Three April 9 Arrests: Arresting Your Way to Evidence Collection
Jonah Westbury
On January 7, the FBI received a tip from a high school acquaintance of Jonah Westbury that he had posted video from inside the Capitol to TikTok and then, the tipster later relayed, also on Snapchat. The FBI interviewed the tipster on January 11.
But then the FBI did nothing for three months.
On Friday, the FBI finally got around to arresting Westbury. His arrest affidavit includes — among the only additional evidence collected since that early tip — two stills from MAGA tourism videos he posted to Snapchat.
The only other evidence collected in the last three months described in the affidavit are a list of videos posted to Snapchat. One, apparently sent by chat the day after the insurrection, shows him panning inside the Capitol and describing “First time” in the Capitol, but the video cuts off abruptly.
- A chat media video dated 01-07-2021, 15-38-26UTC, 3,173 KB, of Jonah WESTBURY panning in a circle a selfie of himself laughing inside the Capitol and at the very end he says, “First time…” The video abruptly ends. [my emphasis]
Then there are five videos that — given the time and his other videos from the Rotunda — likely shows the breach of the east Capitol door at 2:40 on January 6, including what might be a longer (perhaps the complete) version of the panning video.
- A video dated 01-06-2021, 19-33-37UTC, 641 KB, shows the door to what appears to be a federal building
- A video dated 01-06-2021, 19-33-37UTC, 4,988 KB, shows the entryway columns and closed doors of what appears to be the U.S. Capitol
- A video dated 01-06-2021, 19-40-57UTC, 2,122 KB, shows a selfie video of Jonah WESTBURY amidst a crowd that is now entering the U.S. Capitol building and WESTBURY says, “We made it.”
- A video dated 01-06-2021, 19-40-57UTC, 4,528 KB, shows a selfie video of Jonah WESTBURY from inside the U.S. Capitol building. He says, “ We made it. This is our house. We got pepper sprayed, got abused…” and the video abruptly ends.
- A video dated 01-06-2021, 19-43-07UTC, 5,031 KB shows a selfie video of Jonah WESTBURY from inside the U.S. Capitol building panning in a circle. He says, “First time in the Capitol. First time in the Capitol… I’m proud of every fucking one of you.” [my emphasis]
Westbury was charged with the two trespassing charges that virtually everyone who entered the Capitol got charged with and that’s likely all he’ll ever be charged with. But a number of people who entered the building with him and may show up in his videos — including Joe Biggs, two other Proud Boys, and the Oath Keeper stack — are among the defendants of most investigative interest at DOJ.
Les Little
A family member of Les Little called the FBI the day of the insurrection to let them know that Little had texted the person to boast that “We just took over the Capital!” [sic]. Little’s relative also shared a Facebook post showing that Little had been in the Capitol.
The FBI has done more investigation into Little — two interviews with Little’s family member and a warrant for his phone proving his presence at the Capitol — but the most interesting investigative development included in his arrest affidavit is that when the FBI interviewed him almost three months ago, he chose not to share all the photos he took from the Capitol, including from inside the Senate chamber.
On January 13, 2021, the FBI interviewed LITTLE at his residence in Claremont, NC. LITTLE told the FBI that he lived at that residence with his elderly mother.
LITTLE voluntarily provided the following information: LITTLE went to Washington, DC the day before the planned protest on January 5, 2021. On January 6th, LITTLE went to the protest.
Little stated that at some point, the police began using tear gas at the protest. LITTLE said that some people went into the Capitol, and he got caught up in the moment and went into the Capitol as well. LITTLE said that he had no intention of entering the Capitol when he went to the protest, but that he got caught up in the moment.
LITTLE said he walked around the Capitol, smiling and fist bumping other people who were also inside the Capitol. LITTLE walked around the Senate Chamber and took photographs of himself there. LITTLE stated that he sent these photographs to people that he trusted. LITTLE said that he must have gotten caught up in the moment when he sent a text about taking over the Capitol. LITTLE left the Washington, D.C. area and returned to North Carolina that evening.
LITTLE chose not to answer follow-up questions from the FBI Agents. LITTLE also declined to turn over the photographs that he took with his telephone of himself and others inside the Capitol.
Like Westbury, Little was charged only with trespassing crimes when he was arrested last Friday. But his arrest may lead to the FBI obtaining more information, including pictures on his phone from the Senate chamber, another of the locations of acute investigative interest.
Stephen Horn
Starting on January 11, two tipsters contacted the FBI that this photo, published by the NYT Magazine, showed Stephen Horn.
Horn claimed to be there to ensure an accurate version of events was captured and he filmed 2 hours of video from the event. He has no media credentials, but the only evidence from the arrest affidavit that he was there to support the mob came when he — once — chanted USA along with the crowd.
Horn was interviewed on February 24 and admitted stepping over a barrier.
But the more interesting detail may be that Horn witnessed what transpired in Nancy Pelosi’s office.
“I did not witness police doing any property damage, but I did see some in the crowd stop others in the crowd from doing property damage, or exhorting others not to do so, even in Nancy Pelosi’s office”; “I was on the front lines of the assault on the capitol”; “I thought it was important to document the event”; “I followed the crowd in. I was not there when they broke through most of the barriers around the outside of the capitol. I was not looking for Pelosi’s office, I guess it was just happened to be right there (probably gets one of the best offices).”
I’m less certain it’ll remain the case, but like Little and Westbury, Horn was charged only with trespassing crimes.
But like the other two, the government arrested on Friday another person who had filmed a scene of acute investigative interest.
To be clear: The evidence that these men trespassed is fairly strong. But at a time when the focus of more and more arrests are either those accused of assaulting cops or those with ties to the militia conspiracies, the FBI arrested a bunch of people on Friday who took video evidence of key sites of acute investigative interest.
Update: There are two more potential instances of this in recent days. The arrest affidavit for Michael Rusyn (h/t Zoe Tillman for the filing) describes a different video showing him videoing a confrontation with the police that he participated in. It also described the Geofence warrant served on Facebook (including the date, January 11), which is useful for other filings.
On January 11, 2021, a search warrant was served upon Facebook to identify Facebook accounts utilized to live stream video in a geographic area that included the interior of the United States Capitol building. One such account identified by Facebook was Facebook user ID 100009155779709, an account in the name of “Michael Joseph.”
More interesting, an InfoWars employee, Sam Montoya, was arrested. His arrest warrant describes how he posted a 44-minute video of the insurrection, recording himself cheering the rioters at each step.
9:55 – “We’re gonna crawl, we’re gonna climb. We’re gonna do whatever it takes, we’re gonna do whatever it takes to MAGA. Here we go, y’all. Here we go, y’all. Look at this, look at this. I don’t even know what’s going on right now. I don’t wanna get shot, I’ll be honest, but I don’t wanna lose my country. And that’s more important to me than—than getting shot.”
11:04 – “We have had enough! We’re not gonna take your fucking vaccines! We’re not gonna take all your bullshit! The people are rising up! Folks, I am now on the steps of the Capitol. Here we go! Here we go! Having a good time!”
12:55 – “We are in the Capitol, baby! Yeah!”
15:40 – “We’re all being a little bit too rowdy for sure.”
16:07 – “Here we are in the US Capitol in Washington DC in the Capitol building, it has officially been stormed by Trump supporters. Again, the US Capitol building in Washington DC has officially been stormed by Trump supporters. And here we are, taking our—the people’s house back!”
17:38 – “I’m sure these officers are scared, but we’re here, we’re here to just show that we’ve had enough. We’ve had enough.”
34:05 – “We don’t hurt innocent people; we don’t tear down statues! We don’t tear down statues! We take our house back! We take the people’s house back!”
He was always identified as someone who recorded Ashli Babbitt’s shooting, and the arrest warrant describes that too. It also describes Montoya, days after the insurrection, trying to blame leftists for the violence.
Update: Here’s another example of an arrest of someone who took video of key scenes. Thomas Adams was charged with trespass and obstruction after filming everyone ransacking the senate.
Seems more than reasonable to me. Arrest them all.
With, or without, probable cause and within the DOJ charging standards, which is why the charges are, so far, only what they are?
If they trespassed, then they are fair game. A crime is a crime is a crime. They obviously do not deserve to be punished to the same extent as the most violent in the mob, but they’ve provided the DoJ an opportunity to seize their recordings, to be used as evidence against others. More of this, please.
Arresting the trespassers/cameraguys so they can make sure all the photos and videos are preserved, I take it.
Yes, & probably also come down like a 10 storey building on top of some of them for deleting videos & photos & trying to hide evidence, the message being ‘If you were there & we prove it you are going to get charged with trespassing, but if you then deleted or hid anything once you realised that it was all going south, best fess up &/or find it again before you end up on felony obstruction charges.
So, if I intentionally shoot someone with a gun, then dump the gun in the river to keep it from being found, that’s obstruction, a separate crime? No fair. How’s a guy supposed to get away with something?
Isn’t there an old song from the 70s if you do the crime you’ve got to be prepared to do the time?
Then there are five videos that — given the time and his other videos from the Rotunda — likely shows the breach of the east Capitol door at 2:40 on January 6, including what might be a longer (perhaps the complete) version of the panning video.
Marcy, the other day we were talking about BIGGS re-entering through the east door: >>> https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/04/03/doj-arresting-their-way-to-clarity-on-joe-biggs-two-breaches-of-the-capitol/#comment-887782
The outcome was that Biggs must have exited at the west side and gone around…and he may have.
But Capitol Hunters think that the breach of the East Doors [besides happening TWICE!] might have been assisted from the inside:
That’s from pdf 93 of 137 of their long timeline document https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uzKC6f9pPFQfBJM_jO-iNeFXQlZIP4ad_J4vizClENI/edit#
At about 2:35 PM Philip Grillo was INSIDE the Rotunda with a group of people trying to get into the East Foyer, which opens to the Center East Stair.
BIGGS and others who first entered at northwest door/windows may have been ejected from the Capitol through the NORTH door [also from the above linked timeline]:
From there, it’s a much easier and shorter walk to his next breach point.
Speaking of ejection doors: Harry Dunn of CPD, interviewed last night by Richard Engel, talked about rioters asking him where the bathrooms and “exits” were. Dunn’s last nerve is palpably vibrating.
Engel’s MSNBC special “Our House” gave me a much more concrete spatial sense of the Capitol events. (I’ve never been there.) The “shown for the first time here” footage eroded almost all my remaining empathy for the rioters. Pezzola at least seemed like he was enacting a psychopathic fantasy; Watkins pathetically caught up in a lethal LARP to impress her OK handlers; Geiswein sickeningly representative of the not-so-new White-Nat fraternity bros.
I’ve been reading about the women, who are (so far) about 12% of those arrested. Their stories suggest that most lack access to the inner circle who planned this, but the ones who did (or tried) might be fertile ground for investigators who can convey the degree to which they were manipulated/considered expendable.
Once on the radar, much less charged, the “fertile ground” is entirely up to where the government/prosecution is. The govt. has not been overly bright nor efficient yet.
How much of that do you reckon is because of Trump/Barr leftovers in the DOJ?
Little
Is there any type of Jan 6 lawyer group communicating with the gov on how to be overly bright and efficient? I realize there should be no need technically, but your comments have revealed a need.
Naw, DOJ pretty much charts their own course. It is still incredibly early for such a huge case. Give them time, the wheels are grinding.
I’m intrigued by the abrupt cutoff, since I doubt that was done by Westbury. It certainly makes me wonder how finely the wheels are grinding here for the reasons noted above by others.
We still don’t know about many other things as well where the levers of power were still exercised by DJT and his minions. Who do you think will flip first?
Meh, remember when everybody was all so concerned that it was Bush “leftovers and plants” that were the problem with the Obama/Holder DOJ? Turns out it was just Obama and Holder. I think this fear is incredibly overblown here. Again, and I cannot emphasize this enough, it is ridiculously early in such a far ranging case to be up in arms that people are not in trial and prison yet. People need to take a chill pill.
“At about 2:35 PM Philip Grillo was INSIDE the Rotunda…”
At 2:38 (after being warned of potential legal liability) DT tweeted “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement…” Kevin McCarthy had a telephone shouting match just shortly before that, in which he told Trump that people were trying to break into his office.
“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Trump said.
I wonder what time Kellye Sorelle’s comments were public and if Trump was aware of them. They seem to track well with what Trump said to Kevin McCarthy. But maybe that’s just the common language of saboteurs
Are you talking about the comments from that video I transcribed the other day, or others (she apparently posted and deleted other FB posts which may be ‘out there’)?
Since you raise the topic and there wasn’t time to finish that SoRelle subthread, I’ll spline here that she and largely the same players were also behind the post-election “Lord of the Rings (but also don’t arrest us)” lawsuit. She and Rhodes also wrote some kind of plea to Trump late December.
Yes, from the video you transcribed. Thanks for that!
[We’re talking about the thread starting here: https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/04/06/anatomy-of-a-secret-january-6-potential-cooperation-agreement/#comment-888421 scroll down thru.]
Thanks SL — I see people claim that there were other postings deleted, but haven’t seen (or don’t recall) others and wasn’t sure if you had seen more.
But in that one, doesn’t it look like she’s coming down the east side from the north while talking ~ like / as if people had ~ just broken the lines and _may_ go inside? It’s as if all the stuff on the (north-) west hasn’t happened, like this east stuff (that she wants people to watch/see) is de novo (and despite other known OK comms and real-time publicly available evidence).
Hrm…. ?
Here’s another where she talks about emergency vehicles blocking other “patriots”/a giant [chunk] coming down from the other end of the Mall/ from getting through to “the storm”:
Capitol Terrorists Exposers: [recipients list] Another livestream of Kellye Crump Sorelle standing at the east side of the Capitol building during the 1/6 insurrection. Needless to say she deleted these from her Facebook page. [embedded vid]”
https://twitter.com/CTExposers/status/1371464751751032840
10:14 AM · Mar 15, 2021
Scroll down for more pix, addl. video
Everybody is staring in their own movie, aye?
Rodger Stone’s is a porno where he is master of the universe, able to bend minds with his magic media wand. The patriot movements seem to indicate resetting of the shot; take two. This time with feeling. More cowbell. I mean bear spray. Find the confederate flag guy. March him through again. How’s it looking control? The tug of war with the crowd barriers is good. Looks fun. Lose the shots where they’re beating cops on the ground with hockey sticks and flag poles. Ok ,Ok, now, get a normie to smear poop on the walls. Good , good… Radio Mr Stone. Let him know. We’re ready for his close up. I’m sorry Mr Stone. Didn’t recognize your voice. Your a genius sir. Patriot Productions! Lordy.
BTW sir, think you could get me one of them there pardons wot you got? Seems them’s handy to have. My goofy lawyer keeps talking bout his fee. His fee? Stop worrying. I keep telling him. Trump’s raising all kind of money to back us patriots up. You watch. He wouldn’t leave us hanging. No sir. Pardon’s ain’t hard to get ,right Mr Stone? Right? Mr Stone? Are you there?
Jeebus this was 500 years ago in bad-litigation years.
Gerstein w the Complaint:
Dunford mega-thread:
Then Heath with the TRO (request, or was this actually awarded by WDTX? I mean it says ‘the COURT finds’ but I can’t believe it and it’s signed by attys for plaintiffs). Nuttery:
Adding: ‘new system of govt’ and related descriptors above are doing a LOT of work. They make precise demands about control of “Nuclear Football” and Biden-Harris transportation approvals…
Ah, “in re Gondor”, as it was being called.
Yes, LOL.
Dunford later did another thread roping it together with some other characters, including our old friend Jerome Corsi (apropos of all the Q talk lately, I have a whole riff on what I believe to be his role there, too: via certain religious programming):
re their Open Letter to Trump: (1) not sure of date(s) posted or revised but it’s reposted a lot late Dec. and someone tweeted it (again) to Trump at 1:46 AM January 6th per deplatforming remnants; (2) not thrilled about options to link to it but this tweeter has the link and some screenshots. Rhodes and SoRelle claim that Communist China has defeated us via “Fourth Generation Warfare” among other assertions — they express concern about Biden-Harris (pejorative omitted) access to the “nuclear launch codes” here as well.
https://twitter.com/vamoosetoheck/status/1351851848680894464
It should be noted that parts of this letter read like a coordinated or possibly competing factional pitch with Flynn, Powell, Byrne (and the other gal’s) White House meeting with Trump which I believe was December 18th (the one where they were trying to get Powell appointed Special Counsel, among other goals. Special, indeed).
Rhodes and SoRelle explain that they will help Trump to select a loyalist AG suitable to the populist movement that “this is”, who’ll appoint a special counsel/task force blah blah. They ask Trump to call up the militia to federal duty (etc.); explain that they’ll instruct him how to conduct a new “clean” election.
At any rate, they are all speaking similar languages — the Flynn et al. parties, Rhodes et al. parties, carrying the weight of Parler. Between them, folks like that DOJ loon, …, (and lord knows what his pal Putin advised), Trump must’ve been pretty scared of the personal repercussions relayed by those who talked him down and away from more overtly actively couping. Which makes Trump’s “passive” (but not quite!) “grassroots” violent insurrectioning all the more reprehensible. [With both recent (no top-level repercussions for 2016, none yet for 2020…but also 2000…and the 2021 run on further legislating vote suppression) and deeper history in mind, the future looks a little dangerous.]
In so many ways 2020 is like 2016 all over again but with all manner of quasi-redundant domestic opportunists appealing to the ego of a madman with (I assume) fewer foreign ones.
May the road rise up to meet us, the wind at our backs … and the sun shine warm upon our faces.
(There’s a “12-21” in the url of the letter but that might not mean anything; also references to Barr’s resignation via an “update” and related parts could be drafting/ textual/ awareness artifacts more than date clues.)
Federal Trespass is nothing to sneeze at; I was once sentenced to the full 5 years and $10,000. Conviction reversed on appeal to the 9h Circuit (thank you to that generous lawyer who allowed us a work trade for his time!
Okay, maybe it was only 6 months and $5k. It was over 30 years ago so my bad
I used to know someone who did 6 months for trying to dig up (with a shovel) an ICBM in North Dakota when they were still in the ground here. He said he got to ride Con-Air and that his federal prison co-inmates were a lot friendlier than the people he went to h.s. with and taught him to play basketball. (His mother was a lawyer for Mexican Americans during the zoot suit riots of the 40s)
Lol, he was trying to dig up a Titan or Minuteman silo??
6 months of playing basketball instead of 60 years of digging. Once in a blue moon the carceral state does someone a favour.
“6 months of playing basketball”?? I will take it from that, and I will be kind, beyond dubious, statement that you have never been to a real prison. I have been to a LOT of them over the decades, and none of them, including the (wrongly) supposedly cushy “Club Feds”, are all that comfy. People are just insane over how this can and will go.
This was a joke about the perpetrator’s actual comments (as relayed by Nord Dakota). Prison is not a joke. I have not done time but I have worked with many who have. Please relax a little.
Sorry, do not consider it a joke.
As a judicial extern, I was given a tour of the MCC in downtown Chicago. There’s a basketball hoop on the roof, and those awaiting trial get brief periods of time when they can go out and shoot around. The day I was there, people were just milling around and not playing. My guide pointed to a deflated basketball stuck in the razor wire overhead. He said someone got mad during a recent game and threw the ball up there, and they wouldn’t get a new one until the start of the next month.
Anyway, a rambling way to say that the N.D. Ill. MCC is not among the worst places to be held, but it definitely still is not a place any rational person would want to spend time.
No, am sure it is not, though never been to that particular MCC. As said above, even the supposed “Club Feds” are not all that comfy…you very much do not want to be there.
Sounds like insurrectionist-weekenders documenting the Capitol breach on their smart phones are being rounded up like photo journalists at a Life magazine editorial meeting.
Thanks, Dr. Wheeler, for the insight, as always.
OT, music: don’t sleep on Faouzia. She’s got all sorts of covers* and original songs (people cover her now, too): You Don’t Even Know Me (Stripped) has nice range (they all do, really); a newer duet w John Legend — but sounds amazing unmic’d in buildings w good acoustics. Pretty sure she sung the dog out of thunderstorm fear but will have to test that.
*incl. some favorite rain songs; leftover strand from our homage to Rayne who is fortunate to have an elemental name and so many songs to enjoy
Eureka, Thanks for this. She’s a powerhouse for sure. The duet with John Legend has it all – I love piano, and their voices work very well together, both in call response and as a duet.
Yay Fran the Music Man — yes. I think she plays a string instrument, too (or two), and is also apparently an engineering student. Quite a clickhole of wonder out there if we can ever finish replaying our favs.
New OATH KEEPER filing [HARRELSON]:
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1381838057758937089
1:14 AM · Apr 13, 2021
More on that HARRELSON filing:
https://twitter.com/kenbensinger/status/1381868277635325956
3:14 AM · Apr 13, 2021
THREAD brings in RHODES and SORELLE.
Also NEW [?]: PERSON ELEVEN
From the Bensinger thread:
See also page 10 and footnote 7, here:
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000178-cb22-d5c5-affc-cbf7f8550000
From the Grand Theft Golf Cart indictment:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1382471/download
Previously about possible QRF:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/02/28/pro-tip-dont-go-to-insurrection-on-facebook/#comment-884888
[The initial Scott-Railton tweet in this comment has been deleted. Here’s a link to the article he’s talking about, still on line:]
https://www.arlnow.com/2021/03/01/exclusive-while-the-capitol-was-stormed-a-group-of-men-gathered-near-the-marine-corps-war-memorial/
1:14 PM · Mar 1, 2021
This bit on page 9, from a Signal chat on Jan. 4, is interesting:
OK Gator 1 [Kelly Meggs]: “… I’ll keep working on overall contact between Natl/congress team and stop the steal team for scheduling etc …”
He may be referring to those OKs who would be at the Capitol (OK national leadership — Rhodes) and those who would be staying back at the rally (James et al). But, my other thought was that he meant contacts they had inside Congress and among those who were organizing the rally.
It probably is referring to the Rhodes and James groups, but it really jumped out at me.
I think the government may have MUCH more information about the QRF than is presented in this filing. They want to reveal only as much as necessary to make that connection with Harrelson. They are not obligated to reveal everything that they know. But I’m pretty sure that they do know a lot more. Here’s why:
Person Three is a leader of the North Carolina chapter, apparently. The NC group left town — allegedly in disgust — during the afternoon of the sixth, while events were still unfolding.
Page 11:
Gator 6 [Harrelson]: “So we’re just leaving DC and I would like to know where my shits [sic] at since it seems everyone’s gone already”
That was at 8:55 am on the 7th. Someone replied to ask whether he left it at “that room” at Comfort Inn. Harrelson is soon after recorded wheeling his gear through the hotel.
This suggests that the NC group left the other members’ gear in the room when they bugged out the day before.
It also suggests that the government has surveillance video of the NC group removing their own weapons before leaving for home. I’d think that they must have video of everyone arriving on the 5th, as well. But they needn’t mention that in this filing. All of that narrative will likely be fleshed out later at trial.
That’s my logical conclusion. What stands out, though, is the fact that the NC group supposedly left in disgust at what they were seeing — an attack on the Capitol — yet they themselves brought weapons, and one of their own leaders (perhaps with others) had agreed to act as the QRF. How does that make any sense?
Does it need to make sense? These dipshits have repeatedly shown that they are prone to making the dipshittiest of decisions. Perhaps it will all come out in the end, though that doesn’t mean that it will make any sense.
To quote a group of Liverpudlians: “Happiness…is a warm gun, yes it is.”
I think the wet dream was that QRF was going to be called in to defend the government from the armed violent antifa thugs looking to continue to steal the election from the rightful victors.
If one or more of the NC group had some level of understanding how far opposite the actions of the day had moved from true patriotism and towards jingoistic ‘patriotism’ and thus wasn’t worth a tinkers dam, then they got disgusted and took their toys home.
Rachel Weiner is tweeting HARRELSON’s detention hearing:
https://twitter.com/rachelweinerwp/status/1382345920658997251
10:52 AM · Apr 14, 2021
Marcy tweets:
https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1382359262157021186
11:45 AM · Apr 14, 2021
This is one of the reasons STONE created the myth that he was
THREATENED and in extreme DANGER.
Also why TRUMP/STONE et al created the MYTH
that ANTIFA was a threat and a danger to them.
Weiner:
So, we are still blowing massive amounts of time on this asinine detention stuff huh? When people talk about government inefficiency, please remember this stupid horseshit. And remember the gross damage it has done, and will do for decades, as to the proper presumption of pre-trial release. It is seriously gross.
I certainly wonder what the PB/3P/OK seditionistas are up to now, since I do not see any particular event worth breaking up aside from the State of the Union (which IIRC is being done remotely) for some period in the future.
OT, but important: we have had another spate of shootings including police shootings of unarmed POCs pulled over on specious grounds, the idiots in VA that harassed a 2nd LT (if you watch the video, the instructions to Nazario were clearly contradictory) and so on. In Brooklyn Center the officer was a 25-yr police veteran and union president that allegedly mistook the service firearm to be the Taser (note this is the defense of BART Cop Mehserle when he shot Oscar Grant) but IIRC, Tasers are colored differently precisely to prevent that mistake from happening. In the Nazario case it seems the only one disciplined so far is a minority and only after the video from December went viral last week. In other words, CYA all the way for both.
It tells me that the police union arrogance knows no bounds, because a much wiser choice (once the BLM protests took root) would have been to think twice before shooting anyone. Instead, it seems these jamokes are trying to get their licks in while they can. No wonder the reputation of the police is dropping like a rock.
Last OT, we had a shooting in Dallas of an 11 year old by a 9 year old who were left in a car with a handgun while their chaperone went shopping. There are so many levels of stupidity here (IIRC it’s illegal to leave kids in the car like that in CA, and our police do investigate), but this was an avoidable tragedy and perhaps its time to hold parents accountable like the GOP likes to pretend they do (for other things, though).
“I certainly wonder what the PB/3P/OK seditionistas are up to now, since I do not see any particular event worth breaking up aside from the State of the Union…”
Two dates in April that have historical relevance to white supremacists and domestic terrorists are the 20th (Hitler’s birthday) and the 19th (anniversary of OKC bombing.) So, I’m guessing that there are appropriate agents and officials monitoring the chatter. Hopefully, potential incidents will be thwarted or prevented.
Good catch there, since I don’t live in the fever swamps it’s not that important to me. However, it would seem that if the racists were trying to rehab their image to be “concerned” but not “racist” then attacks on those days would be hard to write off as a coincidence. Why not the Ruby Ridge anniversary as well? Is there anything going on in the government world to be of interest?
FWIW, Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter since the jury bought the mistaken weapon theory, but Grant’s family won a civil verdict later. One would hope that the cities, counties, states, etc. would realize it’s a bad business risk to shovel millions of dollars in jury awards out the door and therefore rein in the police unions, but so far that hasn’t happened.
OT, it appears the state rested in the Chauvin trial, could our legal observers opine about the government case? Is 2nd degree murder still feasible or should the expectations be lowered? The defense has their turn, and apparently CNN didn’t like their choice for a first witness.
Wondering what happened to the “huge nation wide” white lives matter rallies… that were going to “shake the world” this past weekend.
Think they lacked Mr. Orange (the guy) who blew the charge bugle….for the Capital riot.
There was a WLM event in Huntington Beach, south of L.A. in Orange County this past weekend, which featured skirmishes and arrests, but nothing terribly major. HB has been a magnet for such events in the past featuring neo-nazi skinheads/skateboarders, as well as anti-mask events at the beginning of the pandemic.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/white-lives-matter-rally-goers-are-vastly-outnumbered-in-huntington-beach/
April 19th is Patriots Day, the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. I have often thought it a more appropriate day to celebrate than July 4th.
Anyway, I expect that’s why McVeigh chose that date and wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the current crop of seditionists use it for some propaganda (or more sinister) purpose.
I’m sure Patriots’ Day timing figured into last year’s anti-lockdown protest timing when the DeVos-funded organizers held a drive-through Gridlock protest in Michigan’s capital city, though it ended up being held on April 15th – Tax Day. They had the armed protest inside the state capitol building two weeks later.
Yeah, the “mistook gun for taser” bit made me remember the BART shooting. It shouldn’t be that easy to make a mistake like that – and if someone does, they shouldn’t get to carry any weapons until they’ve completed training again.
Q: Has anyone heard of a case where an officer pulled a taser when s/he meant to pull a gun?
A Taser is designed Not to feel like a gun. It has a different weight, shape, markings, and coloration. They are worn on the opposite side of the body as an officer’s other lethal weapon, their firearm. Officers are trained to tell the difference. An officer with 26 years on the force would have had over two decades experience telling one weapon from the other. In fact, there should be records of the number of times this officer fired their Taser and their pistol when in harm’s way. Their firearm, for example, they might have fired a few times; their Taser, scores of times.
The “innocent mistake” meme is not likely to have legs. The law does not support it: a trained officer who mistakes one for the other has committed an inherenty unreasonadble act. But the defense is designed to appeal to an inexperienced reasonable person – the average juror – who does not wish to think ill of someone who looks like them and stands on a wall to protect them.
Disappointing but not surprising, it’s the city and department that are prematurely selling this defense. They are aided by credulous reporting. The usual purpose is to protect themselves – and their insurers – from liability owing to their corporate responsibility, and their hiring, training, supervision, and lifelong protectionism, which leads to these outcomes.
I read that the officer and the police chief in this one have both resigned.
Apparently, the officer has been arrested, which seems a tad early in the fact-finding process. Municipal officers – and their insurers – running scared and the proximity to the Chauvin trial might be contributing factors. I think we’d all be safer if they focused less on blame, implacable support for police unions, and technology, and focused more on hiring, supervision, and training.
Hiring, training, supervision and most importantly their psychological suitability for the job.
It is beyond me how a 26 yr veteran could mistake a gun for a taser. They wear them on different sides of their bodies. As I recall guns on the right and tasers on the left. How any one can mistake a taser for a gun, is beyond me. I haven’t held a gun since the early 70s, but if some one handed me one today, with my eyes closed I’d still know it was a gun.
perhaps it is time police officers were given psychological tests from time to time to see if they were still fit for the job. They have to be able to shoot a gun accurately. Perhaps they ought to know how to deal with situations “accurately”.
Report of arrest: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/14/daunte-wright-kimberly-potter-officer-charge-arrest
Earl is right. That said, yes, I have heard of exactly such cases before, including Grant, and this article gives a list.
We probably wouldn’t hear about an officer pulling a taser instead of a gun, because (hopefully), there would not be a death.
But if the “mistakenly pulled a gun instead of a taser” excuse is used, then presumably it would be just as easy to “mistakenly pull a taser instead of a gun”
…it’s just that we don’t know if that ever happens.
Taser deaths happen all the time. Its manufacturer does its utmost to keep them quiet, to preclude discovery in civil cases by hiding behind contractual provisions with local leos, to settle and impose an NDA on plaintiffs, and to promote scientifically questionable but plausible alternative diagnoses to death by electrocution.
Their product is a weapon. It may not be as lethal as one that fires lead bullets, but it seems false to label it a non-lethal weapon. It is overused and should be withdrawn, in favor of better physical training for police.
As Stephen Colbert describes it, Tasering is, “an act of torture to force compliance.”
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/apr/14/stephen-colbert-taser-trevor-noah-johnson-johnson-vaccine
Thanks Earl. I do know tasers cause death. When I said hopefully, I meant in comparison to a gun.
I guess I wasn’t clear about my question.
I think the “pulled the gun mistakenly” excuse is ludicrous, and as you and bmaz have shown, IF the gun and the taser were both on the officer’s dominant side [the only way I can think of that a “mistake” like that might have happened], then there are more people at fault than just the officer.
Maybe my thought process just isn’t clicking correctly…always a possibility! :-/
Looks like the police chief and the offending officer just quit:
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/13/986866106/brooklyn-center-police-chief-and-officer-who-shot-daunte-wright-resign
they may have resigned to protect their pensions. In some situations if you resign prior to being fired you keep your pension.
I believe it. People make crazy stupid mistakes like that all the time. Not that I’m excusing it; only that I recognise that it can happen. I believe the story, but don’t accept that it makes everything alright.
I certainly don’t put this down to “police union arrogance”, in any case. I have no love for those shitheads but I don’t see where the connection is here.
Anyway, asserting that a cop ought to think twice before shooting is sage advice. But, in this case, the cop was (allegedly) not planning to shoot him with her service weapon.
I’m not surprised that she has resigned. A mistake like this would be tough to shrug off. And for good reason.
Yes to the crazy stupid mistakes being too frequent in humans.
Plumber working in a trench for days being inconvenienced by underground heavy high voltage cables running close to his work. Visually obvious what they were, plumber had been told what they were, plumber treated them with safe proceedures for 3 days. Fourth day plumber got angle grinder out and spent the last seconds of their life trying to cut cables so as to have more room to work.
like an idiot watched vids of the brown lieutenant with the fat, looks possibly hispanic, who cares, cop, so wanting, so lusting to kill him. And then the one of the wrong way dbl x who didn’t know the fucking diff between a taser and a gun. Accidentally killed a bad luck black kid at point blank because he had incorrect air fresheners wrongly hanging from his rear view and a misdemeanor warrant. shoot first, ask questions later, cop culture appears to be a more general problem than just my clan or your race. They seem to really like killing, they do. makes you want to move to mars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqeH76RLpO8
What will also be interesting to see is how the DoD addresses their members that joined in the insurrection. Typically they will wait until the civilian side is done, but even if convictions aren’t forthcoming, the UCMJ has a lot of ways to hold servicemembers accountable and FWIW I don’t think the top brass is at all sympathetic to the insurrectionist viewpoint. Look how quickly General Milley backtracked after the photo op. I can’t see the DoD ignoring this.
UCMJ hits also include potential jail time (including hard labor), loss of pay and benefits, and dismissals from the service at some adverse level (BCD / DD for enlisted, dismissal for officers) which carries collateral consequences.
Media Matters
In a mocking tone, not self-effacement,
he blabs about the great replacement,
He dug it up from some subbasement
of his lost cause and Fox encasement.
Tucker lives QAnon adjacent,
self-indulgent and impatient,
Democracy may still be nascent,
So it’s best not to act complacent.
If we focus on the understatement:
Fox News is our state enslavement,
whitewashing lies in its engagement,
subjecting truth to corrupt defacement.
With taunts that teeter, mostly blatant,
on love of tyrants, not so latent,
By and by, to our jacked amazement,
Dominion may help incur replacement.
Carlson’s replacement rant sounded a lot like John C. Calhoun in 1848 railing against the idea of Mexicans being absorbed into the Union as a result of the American victory in the Mexican War. “Are we to associate with ourselves, as equals, companions, and fellow citizens, the Indians and the mixed races of Mexico? … I protest against the incorporation of such a people … Ours is the government of the white man”.
If Texas ever does secede I’ll be cheering them on to take back what was once theirs. Let the yahoos enjoy life as second-class citizens.
This is going to be like those exhausting years of Mueller coverage and add up to a few slaps on the wrist, isn’t it? Sigh.
Lol, “sigh”, and exactly how the fuck would “you” deal with a 500 +/- member conspiracy case??? It is always easy from the cheap seats where you do not really have to deal with things and reality. Spare me.
I’m worried that people are misunderstanding the relationship between “arrest” and “evidence”. There are multiple ways to get evidence without an arrest.
At this stage we in the peanut gallery *see* stuff when it gets mentioned in connection with an arrest or a detention hearing, and we see the open-source stuff. However, we should remember the proverb about the blind men examining the iceberg under the lamp-post: The part that we can easily perceive is not the whole story.
Sure, there are probably all kinds of details left out of the documents provided to the courts. It would be a mistake to believe that what has been made public is the entirety of the government’s case.
How, though, do you suppose that prosecutors could get hold of all these videos and photos without arresting these people? A judge is unlikely to be forthcoming with subpoenas unless they can demonstrate that there is at least probable cause to seize them from these individuals. I wonder why that you are “worried” about this. If they trespassed — especially as part of an insurrection — then they broke the law. They aren’t likely to do hard time, but they damned well are subject to search and seizure for items/information that are pertinent to the case. They, themselves, may not have participated in the worst crimes, but they participated in the larger event just by being there. That, imho, gives the government the right to demand that they cough up any information related to that event, regardless of whether it is pertinent to THEIR involvement.
(imho because IANAL)
From this evenings NYT:
“Capitol Police Told to Hold Back on Riot Response on Jan. 6, Report Finds”
“Despite being tipped that “Congress itself is the target” on Jan. 6, Capitol Police were ordered not to use their most powerful crowd-control weapons, according to a scathing new watchdog report.”…
In a 104-page document, the inspector general, Michael A. Bolton, criticized the way the Capitol Police prepared for and responded to the mob violence on Jan. 6. The report was reviewed by The New York Times and will be the subject of a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday.
Mr. Bolton found that the agency’s leaders failed to adequately prepare despite explicit warnings that pro-Trump extremists posed a threat to law enforcement and civilians and that the police used defective protective equipment. He also found that the leaders ordered their Civil Disturbance Unit to refrain from using its most powerful crowd-control tools — like stun grenades — to put down the onslaught.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/13/us/politics/capitol-police-riot-report.html
Very much looking forward to the outing of whomever was behind putting the brakes on the Capitol Police.
I’m very interested in learning more about the operations of the
Capitol Police Intelligence Division during the last months of the Trump administration.
Last week CNN obtained the Summary of this report, and wrote about it here:
Watchdog reveals new warning about map of Capitol’s underground tunnels posted before insurrection
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/08/politics/capitol-riot-inspector-general/index.html
Updated 6:35 PM ET, Thu April 8, 2021
The Office of the Inspector General is clearly NOT talking about itSELF here.
Question: What is OIG in this context? CNN does NOT explain in that article.
[One thing I can think of: Office of Intelligence Gathering.]
Or maybe the Capitol Police have their own Inspector General?
Sorry about this…the answer seems to be USCP Inspector General, who is “expected to testify on Capitol Hill”.
I guess I’m still a little confused.
More about the intelligence gathering and assessment division from the CNN article:
I wonder HOW that “became clear.”
More unearthing from Jan 6th.
Prosecutors: Oath Keepers kept weapons at hotel in case violence escalated on Jan. 6
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/548150-prosecutors-oath-keepers-kept-weapons-at-hotel-in-case-violence
Well, that is some of the crappiest op-sec ever. Never leave your drugs or weapons in your hotel/motel room. Jeebus these pricks were dolts.
Goes with their assumption that most of the country supported them and would rise up and “take back” the place.
Right?
kept their weapons in their hotel rooms???? You’d think they would have kept the armaments some place else.
these people were not bright, at all. Not only isn’t it bright, but it isn’t safe.
PBS: Frontline – American Insurrection
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/american-insurrection/
Over the last three years, FRONTLINE has collaborated with ProPublica to investigate the rise of extremism in America. In the aftermath of the assault on the U.S. Capitol, FRONTLINE and ProPublica team up again to examine how far-right groups were emboldened and encouraged by former President Trump and how individuals were radicalized and brought into the political landscape.
11:04 – “We have had enough! We’re not gonna take your fucking vaccines! We’re not gonna take all your bullshit! The people are rising up! Folks, I am now on the steps of the Capitol. Here we go! Here we go! Having a good time!”
Reminds me of a song from The Who’s “Tommy”
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
We’re not gonna take it
Never did and never will
We’re not gonna take it
Gonna break it
Gonna shake it
Let’s forget it better still