Thomas Sibick reaching toward police officer’s badge and radio (image via Metropolitan Police) Thomas F. Sibick, of Buffalo, New York, faces serious charges in connection to assaulting a Metropolitan police officer and “forcibly” taking his badge and radio during January’s riot at the U.S. Capitol. According to NBC News, Sibick was charged with “knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstruction of law enforcement, assaulting or impeding certain officers, and taking from a person anything of value by force.” Court documents state that FBI agents viewed Instagram footage that shows Sibick saying he had been tear-gassed but “we’re going, baby, we’re going.” He also shared photos on Facebook showing himself holding a shield belonging to a Capitol police officer. (image via US Court) Sibick’s story is he was actually trying to help an officer who was pulled into the crowd and then “beaten, tased, and robbed” of his badge, radio, and 17-round magazine. Uh huh… That’s it. According to the court documents, “Sibick stated that he attempted to reach the officer to pull him away but was unable to get to him and at that point he feared for his life and that of the officer. Sibick further stated that due to the violence, he decided to leave.” But then footage from the officer’s body cam, who blacked out during the attack and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment, showed Sibick reaching toward the officer and pulling off the officer’s radio and badge. In a follow-up interview with Sibick on February 23, investigators found Sibick’s story changed a bit. “Sibick stated that he had reached in to try to help the officer, and that he remembered the badge coming off as he reached for him,” reads the complaint. “Sibick said that he pressed the ’emergency orange button’ once he had possession of the radio to get help for the officer.” Sibick then told investigators that he dropped the badge and radio and left the Capitol. However, he later admitted to taking the items back to Buffalo where he threw away the radio and buried the badge in his yard. Sibick was arrested and then released to home confinement at his father’s house while he awaits trial. Sibick’s Instagram showed photos with the police shield as well as one photo captioned, “Wildest experience in my life!”
New York man accused of taking badge of officer beaten during Capitol riot. Thomas Sibick, of Buffalo, is accused of taking the officer's badge and radio and burying the badge in his backyard: @minyvonneb, @NBCNews.https://t.co/vUvodq1qAc
The youngest rioter to be charged with the storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 had begged a judge let him to go home after being denied bond, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, is facing multiple charges including assaulting a federal officer, and has been in jail since Feb. 5. His parents drove him from Atlanta to D.C. for the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally.
Prosecutors say the teen shoved a cop and made it all the way to the Senate floor. Videos show him carrying a baton through the halls of the Capitol.
In a letter submitted to the judge on Thursday, Cua said he is “deeply remoursefull [sic] and regretful. After all, that’s what jail’s for, right? Teaching people a lesson?” He added, “I just want to go home to my Mom and Dad, I am truly sorry.”
Sorry. I have no sympathy. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. Check out some of the screen captured tweets in the second tweet below. He was being tough guy then, he can summon some of that toughness now.
Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, is facing multiple charges including assaulting a federal officer, and has been in jail since Feb. 5. https://t.co/S76S03ixhn
🧵CAPITOL ARRESTS – PART 2 ARRESTED: Bruno Joseph Cua, 18, from Milton, GA is charged with ASSAULT against a federal officer: “This is the third time he’s [Trump] tweeted about it. This isn’t a joke, this is where & when we make our stand Fight for Trump” https://t.co/X1QYlz70FNpic.twitter.com/N27ZryJYHR
Jessica Watkins (mug shot) A transgender woman arrested for taking part in the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol building has asked to be released from jail until her trial citing safety concerns while in custody. Jessica Watkins, a member of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers, was arrested January 17 on some of the most serious charges related to the violent insurrection. Her lawyer alleges Watkins has been “treated harshly” during her time in jail reports Buzzfeed. Because she is transgender, her lawyer says she is at “particular risk in custody.” According to the petition for release, Watkins says she suffered an arm injury while being held in an Ohio county jail and was refused medical treatment. The 38-year-old apparently went on a four-day hunger strike in order to protest that decision. She says officials responded by stripping her naked and leaving her “in a cell with lights on 24 hours a day for 4 days in full view of everyone.” In asking for release, Watkins argues she is not threat to the public and offered to wear a monitoring device. Her attorney admits his client’s actions on January 6 were “misguided,” but alleges Watkins “believed that the president of the United States was calling upon her.” The public defender claims his client “did not vandalize anything … or engage in any destruction of property, and in fact, encouraged others not to vandalize.” The petition also notes that Watkins “drove nearly eight hours to turn herself in to local police” after discovering she was wanted for questioning. But prosecutors point to photographs of Watkins, a former Army Ranger, showing up to the Capitol building in full tactical gear. Upon arriving, she joined other Oath Keepers in pushing through the hyped up mob, up the stairs and inside the building. Investigators also obtained text messages from Watkins shortly after Joe Biden was declared the winner in the 2020 presidential election inviting people to her group’s basic training in Ohio. “I need you fighting fit by innaugeration [sic],” read one message.
Dominic Pezzola in undated photo (L) and a photo from inside the U.S. Capitol (R) via FBI Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys arrested on 8 federal charges for his participation in the January 6 invasion of the Capitol, said in a statement via his lawyer that he now feels duped by Donald Trump’s “deception” and “acted out of the delusional belief” that he was following the orders of the commander in chief. From Politico:
“[D]efendant acted out of the delusional belief that he was a ‘patriot’ protecting his country … He was responding to the entreaties of the-then commander in chief, President Trump,” Pezzola’s lawyer argued in the filing. “The President maintained that the election had been stolen and it was the duty of loyal citizens to ‘stop the steal.’ Admittedly there was no rational basis for the claim, but it is apparent defendant was one of millions of Americans who were misled by the President’s deception.”
“Many of those who heeded his call will be spending substantial portions if not the remainder of their lives in prison as a consequence,” Pezzola’s attorney wrote. “Meanwhile Donald Trump resumes his life of luxury and privilege.”
Investigators reportedly found several bomb-making manuals stored on a thumb drive while searching Pezzola’s home in Rochester, New York.
(screen capture) Several of the insurrectionists that stormed the U.S. Capitol building on January 6 are now using, as a legal defense, that they were just doing what Donald Trump told them to do Ruh-roh From The Hill:
Emanuel Jackson, 20, of D.C., who prosecutors say was seen on video punching a police officer and hitting others with a metal bat, is one of at least six people charged in the raid who are pinning at least some blame on Trump in their defense, Reuters reported Tuesday.
Brandi Harden, who is representing Jackson as he faces federal assault charges, wrote in a Jan. 22 court filing that “the nature and circumstances of this offense must be viewed through the lens of an event inspired by the President of the United States.”
The raid on the Capitol, she said, “appears to have been spontaneous and sparked by the statements made during the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally” held by Trump and his supporters earlier on Jan. 6.
Several more stories at the link including the so-called QAnon Shaman now claiming he was ‘duped’ by Trump. Read the full article here.
Donovan Crowl (mugshot) We all recall the chaos and mayhem caused by the hundreds of Trump supporters who invaded the U.S. Capitol building on January 6. You know, the ones who felt so DEEPLY that the presidential election they held SO DEAR had been stolen from them? CNN did a deep dive into the voting histories of some 80+ people who have already been arrested for taking part in the insurrection and found many of the insurrectionists didn’t even vote. Just one story:
Federal authorities later identified Crowl, 50, as a member of a self-styled militia organization in his home state of Ohio and affiliated with the extremist group the Oath Keepers. His mother told CNN that he previously told her “they were going to overtake the government if they…tried to take Trump’s presidency from him.”
Despite these apparent pro-Trump views, a county election official in Ohio told CNN that he registered in 2013 but “never voted nor responded to any of our confirmation notices to keep him registered,” so he was removed from the voter rolls at the end of 2020 and the state said he was not registered in Ohio.
Crowl was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of destruction of government property and conspiracy for allegedly coordinating with others to plan their attack.
There’s much more at the click. CNN notes that some of the voting records of those who have been charged in the Capitol riots were not available to the public. So there may be even more hypocritical ‘patriots’ out there who couldn’t bother to cast a ballot.
They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn’t vote in:
Some of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol did not vote in the very election they were protesting.https://t.co/aiAIKuVSRD — Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) February 1, 2021
OK. Why would you protest if you didn’t care enough to vote?
Jake Angeli took part in the Capitol invasion (screen capture) After receiving over 100,000 photo and video tips, the FBI has opened about 200 case files in tracking down and arresting the perpetrators of the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol building. The Soufan Center has been tracking the arrests to determine how far the insurrectionists traveled for the incident. From Statista:
Up to January 22, arrests had been made in 35 out of 50 states with one person apprehended as far away as Hawaii. That individual was Nick Ochs who describes himself as “a Proud Boy Elder from Hawaii” who was arrested at Honolulu Airport upon his return from Washington.
So far, Texas has the highest arrest count out of all U.S. states with 14 apprehensions with New York and Florida following with 11 and 10, respectively.
DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone (screen capture) DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanonespoke to CNN about his frightening ordeal being dragged from the U.S. Capitol building and beaten by pro-Trump insurrectionists last week. According to CNN, Fanone is a narcotics detective who works in plain clothes. But when he heard the commotion at the Capitol, he grabbed his still brand-new police uniform that had been hanging in his locker and put it on for the first time. He raced to the building with his partner and helped officers who were being pushed back by rioters. But he was soon overwhelmed by the insurrectionists and tasered several times as he was pulled down the steps of the Capitol building. “I was just, you know, trying to fight as best I could,” Fanone told CNN. “I remember guys were stripping me of my gear, these rioters pulling my badge off my chest. They ripped my radio off my vest, started pulling ammunition magazines from their holder on my belt.” “Some guys started getting ahold of my gun and they were screaming out ‘Kill him with his own gun.’ At that point it was, you know, self-preservation – how do I survive this situation?” “I thought about using deadly force, I thought about shooting people. And then I came to the conclusion that if I was to do that I’d hit a few but I’m not going to take everybody. They’d probably take my gun away from me and that would definitely give them the justification they were looking for to kill me.” “The only option I came up with was to appeal to somebody’s humanity. I just remember yelling out that I have kids. It seemed to work, some people in the crowd started to encircle me and offer me some kind of protection.” “A lot of people have asked me my thoughts on the individuals in the crowd that helped me or tried to offer some assistance, and I think kind of the conclusion I’ve come to is like, you know, ‘Thank you, but fuck you for being there.’” Watch below as Fanone describes the scene in his own words. Remember – Trump supporters believe they are the ‘party of law and order…’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) While the House of Representatives debates approving an article of impeachment against Donald Trump for last week’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building, The Hill reports Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has informed Democrats he will not be bringing the Senate back into session before its currently scheduled date of January 19.
McConnell said in a memo circulated to colleagues last week that the Senate will not be able to handle business on the floor until senators are scheduled to return to Washington on Jan. 19 unless all 100 senators agree to reconvene sooner.
The memo stated that unless there is unanimous consent from senators, Trump’s impeachment trial would not be allowed to begin until 1 p.m. on Jan. 20, at which timeJoe Bidenwill have been sworn in as president.
In that case, any trial against Trump would not begin until around the time of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. CBS News reports that McConnell supports the impeachment maneuver but doesn’t want to address it until the article of impeachment is approved and sent to the Senate.
At least 10 Republican senators have spoken out against impeaching Pres. Trump a second time. A person close to Mitch McConnell tells CBS News he supports impeachment but won’t publicly discuss his views until the House formally sends impeachment article https://t.co/AOSBKrUbrepic.twitter.com/xtoFubPW9j
Republican Senate leaders were blindsided Tuesday by their leader, Mitch McConnell, when the New York Times broke news he was “pleased” about the impending impeachment of President Trump, @NBCNews has learned
(screen capture via Cadbury) Some news items you might have missed: • OUT: One half of the real-life gay couple in that Cadbury ad (above) clapped back at critics of the spot – “I’m sure there would be half as many complaints if it was two ‘beautiful’ cisgendered hetero-looking Caucasian women. Get your act together world: y’all are as hypocritical and uneducated and bizarre as Donald Trump.” • The Advocate: Hillsborough has become the first town in North Carolina to adopt LGBTQ-inclusive antidiscrimination protections since the state’s ban on doing so expired. • NowThis News: “Knock the crap out of ’em, would you? I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees” — Watch this report on how Donald Trump has been inciting violence from his supporters for years.
• LGBTQ Nation: An 18-year-old lesbian who says she has been kicked out of her home for being gay has outed her Trump-loving family members who participated in the violent altercation in D.C. last week. • New York Times: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told associates that he believes Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking. • NBC News: Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, and Steven D’Antuono, head of the FBI’s Washington field office, briefed reporters on the sprawling criminal investigation designed to catch those who took part in the violent Capitol insurrection last week. They said that the FBI had opened 160 case files, and that “this is only the beginning.”
BREAKING: DOJ says “we’re looking at significant felony cases tied to sedition and conspiracy,” charges that have prison terms of up to 20 years.
