Eyewitness account of some of the events on January 6
I don’t know how accurate this article is, but it seems worth reading. It’s an account in The Federalist by an eyewitness at the rally in DC on January 6 who was also in the crowd outside the Capitol that day. The author is J. Michael Waller, a senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy.
Something happened here, what it is ain’t exactly clear.
One thing is becoming more and more clear, though: security was shockingly inadequate, considering the massiveness of the rally and the fact that the activity they were protesting was going on that day in the Capitol. In this previous post, I’ve already touched on some of the “how” of the decision-making around that. But what of the “why”? Fools or knaves or both?
One thing we do know is that the inauguration will be amply guarded:
Workers installed razor wire atop 7-foot fencing around the US Capitol and the National Mall was ordered closed on Friday ahead of next week’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
The unprecedented fortification and lockdown came as a Defense Department official said authorities had decided to increase the number of National Guard members needed to protect Washington DC to 25,000, The Associated Press reported.
The size of the military force could still be increased before the Jan. 20 ceremony, AP said.
My BIG QUESTION is why do the Dems want to turn DC into an armed camp? The National Mall is closed. Streets are blocked.
I find it very hard to believe that there is any credible threat. Today on Fox, they were suggesting that the streets were blocked by giant National Guard trucks in order to stop truck/car bombs.
My thoughts.
1. Dems want to exaggerate the threat in order to make Biden look like a savior of the Republic.
2. Nice excuse for low turnout.
3. Want to paint Trump and his people as violent people bent on conducting a takeover of the government.
Will the fence keep the dems in?
Wil the military turn on them?
Asking for a friend.
Agreed.
Great propaganda opportunity. Plus, they may indeed believe there is great danger. And perhaps there is – now that they have continued to fan the flames.They may want the counter-revolution to escalate, in order to clamp down further.
I may write a post on that last thought.
Joe couldn’t fill a broom closet while he was campaigning, now he will be able to brag that he got 25,000 to show up, even if they were ordered to be there.
Why would anyone who supported Trump bother to show up? Maybe they’re worried about Antifa? Especially now that there are reports coming out that one of the prime instigators of the Jan 6 riot was an Antifa operative from Portland who has been arrested.
Twenty five thousand troops in DC is theatrics along the lines of all three of Cornhead’s points. Especially 1 & 3. It reminds me of 100+ millions of travelers inconvenienced with shoe inspections after the botched Richard Reid shoe bombing incident. But I’m repeating myself.
There has been little, if any, commentary, from leftists or from the MSM about the arrest of BLM’s John Sullivan of Utah; now that it has been proven that at least one deranged leftist activist was present at the Capitol in order to foment unrest, how can it be claimed that only “right-wing” extremists were to blame, and that they alone deserve to be subjected to one of the largest operations in the history of the corrupt and incompetent FBI/DOJ?
“They may want the counter-revolution to escalate, in order to clamp down further.”
That’s where my money is. Not just in this specific case, but in general. Looking forward to your post on this.
This is long (2 hours and 15 minutes) but well worth the time: two honest, honorable men of the left — Bret Weinstein (formerly of Evergreen State College) and Jeremy Lee Quinn (of Univision TV) — discuss the siege of the Capitol, with Quinn’s eyewitness account and both men’s nuanced analyses. Both Weinstein and Quinn have great integrity, in my opinion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFJdjO0fD4E
So….we’ll have more troops in Washington, D.C. next week than we presently have in Afghanistan and Iraq, combined.
How fitting for the world to contemplate this, as the images roll out, after all the shrill nonsense about an ‘insurrection’. Nobody to see the inauguration except the invited Ruling Class and the foot-soldiers. I wonder if we can have all the troops march past the review stand.
I would like to remind everyone the correct name is “The Evergreen State College”. It is not a state college named Evergreen. It is a college named “The Evergreen State”.
@Chases Eagles: Yes. Thanks for that correction. During my long residence in Washington State, people simply called it Evergreen State College, or just Evergreen. Shorthand can be misleading.
Perhaps more than any other factor, security being shockingly inadequate reveals that it was a black flag event. Add all the factors together and the simplest explanation that fits the circumstances is a black flag op.
Cornhead,
It’s fairly obvious where this is headed, when you step back and look at all the democrat’s actions to date.
“They may want the counter-revolution to escalate, in order to clamp down further. neo
That seems more and more likely and if so, I think it likely to turn out to be a fatal mistake. Escation of oppression has little chance of long-term success in America. An armed public raised with the cultural meme of “unalienable rights” argues against it.
“how can it be claimed that only “right-wing” extremists were to blame…” j e
The democrats can claim whatever they wish because they know that the MSM will spread their lies far and wide. While also knowing that there are are less and less means of getting the truth out to independents and liberals, since they control the narrative. The goal of which is to effectively eliminate conservatives, independents and moderate liberals having any say whatsoever in governance.
Efforts to achieve that goal shall prove to be… counter-productive. History will demonstrate that today’s democrat leadership, base and wealthy donor class “choose… poorly.”
Yes “The” is very important in their official name although it contains a “he.” That “he” should be removed. It is also important to recognize that they consider themselves a college. More of a daycare actually. 🙂
They self identify (official name) as “The Evergreen State College.”
https://www.evergreen.edu/
Fencing with razor wire (concertina wire) installed to protect Creepy Joe and the Ho. The interwebs are forever Democrats/leftists. Why not position some M1A2 Abrams tanks, too? AH64 Apache attack helicopters flying overwatch? Tank Abrams of Georgia (the actual governor don’t you know) would certainly approve. 🙂
Apparently, John Sullivan has emerged as a key Antifa style leader in the Cap Hill violence. He’s been arrested and charged by the FBI for it. But has previously appeared on CNN and a Good Morning America as an activist and self-proclaimed journalist.
John Sullivan was next to Ashli Babbitt when she was shot and died. He videographed her while she was shot. So, who is this a John Sullivan?
Stephen Oatley of PT News has made understanding this character his mission since last fall, trying to grasp this young black man’s sudden radicalisation last spring.
Since the death of George Floyd, Sullivan has been a Zelig like personality at Antifa actions in Portland, Seattle, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah.
How was this man — who was adopted by a well off White Army veteran, Lt. Col., and his wife, and raised in the LDS (Mormon) faith, who became internationally famous as an aspiring Olympic speedskater, replete with an Uber sponsorship and TV commercial — turned into a race hustling agitator bent on violence and revenge?
Oatley believes Sullivan will be charged for causing the death of Babbitt as a leading instigator of the Cap Hill riots.
In Oately’s “Fact Checking John Sullivan”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BrCJZFmng0
He corrects details of the story currently in the news, including some that use his work without credit.
In this hours earlier video, Oatley surveys the media coverage and breathlessly explains why he was motivated to research this mystery character as a racial agitator, bent on violence, and shows us a couple of Sullivan’s videos and photographs (See 5 to 35 minutes)
“Wake Up America! BLM/Antifa Capitol Riot Arrest”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YC3XBUa38E&t=469s
A window into the the mind of today’s radicals? Or just a strange aberration?
I just remembered. I’ll have to miss the inauguration. That’s the day I have to change all the shelf paper in the kitchen. Embarrassing. It’s curling up and getting brown along the edges… Troop-lined streets. Razor wire. What exquisite demented theater. Stay away. Every decent American should stay away. I hope every cop and guardsman goes home bored and in shame after playing a role in this calculated kabuki of insult to the American people. Of course, the Democrats will be bussing people in as mise en scene for the sad show. God help us.
The incoming administration and it’s apparatchiks are certifiable. Optics will be gold for those who make memes.
G.B.:
I wish I could agree with your idea that “Escalation of oppression has little chance of long-term success in America. An armed public raised with the cultural meme of “unalienable rights” argues against it.”
We have accepted a profound, sustained loss of unalienable rights so obviously this past year.
You might give Michael Walsh’s “Last Chance: Why Men Fight When All is Lost” a read. He says ” The only culture that doesn’t defend itself is one bent on suicide”. Our young believe in socialism! 99% of our schools indoctrinate instead of educate. The MSM lies routinely by omission and/or commission.
Look at DC: 25,000 soldiers prepared to shoot to kill their fellow citizens for the inaugural. Razor wire around the site. And the nation went batsh*t crazy about a few deaths at Kent State?!?
Are we going to witness the inauguration of an American Chavez or Maduro? Yes, we are. Harris and the DNC will be his backbone, even though half the time he won’t know what he is signing.
We are done. I have been saying so for some time and have not been shown to be a silly alarmist yet. USSA!
Evergreen as short name is self chosen by the school. My younger brother went to Evergreen. I have been there many times.
Boeing’s actual name is “The Boeing Company” chosen short name is Boeing obviously. TBC was absolutely forbidden.
Well the Joint Chiefs now have an administration they can support? I’m just glad President Trump and his family won’t be in attendance. Will Pence be attending? Who can say.
Idle speculation alert. The fate of Hosni Mubarak and Indira Ghandi didn’t used to be a thing that I associated with American politics but these are strange times. Secret Service has a lot more threats to be concerned about it seems.
https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2021/01/15/stuff-just-got-serious-national-guard-troops-stationed-at-us-capitol-have-been-cleared-to-use-lethal-forcetioned-at-us-capitol-cleared-to-use-lethal-force-n310537
Anyone ever want to see two genius level lizard people sunning themselves on a rock and solving the world’s problems, just google for Peter Thiel and Eric Weinstein (Bret’s Brother).
It’s not the Uncanny Valley of humanoid robotics / AI, but it kind of rhymes.
The Weinsteins are interesting case of ‘Honest Leftists’. I respect their honesty, however they aren’t likely to be of much use in the coming troubles.
@ Chases Eagles: To follow up on The Evergreen State College, it is not a private school but a public institution (around 50 percent of its annual operating budget comes from a combination of state appropriations and state/federal grants, with tuition as well as sales and charges for services accounting for the rest). Evergreen’s full proper name always sounded pretentious to me, as in “The Ohio State University” (the full name of another institution that is exceedingly jealous of its definite article). That said, I will once again recommend the excellent podcast/video featuring Bret Weinstein (formerly of Evergreen) and Jeremy Lee Quinn.
I will listen to the podcast later. From what I remember from earlier times that Weinstein objected to the identity politics trying to implemented at Evergreen. He is what you call a liberal and not a progressive. They turned on him and drove him out. The revolution always eats it’s own.
I believe the fencing and barb wire will remain after the inauguration. Like Obama stopped White House visits after the shutdown, they will wall themselves off from “those people”. Wait three weeks and see if it remains.
They are scared of us. Remember that. We have power.
Sullivan was in the Capitol along with the CNN videographer. Why isn’t she being charged? A press pass doesn’t give the holder a pass for involvement in illegal activities.
Militarizing the capital city makes it looks even more like a coup and usurpation.
MollyG – I graduated from THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. Do I seem pretentious? 🙂 The butt kicking from Alabama in football sure made me humble.
Kate:
I must “correct” you based on the behavior of thrBLM/Antifa “press” corps in Portland during 2020. They were classified as “independent media” by some Federal judge and got kid gloves treatment immediately afterwards. Funny thing how laws are remarkably malleable or elastic. Standing and laches? But maybe the law will change again?
Is there a “Another Evergreen State College” or “Another Ohio State University?”
going to be happy with that.
Off topic, Spartacus, thanks for diverting me from my funk momentarily. As a U of F drop out, and life-long Gator fan, (Most family members actually graduated from there.) I will never forget your guy Kirk Herbstreit smugly opining that “the Gators don’t belong on the same field with The Ohio State University”. That was one of my all time favorite games.
The FBI and the Intelligence services are in a dither over a threat. They know there is a threat, if you believe the media, because of “chatter”. Chatter apparently did not bother them before 1/6. Maybe they were listening to the wrong chatter; or maybe BLM and ANTIFA were silent.
Some would say that chatter is healthy because it relieves a little of the built up angst. I can’t evaluate that, since I am not a recognized expert on threats.
I am surprised that the FBI and the Intelligence Services woke up. They have been dozing since they were busily fabricating evidence against Trump a few years ago. The events of the summer did not disturb their naps. The part about being surprised is a joke. I am not surprised at all. This is their chance to go at Trump and his supporters again. After all, if Trump’s supporters are chattering he must have told them to chatter.
So far, to my knowledge, the FBI has identified three perps, from 1/6. One of those can prove that he was 600 miles away. The other two are known Leftist agitators. Nice work guys. I don’t think Kamala is
Well, I butchered the edit.
It is Kamala who won’t be happy with the FBI’s performance.
The FBI claims it had warning the day before Jan. 6th. Why weren’t there additional federal forces there? Why wasn’t the White House and Nat Security alerted? Very, very fishy.
It is entirely believable that the Federal Mall super lockdown is for the delusional reason given. Pretending an upside down version of reality is in vogue lately among the left.
Another possibility is spoken about in other areas of the internet regarding what might actually happen on January 20th. High security for that outcome would clearly be called for.
As a precaution, I have extra provisions on hand in case the latter possibility unfolds. Granted, it’s just a hopeful dream, but wouldn’t it be fun?
Evergreen State.. hehe… The first and only time I ever graced Olympia WA with my august presence, someone tried to sell me weed within 10 mins of arriving and parking to check out the Capitol (which turned out to be closed for structural repairs). Back then, Portland seemed pretty normal.
Establishing a perimeter around the Capitol suggests a fear of the Executive branch. They might have some special festivities in mind. Curious that so many of the N Guard units are from “Blue” states. Should be one heck of a party! Will there be “Blue” and “Gray” arm bands?
25 years ago Portland was A. B. Normal (neurotic) now it is fully psychotic sociopathic.
Pray for the safety of the soldiers and civilians in DC. Who knows what the incoming regime has in mind? Something historic undoubtedly.
om, what I’m hoping for is that the large majority of the nation will do what I’m going to do on Jan. 20: Completely ignore anything going on related to the inauguration and its alleged “unity and reconciliation” theme. I don’t believe a word of it, and I am not interested in watching a pantomime.
What’s notable about photos of the DC Guard deployment is just how many land whales waddle amongst their ranks. Where’ve they been deployed to of late? Arby’s? Did they enlist for unlimited rations of Government Cheese?
Wouldn’t want to be carrying that much blubber around in combat. Fitness issues aside, the yaw and cavitation damage from FMJ hits only gets worse with penetration depth. Then again, won’t necessarily be FMJ incoming in a civil fracas.
Mike-SMO —
If you go to Google Maps and turn on “show traffic” you can see that the roadblocks encircle the Capitol, the entire Mall, and the White House, plus bridges and apparently feeder routes.
Re DC It’s a ringed show of force for a potted plant!
The Vegicrats have arrived to Worship…it.
Kate:
I won’t be watching either.
Zaphod, the National Guard are part time soldiers, round is a shape BTW.
It’s a puzzlement… but there’s no doubting that the Guardian Ring of Michelin Men, Women(Jaysus Wept), and and Gender-Varyings is Corn Fed.
J. E. Dyer turns an intel-analyst’s eye on recent international events, domestic chaos, and the inauguration.
I have no idea where this is all going to end up, but she always takes a look behind the stage flats and around the corners that most pundits don’t even know exist.
https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/01/16/trumps-end-of-term-another-dead-cat-bounce-in-the-operational-sequence-of-events/
An analysis of the Capitol Police Force. It has 2300 officers, more than many cities, and was unable to organize and repulse an incursion of several hundred unarmed people. It reports entirely to Congress.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/01/capitol-hill-riot-was-pelosis-fault-not-trumps-daniel-greenfield/
An analysis of the Capitol Police Force. It has 2300 officers, more than many cities, and was unable to organize and repulse an incursion of several hundred unarmed people. It reports entirely to Congress.
Yep. Note how many police officers and security guards are employed at large in this country, and note how many Capitol police officers there are, and note the number of people are employed by our federal legislature and the number of visitors on a typical day. Compare the number of protective services personnel per person in the society at large to the ratio of Capitol Police officers to the mean population at the Capitol and it’s office buildings. Protective services personnel per person on Capitol Hill exceeds that of the country at large by a factor of 11. Your government at work.
Curious that so many of the N Guard units are from “Blue” states.
I imagine the red state governors flipped them the bird. If you fancy you need all that firepower for security, cut your budget and hold the ceremony indoors. Worked for Gerald Ford.
I don’t believe a word of it, and I am not interested in watching a pantomime.
The DNC media won’t be showing the massive TelePrompTer, but I imagine a wag might get a shot of it which will go viral before Dorsey, Zuckerberg, and the Google conventicle can take it down.
fate of Hosni Mubarak and Indira Ghandi
Anwar Sadat. Hosni Mubarak died in bed about a year ago.
Old Flyer – “Spartacus, thanks for diverting me from my funk momentarily. As a U of F drop out, and life-long Gator fan, (Most family members actually graduated from there.) I will never forget your guy Kirk Herbstreit smugly opining that “the Gators don’t belong on the same field with The Ohio State University”. That was one of my all time favorite games.”
Yeah and we Buckeye fans felt so good when Ted Ginn took the opening kickoff and scored immediately. After that…….blah. That is the fun of college sports. You can be a fan. Even today they didn’t ruin it too much with the political theater like the NFL and NBA.
Alabama was a class act after winning. I really admire what Nick Saban has done to make boys into men. I wish that our universities could do the same with the rest of the student body.
Art Deco:
Thanks for the correction, memory of Anwar Sadat’s murder in the viewing stands and haste in posting got the best of me. An example of “If I Recall Incorrectly” (IIRI).
This is what wiki has on Center for Security Policy –
“The Center for Security Policy is a far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The organization’s founder and current president is Frank Gaffney Jr. who is known for promoting falsehoods about President Barack Obama being a Muslim.”
Now contrast that on what wiki has on SPLC or the ACLU. The verbiage and tone are quite different.
Winston Smith is an editor at wikedmedia.
GRA – given that the ACLU mildly advised putting the brakes on the Gulag train, their Wiki entry may soon change verbiage and tone.