Source: Pacific Press / Getty
The nation is closely approaching the two-week mark of the treasonous insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that left five dead, and dozens injured following a rally Donald Trump held moments before their violent arrival.
The FBI was warned of the “war” in an internal report issued days before the domestic terrorist attack that “painted a dire portrait of dangerous plans, including individuals sharing a map of the complex’s tunnels, and possible rally points for would-be conspirators to meet up.”
Because of this, white supremacists were able to ransack the Capitol and correctly navigate the corridors with ease. There’s even a theory floating around that a hand full of Republican members of Congress helped the pro-Trump extremists by giving them a tour of the building on the eve of their arrival.
On the day of the riot, Trump held a rally denouncing the election moments before the Electoral-Vote convened to confirm President-elect Joe Biden, the official winner of the United States Presidential election. Through his encouragement, Trump told his followers to interfere with the ceremony and stop the vote. And they did for a while.
The rioters arrived and were met with the weakest line of defense possible, which some say points to sympathizers within Capitol law enforcement.
https://twitter.com/bumbera_steven/status/1347270969988173825?s=20
Operating under the support of their shameful president, the insurrectionists surrounded the U.S. Capitol and violently clashed with Capitol Police until they breached building security to reach the Senate floor. While millions of Americans watched the violent attack unfold with horror live on television, the Trumps stood by in a tent not that far away and safely enjoyed the show. It’s sickening.
The eager terrorists quickly shared updates of their journey into the Capitol across their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook profiles. The self-incriminating footage documented their illegal acts of theft, property damage, and plots to capture and assassinate Congress members.
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Their stupidity was pure gold for the FBI, though. As we speak, the Department of Justice works around the clock to identify as many insurrectionists as possible.
“The F.B.I. had received more than 126,000 photographic and video tips as of earlier this week, as agents also scrubbed airline passenger manifests and video of air travelers to and from Washington to find potential suspects,” the Times reports. “The top federal prosecutor in Washington said this week that he expected the number of people charged with crimes tied to the Capitol riot to rise into the hundreds.”
So far, more than 100 people have been arrested in connection to the deadly terrorist attack at the Capitol, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg. For the record, we hope all of them are caught and are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Thankfully, social media has taken great pride in keeping track of the latest arrest updates. We won’t post all of them here, but we’ve grabbed over a dozen that should be on your radar.
1. Edward Jacob Lang
Edward Jacob Lang, 25, from Hudson Valley, NY was arrested over the weekend by the FBI after agents linked him at the scene of the insurrection by following self-incriminating videos and photos of himself with the violent mob uploaded on social media. He wanted to be found, son.
“THIS IS ME,” one post said. “I was the leader of Liberty today. Arrest me. You are on the wrong side of history.” In another video he’s seen swinging a baseball bat at police and, at one point, making contact with their riot gear.
2. Anthime Joseph Gionet
Anthime Joseph Gionet who goes by “Baked Alaska,” is a known white supremacist with a documented violent past.
Federal agents claim that Gionet “used the blockchain service DLive to live stream more than 20 minutes of himself inside the Capitol,” which violated the conditions of his pretrial release for criminal charges in Arizona. Apparently, the disorderly genius assaulted a local bar employee with pepper-spray after he refused to leave their establishment.
By fleeing Arizona, and subsequently ditching his scheduled hearing in court to participate in the riots in DC, he was immediately a wanted man by Arizona police.
Oh, he also tested positive for COVID just days before arriving at the capitol. The dude is a super spreader.
3. Dominic ‘Spazzo’ Pezzola
A scruffy man with long hair smashed the glass on one of the windows in the Capitol that helped the right-wing terrorists break federal grounds on Jan 6. One of the people who helped with the breach is Dominic ‘Spazzo’ Pezzola, a member of the white supremacist group the Proud Boys.
He also “bragged about breaking the windows to the Capitol and entering the building” to them. The witness went on to say that Pezzola and the group he was with had “said that anyone they got their hands on they would have killed, including Nancy Pelosi.”
Vice caught up with a couple of his classmates to get an idea of the 43-year-old alt-right mobster, and it’s exactly what you would expect: “Out of everyone in our class, I would have picked him out as a domestic terrorist,” one classmate, who asked to remain anonymous for her safety, told VICE News. “He was always a bit machismo,” remarked another, who had the same request for anonymity.
He was arrested with the quickness.
4. Damon Michael Beckley
Just moments after the angry mob attacked and killed Capitol Police, one man from Louisville, Kentucky stood in front of a camera and angrily spewed a message directed at Donald Trump’s number two man:
“Vice President Pence, my name is Damon Michael Beckley, and I do not appreciate one bit this situation you caused here, sir!” the enraged man says, in part. “We’re not putting up with this tyrannical rule. If we’re going to come back here and start a revolution and take all of these traitors out, which is what should be done, then we will!”
The video instantly went viral and exposed Beckley as the founder of the white supremacist extremist group DC Under Siege. Knowing the Feds were on his tail, the once unapologetic right-winger went into hiding after removing his SIM card from his phone and deleting his Facebook page.
During an off-camera interview with local news, Beckley immediately walked back his threats in order to clear his name. Apparently, he said “he meant retribution should happen at the ballot box. He said he didn’t hit anyone or tear anything up inside the Capitol and helped others get out. He also claimed he only went inside in the first place to check on a friend.”
His punk ass still got caught, though.
5. Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson
Two off-duty police officers from Virginia who bragged on social media about storming the Capitol are now facing disorderly conduct charges from the DOJ.
Both Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson took photographs inside the Capitol and stupidly sent it to colleagues who ended up posting them on Facebook.
A special agent for the Capitol Police wrote in a statement what he found on Robertson’s Facebook post: “CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business … The right IN ONE DAY took the f****** U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us,”
Fracker’s post wasn’t any better. “Lol to anyone who’s possibly concerned about the picture of me going around … Sorry I hate freedom? … Not like I did anything illegal.”
People reports that the two men won’t face jail time or wear GPS tracking ankle bracelets while out on bail, thanks to a super understanding judge. For now, they are prohibited from going to Washington D.C. and are barred from participating in any more demonstrations. Their firearms also had to be surrendered.
6. Timothy Hale Cusanelli
There’s a mystery man who joined the mob of racist insurrectionists that is currently being protected in the media due to his privileged security clearance.
Naval Criminal Investigative Services, known as NCIS, were tipped off about Timothy Hale Cusanelli thanks to an unnamed source. Apparently, this guy has strong white supremacist and neo-nazi ties and said to have a “secret” security clearance and access to a variety of weapons.
CBS Philadelphia reports “He was arrested on charges including knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disrupting the orderly conduct of government business, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, obstructing a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.”
They better revoke his clearance.
7. Couy Griffin
Couy Griffin, an elected county commissioner in New Mexico and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump, was arrested by the FBI for his role in the Capitol attack. He had the brilliant idea to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk.
During a commissioners meeting last week, Griffin said he would return to Washington D.C. on Inauguration Day with firearms.
“I’m gonna be there on Jan. 20 … and I’m gonna take a stand for our country and for our freedoms,” Griffin said in the meeting via AP News.
“I’m gonna leave either tonight or tomorrow. I’ve got a .357 Henry Big Boy rifle lever action that I’ve got in the trunk of my car and I’ve got a .357 single action revolver, the Colt Ruger Vaquero that I’ll have underneath the front seat on my right side and I will embrace my Second Amendment,” he said.
Now walking back his actions, Griffin says he was “caught up” in the moment and claims to have remained on the U.S. Capitol steps while the rest of the mob stormed inside restricted areas.
Of course, his uploaded self-incriminating videos on Facebook proving the complete opposite.
8. Peter Stager
There was a point during the Capitol breach where the white supremacists clashed with Capitol police. One was violently dragged into the crowd and beaten with various objects, one of which was a flag pole held by Arkansas’ own Peter Stager. The video was so jarring that it spread like wildfire on Twitter.
Stager says in one of the videos: “Everybody in there is a treasonous traitor. Death is the only remedy for what’s in that building.”
Stager eventually turned himself in to local police after a do-gooder recognized him in the videos and reported him to the FBI. “A second person also identified the man as Stager, reports KATV. “That person told authorities that he spoke to Stager after the riot and Stager told him that he thought the person he was hitting was part of the antifa movement, even though the officer clearly had “Metropolitan Police” on his clothing.”
9. Richard Barnett
One of the most famous faces of the insurrection belongs to Richard Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Arkansas. He’s the guy who went viral for sitting in Nancy Pelosi’s office with his feet on her desk and stole an envelope off of her desk.
A New York Times reporter quotes him saying “I didn’t steal (an envelope). … I put a quarter on her desk, even though she ain’t (expletive) worth it.”
With his new internet fame, he was easily identified and later surrendered himself to FBI agents on charges for entering a restricted area with a stun gun, disorderly conduct, and theft of public property. He’s facing 11 years in federal prison.
Did we mention he’s a hard-looking 60-years-old?
10. Adam Christian Johnson,
Remember the red-haired grizzly man who gleefully carried Nancy Pelosi’s lectern through the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol? Well, he got caught, too.
Adam Christian Johnson, 36, went viral and quickly became one of the faces of the insurrection. After his arrest, he was charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, theft of government property, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
He’s so screwed even his lawyer knows his client isn’t going to beat the charges. “I’m not a magician, and neither is Mr. Bigney,” his lawyers told reporters. “We’ve got a photograph of our client in what appears to be inside the federal building, inside the Capitol, with government property.”
By the way, Johnson is from Florida. You know the vibes.
11. Aaron Mostofsky
Aaron Mostofsky, son of Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, went viral after he was photographed inside the Capitol wearing fur pelts and a bulletproof vest inside the Capitol.
“After the photos emerged, Mostofsky told The Post that he felt “we were cheated” in the election.
“I don’t think 75 million people voted for Trump — I think it was close to 85 million,” he said. “I think certain states that have been red for a long time turned blue and were stolen, like New York.”
Even with hella video showing him with the insurrectionists, his lawyer insists he wasn’t apart of the mob.
They’re handling this guy with white gloves which probably has something to do with his well-connected father. Mostofsky faces four felony charges including theft of government property and unlawful entry, and theft of government property. If found guilty he could serve 10 years in prison.
12. Kevin Seefried and his son Hunter
Kevin Seefried gained internet fame after photos emerged on social media of him carrying the Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol.
As it turns out, his son, Hunter, was also there clearing out the broken glass in one of the windows to help the rioters unlawfully trespass the property.
According to their arrest warrant, Kevin brought the Confederate flag from his Delaware home and brought it to D.C. He “traveled with his family from Delaware to the District of Columbia to hear President Trump speak and that he and Hunter Seefried participated in the march from the White House to the Capitol led by an individual with a bull horn,” CNBC reports.
Both men surrendered and were charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and one count of depredation of government property.
13. Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr.
A retired Air Force officer by the name of Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. was seen in photos wearing head-to-toe combat gear carrying zip-tie handcuffs while storming the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection.
“He means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said of Brock. The prosecutor did not provide further clarification on his comments.”
Thanks to a lenient judge, Brock was ordered to home confinement, required to surrender any weapons, and was restricted from internet use.
“I need to put you on a very short rope,” [Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton] said. “These are strange times for our country and the concerns raised by the government do not fall on deaf ears.” He warned that Brock would likely face further charges.
It’s a slap on a wrist if you’ve seen one.
14. Eric Munchel and his Mom Lisa Eisenhart
Better known as “zip tie guy,” Eric Munchel, 30, was arrested last Sunday after photographs of him in military-style gear holding plastic restraints went viral on Twitter. He also wore a gun on his hip and had a cell phone on his chest that recorded his actions that day.
His mom, Lisa Eisenhart, tagged along to join the mob of insurrectionists wearing a bulletproof vest. When approached by a newspaper, she stated she’d “rather die as a 57-year-old woman than live under oppression.”
