Let's recruit really stupid people who don't follow the law... Anti-vaxxers are recruiting 'Stop the Steal' believers at 'conspiracy conventions' to promote their cause: report https://www.rawstory.com/anti-vaxxe...cy-conventions-to-promote-their-cause-report/
'He had everyone enraged': MAGA rioters pin blame on Trump — and it could impact fellow defendants https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-sentences-2656496544/ On Thursday, CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, the leading correspondent covering the January 6 criminal cases, explained how one defendant's plea for mercy could ultimately impact other trials moving forward. "At first, it was just a curiosity," said MacFarlane. "Something I heard a few times, jotted down in my notebook, and kind of left it there. But now it's happening so often, it's worth a deeper review. One after another, January 6th defendants, when they go before a judge to seek leniency, are using some variation of the phrase 'caught up in the moment,' or 'caught up in the crowd,' 'caught up in the fervors,' 'swept up in the crowd,' 'caught up in the chaos.' It's becoming a refrain." MacFarlane then zeroed in on a particular case that caught his attention. "Today was sentencing day for Zachary and Kelsey Wilson of Missouri," continued MacFarlane. "And in their sentencing hearing, we heard it nearly a half dozen times. Some variation of 'I was caught up.' Kelsey Wilson said she was 'caught up in everything.' Zachary Wilson said something a little more unique, saying, 'I was caught up in President Trump telling everybody the election was stolen. He had everyone enraged.' The judge listened to those arguments, and sentenced Zachary and Kelsey Wilson to a short period of home detention and probation. Prosecutors were seeking 14 days behind bars for both." "But the thing is, it's not just the defendants," said MacFarlane. "Increasingly, we are hearing judges using a variation of that refrain. In fact, the judge sentencing the Wilsons today said that Kelsey Wilson seems to have gotten 'caught up.' Now, it's far from clear whether there's any connection between that phrase and leniency at sentencing, but it's quite likely other January 6th defendants who've yet to plead guilty or yet to face sentencing are listening in or getting reports about what's happening in the other cases. And likely, they're hearing this. And this refrain could continue, it could increase." "There are more than 700 federal defendants. As of tonight, the U.S. Justice Department tells me about 200 have pleaded guilty," added MacFarlane. "Which means there are many more who will face a judge, seek leniency, and have an opportunity to argue about being 'caught up.'" Watch below:
Judge's son who stormed Capitol dressed as cave man pleads guilty https://www.yahoo.com/now/judges-son-stormed-capitol-dressed-181424131.html
'Let's Go!': Man Who Allegedly Directed Rioters Through Capitol Doors Arrested He said in an interview that he entered because "the commies are trying to steal the country," court documents showed. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/capi...rwatowski-arrested_n_6203d7ebe4b0bb5f97173e7e
FBI arrests Trump supporter who stormed Capitol while on bail on attempted murder charge Matthew Beddingfield, of North Carolina, was first identified by online sleuths two months after the Jan. 6 attack. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/ju...ormed-capitol-bail-attempted-murder-rcna15169
FBI: Online sleuths' posts led to 2 arrests in Capitol riot https://www.wral.com/fbi-online-sleuths-posts-led-to-2-arrests-in-capitol-riot/20125175/ Information gathered and posted by a network of online sleuths led to the arrests Tuesday of two men charged separately with storming the U.S. Capitol last year, the FBI said in court filings. One of the men — Matthew Jason Beddingfield, 21, of North Carolina — also is charged with attacking police officers with a flagpole during the riot in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Beddingfield and Eric Gerwatowski, 31, of New Hyde Park, New York, were arrested in their respective home states Tuesday after their cases were unsealed. The FBI has cited information compiled by online sleuths in many of the more than 730 riot-related cases filed in federal court so far. In a court filing, the FBI says one of the leads that it received from “previously unaffiliated private citizens" helped investigators identify Beddingfield as a rioter. In March, HuffPost reported that online sleuths used facial recognition software to connect images of Beddingfield at the Capitol to his mugshot after a December 2019 arrest in North Carolina. One of the hashtags associated with Beddington was #NaziGrayHat, “possibly because he appeared to make a gesture that is commonly associated with the Nazis,” an FBI agent said in a court filing. Beddingfield, 21, jumped over a barricade and charged at a group of Capitol police officers, jabbing at them with a metal flagpole that he brought with him, the filing says. More than an hour later, Beddingfield entered the Capitol and waved his American flag as he walked some laps, the agent wrote. After joining a group of rioters who tried to storm the Senate Wing, Beddingfield appeared to use his flagpole again to hit or try to hit law enforcement officers, according to the agent. Beddingfield, a resident of Johnston County, North Carolina, spent about 30 minutes inside the Capitol, the FBI says. Beddingfield was on probation for a criminal conviction in North Carolina, and his probation officer identified him in photos of the riot, the FBI says. Twitter users crowdsourcing information about rioters used the hashtag “#lordlonghair” to organize leads on the suspect the FBI has identified as Gerwatowski. The FBI said it reviewed Twitter posts featuring that hashtag and also received two tips about Gerwatowski from callers who said they knew him personally. A video showed Gerwatowski at the front of a crowd where police were trying to close doors to stop rioters from entering the Capitol. He pulled open one of the doors that police had just closed, turned to the crowd, yelled, “Let’s Go!” and then entered the building, the FBI says. One of those officers told the FBI that he made a tactical decision not to engage Gerwatowski and other rioters. “The Officer said he made this decision because he had just come from the Gallery area of the Capitol where another rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was shot. The Officer told the FBI that he was exhausted, outnumbered, and had already been attacked and sprayed with several chemicals by rioters earlier in the day,” an FBI agent wrote.
MAGA-rioting ex-lawmaker slapped with new indictment even as he nears plea agreement https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-rioter-indicted-2656627319/ On Thursday, CBS News' Scott MacFarlane reported that federal prosecutors have issued a superseding indictment against former West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans for his involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The indictment, which charges Evans with civil disorder, comes just a week after reports indicated that Evans was nearing a plea agreement with federal prosecutors for his existing charges for unlawful entry. (More at above url)