22/09/2024
An analysis of the assertion that the events on January 6 2021 in Washingyon DC was an "armed insurrection". reformatted from a response to a friend about critical thinking, the media, propaganda, the law and the events at the US capitol in Washington DC on January 6 2021.
It has become common in some circles to call the January 6, 2021 US Capitol protest that escallated into a riot an “armed insurrection.” In this article originally written in October 2021 as a response to a private message to me asking about the "armed insurrection of January 6" I will focus on what crimes are actially being charged and if the charges and evidence support the assertion there was an armed insurrection by attempting to answer a few simple pointed questions that are prerequesite to correctly asserting the event was an armed insurrection.
How many rioters were armed?
What deadly weapons did they have?
What objects could have been used as weapons were in the possession of arrested protesters?
These questions should allow you to make a determination re:
What were the arms in the “armed insurrection” assertion?
Also we'll try to find answers to the following questions:
Was there any coordination between any of the people arrested and charged with possession of a weapon prior to the protest?
What proof exists that anybody charged with possession of a firearm, if anybody is so charged, brought it with the intent to use it or actually used it for anything other than protection or brandished it at any point?
Did anyone fire a weapon?
This shoukd allow you to determine if fi****ms, the weapon of choice e for any modern insurrection for at least the last few centuries, we're in fact used on January 6 in an "armed insurrection".
Then we will look at what the actual charges the Department of Justice is bringing against those arrested to determine if the prosecutors believe they have evidence to support a conviction of armed insurrection or something else is what the evidence actually supports:
What are the actual charges against defendants charged in relation to the protest?
Of what crimes have those charged ultimately been convicted?
Is there exculpatory evidence that has been or is being withheld by the government related to the assertion it was an armed insurrection.
How many of the weapons that protesters are a charged with possessing are not actually weapons but could be used as a weapon and were they used as a weapon?
Of the weapons people are charged with possessing at the protest, how many were acquired at the scene?
Is there any evidence the weapons referenced in charged were used aggressively towards law enforcement or were used at all during the protest for any assaulting of law enforcement.
After the crowd was pepper sprayed by capitol police how many people who had not entered the capitol building were arrested and charged with weapons charges while leaving as instructed to do when the pepper spray and tear gas was deployed on the protesters outside the building.
Were there any deaths or injuries caused by fi****ms or other "deadly weapons" that protesters brought to the protest.
Is there any Brady material (exculpatory evidence legally required to be produced) that has not been turned over by the government regarding those charged with crimes?
Have any crimes been charged that exceed the legislative intent of the crimes using ambiguous statutory language that is not likely to withstand judicial scrutiny?
The Justice Department maintains a website listing the defendants and the federal charges against them in the sprawling Capitol riot investigation. As of October 15, 2021 670 people have been charged, many of them with misdemeanors like “Parading, Demonstrating or Picketing in a Capitol Building.” The DOJ has indicated they will be using cell phone positioning data to charge other persons not yet apprehended that show their cell phones were in proximity to the protest.
Of the 670 charged by O tober 15, 2021 82 face weapons-related charges. That’s about 12% of the total.
The number of people charged with any crine, 670, is far smaller than the number who were on Capitol grounds that day to protest with estimates ranging from 300,000 to over a million total people that were present throught the day in the "protest area" outside the capitol building where the escallation occurred after protesters were allowed to enter the building by capitol police? The security video footage showing the protesters did not breach the building but were allowed to enter the building gas not been turned over by the government at this point but privately obtained video from journalists and protesters confirms the protesters wete in fact allowed into the building a d their entry into the building was peaceful and orderly and accompanied by capitol police. Escalation occurred well after the building doors wete unlocked by the capitol police to allow tourist access. The crowd control stanchions outside the building were mostly undisturbed and still erect with guide ropes still attached on January 7, 2021 accirding to numerous videos obtained from multiple national news media outlets, independent journalists, and protesters that left the scene when ordered to do so by the capitol police.
The 82 face one or more of four possible charges:
1. “Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers Using a Dangerous Weapon”;
“Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon”;
“Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon”; and
“Engaging in Physical Violence in a Restricted Building with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon.”
For each charge, the prosecutors have specified the weapon the defendant is accused of using. Here is a representative list of those weapons: Axe. Baton; Baseball bat; Crowd control barrier, Crutch; Desk drawer; Flagpole; Helmet; Hockey stick; Knife; Metal sign; Pepper spray; Police shield; Walking stick. No body who was inside the capitol building has been charged with possessing a Handgun, and only 5 protesters gave been charged with possession of a handgun related to the protest on January 6; one ofdefendant it appears may have been legally carrying his service revolver and badge issued by his law enforcement agency that is headquartered in Washington DC.
Obviously, guns are the most serious concern. Of the 670 arrested to date, five suspects are charged with possessing fi****ms: Christopher Michael Alberts, Lonnie Leroy Coffman, Mark Sami Ibrahim, Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. and Guy Wesley Reffitt. However nobody at the protest has been charged with using a firearm during the protest when it escallated into a riot. In fact, the only allegations of "armed insurrection" have been made by news media assertions during news reports that are specifically cited as "lacking concrete evidence" by the federal authorities and DC police that arrested and charged the defendants. Nobody in the DOJ handling investigations or prosecutions of those being held in connection with the events of January 6, 2021 has officially stated that there were any fi****ms used during the protest and the official press release indicates that all the fi****ms charges stem from DC ordinances that criminalize posession of fi****ms by anyone other than specially licensed carriers or law enforcement officials in the District of Columbia and are not related to their use by anybody involved in the protest on January 6, 2021.
There are no defendants that have been arrested as of October 15, 2021 that are charged with using a firearm in any capacity during the protest and officials do not expect to bring any charges related to use of a firearm against any person currently in custody or that may be arrested in the future because there is no evidence that anyone used or intended to use a firearm for anything other than self defense from Antifa or other violence against their person. Certainly there may have been a person that had intentions to use fi****ms unlawfully in a crowd the size that was in attendance, but nobody has been arrested or charged on those grounds nor is any arrest likely based on those assertions at this time.
So what are the fi****ms related charges:
Christopher Alberts was arrested at 7:25 p.m., after the riot was over, when police enforcing the District of Columbia curfew suspected he had a handgun under his coat as he was leaving the general area of the protest.
Leroy Coffman was arrested at about 6:30 p.m. in the vicinity of the protest when he told police that he was trying to get away from the rioters and to his parked pickup truck; Officers found two handguns on Coffman’s person and later found two more guns, along with common materials that could possibly be used as bomb-making materials, in the truck.
Mark Ibrahim was a federal DEA agent who had was on personal leave on Jan. 6; at the protest, he was carrying his DEA-issued badge and pistol; Ibrahim had given the required notice to the DEA he intended to retire from the service prior to taking his scheduled personal leave.
Cleveland Meredith was not in Washington at all for the protest and did not take part in the riot that ensued. He arrived later that evening in DC. It is alleged he had made a threatening text message about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at some time prior to his arrival in DC. Meredith voluntarily told police that “he had two fi****ms in his truck, and because he knew that he was not supposed to have the fi****ms in Washington, D.C. he had secured the fi****ms in his trailer ,” according to court documents. Officers found a handgun, a rifle and retail boxes of rounds of ammunition in the trailer not more than a gun owner would normally have to yse with their weapon for range practice totalling a few hundred rounds .
Finally, court papers inducate only that Guy Reffitt had a handgun on his person on Jan. 6, 2021..
Were there more protesters who posessed fi****ms? There is no evidence to indicate there were more weapons, and according to the FBI most law abiding citizens do not carry weapons where they are restricted from doing so by law because they do not wish to be arrested for doing so. The FBI and other LEO's present on January 6 have stated it is unlikely there were numerous people who were armed; this concurs with observations of prefessional crowd observers used by law enforcement that are trained to look specifically for people carrying weapons, to identify instigators, and to assess the "mood" of large crowds in order to determine potential volatility of crowds during protests so LEOs can react appropriately to potential threats that may escalate protests into riots . Few arrests were made immediately on the scene because the bulk of the crowd disperssed immediately when ordered to do so, so we do not know if other protesters had fi****ms. We just don’t know and likely never will.
What is certain about the claims of armed insurrection?
1. One certainty is that none of the suspects, and nobody who was arrested fired or brandished any guns at any time during the protest including the short lived escalation to a riot.
2. Even though the situation became quite intense after the crowd was pepper sprayed and maced by police at the time they announced the crowd should disperse, no protesters used fi****ms ever, during any portion of the protest.
3. The ONLY shot that was fired during that time was by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, who shot and killed unarmed protester Ashli Babbitt in the back from point blank range as she tried to gain access into an area near the House chamber.
Conclusion: There is no evidence to support that fi****ms were used by anyone other than law enforcement at the protest.
Other weapons.
As for any other deadly weapons, six defendants are charged with having a knife, although none are accused of using it on another person during the protest.
Conclusion: No deadly weapons (an object specifically designed for use as a weapon) were used during the protest but 11 protesters were in posession deadly weapons, 5 had handguns and 6 had knifes in their posession.
Other weapons that could be used in a deadly manner or capable of causing injury to others for which defendants have charges pending or that have been adjudicated (objects that can be used as a weapon to kill or cause bodily harm to another person).
As for items that can be used as weapon, five are charged with having a taser, three people are charged with posession of axes obtained on site from fire suppression installations in the building , four people are charged with a posession of a baseball bat, seven protesters are charged with posessing a crutch, 11 are charged with posessing a baton that were taken from riot control police, 13 are charged with posession of pepper spray, eight with posession of a police shield taken from the police when police attempted to disperse the crowd, and 19 with possession of a pole, usually a flagpole but one was a crowd control admittance stanchion pole according to the charging documents
Some weapons were clearly brought in anticipation of a fight with protesters stating they thought they would be battling antifa because antifa dared people to protest and news media reported on this and that antifa stated they would be in Washington, DC on the 6th. But most of the weapons in the charges were improvised on the scene, in response to the crowd control tactics used by the police. That does not mean they were not dangerous weapons. But it does show that the protesters did not arrive at the Capitol bent on rioting or more specifically on an “armed insurrection.”
So far there is no evidence or charges proferred on any defendants that have been arrested or are planned to be arrested that indicate DOJ is pursuing a theory there was a coordinated plan of attack. No charges have been made that suggest that any of those arrested planned anything but peaceful protest nor that any coordinated, colluded or conspired together in advance of or during the protest.
Conclusion: There were no people arrested or charged with any crime that supports a charge of a conspiracy or plan to overthrow the government.
Other charges.
DOJ Prosecutors are looking at using a never before used charge of "obstructing an official proceeding" against several defendants but have not done so at this point. That specific charge is unlikely to pass strict judicial scrutiny because it is a law passed by congress that was designed for the purpose of criminalizing tactics by congressional members or interested private parties to pending financial legislation that would obstruct proceedings convened to pass such legislation into law. That does not mean the DOJ will not use the charge nor does it mean if the charges are brought that the DOJ will succeed in convicting on that specific charge.
Only a small percentage of the people arrested at the protest being called an “armed insurrection” were armed with anything. And exactly five of them — less than 1% of those charged — have been charged with possessing fi****ms, which are the traditional weapon of choice for a modern armed insurrectionists. One of them didn’t even arrive until after it was all over. And none fired the weapons. Not one was brandished or used in any way at the protest even after it escalated into a short lived riot. Based on crowd size estimations the percentage of protesters that were arrested for posessing a deadly weapon is between .001 and .003 percent of the total number of protesters present on January 6, 2021
Bluntly, the facts are not supportive of an armed insurrection and that is the problem with the “armed insurrection” talking point be repeated by virtually all msinstream "news media" personalities. By any current American standard of civil disorder, what happened on Jan. 6 was a protest, a small percentage of protesters and capitol police escalated the protest into a very short lived miniature riot. There was fighting. There was mininal property destruction. There were crowd instigators, and there were many more followers who got caught up in between the crowd control barriers and the police when police decided to disperse the crowd as tensions heightened and police deployed tear gas. And as the protest escalated into a short lived riot, some people lost their heads, and I would venture did things they should regret for a very long time. But the evidence the DOJ has presented and the charges proffered and being prosecuted simply does not make the case that it was an “armed insurrection" by even the most liberal stretch of imagination regarding what the law is regarding insurrection. It is irresponsible, intellectually dishonest and factually insupportable to make the charge of "armed insurrection" or "insurrection" or "treason" based on the factual evidence; the most likely reason for such assertions one must assume is primarily for political gain by elected officials and when made by those not elected or appointed to governmental positions, they are either uninformed people, people who are incapable or uninterested in reviewing the publicly available information compiled by the DOJ to prosecute the protesters and rioters (and others not even present during the protest) that have been arrested. Others making this assertion may have determined through flawed critical analysis of the available evidence or by disregarding the factual evidence that is available or because of ignorance or reliance and confirmation bias based on Misinformation from a plethora of news media and other sources like information contained in posts on social media that there was an armed insurrection.
I welcome corrections to any fact that can be verified and cross verified with official sources of information that will be used to prosecute the defendants in January 6 protests at the Capitol that confirm or refute the facts contained herein. All facts contained herein wete obtained from the US Department of Justice official website portal for January 6 related inquiries as of yesterday October 14, 2021.
Because there is a plethora of information readily available and easily obtained regarding the facts of what occurred, who was involved, and how it is being handled by law enforcement it is unwise for anyone that believes in justice, the constitutional rule of law, and The republic of the United States of America to be relying on news media or other reports that depict the events of January 6 in a manner inconsistent with the facts.
I know that presenting the facts only and examining them critically in isolation from the mainstream narrative of an "armed insurrection" may not be popular, will subject me to ridicule and won't win a Pullitzer because the facts do not support the "armed insurrection" narrative. However I'm concerned with the truth, not popularity. [I must as a responsible independent journalist always be more interested in presenting the facts and letting my reader draw a conclusion from those facts following their own critical analysis.] I include my conclusions based on the facts for your reference only, you are free to conclude differently if you can present a rational argument that supports your conclusions and draws only upon the facts. I welcome you sharing it with me to enlighten my critical thinking on this matter.
Aa a subtext I'll add that you should keep in mind this discussion leaves out the potential culpability of many government officials who were responsible for securing the capitol and the voting of the electors who specifically declined to increase the security on January 6 amid the considerable tensions that were evident; this includes evidence that deployment of additional security forces offered by President Trump to deter any potential violence on January 6 was declined by the Speaker of the House, as reported in the congressional record.
I will report on the findings of the investigations into who did what with regard to securing that event later and will update this report in a subsequent article as more information is available on what convictions occur as a result of the trials or settlements made by those accused in the January 6 protest. I will also report to let you know if anyone is convicted of insurrection following trial, and report any other guilty plea agreements that defendants may make with prosecutors.
It is logical to presume more defendants will accept guilty pleas on the lesser charges as time goes on (the longer the defendants are held without observing their right to a speedy trial) considering most defeandants charged have been incarcerated over 9 months already and few have been tried or convicted of anything, much less a crime that is directly related to charges of "armed insurrection" or "treason" as of this writing on October 15, 2021.
It is unlikely anyone will be convicted at trial for "armed insurrection" or "treason" based on the evidence that is available at this point in time. It is likely that many convictions obtained may be overturned on appeal for substantive, technical or other reasons including legal errors like failure to produce Brady material and failure to honor valid subpoenas to disclose exculpatory evidence because known evidentiary materials were not turned over to defendants by the federal government or by prosecutors prior to trial assuming those odjections are made to prrserve errors upon which an appeal can be heard.
Finally, Based on how the DOJ is handling the pending cases we can expect the DOJ to pursue more guilty plea agreements and fewer cases being brought to trial but only time will tell. I predict there will be cases brought by defendants on constitutional grounds against the federal government and the DC police for numerous violations of defendants constitutional rights regardless of whether the convictions or guilty plea agreements are upheld or overturned.
