POLITICAL CULTURE

“We proudly take responsibility,” say Trump supporters

David Leibowitz

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Feb 25 · 6 min read

Yesterday, during a hearing about the January 6 Capitol riot, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) revived a conspiracy theory from January, stating that “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters” were to blame for the violence, destruction, and death. His evidence, gleaned from an article authored by J. Michael Waller in The Federalist, a right-leaning online publication, classified these individuals as “Antifa or other leftist agitators” due to damning evidence he witnessed first-hand — young men wearing MAGA hats backward!

Johnson accepted these absurd notions, which flew in the face of actual testimony from law enforcement at the Capitol building that day. Capitol Police captain Carneysha Mendoza described suffering chemical burns to her face, injuries inflicted by rioters, some who came packing with bear mace. But most protesters had a “jovial, friendly, earnest demeanor,” Johnson said while reading from the article. “Many of the marchers were families with small children.”

All of the “provocateurs” these geniuses described as inciting and causing violence at the Capitol were Trump supporters. Not Antifa, not BLM. And the rioters demand credit.

Johnson received swift criticism for his claims. “It’s disgraceful for a sitting Senator to spread disinformation so blatantly, said Representative Adam Kinzinger via Twitter. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) tweeted that she wanted to make one thing clear — “provocateurs did not storm the Capitol. They were not fake Trump supporters. The mood on January 6 was not festive. That is disinformation.”

The defense calls its first witness

But it’s easy to debunk Johnson’s wild claims. The defense wishes to call its first witness: actual rioters. That’s because some Trump supporters are agitated and quite vocal that other groups, like Antifa, might be getting credit for their lawlessness. “Don’t you dare try to tell me that people are blaming this on Antifa and BLM,’ said Jonathan Gennaro Mellis on Facebook, first reported by Huffington Post. “We proudly take responsibility for storming the castle.” Mellis was arrested by the FBI, accused of beating officers with a stick at the Capitol.

The Department of Justice charging document for another rioter, Ryan Nichols, for his part in the riot includes his Facebook post from January 7 where he shares, “I hear so many reports of Antifa storming the Capital [sic] building. Know that every single person who believes that narrative has been duped again!” He concludes the post by stating that the mainstream media “wants you to believe that only Antifa stormed the Capital [sic]. That’s not true.”

Nichols has been charged with, among other things, conspiracy and unlawful entry with a dangerous weapon, assaulting a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.

Proud Boys dressed as Antifa, not the other way around

While Senator Johnson spouts conspiracy theories claiming Antifa dressed as Trump supporters, it turns out that the opposite was true. According to at least one arrest warrant from the United States District Court, some organized Trump supporting groups telegraphed their intentions to camouflage themselves as Antifa to avoid suspicion. In that unsealed criminal complaint, Felicia Konold and four other Proud Boys are charged with conspiracy for their organized efforts to obstruct police.

Records of Konold’s Snapchat messages are included as evidence in the complaint, where she laughs while saying she “never could have imagined having that much influence on the events that unfolded.” She was also recruited into the Kansas City Proud Boys chapter and proudly shared a picture of her “challenge coin” as proof of membership.

Johnson and Waller precisely described the organized, far-right Trump supporters that incited the riot and caused the violence, not Antifa.

Before they were identified and arrests were made, I published a visual investigation of the group’s coordinated efforts to remove police barricades and incite the crowd. Many, including Konold and her Proud Boy co-conspirators, were discernable by their use of orange tape as a means of group identification.

The Proud Boys members routinely attend rallies, protests, and other First Amendment-protected events. They sometimes engage in violence against individuals they perceive as threats, the charging document says.

The complaint further states that Proud Boys leader Enrique Torrio posted a message on Parler December 20, announcing that the group would “turn out in record numbers but this time with a twist” by not wearing their traditional black and yellow. “We will be incognito, and we will be spread across downtown D.C. in smaller teams. And who knows, we might dress in all BLACK for the occasion,” posted Tarrio.

The Department of Justice understood the statement about dressing in “all BLACK” as a reference to dressing like the group known as Antifa, “who the Proud Boys have identified as an enemy of their movement and who are frequently depicted in the media clad in black clothing.”

Joseph Biggs, according to the same charging document, posted a similar message on Parler. “We will be blending in as one of you,” he said. “You won’t even see us. You’ll even think we are you.” The Justice Department understood that “in referring to ‘you,’ Biggs was directing these statements at Antifa.”

Senator Johnson should RTFM

As Johnson read his remarks into the record during the hearing, his ignorance was on full display as he mentioned the fourth category of people at the Capitol described by Waller. Waller is equally unaware of even the most basic identification of anti-government groups when he says he saw a “column of uniformed, agile younger men (who) walked briskly, single-file, toward the inaugural stand.”

He called these the organized, prepared, “disciplined, uniformed column of attackers” who had clean camouflage uniforms, some “including the Punisher skull.”

If only Johnson and Waller could recognize that they precisely described the organized, far-right Trump supporters that incited the riot and caused the violence, not Antifa. If only there were an authoritative source on the matter. If only there were — wait for it — another Department of Justice charging document!

In a criminal complaint charging conspiracy against Sandra Parker, Bennie Parker, Jessica Watkins, and Donovan Crowl, a “stack” of individuals dressed in matching camouflaged-combat attire were identified as Oath Keepers. Oath Keepers, according to the Justice Department, “are a large but loosely organized collection of militia who believe that a shadowy conspiracy has co-opted the federal government.” They focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement, and first responders, states the complaint.

The stack, or “columns,” as defined by Waller, is defined in the complaint as a tactical formation used by infantrymen in the military. The defining feature is that “members keep their hands on the backs or vests of the person in front of them to remain together while entering a room or weaving through a crowd.”

In a Parler video selfie captured inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Donovan Crowl says, “We took on the Capitol! We overran the Capitol!” according to the criminal complaint.

And that Punisher skull appearing on crisp military fatigues? The comic book antihero’s symbol has been co-opted by far-right groups in recent years, like Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and Three Percenters, according to The New York Times.

In 2019, Donald Trump Jr. posted a photo on Instagram while on a fishing trip and wearing a modified version of the skull symbol. It was emblazoned with the word “MAGA,” a tuft of hair in the styled like Donald’s, and in the center — the Three Percenter logo.

All of the “provocateurs” these geniuses described as inciting and causing violence at the Capitol were Trump supporters. Not Antifa, not BLM. And the rioters demand credit.