An Interview with Lamar Life in Early January, We Sat Down with (Or Rather, at PVA, Learned That Online P.E
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Did Trump Incite the Riots?
Did Trump incite the riots? Only with the help of Big Tech Campaigning group SumOfUs has reviewed dozens of social media accounts, pages, and groups, as well as far-right disinformation websites, and has found several key incidents that highlight how Trump used social media to rally his base in support of the events that took place on January 6, and how the power of Trump’s tweets and retweets - sometimes of obscure pro-Trump accounts - escalated to the use of violence. From the evidence, it is clear that while Trump lit the match that set this violent far-right movement ablaze, it was tech companies that provided the platforms for organizing — and their policies, algorithms, and tools directly fueled it. The briefing reveals how tech platforms responded, and how the measures they took came up massively short in preventing the escalation of violence. It also highlights how ad tech platforms like Google and Amazon are profiting off of disinformation websites — which are in turn amplified on Facebook and continue to circulate in far-right extremist networks. In addition to holding Donald Trump to account for his role in the insurrection, SumOfUs urges lawmakers to launch an official investigation into the role tech companies played in aiding and abetting the insurrection, as well as the role Facebook’s algorithmic amplification played in boosting electoral disinformation. Trump: the Internet’s firehose of disinformation President Trump’s tweet about ballot harvesting, April 14, 2020 Responsibility for content casting skepticism about the election lies first and foremost with Donald Trump. Early in the spring, roughly 200 days before the election, Trump tweeted that mail-in ballots are rampant with fraud. -
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Gaslit Nation Transcript 17 February 2021 Where Is Christopher Wray? https://www.patreon.com/posts/wheres-wray-47654464 Senator Ted Cruz: Donald seems to think he's Michael Corleone. That if any voter, if any delegate, doesn't support Donald Trump, then he's just going to bully him and threaten him. I don't know if the next thing we're going to see is voters or delegates waking up with horse's heads in their bed, but that doesn't belong in the electoral process. And I think Donald needs to renounce this incitement of violence. He needs to stop asking his supporters at rallies to punch protestors in the face, and he needs to fire the people responsible. Senator Ted Cruz: He needs to denounce Manafort and Roger Stone and his campaign team that is encouraging violence, and he needs to stop doing it himself. When Donald Trump himself stands up and says, "If I'm not the nominee, there will be rioting in the streets.", well, you know what? Sol Wolinsky was laughing in his grave watching Donald Trump incite violence that has no business in our democracy. Sarah Kendzior: I'm Sarah Kendzior, the author of the bestselling books The View from Flyover Country and Hiding in Plain Sight. Andrea Chalupa: I'm Andrea Chalupa, a journalist and filmmaker and the writer and producer of the journalistic thriller Mr. Jones. Sarah Kendzior: And this is Gaslit Nation, a podcast covering corruption in the United States and rising autocracy around the world, and our opening clip was of Senator Ted Cruz denouncing Donald Trump's violence in an April 2016 interview. -
Capitol Insurrection at Center of Conservative Movement
Capitol Insurrection At Center Of Conservative Movement: At Least 43 Governors, Senators And Members Of Congress Have Ties To Groups That Planned January 6th Rally And Riots. SUMMARY: On January 6, 2021, a rally in support of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election “turned deadly” when thousands of people stormed the U.S. Capitol at Donald Trump’s urging. Even Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who rarely broke with Trump, has explicitly said, “the mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people.” These “other powerful people” include a vast array of conservative officials and Trump allies who perpetuated false claims of fraud in the 2020 election after enjoying critical support from the groups that fueled the Capitol riot. In fact, at least 43 current Governors or elected federal office holders have direct ties to the groups that helped plan the January 6th rally, along with at least 15 members of Donald Trump’s former administration. The links that these Trump-allied officials have to these groups are: Turning Point Action, an arm of right-wing Turning Point USA, claimed to send “80+ buses full of patriots” to the rally that led to the Capitol riot, claiming the event would be one of the most “consequential” in U.S. history. • The group spent over $1.5 million supporting Trump and his Georgia senate allies who claimed the election was fraudulent and supported efforts to overturn it. • The organization hosted Trump at an event where he claimed Democrats were trying to “rig the election,” which he said would be “the most corrupt election in the history of our country.” • At a Turning Point USA event, Rep. -
Testimony of Lecia Brooks Chief of Staff, Southern Poverty Law Center
Testimony of Lecia Brooks Chief of Staff, Southern Poverty Law Center before the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy Committee on Financial Services United States House of Representatives Dollars against Democracy: Domestic Terrorist Financing in the Aftermath of Insurrection February 25, 2021 My name is Lecia Brooks. I am chief of staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Now in our 50th year, the SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people. SPLC lawyers have worked to shut down some of the nation’s most violent white supremacist groups by winning crushing, multimillion-dollar jury verdicts on behalf of their victims. We have helped dismantle vestiges of Jim Crow, reformed juvenile justice practices, shattered barriers to equality for women, children, the LGBTQ+ community, and the disabled, and worked to protect low-wage immigrant workers from exploitation. The SPLC began tracking white supremacist activity in the 1980s, during a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and other organized extremist hate groups. Today, the SPLC is the premier U.S. nonprofit organization monitoring the activities of domestic hate groups and other extremists. In the early 1990s, the SPLC launched its pioneering Teaching Tolerance program to provide educators with free, anti-bias classroom resources, such as classroom documentaries and lesson plans. Now renamed Learning For Justice, our program reaches millions of schoolchildren with award-winning curricula and other materials that promote understanding of our nation’s history and respect for others, helping educators create inclusive, equitable school environments. -
Reportedly at the Hands of White Nationalists
TRUMP AND HIS SURROGATES LOUDLY PEDDLED DEBUNKED RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY THEORIES TIED TO QANON AND WHITE SUPREMACISTS, GIVING THEM FALSE LEGITIMACY SUMMARY As Trump and his allies searched for justifications to claim electoral victory, the far-right online community played a pivotal role in originating claims for the campaign to push. Conspiracies from white supremacists, QAnon supporters, and long-time conspiracy theorists were elevated, disseminated, and pushed out by the president and his allies. There seems to be a direct flow from the furthest right reaches of the internet and the official spokespeople of the president —including the president himself — such as: • The president promoting numerical figures developed by “TheDonald.Win” — an online community founded to openly post hate speech and calls to violence — in an attempt to prove his false voter fraud claims. • Promoting “Stop The Steal” events planned by white supremacists, including one that led to a stabbing reportedly at the hands of white nationalists. • Lending credibility to the mysterious, propagandic twitter account “Election Wizard,” which promotes election conspiracy theories and follows noted white supremacists and QAnon accounts. • Using a QAnon promoted conspiracy to fire a top elections cybersecurity official. TABLE OF CONTENTS Donald Trump Promoted Numerical Figures Developed By “TheDonald.Win”—An Online Community Founded To Openly Post Hate Speech And Calls To Violence In An Attempt To Prove His False Voter Fraud Claims ................................................................................................3 -
Follow-Up Letter to the Texas Governor As Well As State, Local, and Federal
INSTITUTE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL ADVOCACY AND PROTECTION GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER VIA EMAIL Governor Greg Abbott P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428 [email protected] March 26, 2021 Re: Unlawful Militia Activity and Enforcement Recommendations Dear Governor Abbott: I am writing to follow up on our previous letter, sent on January 20, 2021, regarding the urgent threat posed by unlawful militias in Texas. I am the Executive Director of Georgetown University Law Center’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP), which has developed expertise in strategies to address the dangers of unauthorized private paramilitary activity as the result of successful litigation brought after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.1 Emerging information about the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 demonstrates the threat associated with militia conduct. Recent reports of paramilitary training in your state only heighten that threat. We urge you and law enforcement officials in Texas to take action to address illegal paramilitary activity using the state’s existing laws and to consider new legislation that would further bolster these protections. I. Background A. The Recent Attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Unauthorized private militia groups present a significant threat to public safety, as evidenced by the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Some of those who have been indicted appear to be associated with self-styled private militia groups.2 These groups were particularly 1 ICAP has developed several resources that may be useful, including a 50-state catalog of anti-militia and anti-paramilitary- activity laws and a toolkit for constitutional protest. -
Can a Disoriented Storming of the Center Lead to Organizational Maturity?
Can a Disoriented Storming of the Center Lead to Organizational Maturity? Why was the American far right, the least organized among advanced capitalist nations, able to mount the (apparently) most threatening attack on the institutions of liberal democracy? The European far right, after decades of organization and ideological development, could not have even dreamt of storming a parliament in any Western European nation. How was this possible in a heavily weaponized and surveilled Washington, DC? The ability of movements to impact institutions usually depends on their resources, organization, networks, and ideological coherence or motivation. With the possible exception of networks, the American far right had the least of these when compared to their European counterparts. Was the American far right’s apparent success the result of a possible Trump effect? No post-1945 Western democracy has so far witnessed four years of presidency by an allegedly far- right figure. His support might have changed the dynamics, and organized an erstwhile scattered and incoherent far right. I will evaluate whether the far right is undergoing a radical change later in the essay, but it was not the transformation of the far right that made the Capitol invasion possible. The far right’s (so far lacking) organizational or strategic wisdom was not a factor in this drama. Certainly, there was a lot of planning in the lead-up to the insurrection.1 But, concocted as it was by dispersed, organizationally inexperienced groups and individuals, that planning could never amount to a Trumpist coup. One of the most interesting details about the invasion is that some top leaders of the far right sat it out. -
Naomi Mandar
1 The Third Frontier In the 244-year history of America, the country, for worse or for better, has grown and changed in a multitude of ways. From the abolishment of slavery to the rise of partisanship, the end of segregation to the creation of the military industrial complex, America is far from the way it used to be in 1776. However, America is unchanged in one aspect: its ambition. Starting with expansion into the Western Frontier, America has been merciless in their efforts to become stronger. Displacing and killing almost all of the Native American population through government ordered actions like the Trail of Tears and the Battle of Wounded Knee, America has shown no remorse in its quest for control over more land. During the Space Race, a competition between the Soviet Union and the US to discover the New Intergalactic Frontier, American Intelligence agencies secretly pardoned and employed Nazi scientists to work on new technology to achieve US dominance. At every new frontier of exploration, America has fallen short, not because of a lack of success, but because of the atrocities committed to get there. Today, America is changing drastically through the development of computers, and the electronic world. The internet has become the next frontier, creating new possibilities and new concerns. How much potential do these new discoveries hold? How much can productivity be increased? How much easier will life be? But, at what cost will this progress come? Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 was a government attempt to standardize the unchartered territory of the internet. -
The Washington Spectator
The WA S H I N G T O N washingtonspectator.org MARCH/APRIL 2021 vol. 47, no. 2 issn 0887-428x SPECTATOR © 2021 The Public Concern Foundation washingtonspectator.org in the weeks and months leading up to the Capitol insurrection. All Enemies, Foreign and Any talk of conspiracy theories these days tends to conjure the lurid delusions of QAnon, of Satanic child sex traffickers huddled Domestic: The Road From in the basement of a Washington pizza parlor. But a major-league conspiracy theory has to rest on a much more coherent intellec- Vietnam to the Capitol Steps tual framework, one that grows out of plausible if debatable com- By George Black plaints and critiques and then thrives and mutates in the fertile soil of unacknowledged grievances. Behind the tabloid headlines atching the mob surge toward the steps about Hillary’s emails or Hunter Biden’s laptop are the machina- of the Capitol on January 6, it was hard not to wonder tions of a malignant global elite, bent on the destruction of the W whether the United States was any longer a nation or United States and the creation of a New World Order. These had degenerated into what a Turkish diplomat, speaking about ideas have their roots in the misdirected patriotism and deep the Middle East, once famously described as a warring collec- veins of paranoia in American politics, in the anti-communism tion of “tribes with flags.” The crowd seethed with flags and ban- of the John Birch Society, the radio broadcasts of Father Charles ners: Stars and Stripes Coughlin, and the as big as panel trucks, Cold War witch hunts some with the superim- of Senator Joseph posed head of Donald McCarthy. -
Coalinga and Covid-19: a Ally Stopped
The WA S H I N G T O N washingtonspectator.org JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2021 vol. 47, no. 1 issn 0887-428x SPECTATOR © 2021 The Public Concern Foundation washingtonspectator.org political power. Operating from the shadows, its members, who How the CNP, a Republican would number some 400, spent the next four decades courting, buying, and bullying fellow Republicans, gradually achieving Powerhouse, Helped Spawn what was in effect a leveraged buyout of the GOP. Favorite sons, such as Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, were groomed, financed, and Trumpism, Disrupted the supported. Apostates, such as John McCain and Jeff Flake, were Transfer of Power, and Stoked punished and exiled. The leaders of the CNP tended to favor their conservative Christian co-religionists, but political expedi- the Assault on the Capitol ence came first. By Anne Nelson In 2016, the CNP put its partners’ money, data, and ground game behind Donald Trump, as the ultimate transactional can- n January 6, 2021, a stunned nation watched didate. Trump promised it retrograde social policies, a favorable O as protesters stormed the Capitol to prevent the certifica- tax regime, regulatory retreats, and its choice of federal judges. tion of the electoral votes from the November election. The He delivered in spades. By 2020, the leaders of the CNP were effort failed, but not without shin- ready to go to extreme lengths to keep ing a harsh light on the fault lines of him—and themselves—in power. American democracy. Over the final year of the Trump In the weeks that followed, analysts presidency, the CNP took center have struggled to define how much stage. -
The *How* of Owen Shroyer’S Arrest
THE *HOW* OF OWEN SHROYER’S ARREST About an hour after I wrote this in my post on the problems with a Reuters article about the January 6 investigation… Because of the other problems with this article, I don’t know what to make of the single piece of news in it. As noted above, a former senior law enforcement official claims that, “there was no grand scheme with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all of these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages.” That makes sense with respect to Alex Jones; his videographer was arrested long ago and remains charged only with trespass. Zoe Tillman first reported that InfoWars’ Owen Shroyer had been charged. A picture from the affidavit shows Shroyer on stage with Alex Jones and (though he’s harder to see) Ali Alexander, a key organizer for the events underlying the riot. Jones and Alexander were critically responsible for bringing the crowd first to DC and then to the Capitol, and Jones also allegedly paid for some of the rally (at a time when his show was in real financial trouble). How DOJ charged Shroyer — at this point, just for trespassing charges — is as interesting that they did. Shroyer is not alleged to have gone into the Capitol. The closest the affidavit places him is on the East side steps, right behind Jones and (I believe) with Alexander right in front of Jones. The inclusion of this picture reminds me of how often Oath Keepers filings talk about the others who were also on the East side at the time they breached the Capitol. -
CONRADSMITH C/O Lawyers'committeefor Civilrights
Case 1:21-cv-02265 Document 1 Filed08/26/21 Page 1 of 71 INTHE UNITEDSTATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CONRADSMITH c/o Lawyers’Committeefor CivilRights UnderLaw 1500K Street N.W.,Suite900 Washington,D.C.20005, DANNY MCELROY c/o Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law 1500 K Street N.W., Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005, BYRON EVANS c/o Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law 1500 K Street N.W., Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005, GOVERNORLATSON c/o Lawyers’Committeefor CivilRights Civil Action No. _________________ UnderLaw 1500K Street N.W.,Suite900 Washington,D.C.20005, JURY TRIAL DEMANDED MELISSA MARSHALL c/o Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law 1500 K Street N.W., Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005, MICHAELFORTUNE c/o Lawyers’Committeefor CivilRights UnderLaw 1500K Street N.W.,Suite900 Washington,D.C.20005, and JASONDEROCHE c/o Lawyers’Committeefor CivilRights UnderLaw 1500K Street N.W.,Suite900 Washington,D.C.20005, Plaintiffs, Case 1:21-cv-02265 Document 1 Filed08/26/21 Page 2 of 71 v. DONALDJ. TRUMP solely in hispersonalcapacity Mar-A-Lago 1100S. OceanBoulevard Palm Beach,FL 33480, DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, INC. c/o Bradley T. Crate (Treasurer) 725 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10022, STOPTHE STEALL.L.C. c/o GeorgeB.Coleman 3 SouthJacksonStreet Montgomery,AL 36104, ALIALEXANDER,a/k/a Ali Abdul Razaq Akbar,a/k/a Ali Abdul Akbar 5125 PinellasAvenue Fort Worth,TX 76244, BRANDONJ. STRAKA 1105 Harney Street, Apt 502 Omaha, NE 68102, ROGERJ. STONE,JR. 447 Coral Way Fort Lauderdale,FL 33301, PROUDBOYS an unincorporatedassociation c/o EnriqueTarrio 5730 NW 2nd Street Miami,FL 33126, PROUDBOYSINTERNATIONAL,L.L.C.