1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

FBI arrests MAGA rioter who attacked cops with flagpole and wrote about it in his diary



A 71-year-old Pennsylvania man has been charged by the Department of Justice with assaulting police officers during the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Like many other MAGA rioters that day, Howard Charles Richardson of King Prussia was captured on video as part of the crowd fighting with law enforcement outside the building. But Richardson was also betrayed by an unusual witness, according to the Feds: His own diary.

The FBI visited Richardson October 25 at his home, according to the criminal complaint against him. Here’s how that went:

‘Agents executed a search warrant for Richardson's residence and person. During the search, agents located two red hats and a black and blue windbreaker with a "Brigantine Beach" logo on the upper left chest, which matches the jacket Richardson is seen wearing (at the riot). Agents also found a day planner that Richardson acknowledged was his. Richardson wrote that he parked at 11:00 a.m., was at the front of the Capitol building at 12: 15 p.m., "gates were breeched" at 1:00 p.m., "moving up to steps" at 1:30-1 :45 p.m., and "got pepper sprayed" at 2:00 p.m. He noted that he "started to leave" the Capitol at 3:30 p.m. (U.S. Capitol surveillance footage in fact shows RICHARDSON, identified by the same blue windbreaker and khaki pants, walking away from the Capitol building at approximately 3: 10 p.m. on January 6.)”

The FBI also cited more conventional video evidence against Richardson, as reported in a DOJ new release:

“Video footage depicts Richardson in a group near the bicycle rack-style barricades outside the Capitol. At approximately 1:38 p.m., carrying a metal flagpole with a blue flag attached, he approached an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department. In the video, Richardson can be heard yelling, “here it comes,” before swiftly approaching the officer’s position and striking the officer with the flagpole three times. He only stopped swinging after the flagpole broke in his hands.”

Richardson is charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a dangerous weapon, among other charges.

You can read the FBI complaint against Richardson here.

https://www.rawstory.com/fbi-arrests-maga-rioter-who-attacked-cops-with-flagpole-and-wrote-about-it-in-his-diary/

[Rick Plant]

Federal judge blasts Trump and his allies for 'stoking the flames of fear' before Capitol riot



This Wednesday, a federal judge said that the individuals behind the Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the Capitol riot should be held accountable for stoking "the flames of fear," POLITICO reports.

Although U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson didn't mention former President Donald Trump by name, she said the efforts of Trump's allies stoked "discontent and explicitly encouraged [attendees] to go to the Capitol and fight for one reason and one reason only: to make sure the certification of the election didn’t happen.”

Jackson made her comments as she was sentencing Capitol riot defendant Russell Peterson. As POLITICO points out, Jackson is the latest judge to suggest Trump's influence helped spark the events of Jan. 6.

"No one was swept away to the Capitol. No one was carried,” she said to Peterson. “There may be others who bear greater responsibility and should be held accountable. But this is not their day in court. It’s yours.”

Peterson was sentenced to 30 days in jail and $500 in restitution.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-capitol-riot-2655904572/

[Rick Plant]

Trump DOJ official to plead the 5th -- and Capitol riot committee will 'hang it around his neck'

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig on Wednesday told CNN's Erin Burnett that the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riots was about to make things very uncomfortable for former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark.

Even though the committee voted to move forward with criminal contempt charges against Clark on Wednesday, the former Trump official is nonetheless slated to appear before the committee soon, where he is expected to assert his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Burnett pointed out that "it's going to sound damning" if Clark pleads the Fifth on every question at the hearing, and Honig replied that this is exactly why the Capitol riot committee wants to make him do it.

"The committee wants to make Jeffrey Clark own it," he explained. "The want to hang that Fifth Amendment [response] around his neck. Make him said it over and over, 'I take the Fifth, I take the Fifth, I take the Fifth.'"

Honig went on to explain that Clark is well within his rights to assert his Fifth Amendment rights -- but only if he believes that speaking truthfully could implicate him in a crime.

Burnett then played a supercut of all the times former President Donald Trump attacked aides of one-time Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for asserting their Fifth Amendment rights.

Watch the video below:

[Rick Plant]

'Big warning signs' for indicted Capitol rioters after a Wednesday court hearing: reporter

On Wednesday, NBC4 Washington's Scott MacFarlane, a leading reporter covering the Capitol riot trials, reported that one of the latest cases portends "big warning signs" for participants in the attack.

"Some big takeaways, perhaps some very big warnings, for U.S. Capitol riot defendants today in an otherwise low-level case," said MacFarlane. "Today was sentencing day for Russell Peterson, his day to ask for leniency. Peterson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in his case, unlawful picketing at the Capitol. He faced up to six months in jail at sentencing, and he ended up getting one month."

Even though the defendant got just one month in jail, MacFarlane said that the judge's remarks during the hearing were nonetheless an ominous sign.

"The judge says Peterson wrote a letter to the court that seemed genuine, seemed to show remorse, and Peterson said very little during the proceedings, saying only that he's sorry and that this is his cross to bear," MacFarlane explained. "Genuine remorse seems to benefit defendants. And the judge went further and said, 'For a lot of other January 6th defendants, their minds haven't changed, their ways haven't changed, they're not showing remorse.'"

MacFarlane added that, according to his own reporting, "at least 40 January 6th defendants are in the D.C. jail as of tonight in pretrial detention, and according to lawyers and some who've served time there, they're almost cult-like in the January 6th wing, segregated from the rest of the population, and that it's a radicalizing dynamic in that jail, and that minds aren't being changed in that wing."

In other words, he said, these defendants should expect the law to come down much harder on them.

"What's more, the judge said this," added MacFarlane. "Donald Trump and the White House rally may have stoked the mob, may be partly responsible for that mob, but that the defendants are, in her words, 'adults,' and they bear responsibility for what they did that day. Another possible warning for the defendants not to assume Donald Trump will be a get-out-of-jail-free card."

Watch video in link below:
https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-hearing-2655906762/

[Rick Plant]

MAGA rioter with middle-finger tattoo arrested after girlfriend tags him on Facebook



An accused Capitol rioter who swung a stick at police on Jan. 6 was arrested Thursday after online sleuths tracked him down based partly on the tattoo on his middle finger saying, "F*ck you."

Justin Jersey of Flint, Michigan, who became known as #Fingerman, was shown attacking officers while wearing a University of Michigan sweatshirt in video circulated by the FBI over the summer. At the time, he was listed as No. 106 on the FBI’s Capitol wanted page.

"Jersey was friends with another Capitol riot defendant, Trevor Brown, and Jersey’s girlfriend publicly tagged the two men in a post about Jan. 6 on Facebook," the Huffington Post's Ryan Reilly reports. "Online sleuths found an Instagram image of Jersey that showed what appeared to be a 'FUCK YOU' tattoo on his left middle finger — which can also be spotted in images of him swinging a stick at officers — erasing any doubt about the identification."

Reilly added on Twitter, "Tattoos are the unsung heroes of the Jan. 6 probe, probably followed closely by freckles and moles."

According to the Detroit News, which first reported Jersey's arrest, he is facing six charges, including assault, civil disorder, breaking into a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct, violent entry and engaging in physical violence.

The assault charges are punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

"Jersey made a brief appearance Thursday in federal court and is being held without bond pending transfer to federal court in Washington, D.C.," the newspaper reported.

Watch the video of Jersey assaulting officers below:

https://www.rawstory.com/maga-rioter-arrested-2655912624/

[Rick Plant]

Pardoned Trump ally will only agree to hand over documents if he can testify publicly to Jan 6 committee



Bernie Kerik, a former New York City police chief and friend to Rudy Giuliani, has agreed to hand over documents to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, but only if they agree to let him testify publicly. The committee wants information about the "command center" that was stationed at the Willard Hotel during the attack, reporter Betsy Woodruff Swan wrote Thursday.

When Kerik was first called his lawyers sent out a letter to the committee saying that he wasn't even there. The problem is that President Donald Trump's campaign gave $225,000 in payments to the firms owned by Kerik and Giuliani. Those funds include more than $50,000 for rooms and suites at the Willard. The committee also cited the book by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, which discusses Giuliani's attendance, but doesn't mention Kerik.

“If you were not personally responsible for this fabrication and false statements, then someone on your staff was and should be held accountable,” the letter continues. “Someone either intentionally fabricated this claim, or someone failed at the simple task of carefully reading the sources before writing a letter claiming that the sources ‘have revealed credible evidence.’”

A week after the statement was released, Kerik said that he will comply with the subpoena, hand over the documents they're seeking and he will testify.

He then gave mixed messages, saying that whatever work Kerik did is covered by lawyer/client privilege because Giuliani's firm was working for the Trump campaign. Kerik, who isn't a lawyer, has his own company, The Kerik Group. If he was paid through that and not through Giuliani he may not have a case to claim lawyer/client privilege.

Kerik was among the pardons that Trump issued before leaving office. He was sentenced to four years in prison, pleading guilty to eight felony charges including tax fraud and lying to White House officials during his failed nomination to be the first Secretary of Homeland Security by George W. Bush.

Read the full report:

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/23/bernie-kerik-january-6-apology-523259

[Rick Plant]

Trump's coup was not defeated and America's democracy crisis is now worsening
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-s-coup-was-not-defeated-and-america-s-democracy-crisis-is-worsening/

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: MAGA rioter starts sobbing in front of FBI agents when asked about Trump calling him to DC



Newly released video shows an emotional MAGA rioter crying in front of FBI interrogators after being asked about former President Donald Trump calling him to Washington D.C.

The video, which was posted on Twitter by NBC 4 Washington's Scott MacFarlane, shows Capitol rioter Danny Rodriguez being grilled by the FBI about the reasons he came to Washington to take part in the siege of the United States Capitol.

"How did he let you guys know to come to D.C.?" asked one agent.

"He was the commander-in-chief and the leader of our country," an emotional Rodriguez recalled. "And he was calling for help! I thought he was calling for help! I thought he was..."

At this point, Rodriguez started openly sobbing.

"I thought I was doing the right thing," he continued.

Rodriguez is currently facing multiple criminal charges, including conspiracy, assaulting a police officer, entering a restricted building, and theft and destruction of government property.

Watch the video below:
https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-crying-video/