The inevitable end result of our last 56 years

[Matt Allison]

For those that don't understand where all the purposeful anti-American misinformation originates, enjoy this announcement of said disinfo operators being federally charged with conspiracy:

 

[Matt Allison]

Those that think it's somehow improper to help Ukraine in its fight for democracy should also understand that Putin has been waging an undeclared war on the U.S. since roughly G.W. Bush's 2nd term. Russia should face consequences for that. Plus a little extra.

 

[James DiEugenio]

22 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Jim-

"The documentary film-maker said there might have been about 12 cops around at that time.  Versus about 250 Proud Boys."

Where do these numbers come from and what do they mean? 

The Capitol Police department has 3,500 officers, and the DC Metro another 2,500 officers. All armed. 

On 1/5 the M$M was alive with stories there would be troubles on 1/6, including NPR. 

Where do you get the number "12" for cops?  

Most accounts have the Oath Keepers with 14 or so guys in DC (who went into DC from Virginia unarmed on 1/6). The Proud Boys are said by the Lawfare blog to have been "a tiny percentage" of the 1/6 occupation, though perhaps key in the breaching. The Proud Boys were also unarmed, as only one person arrested in the Capitol breach was armed. 

BTW, Ray Epps admits to having been an Oath Keeper, and is copiously video-ed exhorting protestors to "into the Capitol," on 1/5 an 1/6 and was present at the initial breach. 

If you believe there was planning to breach the Capitol that day...what gives on Epps? 

Is it possible to believe that there was planning by the two-dozen or so Oath Keepers and Proud Boys to breach the Capitol---albeit going up unarmed against the armed, 3,500-member Capital Police---but simultaneously exonerate Ray Epps?  

An interesting take on 1/6, and not at all flattering to Trump---but deep: 

https://www.lawfareblog.com/conspirators-proud-boys-and-oath-keepers-jan-6

 

If you look at the Hearings Ben--I think day two--the film maker Quested, was shooting very early, at about 10-10;30.  As the Proud Boys walk toward the Capitol area, the police are just beginning to get their gear on.  And there are only a small number there. This is not at the Capitol, its a couple of blocks away.  Both Quested and Thompson said  that there were about 200-250 Proud Boys who eventually arrived on the scene.  And they had sent their arms and explosives off site in VIrginia. According to an informant , they were planning on doing away with Pence and Pelosi.

[James DiEugenio]

BTW, the Capitol Police were completely outnumbered and over powered. There must have been 8,000 of the crowd there. And they knew where to go for entrances. As they attacked more than one at the same time.

The Proud Boys used a phalanx movement to break through the line.

That crowd was really ready.  They had all kinds of chemical weapons.  And they were using clubs and poles to strike the officers. And they swiped and destroyed tens of thousands in media equipment. The policewoman who testified on day two, she was actually knocked out. She revived and then she was sprayed. She suffered a concussion, and today is behind a desk. To think how unprepared the police were is amazing, what an intel failure. If I had to compare it to something it would be the Tet offensive. Its really kind of shocking to see how fast their positions were overrun--one by one-- and how quickly they were calling for reinforcements.

She said, look, I was not trained for combat.  We are trained to restrain people and detain people. But this crowd came armed and ready to fight.

Edited July 29, 2022 by James DiEugenio

[W. Niederhut]

28 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:

BTW, the Capitol Police were completely outnumbered and over powered. There must have been 8,000 of the crowd there. And they knew where to go for entrances. As they attacked more than one at the same time.

The Proud Boys used a phalanx movement to break through the line.

That crowd was really ready.  They had all kinds of chemical weapons.  And they were using clubs and poles to strike the officers. And they swiped and destroyed tens of thousands in media equipment. The policewoman who testified on day two, she was actually knocked out. She revived and then she was sprayed. She suffered a concussion, and today is behind a desk. To think how unprepared the police were is amazing, what an intel failure. If I had to compare it to something it would be the Tet offensive. Its really kind of shocking to see how fast their positions were overrun--one by one-- and how quickly they were calling for reinforcements.

She said, look, I was not trained for combat.  We are trained to restrain people and detain people. But this crowd came armed and ready to fight.

     Absolutely.  And it certainly looks like a number of Trump's flying monkeys in the "Deep State" were complicit in blocking an appropriate Capitol security response to the advanced intelligence about impending Trump mob violence on January 6th-- at the Pentagon, (Chris Miller, Charles Flynn?) Secret Service, (Murray, Ornato) DHS, (Chad Wolf) FBI, (Wray) and (?) within the command structure of the Capitol Police.

   Compare the lax Capitol security on January 6th to what Trump did in response to the largely peaceful George Floyd protests in D.C...

 

Below:  Trump's National Guard deployment for the George Floyd protest in D.C.

Edited July 30, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

If you look at the Hearings Ben--I think day two--the film maker Quested, was shooting very early, at about 10-10;30.  As the Proud Boys walk toward the Capitol area, the police are just beginning to get their gear on.  And there are only a small number there. This is not at the Capitol, its a couple of blocks away.  Both Quested and Thompson said  that there were about 200-250 Proud Boys who eventually arrived on the scene.  And they had sent their arms and explosives off site in VIrginia. According to an informant , they were planning on doing away with Pence and Pelosi.

Jim-

Someone will have to tell the federal prosecutors what you say. They are not using numbers anywhere close to 250. 

Perhaps Quested has videos of 250 Proud Boys? I have not seen such footage, which would likely be broadcast if it existed, no?

How did Quested know the 250 individuals were Proud Boys, who did not wear ID-insignia that day? 

This is what bothers me about the 1/6 hearings. They are a prosecution without court rules or a defense. Hearsay evidence, any biased surmisings are presented as evidence, and without question to a trusting audience.

Much of the hearings seem intended to induce fear, and to demonize political opponents. (BTW, the Trumpers will do the same thing, if they ever win control of the House again.) 

Quested says he saw 250 Proud Boys, but has no video evidence, and the Proud Boys (who are weirdoes, btw) intentionally dressed anonymously that day, to blend in. They were also instructed by E. Tarrio to move about on small numbers, not all 24 members bunched together.

But the number of 250 gets tossed out there and accepted. 

In court documents, the feds are stating that 14 (or close to) Oath Keepers were on the scene, and 10-20 Proud Boys. I will re-check docs, as a superseding indictment has been filed. 

The Oath Keepers seem to be getting a pass, as not active in the initial breach of the Capitol, but entering thereafter, although there are mixed reports. 

Some entrances to the Capitol had six officers protecting them, behind...bicycle racks.

Really, everyone was shrieking for days agitation was planned on 1/6....and the Capitol Police have six officers behind a bicycle rack at some entrances? (This is captured on video, btw). 

I have tried to count the number of Capitol Police officers on the scene that day, at least on the outside of the structure. I come to about 10-15% of the 3,500-armed Capitol Police were deployed around the building. The commander of the Capitol Police civil disturbance unit was at home making meatloaf on 1/6 (re WaPo). 

Shouldn't 1/6 have presented an "all hands on deck" call to the Capitol Police? "Cancel holidays, leave, book your overtime, bring your gear, as everyone is expected at the Capitol at 6 am."?   

The Capitol Police have nothing better for barriers than bicycle racks? 

I have reservations regarding the Secret Service on 11/22, and I have reservations regarding the Capitol Police on 1/6. 

----

BTW, for comic relief, here is a description from lawfare of an Oath Keeper:

"Afterward, Oath Keeper Watkins began recruiting people to join the tiny local militia she had founded, called the Ohio State Regular Militia, apparently in anticipation of bringing them to D.C., too. Watkins, then 38, ran a bar called The Jolly Roger in Woodstock, Ohio. She lived in an apartment above the bar with her companion, who was also a dues-paying Oath Keeper. Watkins is an Army vet who had served in Afghanistan. (According to later representations by her attorney, she is a transgender female who “was forced out of the military after her sexual orientation was discovered.”

---30---

More comic relief: The Oath Keepers had pondered crossing the Potomac from Virginia by boat on 1/6, and using the landing ramp facility at the Pentagon to moor their boats, for their assault on Washington. 

I just have a sense the Oath Keepers are not a threat to the nation. 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Benjamin Cole

[W. Niederhut]

8 minutes ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Jim-

Someone will have to tell the federal prosecutors what you say. They are not using numbers anywhere close to 250. 

Perhaps Quested has videos of 250 Proud Boys? I have not seen such footage, which would likely be broadcast if it existed, no?

How did Quested know the 250 individuals were Proud Boys, who did not wear ID-insignia that day? 

This is what bothers me about the 1/6 hearings. They are a prosecution without court rules or a defense. Hearsay evidence, any biased surmisings are presented as evidence, and without question to a trusting audience.

 

Ben,

    Why do you keep repeating these same debunked talking points from the right wing media about the January 6th hearings?

    Your "hearsay" talking point is nonsense, as is your comment about mere "surmisings."  The witnesses have all testified under oath about their direct firsthand experiences with Trump and his cabal.

    What you are repeatedly claiming is just recycled Trumpaganda-- misleading memes from the MAGA-verse about the damning evidence.  These were outlined in detail in the Media Matters reference I posted for you yesterday.

    Watch the J6 hearings on You Tube to learn the facts.  You'll learn a lot.

Edited July 30, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[Benjamin Cole]

7 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said:

Ben,

    Why do you keep repeating these same debunked talking points from the right wing media about the January 6th hearings?

    Your "hearsay" talking point is nonsense, as is your comment about mere "surmisings."  The witnesses have all testified under oath about their direct firsthand experiences with Trump and his cabal.

    What you are repeatedly claiming is just recycled Trumpaganda-- misleading memes from the MAGA-verse about the damning evidence.  These were outlined in detail in the Media Matters reference I posted for you yesterday.

    Watch the J6 hearings on You Tube to learn the facts.  You'll learn a lot.

Quested said he saw 250 Proud Boys on 1/6. He is given a platform on national TV, at the (scripted and produced) 1/6 hearings.

Quested is a professional videographer, extremely capable of documenting events. I can tell you, if I saw 250 Proud Boys heading towards the Capitol, my smartphone would be out and recording. And I am a rank amateur. 

Is there a YouTube of the 250 Proud Boys Quested says he saw? No video? 

A professional videographer failed to capture the moment? 

Set aside, the Proud Boys purposely attired themselves to blend in with the crowd that day. 

In addition to watching the televised hearings, reading primary documents is also helpful. 

---30---

"In a Dec. 29, 2020, post on Parler, Tarrio called on gang members to “turn out in record numbers” on Jan. 6, but this time “with a twist.” He continued: “We will not be wearing our traditional Black and Yellow. We will be incognito and we will be spread across downtown DC in smaller teams.” 

---30---

So...Quested saw 250 Proud Boys? But has no video? You believe Quested? Why does the 1/6 committee present such "evidence" to a national TV audience? 

Of course, much of text-messages by Oath Keepers and Proud Boys suffers from delusions of grandeur. They actually led pitifully small clumps of people, many who appear somewhat mentally challenged--as in planning to use the boat-landing ramps at the Pentagon to effect an assault on Washington.  

Do you ponder if a lot of this 1/6 narrative is fear-mongering? And to what purpose? 

[Ron Bulman]

Was inflation created?  For profit and propaganda purposes?

Oil companies earn record-shattering profits as high prices squeeze consumers (msn.com)

[Benjamin Cole]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1510791/download

For those interested primary documents....in addition to TV shows. The above is the superseding indictment against the Proud Boys. 

On page 9, you see that federal prosecutors allege that Proud Boys were instructed by Tarrio to arrive in DC "incognito" ---no Proud Boy insignia or colors. And to move about in small groups. 

So what did film-maker Quested see?

In his testimony Quested says he did not get a "frame" of the whole Proud Boys group, but has a portion of the group at the edge of a "frame" in which he took in a broader scene.

So no video of the 250 Proud Boys? I would think that would be essential piece of a documentarian's work. 

---30---

Perhaps someone reading this who is more familiar with federal indictments and informants can illuminate this:

The latest federal indictment (see link above) makes reference to smartphone texts sent by PERSON-1, PERSON-2 and PERSON-3, who communicate with Enrique Tarrio, and other members of the Proud Boys. 

The federal government cites the texts sent word for word, indicating they have copies of the texts. For example, on page 10, a text sent by PERSON-1 on Dec. 26 says, "I am assuming most of the protest will be at the capital building...." There are numerous examples of such texts in the indictment. 

But the identities of PERSON-1 and -2 and -3  are not revealed. On page 6, it is revealed that PERSON-1 had suffered a knife wound in an earlier altercation in DC, on Dec. 12. 

So, the federal government must know who is PERSON-1, but is not revealing his/her identity.

Why?

Are PERSON-1 et al informants? Sometimes you see the "T-2" etc. phrase for an FBI informant in official documents.

If PERSON-1 is an informant...how on earth were Capitol Police so unprepared on 1/6? Why did the federal government let the 1/6 riot happen? 

If PERSON-1 is not an informant but a bona fide Proud Boys member and participant...why hide their identity? Surely other Proud Boys can deduce PERSON-1's identity from the texts cited and the knife wound.

So it would be futile to hide PERSON-1's identity from the Proud Boys--they know PERSON-1's identity. The public does not know PERSON-1's identity. Why?  

Like I say, read those primary documents. 

Who is PERSON-1? Anyone know? 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Benjamin Cole

[W. Niederhut]

Homeland Security watchdog halted plan to recover Secret Service texts, records show

July 29, 2022

No paywall

Homeland Security watchdog halted plan to recover Secret Service texts - The Washington Post (archive.ph)

Edited July 30, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[Ron Bulman]

Could this be the valet that Cassidy Hutchinson helped clean ketchup off the wall and pick up pieces of the plate thrown at the wall in the former prez's tantrum?

Why a White House valet may be the big reveal in season two of J6 hearings (msn.com)

[Benjamin Cole]

Well, doing online research...it appears the PERSON-1, -2 and -3 in the superseding federal indictment against Tarrio and the Proud Boys were likely embedded informants.  See:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1510791/download

For example, here is an entirely different case, involving drugs, prosecuted by the US Justice Department:

"As a Carlisle police officer and task force officer with the CCDTF and FBI, COLLARE recruited and enlisted confidential informants to assist in drug investigations. 6. At COLLARE's direction and under his supervision, confidential informants participated in controlled buys. Persons #1 through #8 were informants who participated in controlled buys at the...."

https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1237306/download

OK, so the expression "persons" was used to describe a collaborator with a federal sting and prosecution. 

So...I am still not 100% sure, but as of now it appears PERSON-1, -2, an -3 in the indictment were federal informants, planted into the Proud Boys by the federal government. But possibly not. I just have not seen enough indictments and federal prosecutions to know for sure. 

If anyone is familiar with such cases, speak out....

This is interesting for two reasons:

1. As far as I can tell, no one in the M$M has reported that there were federal informants embedded into the Proud Boys, or has raised the question of who were "PERSON-1,-2,-3. You would think there would be some interest in this. 

2. The informants were participating in text messages regarding planning for travel to the Capitol on 1/6, and potential activities on that day. 

As of now, it looks like PERSON-1,-2,-3 were federal informants or assets, cognizant of Proud Boy plans, and even participating in the planning for 1/6.

If the three persons were federal assets, that explains why they are not named as "co-conspirator-1," -2 or -3. Federal assets cannot be charged as co-conspirators. That is likely a tell in this case. PERSON-1, -2, and -3 were conspiring with Tarrio and others on what to do on 1/6, but at the direction of the federal government, and  so are not legally culpable.  

The expression  "PERSON-1" can be a government actor, or someone who is not going to be charged with a crime, according to Twitter-chatter. 

The troubling aspect of this is that evidently federal assets in the Proud Boys in December and early January were texting and conspiring with Tarrio to possibly create trouble at the Capitol on 1/6....but somehow no one in DC was at all prepared, least of all the Capitol Police. 

It is interesting what you learn when you do your primary research. 

If you are Donk AG Merrick Garland----and federal assets were embedded into the Proud Boys----but there are no texts from Trump to the Proud Boys...do you want to prosecute this case? 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Benjamin Cole

[Benjamin Cole]

13 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

If you look at the Hearings Ben--I think day two--the film maker Quested, was shooting very early, at about 10-10;30.  As the Proud Boys walk toward the Capitol area, the police are just beginning to get their gear on.  And there are only a small number there. This is not at the Capitol, its a couple of blocks away.  Both Quested and Thompson said  that there were about 200-250 Proud Boys who eventually arrived on the scene.  And they had sent their arms and explosives off site in VIrginia. According to an informant , they were planning on doing away with Pence and Pelosi.

Jim-

Nothing dispositive, but interesting. 

Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS (2017). Director: Nick Quested.

I wonder who financed that film.

Well...the film, directed by Nick Quested, was screened at the Council of Foreign Relations  

They had a conference about the film, Oct. 25, 2017

Speakers

Janine di Giovanni, Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Middle East Editor, Newsweek; Author, The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria

Sebastian Junger, Narrator, Director, and Producer, Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS; Author, Tribe, WAR, and The Perfect Storm; Academy Award Nominated Filmmaker for Restrepo

Nick Quested, Director and Producer, Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS; Executive Director and Owner, Goldcrest Films

Presider Kim Barker Reporter, New York Times; Author, The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Former Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Panelists will discuss National Geographic Documentary Films’ Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS, as well as the Syrian war and its political and social consequences. The documentary pulls footage from a family living under ISIS control, Kurdish fighters in Singar, Shia militias in Iraq, and al-Qaida-affiliated fighters in and around Aleppo and Raqqa. 

All CFR Presents - Council on Foreign Relations

https://www.cfr.org › all-cfr-presents

 

Diplomacy and International Institutions ... Event with Janine di Giovanni, Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested October 25, 2017.

 

BTW, National Geographic also produced this show:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cia-Confidential-National-Geographic/dp/B002DPPHAS

 

That is a chronicle of the hunt for Bin Laden. 

 

This is not dispositive. Quested can end up presenting at the Council of Foreign Relations, and getting funding from the CIA-friendly National Geographic, and it does not prove him out as an intel-asset or lackey. 

 

However, Quested does keep interesting company. 

 

BTW: Biden is still drone-bombing people in Syria. 

 

Biden: Top Islamic State leader in Syria killed in drone strike

https://www.politico.com › news › 2022/07/12 › top-isi...

 

Jul 12, 2565 BE — The top leader of ISIS in Syria, al-Agal was killed Tuesday via drone strike outside Jindayris, Syria, in an operation that targeted two senior ...

 

 

[Benjamin Cole]

Don Trump is in Iraq? Posing as a Shiite cleric? 

Iraqi protesters breach parliament building in Baghdad--Associated Press 

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA2 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands of followers of an influential Shiite cleric breached Iraq’s parliament on Saturday,