Free Republic

It has been nearly three years since the January 6 Capitol protest. For just as long, Americans have been force-fed a story about the fateful events of that day: even before the smoke cleared, and in many ways, it never did, the shambolic episode was labeled a deadly “insurrection.” The incoming administration was handed an invaluable support: they could now label anyone who doubted the legitimacy of their weak and doddering incumbent a suspect American, an “election denier” and a threat to “our democracy.” The narrative spread like a virus through the state-affiliated mass media, and became, arguably, the defining...

ASHINGTON—The U.S. criminal investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is entering a more contentious phase as it nears the one-year mark, with initial trials set to test the government’s strategy of using provisions first laid out in a 2002 financial-industry law to prosecute some accused... ...prosecutors searched for tools to elevate some of the cases beyond the misdemeanor charges often applied for unruly but far less momentous Capitol protests. They turned to a provision in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, enacted after the accounting-fraud scandal and collapse of Enron, which imposes a potential 20-year sentence on those convicted of obstructing...

Prosecutors are asking a judge to bar a Capitol rioter from arguing that former President Donald Trump authorized him to attack the Capitol on January 6. Aaron Mostofsky, the son of a New York City judge, was photographed inside the Capitol wearing fur pelts, what appeared to be a police officer's bullet-proof vest and carrying a police officers' riot shield. Mostofsky's trial is set to begin in January and prosecutors are hoping to block him from using the "blame Trump" defense ... ..."The defendant will be unable to identify any remarks made by former President Trump that authorized that illegal...

Washington (CNN)The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol has issued a resolution recommending that the House of Representatives find Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump's chief of staff, in contempt of Congress. The resolution comes after the panel informed Meadows last week that it has "no choice".... ...Meadows alleges that the subpoenas are "overly broad and unduly burdensome," while claiming that the committee "lacks lawful authority to seek and to obtain" the information requested....

The United States Congress is embroiled in a crisis of its own making. Thirteen U.S. servicemen killed and thousands of Americans stuck in a country now ruled by the Taliban – the very same Taliban that was thwarted at every turn since 2001 by the U.S. military and contractors. And that’s why the breaking story of the murderer – finally unmasked – of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt nearly went unnoticed. But flyover folks grabbed on to the culprit’s name and have been damning him for countless hours, along with the boondoggle the current Commander-in-Chief has gotten us into this...

Of Patriots and Tyrants Six Republican lawmakers held a press conference outside of the Department of Justice on Tuesday to demand answers about the treatment of Americans arrested over the January 6 mostly peaceful Capitol protest. Congressmembers Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Bob Good (R-Va.), and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) spoke at a podium outside the office of the DOJ, which Rep. Greene claimed they were not allowed to enter. “We want to know how the detainees are being treated inside the jails,” Greene declared before introducing Rep. Gohmert. “We have received reports...

A trove of documents released by the Department of Justice reveal that their investigations leading to arrests in the Capitol riot focused almost entirely on big tech platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, with little to no mentions of Parler. A stunning (to some) revelation that exposes the Left’s claim that Parler was uniquely responsible, and completely destroys big tech’s excuse for their deplatforming.

A Maryland man who allegedly hit police officers with a bat during the U.S. Capitol riots said on the day of the assault that he was "not here for Trump," CBS Baltimore reports.... ...Jackson was seen on video surveillance footage making a fist and repeatedly striking a U.S. Capitol Police officer, while he tried to enter the building. He was one of the first people to enter the building, federal authorities said. Jackson was interviewed the day of the riot and the video was posted to Twitter. "I had a bat. They were pepper spraying people. Then, they got me...

A Kentucky nurse who was fired after admitting she entered the U.S. Capitol during last week’s violent insurrection says she’d do it all over again. Lori Vinson, of Morganfield, Kentucky, told WFIE she’s glad she attended the Jan. 6 riot because it’s a moment she’ll remember 30 years from now. “People have asked, ‘Are you sorry you’ve done that?’” Vinson said. “Absolutely I am not. I am not sorry for that, I would do it again tomorrow.” After the unrest, Vinson said she was fired from her nursing job at Ascension St. Vincent in Evansville, Indiana, on Jan. 8. Despite...

The alleged stun gun-toting rioter photographed with his boot up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk will remain on house arrest pending the resolution of charges that could put him away for more than a decade. A federal magistrate judge ordered the release of 60-year-old Richard Barnett on “very, very restrictive conditions” following a five-hour hearing Friday. After posting $5,000 bail, Barnett will be under detention at his Arkansas home without internet access and must surrender his passport, according to Politico. His release came over the objection of the U.S. Attorney’s office, which asked for another hearing so prosecutors could argue again...

PHOENIX (AP) — Federal prosecutors said there was “strong evidence” the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week aimed to “capture and assassinate elected officials,” but the head of the investigation cautioned Friday that the probe is still in its early stages and there was no “direct evidence” of such intentions... ...Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, backed away from those claims later Friday, saying they have “no direct evidence at this point of kill, capture teams.” ...Sherwin said this week that he has organized a group of national security and public corruption prosecutors...

A pro-President Trump heavy metal guitarist has been identified as one of the US Capitol rioters, according to a report. Multiple sources told the Indianapolis Star Wednesday that one of the suspects in the deadly Jan. 6 siege is Jon Schaffer, a founding member of a Florida-based heavy metal band called Iced Earth who is originally from central Indiana. Schaffer has not been charged with a federal crime as of early Friday, an FBI source confirmed to The Post. But several people have identified him as the man seen with his mouth agape in an FBI poster seeking out the...

A retired Air Force veteran who was photographed carrying zip-tie handcuffs while storming the U.S. Capitol building earlier this month has been freed from jail. The rioter—retired Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr.—was arrested on Sunday in Texas after being photographed on the Senate floor during the siege... ...Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton said he would release the former lieutenant colonel, 53, to home confinement. Brock was ordered to surrender any firearms and the judge said he would have limited internet access under his confinement.

A retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel photographed carrying zip-tie handcuffs inside the Capitol during last week’s riot planned to take hostages, a federal prosecutor said Thursday. In wielding the restraints, Larry Brock “means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer. Weimer, who at Thursday’s hearing argued Brock should be detained, did not elaborate on his allegations. The prosecutor read a social media post from Brock the day of the siege, in which he says, “Patriots on the Capitol. Patriots storming. Men with guns...

The retired firefighter who appears to be the man caught on camera throwing a fire extinguisher that hit at least three officers at the Capitol during a riot was arrested Thursday, officials said. Robert Sanford, of Chester, Pa., faces three federal felony charges including assaulting a police officer, the Wall Street Journal reported. Video footage of the incident shows the man hurling a fire extinguisher officers attempting to control a mob outside of the west side of the Capitol. The FBI has been pursuing charges against dozens of suspects in the riots, many of whom were identified through photos and...

Full title: 'She was deep into it': Ashli Babbitt, killed in Capitol riot, was devoted conspiracy theorist .....“The mob was going to come through the door; there was a lot of members and staff that were in danger at the time,” the Oklahoma Republican congressman Markwayne Mullin said, according to Fox News. He defended the police officer’s decision to shoot Babbitt: “His actions will be judged in a lot of different ways moving forward, but his actions I believe saved people’s lives even more. Unfortunately, it did take one, though.” In interviews, members of Babbitt’s family have defended her political...

The U.S. attorney's office in D.C. has opened a federal murder investigation into the death of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died Thursday night after suffering injuries in the violent siege at the Capitol, three law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News. (excerpt) Sicknick responded to Wednesday's riots and "was injured while physically engaging with protesters," Capitol Police said in a statement. "He returned to his division office and collapsed." He was taken to a hospital where he died at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, police said. Sicknick, a 42-year-old military veteran, had worked for the Capitol Police for 12...

One of the more colorful invaders in Wednesday's assault on the Capitol is the son of a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge. Aaron Mostofsky, dressed in fur pelts and a police flak jacket streamed into the Capitol with hundreds of other pro-Trump protesters, is the son of Shlomo Mostofsky, a well-connected Orthodox politico who last year ascended to the Kings County Supreme Court. The connection, first reported by Gothamist, came after the younger Mostofsky became one of the most photographed participants in the impromptu raid.

The chaos on Capitol Hill on Wednesday exposed "media hypocrisy" in how President Trump and his administration are covered, according to Dan Bongino. The conservative commentator, who said his interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity might be his "toughest appearance" ever on the network, passionately made the case that there wasn't the same degree of outrage months ago when the Secret Service rushed Trump to a bunker with protests raging in front of the White House... ... "Where was the media the next day? They were making fun of President Trump for being evacuated by his security detail —...

Per the original poster (obviously sympathetic with the pro-union protesters): "While exercising their first amendment rights The Sargent Boys sign is confiscated and their mom Melissa Sargent, Dane County Supervisor of District 18 gets a ticket for them holding a sign outside of the Designated Demonstration Area"