Other Hx - Sedition Hunters: How January 6th Broke the Justice System
Chaotically written, Ryan Reilly provides a nuanced and insightful history of the January 6 (J6) insurrection on the Capitol.
OVERVIEW
Chaotically written, Ryan Reilly provides a nuanced and insightful history of the January 6 (J6) insurrection on the Capitol.
He introduces so many criminals so quickly and so incessantly that it seems to be a way to illustrate the scale of the attack. Perhaps it's meant to feel like the chaos that happened that day; either way, it's jarring initially but paces out midway through the book. Reilly's narration is a bit rough, but I'm a harsh critic of audiobook V.O. It, too, gets better as the book progresses.
A few key takeaways:
1. THE FBI'S STONE AGE
Most Americans perceptively overstate the FBI's technological capabilities and the military's, both of which are ten years behind commercially available technology. The FBI received an upgrade in 2013, which was only ten years ago, and that put them just barely in accordance with the technology of an iPhone 8. If half of what Reilly wrote is true, it's a disgrace. The Feds were sharing, internally and externally, J6 criminals' photos as PDFs, FFS. This speaks to the generational gap within the FBI; the average age of a federal agent is 43, with most in senior-level positions in their late 50s. As a millennial, if I had a dollar for every time I helped a baby boomer rotate a PDF, I might actually be able to afford a house in America. We will need younger generations to swell the ranks soon as they are far better equipped to deal with the new threats we face.
A significant theme was hunters finding it challenging to contact the FBI with credible tips. Reilly did a great bit about how much the Feds could have benefited from basic UX design principles, like ticket-tracking validation.
For example:
"The FBI has received your tip on a J6 criminal. We are currently experiencing a higher-than-normal volume of tips, so please be patient. We will respond to your tip within 3-5 days. Thank you for being an actual patriot by providing this information." [CTA button to submit another tip]
2. CHERRY PICKING TARGETS
Sleuths felt frustrated that dangerous J6 targets, whom they had positively identified, sometimes years before, were free and walking amongst us. Still, those with fewer offenses and higher profiles were targeted and arrested much faster. Hunters felt the FBI was cherry-picking targets. And that they didn't have an accurate picture of the crimes committed. The J6 insurrection was planned and marketed in the open by the Proud Boys and others, calling it "1776 returns." Using social media (Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, etc.) and basic marketing tactics, they successfully summoned a gaggle of gun-toting wannabes, cosplaying as revolutionaries and "patriots" in a pathetic but violent attempt to overthrow the United States government.
The FBI and Homeland Security received a wide range of warnings in the weeks and days leading up to J6. There are 20 reasons why they ignored all of them, but all you need to know is that nobody did jack shit with any of them. The warnings, taken together or separately, were more than alarming: it was a symphony of incriminating digital evidence and threats of violence, with a dash of sociopathic fascist dictator. Trump was still President, and typical of his Administration, he "commanded" the Bureau with fewer resources than one would hope to have in this situation. He also had many reasons to divert, if not subvert, these warnings.
3. MOTIVATIONS
I audibly laughed out loud at the dumb shit J6 defendants shared with the FBI. In my view, there was no version of the coup ever succeeding. I spent not a single minute watching the attack and thinking it would be successful. But I am jarred by the psychological damage it inflicted. I usually study WWII, and one question that always comes up about Nazi perpetrators is their motives. Were they ideologically driven, or were they motivated and enticed by the violence? And how do these motivations contextualize their actions? Viewed through this lens, the J6 criminals are much more the latter but retain their "convictions" whenever it's convenient, like in court, for example. I'm convinced that the vast majority will go to their graves believing they did the right thing. The "patriotic" thing. The motivations and ideologies of J6 criminals will likely be studied for generations to come, and I look forward to reading those when they crop up.
4. ACTIVE DUTY LEOS
This observation could just be a skewed perception, but a lot more active-duty law enforcement aided J6 criminals than I realized. This aid took the form of things like passing on intel about security around the capital leading up to January 6 and threats of arrest to people like Proud Boys douchebag Enrique Tarrio (enjoy that 22-year sentence 🤡). After the riot, law enforcement officers who were injured or traumatized by the event were mocked, shunned, belittled, and denounced by their peers by their "brothers in blue."
The number of current LEOs participating in the insurrection is significant in multiple states. It was not a small contingent, nor was the military, but it wasn't disproportionately large either. Folks upset by Colin Kaepernick kneeling should redirect their "outrage" to these people, perhaps. What's more un-American than mutiny?
Reilly highlights a federal agent who had participated in the attack on the Capitol. In days following the attack, this same agent disclosed confidential information about FBI procedures and individuals connected to the Bureau without authorization. He parroted similar disinformation or outright lies that Trump had said on J6 onto News outlets. The Bureau suspended him shortly after, and he is no longer with the FBI.
5. Trump (literally) sacrifices Pence.
I was surprised to find out the level and intensity of danger Trump put his Vice President in. For almost three weeks, in the build-up to the insurrection, Trump constantly squawked about how it was "up to Mike Pence." Trump's plan to subvert the people's will was drafted and shown to Pence sometime between late December and early January. Pence tried to explain his constitutional limitations but to no avail. During the insurrection, Pence was in much more danger than I understood. I stay away from wondering about "what-ifs," but throughout the entire book, among many J6 criminals, many were prepared to commit euphemistic violence. It was always wrapped in some dumb cosplaying-faux military lingo, but the undertones were the same and pointed to hurting Trump's political opponents. Many were prepared or excited to "deal" with certain elected officials. But not a single one thought what they did would lead to their arrests, let alone convictions. Many, maybe even most mentioned in the book, didn't seek legal representations before being interrogated by the Feds. A lot of J6 criminals turned in their friends rather quickly as well. I celebrate every conviction as if it were the first because every conviction is a tally for the good guys.
6. "…At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it." - Billy Madison
Daniel Rodriguez, who jammed a tazer into Officer Fanone's neck, told the FBI that he thought they were "cool," and declined legal representation when speaking to them. The letter Rodriguez read to the court after his sentencing was the rambling of a delusional, remorseless, self-victimized man. Reilly compared it to the scene in Billy Madison where the principal admonishes Billy for his "insanely idiotic" response.
The entire J6 criminal lineup in the book was a who's-who's of delusional, radicalized Nazis hell-bent on avenging an "injustice" only to be willingly used as puppets for a man who will never care about a single human being other than himself. Trump was asked to donate $100,000 to the J6 criminals' defense fund, and after months of waiting…he sent just $10k, which spread across 1,000 people and came out to about $10/each. But sure, he's your "man of the people."
7. A COUPLE HUNTERS
One legendary sleuth, a 30-something living in southern California, came up with the idea to bait and catch J6 criminals on Bumble, a feminist dating app. Using false profile information, she posed as a diehard MAGA Trump supporter and anti-abortion conservative; she matched with men hoping to elicit a confession or evidence of crimes. She captured many and inspired many others to do the same. She was surprised at how quickly matches would incriminate themselves and even send incriminating evidence to her via the app. With fewer than 4 data points, this hunter was able to find the identities of many perpetrators. I consider her a national treasure.
I was astonished to learn that many sleuths voted for Trump, sometimes twice. It makes my brain hurt trying to understand that paradox, but I admit that I can sometimes lean too far into the binary and am grateful to anyone who played a role in hunting insurrectionists. If I've learned anything since 2020, it's that two things can be true at the same time. One hunter, in particular, brilliantly designed a modal that cataloged J6 footage and social media artifacts. This would enable hunters or the Feds to query individual people or their monikers ("Zip-tie Guy") assigned to them by others—significantly expediting the hunt and leading to more captures.
8. Conclusion:
I think everyone has an opinion on the January 6th attack on the Capitol. If you're American and you don't, well, that's poor citizenship in my book. This event has a before and after. Pre-J6 was a different world than the post-J6. Both of these feel eerily similar to 9/11 to me; 20 years later, instead of foreign enemies, we've become our own most significant threat. We now only exist in the latter world. Even after almost three years, I am still trying to understand why it happened, how it could have been prevented, and how it reflects on the United States worldwide, not to mention what it says about us as a people. I cringe when I hear anyone ask hypothetically, "How did we get here?" or "This is not who we are," because we've been on this track for a long while.
A podcast called The Long Shadow: The Rise of the American Far Right tells the (mostly complete) history that led us here. Starting with Waco and Ruby Ridge, Garrett Graff delves into each stage that laid bricks on the road to January 6. I have read a few of Graff's books and highly recommend this podcast.
If FDR dubbed December 7 and Pearl Harbor "infamy," what would we call J6?
10. Notable traitors and their sentences:
1. Guy Reffit - 7 years, three months (🤡)
2. Tristan Chandler Stevens - 5 years (🤡)
3. Riley June Williams - 3 years (Stole Pelosi laptop)(🤡)
4. Oath Keeper, Stewart Rhodes - 18 years (🤡)
5. Proud boy, Enrique Tarrio - 22 years (🤡)
6. Proud boy, Joe Biggs- 17 years (🤡)
7. Daniel "D.J." Rodriguez - 12 years, seven months (Tazed Officer Fanone. This sentence length was WITH a plea deal). (🤡)
8. "Zip tie Guy," Eric Munchel, five years—six months. His mother, Lisa, received two years and six months. (🤡) These two, along with douchebag Robert Keith Packer, wore a Camp Auschwitz t-shirt as he stormed the Capitol. I despise these three most and hope they rot in the future.
K.G. 2023