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Guy Reffitt, a member of a Texas militia group, was among at least five others arrested or charged in the Capitol attack on Monday. The FBI on Monday announced charges against more alleged Capitol attackers, including a Texas member of a far-right militia. Feds have previously unsealed criminal charges against dozens of people accused of storming the Capitol in a pro-Trump riot on January 6. Newly named among them are Nicolas Moncada, who was arrested by the FBI’s New York office, and Guy Reffitt, a Texan. Reffitt was allegedly a member of the militia group “Texas Freedom Force,” and threatened to shoot his children if they became “traitors” who turned him in. Reffitt, the Texas man busted for his alleged involvement in the attack, also had extremist ties, the FBI said. Reffitt attended the riot in a helmet outfitted with a camera, and what appeared to be a tactical vest, according to pictures included in court filings. According to prosecutors, Reffitt was part of the Texas Freedom Fighters, a militant group that lobbies to protect Confederate symbols, and has spent the past weeks on Twitter accusing the left of being the real rioters. Reffitt allegedly admitted to his family that he’d participated in the attacks, telling the family that “we” (likely the TFF, according to a criminal filing) had “stormed the Capitol.” He also allegedly told family that he’d brought a gun with him to D.C. Reffitt’s children allegedly were “disturbed” by his “extreme” statements. When they expressed alarm, he allegedly told them that “if you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors…traitors get shot.” His wife provided information on the fight to investigators. Moncada, 20, is a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Gothamist reported. Like others arrested in the attack, Moncada allegedly live-streamed his actions in the Capitol, and posted on Instagram about participating in “the storm,” a term popular with fans of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory. A Staten Islander, Moncada appears to have supported a bar on the island that notoriously defied COVID-19 restrictions before temporarily closing after its owner was accused of hitting a sheriff’s deputy with his car.
Moncada is the latest of several men arrested in New York in connection to the riots. In a statement, the FBI said he was “now in custody for his role in assaulting the U.S. Capitol while our representatives were inside performing their Constitutional duties.” Another arrest affidavit, unsealed Monday, accused Freeport, New York man Thomas Fee of storming the Capitol. Fee was reported by an acquaintance after Fee’s girlfriend posted on Facebook about his attendance at the Capitol, according to the affidavit. The acquaintance allegedly texted Fee, who sent back a picture and a video of himself inside the Capitol rotunda. In the video, Fee allegedly described himself as being “at the tip of the spear” in the attack. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, officials announced the arrest of Craig Bingert, whose face had been plastered on FBI “wanted” posters for his alleged participation in the riots. Bingert, who reportedly turned himself in to law enforcement on Sunday, is accused of rushing a police line at the Capitol and shouting “fuck the police.”

via daily beast: Capitol Rioter Threatened to Shoot His Kids If They Snitched: Feds

On his Facebook page, Brewster admitted to attending the capitol rally. He carried a can of hornet- and wasp-killing pesticide, which he sprayed at the left-wing crowd during the clash. Among the right-wing protesters brawling outside the Oregon Capitol on Jan. 6 was a Portland white supremacist who aided in the most notorious hate killing in recent Oregon history. Kyle Brewster, 51, was one of three racist skinheads who attacked a group of Ethiopian immigrants in Southeast Portland on Nov. 13, 1988. While Brewster fought with a 28-year-old airport bus driver named Mulugeta Seraw, his fellow white supremacist Ken Mieske repeatedly swung a baseball bat into Seraw’s skull. Mieske kept hitting Seraw while Brewster, then 19, kicked him with steel-toed boots. Mieske was convicted of murder and Brewster was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in Seraw’s death. Released from prison in 2002, Brewster went back behind bars in 2008 for violating his parole by associating with members of the white supremacist group Volksfront. While finishing his term, Brewster was convicted of assaulting a prison guard. Except for a few social media posts supporting President Donald Trump, Brewster then remained out of sight until the past year.
But on Jan. 6, as Trump loyalists stormed Congress, Brewster joined Proud Boys and other right-wing figures at a rally in Salem. A WW correspondent says he observed Brewster brawling with leftist counterprotesters in a melee on the Capitol lawn. Brewster was also photographed donning a respirator mask and carrying a can of hornet- and wasp-killing pesticide, which he sprayed at left-wingers during the clash. Amid the fighting, Brewster and at least three other right-wing brawlers allegedly tackled a single counterprotester and briefly beat that person. Brewster emerged from the dog pile with a bleeding head wound. He attempted to pursue the retreating counterprotesters, but was pulled back by several of his pro-Trump cohorts before troopers with the Oregon State Police ran out from the Capitol building to separate the two sides.

via wweek: Kyle Brewster, Convicted in 1988 Killing of Mulugeta Seraw, Fought at Jan. 6 Pro-Trump Rally in Salem

As supporters of President Donald Trump took part in a violent riot at the Capitol, users of the social media service Parler posted videos of themselves and others joining the fray. ProPublica reviewed thousands of videos uploaded publicly to the service that were archived by a programmer before Parler was taken offline by its web host. Below is a collection of more than 500 videos that ProPublica determined were taken during the events of Jan. 6 and were relevant and newsworthy. Taken together, they provide one of the most comprehensive records of a dark event in American history through the eyes of those who took part. Videos are ordered by the time they were taken. Scroll down to start watching or click on the timeline to jump to any point in the day.

via propublica: What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol

President Trump’s incitement of his supporters before their attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 has galvanized a nationwide extremist movement and fueled those determined to disrupt the transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden and violently challenge the legitimacy of the election for months — and possibly years, according to U.S. officials and independent experts. U.S. officials have warned authorities nationwide to be on alert for potential acts of violence at state capitols, as well as a possible second attack on the Capitol or on the White House. Law enforcement authorities have said extremists might use firearms and explosives and are monitoring online calls to rally in cities nationwide beginning Sunday. Security at the inaugural ceremony in Washington on Wednesday probably will be the most intense ever. At the center of the amorphous but increasingly motivated extremist movement sits the current president, now twice impeached, deprived of his social media megaphones but still exerting a powerful influence over his followers who take his baseless claims of election fraud as an article of faith. It remains unclear when and where groups might launch follow-up attacks, but even if they do pull back in the days to come — and experts say there is some reason to think they might — the threat from Trump-inspired extremism is likely to remain and grow. “It has begun to shift from ‘We are going to win this’ to ‘This fight is going to be a long one,’ ” said Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups and their use of social media to inspire and organize adherents. “The prevalent consensus across the movements involved in or supporting the Capitol siege is that they will keep pushing forward.” (…) FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told reporters that officials were monitoring “an extensive amount of concerning online chatter” about events surrounding the inauguration. “Right now, we’re tracking calls for potential armed protests and activity leading up to the inauguration,” Wray said, noting that it was a challenge “to distinguish what’s aspirational versus what’s intentional.” Some officials said they aren’t taking any chances and were braced for the likelihood of attacks. After the Capitol siege, “what we’ve already seen and experienced is the depths and lengths people are willing to go in furtherance of their cause,” said Andrew Walsh, a deputy chief with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, who participated in a call with the FBI and local law enforcement officials on Wednesday.

via wahington post: Far-right groups make plans for protests and assaults before and after Inauguration Day