1/6 Insurrection Investigation

[Rick Plant]

Feds have also included transcripts of alleged text messages sent to and from OathKeepers Founder Stewart Rhodes. Including from an Arizona figure named Todd Kandaris discussing movement of group from Arizona before Jan 6.

[Rick Plant]

High-level US Capitol riot defendant Mark Ponder has pleaded guilty to assaulting police.

In signed plea deal, Ponder acknowledges swinging pole & striking officer and yelling "Hold the line!"..."Do not give up" amid mob as police tried to arrest him.

[Rick Plant]

Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes is being held in the jail in Alexandria, Virginia pending trial in Jan 6 conspiracy case.

The jail provides this updated booking photo.



Justice Department prosecutors have charged Rhodes and 10 of his fellow Oath Keepers with participating in a “seditious conspiracy” in their efforts to overturn the election results. Rhodes and nine other defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges; one defendant has pleaded guilty.

Legal experts say the evidence that Rhodes and his confederates were conspiring to commit violence on Jan. 6 is so damning that it could justify charges of sedition in this case. A conviction on seditious conspiracy charges carries a maximum 20-year prison term.

[Joe Elliott]

ARRAIGNMENT today in recently filed Capitol riot case of Matthew Krol, who is accused of wresting baton from officer. Feds allege "Krol then turns to the crowd, holding up the baton as if in celebration".

This is good to hear.

What is the latest information, if any, about a case moving forward against David Walls-Kaufman and Taylor Taranto being charged with assaulting D. C. Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith? I understand there is video of Taranto giving a weapon, like a baton, or a crowbar to Walls-Kaufman, who then struck Officer Smith. Officer Smith received severe head injuries and committed suicide 9 days later. And yet, many months later, I hear hardly anything about this.

Question:

Why has this case stalled?

Is the video not definitive enough to identify either Taranto or Walls-Kaufman?

I am perplexed that the press has seemed to drop this story without explanation.

[Rick Plant]

This is good to hear.

What is the latest information, if any, about a case moving forward against David Walls-Kaufman and Taylor Taranto being charged with assaulting D. C. Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Smith? I understand there is video of Taranto giving a weapon, like a baton, or a crowbar to Walls-Kaufman, who then struck Officer Smith. Officer Smith received severe head injuries and committed suicide 9 days later. And yet, many months later, I hear hardly anything about this.

Question:

Why has this case stalled?

Is the video not definitive enough to identify either Taranto or Walls-Kaufman?

I am perplexed that the press has seemed to drop this story without explanation.

Taranto is being sued by Officer Smith's widow and it received light coverage in the local Washington state media. The last real in depth article about this case was back at the end of January. This is a good read for people not familiar with the case.

Police Officer Died By Suicide After Jan. 6. Here's What He Went Through At The Capitol.

Bodycam footage shows what Officer Jeffrey Smith experienced at the Capitol on what his widow described as "the worst day of his life."

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeffrey-smith-capitol-riot-suicide_n_6172c53de4b06573573a9ba4

[Rick Plant]

In sentencing memo, Jan 6 defendant W. Jake Peart acknowledges his friends stayed behind, while he went inside Capitol. And memo says Peart "joined other rioters" calling out politicians, "Where are the Senators?".. and "called out the name of U.S. Senator Mitt Romney".

[Rick Plant]

Plea hearing scheduled for today in the US Capitol riot case of Louis Colon of Missouri..... Colon is accused of forcing open barricades amid the mob.

Feds: "Colon grabbed a chair and placed it in the path of a separate barrier".

[Rick Plant]

Former Police Officer Who Swung Flagpole Claims Self-Defense In Jan. 6 Trial

Thomas Webster, a former New York City police officer who swung a flagpole and tackled a U.S. Capitol police officer during the January 6 Capitol riot, is claiming self-defense in his trial. NBC's Ryan Reilly has details.

Watch: