The Matthew Perna Story, Part 1

STUDIO: 

 

WHEN MATTHEW PERNA FOLLOWED HIS CONSCIENCE AND HIS CURIOSITY INTO THE US CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6TH, HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WOULD COST HIM.

 

LIKE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS HE HAD DOUBTS ABOUT THE OUTCOME OF THE 2020 ELECTION AND WENT TO WASHINGTON D.C. TO PROTEST, EXERCISING HIS FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS THE WAY AMERICANS HAVE DONE SINCE THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED. 

 

HE WAS NOT AN INSURRECTIONIST AND HAD NO PLANS TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT. IN FACT, MATTHEW PERNA WAS A BERNIE SANDERS FAN UNTIL TRUMP CAME ALONG AND DONATED TWICE TO SANDERS’ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN.

 

SO HOW DID A YOUNG MAN, THEN THIRTY-SIX, WHO WAS KNOWN FOR HIS GENTLE NATURE AND HAD NEVER BEEN IN TROUBLE IN HIS LIFE GET ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, FACING PRISON FOR ACTIONS THAT AT ANY OTHER TIME IN U.S. HISTORY WOULD HAVE BEEN TREATED AS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND NOT CRIMES?

 

THE LAST THING MATTHEW PERNA EXPECTED AFTER TURNING HIMSELF IN FOR NON-VIOLENT OFFENSES AND PLEADING GUILTY WAS FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO TRY TO ADD YEARS BEHIND BARS AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT PROSECUTORS WERE PLANNING….ONLY THEY NEVER GOT THE CHANCE. 

 

{TAKE PKG}

 

 

[MATT PERNA 022]  [01;00;35;04 -01;02;03;29]

Geri

Matt called me on the phone that Monday after he got done speaking to his attorney and he was sobbing and he was stuttering uncontrollably, like I had never heard Matt speak this way before. //And I said, “Matt, don’t worry.”  I’m crying on the phone with him. “Don’t worry. God is not going to let you fail.”

 

GERI PERNA WAS A CONSTANT IN HER NEPHEW MATTHEW’S LIFE, GROWING UP IN A TIGHT-KNIT ITALIAN FAMILY, SHE SAID THEY WERE ALWAYS CLOSE…AND SHE STAYED CLOSE TO HIM IN THE TURMOIL OF HIS LIFE AFTER JANUARY 6TH.  

 

 

[MATT PERNA 022]

Geri: The last word I said to him was, “I love you.” He said, “I love you too, Aunt Geri. I’m sorry. I’m sorry you lost all your friends because of me.”

 

MATTHEW PERNA’S FATE WAS SEALED THE MOMENT HIS FACE APPEARED ON THIS FBI WANTED POSTER, HIS AUNT SAID. SUSPECT NUMBER 73, STOOD OUT IN HIS RED TRUMP SWEATSHIRT AS CAMERAS RECORDED HIM INSIDE THE CAPITOL…ROUGHLY FOURTEEN MINUTES THAT COST HIM HIS BUSINESS, HIS REPUTATION AND THE WOMAN HE PLANNED TO MARRY… IT ALSO SHATTERED THE SANCTITY OF HOME, WHERE HE WAS SHUNNED AND SHAMED BY PEOPLE HE KNEW AND OTHERS HE’D NEVER MET. GERI SAID HE FELT LIKE THE WALLS OF SHARPSVILLE, THIS SMALL TOWN OF IRON AND STEEL THAT OVER THE PAST CENTURY HAD FORGED FOUR GENERATIONS OF THEIR FAMILY IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, WERE CLOSING IN…. 

 

THEN CAME THE CALL THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING:

 

 

[01;02;34;06 – 01;03;06;06] Geri

I just stepped my foot in the tub and my phone rang and it was one of my brothers. // he said “Geri, you need to get a plane ticket and come home.” //”Matt just hanged himself in his garage.”

 

GERI PERNA WAS A THOUSAND MILES AWAY AT HOME IN FLORIDA ON THAT ICY FRIDAY NIGHT IN LATE FEBRUARY, 2022….WHEN HER NEPHEW PUT A ROPE AROUND HIS NECK AND TOOK HIS LAST BREATH, SHE SAID HE HAD BEEN AT THE MERCY OF THE U.S. JUSTICE SYSTEM FOR OVER THIRTEEN MONTHS. 

 

[01;06;05;00 – 01;06;23;10]

Geri

“He was pushed to the point where he didn’t feel life was worth living anymore. They robbed him of his spirit. They robbed him of his hope, his will to live. They took his fight away from him.”

 

[01;06;23;18 – 01;06;24;10]

Lara

They broke it.

 

[01;06;24;21 – 01;06;27;21]

Geri

They completely broke him and they broke his heart.

 

[01;06;27;26 – 01;06;29;04]

Lara

And they knew what they were doing.

 

[01;06;29;04 – 01;06;56;29]

Geri

Yes.

 

OR AT LEAST THAT WAS HOW IT FELT. STRESSFUL MOMENTS IN MATTHEW’S CASE WOULD COLLIDE WITH STRESSFUL EVENTS IN HIS LIFE, GERI SAID, LIKE THE HEARING THE DOJ SCHEDULED FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF HIS MOTHER RONI’S DEATH. AS THE PRESSURE MOUNTED, THOSE WATCHING OVER MATTHEW FRETTED.

 

 

[MATT PERNA 03] [01;22;01;10 – 01;22;15;21)

 

[01:20:53] GERI: He had a friend who is a caterer. When Matt was a teenager, he used to work with him. That’s how he got to know him//

 

[01:21:13] LARA: So he’s older than him?

 

[01:21:15] GERI: Oh, yeah. Much older than him. He is a Black gentleman. He’s a very good friend of our family’s.

 

[01:21:27] LARA: Matthew loved him?

 

[01:21:28] GERI: Oh, yes. He loved him with all his heart. //different sides of the political arena, but it didn’t matter to Matt. They were friends. //and he prayed for Matt all the time. //He encouraged him daily, and he told Matt, he said, “I’m going to bring you some dinner. What time do you want me to come by?”// Matt told him to come by around 5:30. And so he went there.  He went up to the porch and there was a note on the door.

 

[01:22:16] LARA: What did it say?

 

[01:22:17] GERI: It said, “I’m in the garage. Call 911.”

 

[01;23;18;28 – 01;23;21;16]

Lara

What did he do when he found him?

 

[01;23;22;26 – 01;23;52;08]

Geri

//he tried to cut him down the rope //and actually one of the police officers that was first on the scene, was a friend of Matt’s and he – he tried so hard giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for the longest time because Matt was still warm at that point, but he was gone.

 

IN A TOWN OF FOUR AND A HALF THOUSAND PEOPLE THAT SPANS LESS THAN TWO SQUARE MILES, MATTHEW PERNA’S DEATH REACHED INTO MANY HOMES. IN HIS MEMORY, MORE THAN 10-THOUSAND PEOPLE SIGNED THE ONLINE GUESTBOOK. 

 

[NAT POP FROM NEWS] – <“Matthew Perna faces up to 20 years in prison.”>

 

BUT THE STIGMA OF JANUARY 6TH HUNG LIKE A DARK SHROUD OVER THE FAMILY AND GERI SAID THREATS AND “HATE MAIL” STARTED POURING IN, AS IF THE POLITICS OF DIVISION THAT TORTURED HER NEPHEW IN LIFE FOLLOWED HIM WITHOUT MERCY INTO THE GRAVE. 

 

<NATS of protests>

 

GRACE THAT WAS GIVEN TO THOSE WHO BURNED DOWN BUSINESSES AND BUILDINGS PROTESTING GEORGE FLOYD’S DEATH, WAS NOT AFFORDED TO THOSE PROTESTING AN ELECTION THEY BELIEVED STOLEN. THE SAME DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE THAT ACCORDING TO THE LEFTIST GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER, DROPPED OR NEVER FILED CHARGES AGAINST ON AVERAGE 90 PERCENT OF THOSE ARRESTED DURING THE “SUMMER OF LOVE”, WENT AFTER HUNDREDS OF JANUARY 6TH PROTESTERS LIKE MATTHEW PERNA WITH A VENGEANCE.

 

GERI PERNA LET US SEE THIS NOTE HER NEPHEW LEFT BEHIND, ETCHED IN HIS OWN HAND: “I SACRIFICED MY FREEDOM WHEN I ENTERED INTO THE CAPITOL BUILDING ON JANUARY 6TH AND IN DESPAIR TOOK MY OWN LIFE THE NIGHT I WROTE THIS…”

 

IT WAS WHAT THE FAMILY HAD FEARED AND THEY LEANED ON GERI AS THEY OFTEN DID. NO ONE MORE SO THAN HER BROTHER LARRY, WHO’D ALREADY LOST HIS WIFE, NOW HIS OLDEST SON.

 

[NAT POP OF CHRISTMAS WITH MUSIC] <”Thank you, guys.”>

 

 

[01;05;05;04 -01;06;23;10]

Geri

It was heartbreaking. I experienced loss before when Matt’s mom died. This was so much worse.

 

[01:39:47] LARA:  And He wasn’t suicidal before January 6th, before any of this happened?

 

[01:39:52] GERI: No. //Matt brought people together. That’s not a person who’s suicidal. That’s not a person who isn’t enjoying life. It’s a person who had a zest for life. // And we watched it like a candle losing its flame over 13 months. We watched that candle die.

 

SIX YEARS EARLIER, MATTHEW HAD GIVEN UP A LIFE TEACHING ENGLISH IN SOUTH KOREA TO COME HOME, FIRST TO NURSE HIS MOTHER RONI THROUGH LEUKEMIA, THEN TO HELP HIS FATHER BATTLE PARKINSON’S… 

 

A DEVOTED SON…AND A WANDERER,  AS THESE POSTCARDS ATTEST…FILLED WITH MEMORIES AND INSIGHT FROM DISTANT LANDS…WITH HIS FLAIR FOR LANGUAGES, HE’D MASTERED THAI AND WAS ALMOST FLUENT IN KOREAN.

 

BUT HIS HEART BELONGED TO THIS COUNTRY…

 

<pledge of allegiance nats “under God”>

 

….A LOVE AFFAIR THAT BEGAN WHEN HE WAS LITTLE…

 

<pledge of allegiance nats “with liberty and justice for all.”>

 

01;06;29;04 – 01;06;56;29

Geri

He loved this country and this country destroyed him in many ways. Its citizens, the media, the government, they destroyed him like he was nothing.

 

[01;11;28;25 – 01;11;32;09] LARA

Do you remember the last thing he said to you, your last conversation?

 

[01;11;39;14 – 01;12;08;28] MARCUS

Yes. He had delivered the news about what they were going to be doing, how they were going to add enhancements – terorism enhancement. They were going to add time to his sentence. //and he was having a hard time talking. He was, um, having to clear his throat like he was choking // he kept checking the rearview mirror of his car. // He was very anxious. He had some restless nights and was actually coughing up blood, that he had himself so worked up from stress. //

 

Lara

From stress?

 

Marcus

From the stress.

 

[01;13;33;07 – 01;13;35;19]

Lara

So, it must have been difficult for you to see him like that.

 

[01;13;36;01 – 01;13;44;06]

Marcus

Oh, my. Yes. He literally rotted away from the inside out, from the stress.

 

 

43-YEAR-OLD, MARCUS PRIESTER, GREW UP A STONE’S THROW AWAY FROM HIS FRIEND IN ONE OF THE FIVE SMALL COMMUNITIES THAT STRETCH ACROSS THE SHENANGO VALLEY. HE TOLD US THAT UNLIKE MATTHEW, HE WAS A LONER AND FOR HIM, THE LOSS WAS BEYOND MEASURE.

 

[01;14;06;03 – 01;14;36;17]  Marcus

I had so much anger in my heart and I prayed for God to take that anger away. I’ll never fill that void.

 

[01;15;15;03 – 01;15;16;10] Lara

Best friend you ever had?

 

[01;15;16;12 – 01;15;17;18] Marcus

The best friend I ever had.

 

[01;15;20;26 – 01;15;22;03] Lara

I suppose it’s a gift.

 

[01;15;23;04 – 01;15;38;19] Marcus

I was blessed… to be a part of his life.  You know he had many friends. I was just one of his.

 

 

MARCUS AND MATTHEW FOUND COMMON GROUND IN RUNNING, PUSHING EACH OTHER ALONG THE MUDDY TRAILS THAT WEAVE THROUGHOUT THE RICH GREEN WOODLANDS OF THE VALLEY, WHERE THEY TRAINED FOR ULTRAMARATHONS. AT TIMES, MARCUS SAID, MATTHEW WOULD DITCH HIS SHOES… 

 

[MATT PERNA 50]

[01;00;49;27 – 01;00;51;06]

Lara

You didn’t run barefoot with him?

 

[01;00;51;06 – 01;01;04;03] Marcus

I tried it one time at a beach and it didn’t go so well.

 

[01;01;04;12 – 01;01;05;03] Lara

But he would?

 

[01;01;05;07 – 01;01;08;10] Marcus

He sure would.

 

[01;01;08;19 – 01;01;09;00]

Lara

Why?

 

[01;01;10;20 – 01;01;15;16] Marcus

He had a love for nature, a love for the earth and all the elements.

 

[01;01;16;04 – 01;01;17;18] Lara

He wanted to feel it through his feet.

 

[01;01;21;21 – 01;01;25;04]

Marcus

Yeah. He loved to breathe it in and to be a part of it.

 

[01;01;43;28 – 01;01;47;00]

Lara

These are not the actions of a weak person.

 

[01;01;47;20 – 01;02;07;01]

Marcus

No. This man has run 15 miles of mountainous trail, and he ran it barefoot. I couldn’t believe, I mean, his – he got back and we took a good look at his feet and they weren’t looking too good.

 

(Matt and Marcus running)

AS THEY RAN, MARCUS SAID THEY WOULD OFTEN TALK POLITICS. AT FIRST, MATTHEW DID NOT SHARE HIS SUPPORT FOR TRUMP.

 

 

[00:36:03] MARCUS: //Oh we argued some and tossed it around quite a bit, and I opened his eyes.// We like Trump because we’re open-minded and we’re all about looking outside the box and when you’ve got a guy who’s stepping up against the establishment –  he was the first political leader I ever heard talk about fake news. You know. He would say “fake news.” and we love that because we knew //There is an agenda. I think everybody should know that by now and Iif you’re not walking in line with that agenda, look out.

 

[00:37:53] LARA: some people would say “ ah, but he’s a White supremacist and a racist, and he’s divisive and he’s offensive, and he’s xenophobic and he’s misogynist, treats women badly, unpresidential.” It’s a long list.

 

[00:38:15] MARCUS: Yeah, there sure is. Yeah, and a lot of it,  I would say most of that is not true.

 

<NAT from news “Joseph R. Biden Junior is elected the 46th president of the United States.”

 

THE RESULTS OF THE 2020 ELECTION MADE NO SENSE TO EITHER OF THEM, MARCUS SAID, AND DREW THEM TO D.C. ON JANUARY 6TH, ALONG WITH ANOTHER FRIEND, STEPHEN AYERS, THEN 38. THEY HOPED VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE, WOULD SEND CONTESTED RESULTS BACK TO STATE ELECTORS FOR A CLOSER LOOK.

 

IT WASN’T THE FIRST TRUMP RALLY MARCUS HAD GONE TO WITH MATTHEW AND HE TOLD US THE SCENE WAS FAMILIAR…THE KINDA CROWD YOU’D FIND AT ANY BALL GAME. 

 

[SOT OF TRUMP ON J6: <”I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building, to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard today.”>

 

WHEN THEY JOINED THE SEA OF TRUMP SUPPORTERS HEADING FOR THE CAPITOL, MARCUS SAID VIOLENCE WAS THE LAST THING ON THEIR MINDS. SO WHAT THEY FOUND WHEN THEY GOT THERE SURPRISED THEM:

 

 

MARCUS: There were people all around me and this crowd was forcing me forward and it was – it was hard to move away. These were mostly, you know larger, stronger men. I felt a military, military-style presence. You know, I don’t know who these people were. // they didn’t seem like the same kind of people that I was with at the rally.

LARA: So there was a noticeable shift?

MARCUS: Yes, in everything, in the energy and the people that were there, yeah.

LARA: That happened the moment you reached the Capitol?

MARCUS: Yes.

 

HE RECALLED BEING SWEPT UP…

 

[00;14;57;01 – 00;15;23;18]

Marcus

The crowd was so violent and it went from just peaceful people. And all of a sudden and it was like people all around me pushing and like forcing their way and there were people coming out with tear gas and I said, “That’s close enough” And I had turned back and I had lost track of Matt, and I just, I take myself back to that day over and over, and I wish I could have grabbed him and made sure that he didn’t go forth to go through that way.

 

WHAT LAY AHEAD FOR MATTHEW IS DESCRIBED IN THE NOTES AN FBI AGENT TOOK AT HIS FIRST INTERVIEW A WEEK LATER. HE AND HIS FRIEND, STEPHEN AYERS MANAGED TO STAY TOGETHER AS THEY APPROACHED THE CAPITOL FROM THE WEST SIDE. THIS WAS THE SCENE OUTSIDE THE SENATE WING DOORS LESS THAN TEN MINUTES BEFORE THEY ENTERED THE BUILDING. “PERNA STATED THERE WAS NO POLICE PRESENCE AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS WHICH SURPRISED THEM….A MOB OF PEOPLE STARTED PUSHING THEIR WAY INTO THE DOORWAY, PUSHING HIM INSIDE THE CAPITOL BUILDING.”

 

AND HERE YOU CAN HEAR SOMEONE DIRECTING THE CROWD TO PUSH: 

 

<Nats “PUSH!”>

 

THAT’S WHERE WE FIRST SEE MATTHEW PERNA IN SECURITY CAMERA FOOTAGE, CAUGHT UP IN THAT MOB OF PEOPLE. 

NOW YOU CAN SEE A LINE POLICE BLOCKING THE ENTRANCE AND MATTHEW APPEARED TRAPPED BETWEEN THOSE ATTACKING THEM FROM BEHIND AND OFFICERS IN FRONT FIGHTING BACK. HE MANAGED TO WRESTLE THE FLAGPOLE AWAY AND KEPT HIS ARMS MOSTLY RAISED TO PROTECT HIS FACE FROM THE HARD EDGE OF A POLICE SHIELD THAT STRUCK HIM OVER AND OVER. SOMEHOW THE USE OF UNNECESSARY OR EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS NEVER RAISED IN HIS CASE AND THE DOJ WOULD NOT COMMENT WHEN WE ASKED –  NOT UNTIL ALL JANUARY 6 CASES ARE OVER.

 

<Nats “USA!”>

 

ONCE THE MOB BURST INTO THE SENATE HALLWAY, MATTHEW STAYED A FEW MINUTES, AT TIMES FILMING…MOSTLY OBSERVING…. 

 

THEN ACCORDING TO THE FBI CASE NOTES, AN OFFICER LED THEM THROUGH THE BUILDING…HE WAS PICKED UP BRIEFLY WITH STEPHEN AYERS ON THIS POLICE BODYCAM FOOTAGE WE FOUND… AS WE TRIED TO RETRACE HIS STEPS. AFTER EXITING ON THE SOUTH SIDE A LITTLE AFTER 3PM, IT APPEARED MATTHEW WALKED THIS WAY, STOPPING AT THE COLUMBUS DOORS WHERE WE FOUND HIM ON CAMERA AGAIN. BY NOW HE SEEMED TO BE SUCKED INTO THE UNREST, FIRST TOSSING A WATER BOTTLE, THEN WITH A BATON IN HAND. HE THEN WENT ON TO THE NORTH SIDE, WHERE AT ONE POINT HE TOSSED A POLE AT A CLOSED DOOR, 

 

<NAT OF POLE BOUNCING>

 

NO POLICE VISIBLE, NO DAMAGE…BUT SOME REGRET, EXPRESSED IN A POST ON INSTAGRAM LATER…

 

WHERE HE WROTE: I FOOLISHLY ALLOWED MYSELF TO GET DRAWN INTO THE NEGATIVE ENERGY EMANATING FROM THAT BUILDING. 

 

MATTHEW PERNA WAS NOT CHARGED WITH A VIOLENT CRIME AND IN THESE EMAIL RECORDS FROM HIS CASE FILES, THE ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, NIHAR MOHANTY, STATED “THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT HE CAUSES ANY PROPERTY DAMAGE OR THREATENED ANYONE WITH THE FLAGPOLE.” 

 

FROM THE START, MATTHEW SAW THINGS THAT DID NOT FIT THE OFFICIAL  NARRATIVE AND LATER THAT NIGHT, LOUDLY CALLED OUT THOSE HE BELIEVED RESPONSIBLE IN THIS FACEBOOK LIVE VIDEO, RECORDED WITH HIS FRIEND STEVEN AYERS AND A WOMAN THEY CALLED ASH LEE: 

 

<“Antifa was disguised as Trump supporters today, so Antifa was not walking around like they typically are, all dressed in black with their antifacism symbolism and their shields. Like, they were disguised as Trump people and they were the ones who really lead the charge into the Capitol building.”>

 

HE’D SEEN ANTIFA AT TRUMP RALLIES BEFORE AND IDENTIFIED TACTICS HE FELT EXPOSED THEIR PRESENCE.   

 

<“They were the ones smashing the windows, smashing on the doors, and getting into it with police and so they were the instigators, like they typically are – like that’s how they operate and so they were trying to bait the Trump supporters into kind of following their lead and retaliating and letting a lot of their frustration out.”>

 

PUNDITS, POLITICIANS AND THE FBI DENIED ANTIFA HAD A ROLE…

 

<NAT FROM WRAY – ”Do you have any evidence that Capitol attack was organized by quote fake Trump protestors?” “We have not seen evidence of that at this stage, certainly.”

 

<“They look like antifa!”>

 

….BUT MATTHEW WASN’T THE ONLY EYEWITNESS WHO CALLED OUT SIGNS OF TRAINED INSTIGATORS…

 

<”These are people that love the cops. We love the police, but a few Antifa dressed up as Trump supporters have been causing violence and stirring up violence here at the Capitol steps and they’re playing on the emotions of you and every patriotic American. This is not right.”>

 

FOR YEARS, TRUMP SUPPORTERS HAD BEEN CONFRONTED BY ANTIFA AT MANY OF THEIR RALLIES….THE MENACING ALL-BLACK UNIFORMS, MASKED FACES AND VIOLENT CLASHES A CONSTANT THREAT FROM THE MOMENT PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS ELECTED.

 

SO WHEN MASKED MEN STARTED SMASHING WINDOWS… PROTESTORS OBJECTED AND STEPPED IN TO STOP THEM…TAKING OUT THIS MAN FIRST… THEN TACKLING ANOTHER, WHO’D STEPPED IN TO FINISH THE JOB….WHILE THE CROWD CHANTED:

 

<”Fuck Antifa Fuck Antifa.”>

 

TIME AND AGAIN, PROTESTORS REACTED WITH THE SAME THOUGHT AS MATTHEW PERNA… 

 

<”Fuck Antifa Fuck Antifa.”>

 

AND THERE WERE OTHER INDICATORS – 

 

 

IN THIS FOOTAGE FROM JANUARY 6TH, A PLAINCLOTHES METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICER, BADGE BRIEFLY VISIBLE, TOLD ANOTHER UNIFORMED OFFICER:

 

<Nats police bodycam: “we go undercover as Antifa in the crowd, so, can you put that in back in?” >

 

AND ABOUT TWO MILES FROM THE CAPITOL A TRANS ACTIVIST, LOGAN “LESLIE” GRIMES WAS ONE OF THREE COUNTER PROTESTERS ARRESTED THAT MORNING, DESCRIBED BY NBC NEWS AS “ANTIFA”. ACCORDING TO THE POLICE REPORT WE OBTAINED, GRIMES WAS CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF AN UNLICENSED FIREARM AND UNREGISTERED AMMUNITION BUT PROSECUTORS DROPPED THE CHARGES. GRIME’S FAMILY DECLINED TO COMMENT WHEN WE SPOKE TO THEM.

 

THEN THERE’S THE CASE OF, LANDON COPELAND, AN IRAQ WAR VETERAN AND CONVICTED J6 PRISONER WHO CLASHED WITH POLICE AND LATER CLAIMED TO BE PART OF THE SECRETIVE ANARCHIST MOVEMENT. IN AN OPEN LETTER HE WROTE.  

 

“We are ANTIFA we stand diametrically opposed to all centralized autocratic fascist Governments.”

 

IN AN INTERVIEW FROM PRISON COPELAND TOLD JIM HOFT OF THE GATEWAY PUNDIT HE WAS ONE OF SOME 200 ANTIFA MEMBERS WHO MET IN ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA THE NIGHT BEFORE JANUARY 6TH:

 

Jim Hoft:  Were you familiar with other Antifa activists who were there?

Landon Copeland: Yes, absolutely. I don’t want to go into any names or anything like this, because //I don’t want to endanger their well-being.…There was meetings beforehand. There was text messages. There was Facebook messages. There was all kinds of stuff.

Jim Hoft:  What made you come out now and, and come clean?

Landon Copeland: It’s been one of the rules for Antifa members to never declare to law enforcement that they’re Antifa member likeIt’s actually really part of like one of our core principles of being an Antifa member.

SO FAR NO ONE HAS DISPUTED COPELAND’S CLAIMS BUT HIGH LEVEL ANTIFA MEMBERS ARE NOT KNOWN TO EVER GO PUBLIC OR SUPPORT PRESIDENT TRUMP AS COPELAND CLAIMED SOME HE DID. WE REACHED OUT TO ROSE CITY ANTIFA IN OREGON WHERE COPELAND IS INCARCERATED AND WE’RE STILL WAITING FOR A RESPONSE.

MATTHEW PERNA KNEW NONE OF THIS WHEN HE FIRST SPOKE OUT ABOUT ANTIFA BUT HIS WORLD WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE: FIRST CAME RETRIBUTION FROM FACEBOOK WHO TOOK HIS ACCOUNT DOWN WITHIN HOURS. FOR SOMEONE WHOSE WORK SELLING ALTERNATIVE HEALTH TREATMENTS….

 

<This is your opportunity to invest in the growth of CBD.”>

 

DEPENDED ON HIS ONLINE PRESENCE, THAT WAS A DEATH BLOW.

 

THEN CAME THE FBI: A WEEK LATER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, MATTHEW FOUND OUT HE WAS ON ITS WEBSITE AND BY 9 A.M. THE NEXT DAY, HIS AUNT GERI SAID HE HAD CALLED THE FBI IN NEW CASTLE, PENNSYLVANIA TO TURN HIMSELF IN.

 

[00;44;56;29 – 00;45;20;07] Geri

He didn’t waste a minute. And so they sent two FBI agents to my brother’s house.  I said, “maybe you need to get a lawyer.”  And Matt said, “No, I don’t think so. I think this is a misunderstanding, Aunt Geri.  I didn’t do anything. I didn’t break anything. I didn’t touch anything. I didn’t steal anything. Believe me, once I explain this, this is all just a huge misunderstanding.” That’s how he felt. That’s how he truly believed this was going to play out.

 

MATTHEW PERNA WASN’T KNOWN AS A TROUBLEMAKER. HE’D RATHER SPEND HIS TIME IN PLACES LIKE HAITI DOING VOLUNTEER MISSION WORK OR DELIVERING ALKALINE WATER TO CANCER PATIENTS HE’D NEVER MET, BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T AFFORD THE WATER FILTRATION MACHINES HE WAS SELLING ONLINE. AUNT GERI SAID HE ONCE GAVE UP A JOB SO AN OLDER MAN WOULD NOT LOSE HIS DURING COMPANY LAY-OFFS. 

 

[MATT PERNA 05] [00;23;37;10 – 00;24;06;12]

Geri

He made friends everywhere he went. // he loved playing chess with old people in the park and talking to them and learning about their life // and  he just had this way about him that people opened up to him.

 

[00;24;15;13 – 00;24;16;15]

Lara

Would he talk to anyone?

 

[00;24;17;07 – 00;24;34;04]

Geri

Anyone. Matt didn’t discriminate against anyone. He was just such a kind, kind person.

 

AUNT GERI TOLD US SHE INSISTED ON AN ATTORNEY AND THEY WENT TOGETHER TO MEET HIM:

 

[MATT PERNA 016] [00;46;09;07 – 00;46;43;25]

Geri

There was a Biden sign in front of his office. I said, “Matt, this guy’s a Democrat.” He says, “It’s okay. Aunt Geri. Let’s hear – let’s hear what he has to say first. Let’s not judge him.” and he had 42 years of experience. And he said, “Oh, this is nothing. This is a piece of cake.” He said, “Have you ever been arrested before?” Matt said, “No, I don’t think he ever had a parking ticket, er, you know. Nothing.” He said, “You’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ve got this.”

WHAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO FIND OUT: HOW MUCH POLITICS RATHER THAN LAW WOULD DRIVE MATTHEW PERNA’S CASE AND SHATTER THE LIFE HE HAD BUILT.

###