Jan 7, 2021, Ken Dilanian, NBC News, at < https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/live-blog/2021-01-06-congress-electoral-vote-count-n1253179/ncrd1253310#blogHeader >.
4). The discussion of the delay to the deployment of the Maryland National Guard and State Police is from “Maryland governor describes delayed permission to send National Guard”, Jan 8, 2021, Brian Witte, The Associated Press, Military Times, at < https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2021/01/08/maryland-governor-describes-delayed-permission-to-send-national-guard/ >.
5). The discussion of the contrast between the police/military preparations for and response to the January 6th are from “Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Weren’t Ready”, Jan 7, 2021, Logan Jaffe, Lydia DePillis, Isaac Arnsdorf and J. David McSwane, Propublica, at < https://www.propublica.org/article/capitol-rioters-planned-for-weeks-in-plain-sight-the-police-werent-ready >: “Before Mob Stormed the Capitol, Days of Security Planning Involved Cabinet Officials and President Trump”, Jan 9, 2021, Joshua Kaplan, Propublica, at < https://www.propublica.org/article/before-mob-stormed-the-capitol-days-of-security-planning-involved-cabinet-officials-and-president-trump >: “Defense Department faces scrutiny over response to deploying Guard”, Jan 11, 2021, Paul Sonne & Missy Ryan, Washington Post: “Pentagon, D.C. officials point fingers at each other over Capitol riot response: Confusion and finger-pointing continue between local and federal law enforcement agencies after Wednesday's siege of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob”, Jan 8, 2021, Julia Ainsley, Dan De Luce & Mosheh Gains, NBC News, at < https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/pentagon-d-c-officials-point-fingers-each-other-over-capitol-n1253547 >: “Before Capitol Riot, Republican Lawmakers Fanned the Flames”, Jan 11, 2021, updated Jan 13, 2021, Catie Edmondson & Luke Broadwater, New York Times, at < https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/us/politics/republicans-capitol-riot.html >: “A timeline of what Trump said before Jan. 6 Capitol riot”, Jan 11, 2021, Amy Sherman, Politifact, at < https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jan/11/timeline-what-trump-said-jan-6-capitol-riot/ >: “Six hours of paralysis: Inside Trump's failure to act”, Jan 11, 2021, Ashley Parker, Josh Dawsey & Philip Rucker, Washington Post: “Rep. Matt Gaetz providing cover for Nazis who carried out insurrection against the United States”, Jan 7, 2021, Mark Sumner, Daily Kos, at < https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1/7/2006710/-Republicans-trying-to-blame-the-insurrection-on-antifa-but-they-own-every-ounce-of-this-treason >: and “People awaiting trial for allegedly refusing to clear Capitol grounds were escorted out of secondary exit”, Jan 11, 2021, Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post.
6). Excellent coverage and far better Marxist / Trotskyist analysis was provided by an
outstanding series of articles on these events at Worldwide Socialist Web Site (WSWS).
These include “The fascist coup of January 6” Jan 7, 2021, David North, WSWS at
< https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/07/pers-j07.html >: “Growing questions about
police stand-down in January 6 coup attempt”, Jan 8, 2021, Jacob Crosse, WSWS at
< https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/08/coup-j08.html >: “Details emerge of high-level
state involvement in Wednesday’s coup attempt”, Jan 9, 2021. Eric London, WSWS, at
< https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/09/plot-j09.html >: and “New details about January
6 riot reveal need for full-scale investigation”, Jan 11, 2021, Eric London, WSWS, at
< https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/11/pers-j11.html >.
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