When Ray Epps urged people to trespass inside the Capitol, he knew it was a crime because he had an outstanding warrant for criminal trespass in Pennsylvania from 2015.
He wasn’t the only one removed from the FBI suspects list – so what really happened on J6?
WHEN FEDERAL AGENTS GO UNDERCOVER THESE DAYS, THERE’S OFTEN MORE THAN ONE.
THAT’S HOW YOU END UP WITH AT LEAST FIVE FBI AGENTS AND INFORMANTS IN A TINY “RIGHT WING” MILITIA IN MICHIGAN, SUPPOSEDLY PLOTTING TO KIDNAP THE GOVERNOR – ONLY TO FIND OUT THERE WERE MORE INFORMANTS AND UNDERCOVER AGENTS THAN KIDNAPPERS.
AND IN APRIL 1991, ACCORDING TO SENIOR COUNTER-TERRORISM EXPERT, J.M. BERGER, AGENTS POSED AS MEMBERS OF AN INVENTED RACIST MILITIA GROUP CALLED THE ‘VETERANS ARYAN MOVEMENT’ WHOSE COVER STORY WAS THAT THEY ROBBED ARMORED CARS TO BUY WEAPONS AND SUPPORT THEIR EXTREMIST IDEOLOGY.
BUT IT’S NOT JUST THE RIGHT – THE FBI ALSO HAS A HISTORY OF INFILTRATING LEFT WING GROUPS, LIKE ‘OCCUPY CLEVELAND’. SIX ANARCHISTS WERE ARRESTED IN 2012 FOR PLOTTING TO BLOW UP A BRIDGE IN OHIO, BUT IN COURT IT EMERGED THEY WERE LED BY AN FBI INFORMANT.
AND WHEN WE STARTED LOOKING INTO THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AGENTS AND INFORMANTS ON JANUARY 6TH, IT SEEMED AS IF THERE WASN’T MUCH POLITICAL WILL TO FIND REAL ANSWERS…
========
Nats: [Ray Epps at first breach, then second, then third, then along the line, then sign]
WHEREVER THERE WAS TROUBLE TO BE FOUND OUTSIDE THE CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6TH, THERE WAS ALSO A DECENT CHANCE YOU COULD FIND RAY EPPS…
Nats: [Epps at bike rack line with Ryan Samsel…]
THE SELF-DECLARED TRUMP SUPPORTER FROM ARIZONA WASN’T JUST DIRECTING PEOPLE…
Nats: Epps telling people to go to the Capitol – it’s that way.
HE WAS AT THE FIRST MAIN BREACH AROUND 12:52PM WITH WHAT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DESCRIBED IN THE STATEMENT OF OFFENSE FROM HIS CASE, AS THE “VANGUARD OF RIOTERS”, TRESPASSING ON RESTRICTED GROUNDS,
AND WHISPERING INTO THE EAR OF A MAN NAMED RYAN SAMSEL, WHO’S IN PRISON FOR WHAT HE DID SECONDS LATER…
Nats: Samsel busting through the fence and trying to help the officer
THEN EPPS JOINED “THE FLOOD OF RIOTERS” WHO “STORMED THROUGH THE DOWNED BARRICADES” AND “BREACHED THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE”, ACCORDING TO THE DOJ.
A SHORT WAY DOWN THE PATH, WHEN “RIOTERS” TOOK DOWN MORE BARRICADES, THE DOJ SAID EPPS “CONTINUED TO PENETRATE THE RESTRICTED GROUNDS” AND HEADED FOR THE WEST PLAZA, ALSO A RESTRICTED AREA.
Nats: (Epps coming through barricades)
THANKS TO HIS TALL FRAME AND RED HAT, YOU CAN MAKE HIM OUT AMIDST THE CROWD AT THESE BARRIERS WHERE HE IS ONCE AGAIN IN THE FIRST GROUP TO BREAK THROUGH AND GET PAST THE POLICE.
Nats: [Ray Epps walks bike rack line between protesters and cops acting as peacemaker, telling people to calm down, etc.]
AFTER THAT HE’S SEEN ALL ALONG THE DEFENSIVE POLICE LINE WALKING UP AND DOWN AND HERE AND THERE….PART COMMANDER…
Nats: Epps telling the crowd what to do – two young guys get annoyed
PART PEACEMAKER…
Nats: various of Epps telling people to get back, not to be violent, defending the police…
AS NOTED BY THE MEDIA, THE DOJ AND THE JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE WHO HAVE ALL COME TO THE DEFENSE OF RAY EPPS .
AND THERE’S ONE THING THAT HASN’T COME UP AS MUCH IN INTERVIEWS OR UNDER OATH…
Nats: [Hoft/CCTV footage of Epps helping to carry sign…]
JIM HOFT: WE HAVE VIDEO OF RAY EPPS HOLDING UP THIS HUGE MAGA SIGN, STEEL MAGA SIGN, AND HE’S ACTUALLY HELPING PUSH IT. SOME OF THE MEN WHO WERE TOUCHING THAT SIGN, THEY’RE IN PRISON TODAY.
JIM HOFT RUNS THE GATEWAY PUNDIT – AN ONLINE NEWS SITE THAT’S BEEN A THORN IN THE SIDE OF PROGRESSIVES AND ESTABLISHMENT CENSORS EVER SINCE HE STARTED BLOGGING SOME TWENTY YEARS AGO, WHEN THE INTERNET WAS
STILL FAIRLY NEW. FEW HAVE DEVOTED AS MUCH TIME TO COVERING JANUARY 6TH AS HOFT AND HIS TEAM OF REPORTERS WHO’VE PUBLISHED WELL OVER A THOUSAND STORIES IN TWO AND A HALF YEARS. HE TOLD US THEY WERE ONE OF THE FIRST TO REPORT ON THE POSSIBILITY – STILL UNCONFIRMED – THAT RAY EPPS MAY BE AN “INFORMANT”.
JIM HOFT: A COUPLE OF THESE GUYS TOUCHED IT BECAUSE IT WENT OVER THE HEAD AND THEY DIDN’T WANT TO GET HIT IN THE HEAD. IT GOT PUSHED AT POLICE. NO POLICE OFFICER WAS INJURED, BUT THESE PEOPLE WERE STILL SENT TO PRISON. SO THEY ARE IN PRISON TODAY FOR THIS. RAY EPPS IS PUSHING THE SIGN //AND HE WAS NEVER ARRESTED FOR THAT. RIGHT? SO, IT’S JUST ANOTHER INCIDENT OF RAY EPPS, THIS SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY, THE MEDIA WON’T REPORT THIS, BUT WE HAVE THE FOOTAGE AND BE GLAD TO SHARE IT WITH YOU.
Nats: //[Ray Epps pushing sign….]
HOFT DID SHARE THE FOOTAGE WITH US, AND YOU CAN SEE THE SIGN GOING OVER THE CROWD, AS HE DESCRIBED. HERE, EPPS REACHED UP AND TOUCHED IT FOR ABOUT TEN SECONDS, AND THEN MADE THIS GESTURE WITH HIS HAND, SIGNALING TOWARD THE CAPITOL AND THE POLICE. AS THE SIGN PASSED AND CHANGED DIRECTION, EPPS CAN BE SEEN ON CAMERA PUSHING IT TOWARDS THE LINE OF OFFICERS AND THEN JOINED IN IN PUSHING THE CROWD FORWARD. WE COULD NOT ASK HIM ABOUT THIS BECAUSE HE DIDN’T RESPOND TO OUR REQUESTS FOR AN INTERVIEW AND HIS ATTORNEY DECLINED.
Nats: Epps pushing the sign
THERE’S NO DOUBT ABOUT EPPS TOUCHING THE SIGN – THAT WAS CONFIRMED BY THE DOJ AND RAY EPPS HIMSELF IN THE STATEMENT OF OFFENSE HE SIGNED WHEN HE PLED GUILTY TO A MISDEMEANOR CHARGE FOR DISORDERLY CONDUCT ON RESTRICTED GROUNDS IN SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR. IT SAID HE TOUCHED THE SIGN “WITH BOTH HANDS” AND SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED THE HAND SIGNAL SEEN ON CAMERA, WHERE EPPS “POINTED FORWARD TOWARD THE LINE OF OFFICERS” “SEVERAL TIMES”. THE GOVERNMENT OFFERED NO EXPLANATION FOR WHAT THAT MEANT AND DID NOT ADDRESS EPPS PUSHING THE SIGN AT POLICE – AN ACT THAT GOT OTHERS CHARGED WITH VARIOUS OFFENSES, INCLUDING ASSAULT.
ALSO NOT IN DISPUTE: THE FACT THAT EPPS WAS PUSHING WITH THE CROWD. ACCORDING TO THE STATEMENT: “A GROUP OF RIOTERS, INCLUDING EPPS, PUSHED FORWARD LEANING THEIR BODIES ON EACH OTHER.” AGAIN NO EXPLANATION WAS OFFERED.
LARA: RAY EPPS DENIES BEING A SOURCE OR UNDERCOVER OR ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, SAYS IT’S ALL NONSENSE, NOT TRUE IN THE LEAST, HIS WIFE SAYS THE SAME, SO DOES HIS ATTORNEY. WHY DON’T YOU BELIEVE HIM?
JIM: //I THINK IT IS THE STRANGEST STORY, ISN’T IT? HERE YOU HAVE THE JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE, YOU HAVE THE MEDIA DEFENDING THIS MAN WHO’S CLEARLY LEADING EFFORTS TO GET PEOPLE INSIDE THE CAPITOL…
LARA: //HOW DOES ANYONE PROVE THAT SOMEONE IS A CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT WHETHER IT’S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, JTTF, JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE, FBI, ATF RIGHT? OR AS WE FOUND OUT EVEN TAB, TOBACCO– RIGHT? HOW DO YOU FIND OUT? THESE AGENCIES ARE NEVER GOING TO ADMIT IT.
JIM: WHAT’S INTERESTING IS RAY EPPS HAD THREATENED TO SUE SOME PEOPLE, RIGHT?
LARA: HE HAS SUED SOME PEOPLE.
JIM: //HE NEEDS TO PUT HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS…
IN A SERIES OF NEWS REPORTS, HOFT AND THE GATEWAY PUNDIT, TRACED WHAT HAPPENED TO OTHER PROTESTORS WHO TOUCHED THE SIGN AND ENDED UP IN PRISON:
Nats: close ups of the sign movement in the crowd.
BRAD SMITH, WHO WAS 24 YEARS OLD WHEN HE WAS RAIDED BY THE FBI, GOT AN ASSAULT CHARGE AND ALMOST THREE AND A HALF YEARS FOR PLACING HIS HANDS ON THE SIGN FOR A FEW SECONDS AND A CONSPIRACY CHARGE FOR TEXTING WITH FRIENDS ABOUT SAVING DC, ACCORDING TO HIS MOTHER.
ONE OF HIS FRIENDS, MARSHALL NEEFE, A YOUNG FATHER FROM PENNSYLVANIA WITH SEVERE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, ALSO GOT CLOSE TO THREE AND A HALF YEARS FOR, ACCORDING TO THE DOJ, CARRYING A WOODEN CLUB AND PARTICIPATING IN “HOISTING AND PUSHING A LARGE METAL SIGN FRAME” INTO A “DEFENSIVE LINE OF OFFICERS”.
30-YEAR-OLD, THOMAS PATRICK HAMNER, PLED GUILTY TO ONE CHARGE FOR “GRABBING AND ASSISTING IN THROWING” THE SIGN AND GOT 30 MONTHS. JOSE PADILLA FROM TENNESSEE AND SEAN MCHUGH FROM CALIFORNIA BOTH GOT SIX AND A HALF YEARS OR 78 MONTHS FOR TOUCHING THE SIGN AND OTHER CHARGES. MCHUGH, A YOUNG FATHER, SPENT TWO YEARS IN PRISON WAITING FOR HIS TRIAL. VIETNAM VET HOWARD RICHARDSON AND ALAN WILLIAM BYERLY, BOTH FROM PENNSYLVANIA ALSO TOUCHED THE SIGN BUT WERE IMPRISONED FOR UNRELATED ASSAULT CHARGES.
TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER, RAY EPPS HAS YET TO SET FOOT IN JAIL ALTHOUGH HE COULD GET ANYTHING FROM ZERO TO SIX MONTHS FOR HIS MISDEMEANOR CHARGE WHEN SENTENCED IN DECEMBER.
IN HIS PLEA AGREEMENT, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CITED HIS LACK OF CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS AS A FACTOR IN SENTENCING. WE TOOK A CLOSER LOOK AND FOUND NO CONVICTIONS BUT OUR SEARCH TURNED UP WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN OUTSTANDING ARREST WARRANT IN PENNSYLVANIA FROM 2015. IT WAS – IRONICALLY – FOR THE SAME CRIME EPPS WAS URGING PEOPLE TO COMMIT AT THE CAPITOL: CRIMINAL TRESPASS. WE CONTACTED THE VICTIM NAMED IN THE ARRESTING OFFICER’S REPORT BUT HAVE WITHHELD HER IDENTITY FOR PRIVACY REASONS. SHE DECLINED TO COMMENT BUT WE DID REACH THE JUDGE IN THE CASE, DANIEL O’DONNELL. CASE RECORDS SHOWED HE SIGNED OFF ON TWO UPDATES – ONE IN JULY 2022, THE OTHER IN OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR – BUT HE STRESSED THE CLASS C MISDEMEANOR FOR DEFIANT TRESPASS WAS “MINOR”.
JUDGES IN WASHINGTON DC SEEMED TO HAVE TAKEN A DIFFERENT VIEW, BY JULY THIS YEAR THEY’D SENT CLOSE TO TWO HUNDRED JANUARY 6 DEFENDANTS TO PRISON FOR TRESPASSING AND OTHER CHARGES. JIM HOFT SAID HE’S TRIED TO COVER AS MANY CASES AS HE CAN BUT IT’S HARD TO KEEP UP: PROSECUTIONS AND ARRESTS CONTINUE TO THIS DAY.
[LARA: //WHAT ABOUT RAY EPPS SAYING HE GETS DEATH THREATS NOW, AND HE’S AFRAID FOR HIS SAFETY?
JIM: I THINK THAT’S TRAGIC. I DON’T RECOMMEND THAT FOR ANYONE. YOU KNOW, I DON’T RECOMMEND IT FOR YOU, FOR CONSERVATIVES. I DON’T RECOMMEND IT FOR LIBERALS. THAT’S VERY SAD. I’VE HAD DEATH THREATS. I KNOW I’VE HAD THE POLICE COME TO MY DOOR TELLING ME THAT THEY GOT CALLS FROM WASHINGTON DC, AND MY NAME IS ON A ANTIFA HIT LIST, AND SO, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE SOMEBODY SIT OUTSIDE YOUR HOUSE FOR A WHILE, BECAUSE YOUR NAME IS ON THIS LIST.” SO, I KNOW HOW THAT IS.
[B-roll of St Louis and inside Hoft’s home.]
IN LIGHT OF HIS SECURITY CONCERNS, WE AGREED NOT TO DISCLOSE THE EXACT LOCATION OF JIM HOFT’S HOME IN ST LOUIS, MISSOURI WHERE WE MET. HOFT, NOW 61, LIVES WITH HIS PARTNER AND RUNS THE GATEWAY PUNDIT FROM HERE. HE SAID IT’S BECOME ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONLINE NEWS SITES WITH ALMOST THREE MILLION PAGE VIEWS A DAY, IN SPITE OF THE LEFT’S BEST EFFORTS TO DISCREDIT HIM AND HIS WORK.
LARA: I’m following you. You are in charge.
JIM: So here’s the big office. Yep.
LARA: The nerve center, so much for the newsrooms of old, right?
JIM: Right. See this picture there? My family’s from Iowa, and my grandfather, in World War I, when on Armistice Day, he put up a flagpole when he was a little boy, and it was in a town called Herring. And, everybody moved away from the town. The only thing left today is a flagpole that my grandfather put up, so I bought the town. I own this plot of land with the flagpole, and those are my little nieces. We did a celebration…
LARA: You bought the whole town? The whole town is just–
JIM: A flagpole left. Everything was torn down. Isn’t that a great little Americana story?
LARA: This is you, right? You’re in this picture.
JIM: Yea yea
LARA: That’s you up there?
HOFT SHOWED US SOME OF THE FOOTAGE GATEWAY PUNDIT HAS FEATURED IN IT’S REPORTING. HIS CRITICS LOVE TO SAY HE’S “FAR RIGHT FAKE NEWS” BUT HE’LL TELL YOU THAT’S BECAUSE HE’S EXPOSING WHAT THEY DON’T WANT KNOWN OR SEEN.
JIM: “This is a slow motion of the actual flash bang grenades being fired into the crowd…”Look at this! And these people have no idea that this is about to blow up in their face…”
LARA: They also don’t seem to be doing anything but standing around. Can you go back on that please Jim?
“
JIM: Yeah, they’re just standing around, not even looking at the police or anything, they are talking to each other, they’re conversing,they have no idea what is about to happen to them. And they’re not pumelling cops. They’re not spray painting buildings.”…
LARA: //WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT JANUARY 6, THAT WE LEARNED BECAUSE OF YOU FIRST //STORIES YOU BROKE BEFORE ANYONE ELSE?/
JIM: //ONE OF OUR WRITERS, EXCEPTIONAL WRITER CASSANDRA FAIRBANKS, AFTER OFFICER SICKNICK – SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO TALK TO THE FAMILY //AND SHE BROKE SOME STORIES ABOUT THE OFFICER AND ABOUT THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER. I BELIEVE CASSANDRA WAS THE FIRST ONE TO POINT OUT THAT AFTER SPEAKING WITH THE FAMILY THAT HE WASN’T HIT.
LARA: WHICH WAS A REALLY HUGE, BIG STORY.
JIM: HUGE STORY.
LARA: BECAUSE THE WHOLE NARRATIVE OF JANUARY 6TH HINGED ON OFFICER SICKNICK’S DEATH BECAUSE HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON THEY CLAIMED HAD BEEN MURDERED BY PROTESTORS.
JIM: AT THAT TIME, YES.
LARA: IT WAS FALSE.
JIM: IT WAS COMPLETELY MADE-UP. NOT JUST KILLED, BUT HE WAS BEATEN IN THE HEAD WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER. I MEAN THAT WAS THEIR STORY AND THEY ALL RAN WITH IT.
LARA: EVERYONE.
JIM: THERE WAS ONE STORY, OUR REPORTER CARA CASTRONUOVA, SHE INTERVIEWED THE GENTLEMAN WHO GOT PUSHED OFF THE SECOND STORY LEDGE BY THE POLICE OFFICER.
LARA: THAT FOOTAGE IS CLEAR AS DAY, THERE’S THE BALUSTRADE AND PEOPLE ARE CLIMBING UP THERE AND A— POLICE OFFICER WITH A BLUE HELMET//
JIM: YEA, HE- COULD HAVE KILLED HIM. HE’S LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. PEOPLE HAD TO DRAG HIM AWAY.
LARA: WAS HE BADLY INJURED?
JIM: I THINK HE WAS INJURED PRETTY BADLY. HE DIDN’T WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT IT BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID HE’S GOING TO GET ARRESTED, SO HE DIDN’T TALK ABOUT IT FOR A LONG TIME THIS GUY.
‘THIS GUY’ WAS DERRICK VARGO, A 31-YEAR-OLD MAN LIVING IN TENNESSEE WHO SUFFERED SEVERE FOOT AND SPINAL INJURIES AND BROKE HIS ANKLE WHEN HE HIT THE GROUND SOME 20 FEET BELOW. PEOPLE LIKE HIM DON’T USUALLY GET TO TELL THEIR STORIES TO THE NY TIMES. BUT JIM HOFT WILL GIVE THEM A VOICE – AND A CHANCE:
JIM HOFT; Most of these people were poor, or middle class, or lower middle class. These aren’t people with a lot of money. These were people who went there for the first time. // Of the prisoners that I have spoken with…I spoke with an attorney a week or two ago. She told me that she believes 90% of these people have attorneys that are appointed to them because they just don’t have the money ya know. It’s tragic.
LARA: So, Public defenders who are typically Left-leaning or far-Left in their views?
JIM: //certainly in Washington DC, absolutely, and in most big cities across the country.
LARA: So, You have people whose politics is the exact opposite of those protesting, representing them in court?
JIM: Absolutely.
LARA: Somehow they’re supposed to get a real defense?
JIM: Yes, it doesn’t make any sense. And we’ve seen the results of these trials. And it’s heartbreaking. You see a woman who walked through the Capitol with a flag. She’s a former\social worker. She dealt with addiction, addictive people. And she carried the flag, and she has cancer. They arrest her and put her in jail for 60 days because she walked through the Capitol. What kind of sense does that make in this country? How can anyone who has any integrity say that this was a fair sentence, and she’s not the only one. We’ve seen a lot of people like that.
LARA: Would the counter-argument to that be, well they interrupted an official proceeding, and they were part of an insurrection? //We don’t care what people actually did in the Capitol. It’s the fact that they were there, where they had no legal right to be.
JIM: They can say that, but I mean you could say the same thing about any Black Lives Matter protests that was going on, when they’re burning down a building, // these are bogus charges, to me, this is a political hit. It breaks my heart because a lot of these people don’t have a pot to piss in. I had mentioned a defendant who just went to court last, about two weeks ago. This defendant is camping because he doesn’t have any money to stay in a hotel, and…
LARA: So, he has to come to Washington DC to face-
JIM: For his trial.
LARA: //but he has to pay to get himself there, and//
JIM: He has to pay to eat, or stay somewhere, and I put up this story. It’s heartbreaking. Its absolutely heartbreaking. This is my background, nine kids in a Catholic family in Iowa. //my father was always struggling, he owned a business. I can relate to these sorts of things, I can relate to running out of gas, you know, and walking to the gas station and things like that. That’s my background. //We put up a Give.Send.Go for him, and I’m very proud of this. These stories make me the most happy, and that is that our audience, God bless them, raised $29,000 for this guy, in 24 to 36 hours. Twenty nine thousand they donated so he could stay in a hotel. Well, obviously, that’s going to cover more than a hotel, probably more money than this guy’s ever seen in his life.
LARA LOGAN: Do you think those people on January 6th were framed?
JIM HOFT: Oh, absolutely. Not a one of them was there to plan an insurrection. The people were there to protest the election. And, I think the only organization, organized activity that day came from many of these, who I believe are operatives. Will we ever know everything? Probably not. But, I think there’s enough evidence there right now to definitively prove that the government and several agencies were involved in the violence that day.
LARA LOGAN: How does that absolve people of the violence that took place and so on?
JIM HOFT: That’s a great question. I think it’s very evident from the video.So, It’s not just that they admitted that they had people in the crowd, but we have video now from some of the operatives. There was one operative–a female operative–// She’s got a megaphone, and she’s telling people on the way, walking over to the Capitol, “We’re going inside. We’re going inside.”
Nats: Megan in crowd.
HE’S TALKING ABOUT THIS WOMAN: MEGAN PARADISE – NUMBER NINE ON THE FBI WANTED LIST AND SEEN HERE HOLDING A BASEBALL SHE REPORTEDLY STOLE FROM NANCY PELOSI’S OFFICE INSIDE THE CAPITOL. HOFT HAS DUBBED HER “THE FEMALE RAY EPPS” BECAUSE LIKE EPPS, SHE WENT TOO FAR FOR OTHERS IN THE CROWD WHO IMMEDIATELY PUSHED BACK:
Nats: (two guys) “If a woman tells you to charge the line – never charge the line! Dude, she’s up there saying “we need to go”, it’s like – what are you talking about? “Don’t listen to her!”
AND LIKE EPPS, MADE A REFERENCE TO GETTING ARRESTED….
Nats: Megan on megaphone “I need people to ..I’ll get arrested tonight I don’t care…I need people to be with me”
YET SHE’S NEVER BEEN LOCKED UP.
Nats: “Dude, this lady is like an agent-provocateur”
AND PARADISE WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE. THIS MAN WAS IDENTIFIED AS LUKE PHILIP ROBINSON BY THE FAR-LEFT SITE, “SEDITION HUNTERS” WHO HAVE BEEN RELENTLESS IN PURSUING JANUARY 6 SUSPECTS. HE WAS PHOTOGRAPHED WITH AN EARPIECE AND DUBBED #GINGERGUN BECAUSE HE WAS CAUGHT ON CAMERA CARRYING A WEAPON, HIS PISTOL EXPOSED WHEN HIS SHIRT GOT STUCK ON THE BACK OF THE GRIP. THAT MADE HIM ONE OF THE FEW SUPPOSED “PROTESTORS” WHO CAME ARMED TO THE CAPITOL, WHICH AFTER 911 WAS DESIGNATED A COUNTER-TERRORISM ZONE AND HAS A HIGHER LEVEL OF SECURITY BY LAW – MORE STRINGENT THAN THE FEDERAL DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON DC WHICH HAS THE MOST RESTRICTIVE GUN LAWS IN THE NATION.
YET LIKE RAY EPPS, ROBINSON WAS REMOVED FROM THE FBI SUSPECTS LIST AND HAS REMAINED A FREE MAN. WE TRACED HIM THROUGH PUBLIC DOCUMENTS TO A BUSINESS THAT STARTED IN TENNESSEE AND IS NOW BASED IN ARIZONA. THAT’S WHERE HE WAS IN THIS FOOTAGE FROM ‘THE JFK REPORT’, WHEN CONFRONTED BY ANOTHER JANUARY 6 DEFENDANT, MICAJAH JACKSON
Nats: Kyle confronts Robinson “You had an earpiece in and a firearm man that’s a f- you had a firearm on federal property. That’s serious stuff.”
HE APPEARED UNCOMFORTABLE AND DID NOT ANSWER ANY OF HIS QUESTIONS.
Nats: Kyle: What’s with the earpiece at the capitol? Who were you talking to?
Robinson-”Ill see you guys later” Kyle:”Who were you talking to?” Robinson: “Do you actually want to buy this bike or not?” Kyle: “No thank you”
ACCORDING TO AT LEAST EIGHT BALLISTICS EXPERTS AND ARMS DEALERS WE CONSULTED, THE GUN HE WAS CARRYING APPEARED, FROM WHAT WAS VISIBLE, TO BE A SIG 320, AND EITHER THE M17 OR M18 MODEL. ON THEIR WEBSITE, SIG SAID IT WAS SPECIFICALLY BUILT FOR THE US MILITARY. WE REACHED OUT TO THE DOJ AND THE FBI FOR COMMENT BUT WE’RE STILL WAITING FOR A RESPONSE.
LARA: What have you learned so far?
BARRY: We’re tracking down different ideas and theories. And one of those theories was that there were undercover law enforcement officers in the crowds. We know that to be true. Some would have a reason to be there, but there’s also been speculation that there were federal agents or local law enforcement that were encouraging people to go in the Capitol.
CONGRESSMAN BARRY LOUDERMILK FROM GEORGIA’S 11TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT HAS BEEN ON THE HILL FOR ALMOST A DECADE. HE’S THE CHAIR OF THE HOUSE ADMINISTRATION SUB-COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING THE INVESTIGATORS AND TRYING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SECURITY FAILURES AROUND JANUARY 6TH.
Nats: Loudermilk at the podium.
BARRY: There was one video clip that had made it out in public that some people had claimed this was definitely a police officer. We verified that to be true.
THIS IS THE CLIP, RECORDED ON THE BODYCAM OF THE UNDERCOVER OFFICER IN QUESTION.
Nats: Bodycam footage saying, “ I’ve never seen anything like this”
HE CAN BE HEARD CHANTING…
Nats: “ USA USA”…etc
ENCOURAGING
Nats: “ You good? “ Yeah” “They f- threw, theyre throwing shit all the fuck -everywhere”
AND AT TIMES URGING THE CROWD TO ADVANCE….
Nats: “Go go go!”….”its tear gas, its tear gas” etc.
THE COMMITTEE HAS NOT MADE HIS NAME PUBLIC YET BUT HE WAS IDENTIFIED TO DEFENSE ATTORNEYS AS OFFICER NICHOLAS TOMASULA.
BARRY: We’ve already been able to say- confirm-, yes, this was a Metropolitan police officer.
LARA: Undercover? BARRY: Undercover. LARA: Who was doing what?
BARRY: (see the scaffolding part as he describes it) He was, at one point, he was helping people climb up the scaffolding, cause remember out on the west terrace the scaffolding was being built for the inauguration.
Nats: people climbing scaffolding
BARRY: He was helping people get up the scaffolding and telling them, “Go, go, go. Keep going, keep going!”
Nats: More footage of the undercover officer instructing the crowd to Keep Going!
LARA: According to what police told The New York Times and other reporters right after January 6, people used that scaffolding to get to the upper west terrace and they define that as a critical access point that day. So if you have an undercover police officer assisting people in climbing up there, that doesn’t sound insignificant.
BARRY: No, it isn’t. 00:39:55 Now the next question is, what was he doing? Right, why was he telling those people to go?
LARA: And, Why was he there?
BARRY: And, Why was he there? That’s a key question.
LARA: Who put him there?
BARRY: Exactly.
BARRY: Now, could it be he’s trying to get up to the top to help? Right? he’s got other officers there and so he’s just telling them, “Go, go, go. I’m trying to get up there.” But, the fact is, when he gets up there, he doesn’t help. He just turns and walks away from the Capitol.
LARA: He’s encouraging and assisting other people to get in but he doesn’t go in.
BARRY LOUDERMILK: That’s what it appears is happening. Yes.
LOUDERMILK, A 59-YEAR-OLD AIR FORCE VETERAN, TOLD US HE DOESN’T LIKE LEAKS AND HE’S PLAYED HIS CARDS CLOSE TO HIS CHEST INTENTIONALLY.
LARA LOGAN: There’s a video that has police officers on the west side by the fountain yelling at each other and one of them says, “We’re hurting innocent people.” They say, “For every ONE we’re pulling out, we’re making TEN angrier.” When you listen to that, you have the sense that the officers were set up for failure as much as the protestors.
Nats: cops saying this…
BARRY LOUDERMILK: We’ve got a video of officers saying, “We were set up.”
Nats: officer saying “we’re being set up, look at this” etc.
BARRY LOUDERMILK: That’s one of the things that we want to know. What do they mean by that? What exactly do you mean that you were set up? because there’s a lot of interpretations.
LARA LOGAN: Are you investigating the possibility–that instigators and other people inserted themselves in the crowd and took action to provoke the crowd and to provoke the police–that they were provoking both sides?
BARRY LOUDERMILK: There was definitely that there. I don’t know who they are. We’re looking into that. You’re talking about the great contrast. You’ve got the people over here that when we do have audio, are saying, “Hey, we appreciate you guys!” you know, talking to law enforcement.
LARA LOGAN: Yes, protesters in the midst of the violence saying, “we’re on your side.”
BARRY LOUDERMILK: Yeah, Then we’ve got other folks that have steel pipes that are beating officers with it.
LARA LOGAN: When has that ever happened at a Trump rally?
BARRY LOUDERMILK: Never.
FOR THE CONGRESSMAN IT’S SOMEWHAT PERSONAL – AFTER BEING FALSELY ACCUSED OF LEADING A SURVEILLANCE MISSION INSIDE THE CAPITOL THE DAY
BEFORE JANUARY 6TH, HE SAID THE TRUTH HAS TO GET OUT – AND SUBPOENAS MAY BE NEXT…
=====================THE END===================== COMING SOON:
LARA: What have you learned… about what really happened that day that you didn’t know at the time?
TRENNIS: First, I learned about pain.
BAKED: All I said, I put my hands up and I said, “Don’t touch me, please. Don’t hurt me, please.” He’s like, “I’ll do whatever the hell I want to you.” I said, “I have constitutional rights. Please don’t.” //He’s like, “You don’t have any rights in here.”
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