[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'The self-described white nationalist who stormed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office—and posed for a gleeful photo—during Wednesday's insurrection has been arrested.

Richard Barnett, a 60-year-old from Arkansas, has been charged with entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry, and theft of public property[...]

[...] He'd also written on Facebook that he was prepared for a violent death.

[...] On one Facebook account, named "George Reincarnated Patton" after the World War II general, Barnett wrote that he "came into this world kicking and screaming, covered in someone else's blood" and was "not afraid to go out the same way." The post included a picture of him wearing a Blue Lives Matter shirt and toting a rifle, per the Post.

"I am white. There is no denying that. I am a nationalist. I put my nation first. So that makes me a white nationalist," he wrote in a separate post.

So far, prosecutors have filed federal charges in over a dozen criminal cases related to Wednesday's riots.

The DOJ on Friday concluded there is no evidence that indicates Antifa played any role in the mayhem, despite baseless assertions to the contrary from some conservative media outlets and politicians.

One man, identified Friday as 70-year-old Lonnie Coffman from Alabama, came to the riot prepared for battle, armed with a semi-automatic rifle and almost a dozen Molotov cocktails "ready to go," federal prosecutors said.

Coffman[...] was picked up by authorities on Wednesday and arrested for having an unregistered firearm and ammunition.

[...] while searching a red pickup truck, now identified as Coffman's, near the U.S. Capitol, investigators discovered several firearms, 11 Molotov cocktails filled with gasoline, and homemade napalm.

Federal prosecutors also identified other MAGA supporters who have been charged [...] including West Virginia state delegate Derek Evans, who live-streamed the riot.

[...] Several of Evans' Democratic colleagues have urged him to resign as Republican speaker of the West Virginia House.

In a statement to WVNS, Evans' lawyer maintains his client will not step down—because he "did nothing wrong" during the Capitol breach. The attorney, John Bryan, claimed Evans works as an "independent journalist" and activist and was not involved in the organization of the event.'

https://www.thedaily...apitol?ref=home

Perhaps it's a small price to pay for putting these people in prison. Hopefully they won't have much access to social media there, and won't help prison gangs coordinate with the far right significantly more than they already do ('white supremacist prison gangs have been the fastest-growing segment of the white supremacist movement in the United States in recent years, accompanied by a related rise in crime and violence').

https://www.adl.org/...e-united-states

Trump's expected to go on a pardon spree on the last day of his presidency, including pardoning himself, his children, and Rudy Giuliani. Wouldn't it be a shame if the 25th amendment got invoked on the fourth to last day....

https://www.thedaily...des-reports-nyt

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 08 January 2021 - 07:46 PM

[Cause]

Not sure if it’s just a few isolated instances but seems the MAGA faithful are angry at trump for conceding which hopefully is true since it will shatter their alliance but it also means no one, not even their ‘leader’ can rein them in which is bad

[Malankazooie]

Twitter has banned Trump permanently.

[Primateus]

They have, yes. And in related news, to those saying he will just move to Parler, Apple is threatening Parler with permanent expulsion from their App Store if they do not implement Moderation rules. I have not seen anything from Google, but I could definitely see them following the same course of action.

[Cause]

Amazing, it’s like we are disciplining the potus as if he were a delinquent child. The fact that we got here is amazing

[Malankazooie]

I think more will come out and be revealed to the general public about what Trump was doing and how much he was involved with what happened. The complete lack of any security or police presence is an obvious one to me. Also, the narrative that antifa operatives were embedded in the attack and responsible for the criminal activity is gaining momentum and I guess Trump has been pushing it, with Fox News and all the obvious assholes. I think social media platforms are in defcon 1 damage control mode until Jan. 20 and probably for an undetermined amount of time after. Supposedly the plans are already developing for another attack.

[HoosierDaddy]

Trump must be impeached. I don't care if it hurts the Democratic chances in 2022 and 2024. It must happen.

There is no point in having a mechanism of impeachment if inciting your supporters to insurrection and sedition does not merit it.

[QuickTidal]

The precedent needs set that president CANNOT incite insurrection and get away with it. Impeach and remove

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

Primateus, on 09 January 2021 - 12:28 AM, said:

They have, yes. And in related news, to those saying he will just move to Parler, Apple is threatening Parler with permanent expulsion from their App Store if they do not implement Moderation rules. I have not seen anything from Google, but I could definitely see them following the same course of action.

Per the New York Times and the BBC, Google has suspended Parler from the play store until moderation rules are implemented to Google's satisfaction. But, you can download apps on an Android phone without going through the Google play store, so that might not have a huge impact.


https://www.bbc.com/...nology-55598887

(The Times article is behind a pay wall)

[Mentalist]

Cause, on 08 January 2021 - 08:53 PM, said:

Not sure if it’s just a few isolated instances but seems the MAGA faithful are angry at trump for conceding which hopefully is true since it will shatter their alliance but it also means no one, not even their ‘leader’ can rein them in which is bad

Do we want to "rein them in" though?

Or would it be better for the all the QAnons to shout from street corners who they are, and what they believe in, instead of recruiting supporters in secret on reddit and 4chan?


I'm honestly not sure. If something absurd is riduculed out in the open, does that make it less persuasive, or more persuasive than if it's a conspiracy theory that you have to seek out and "be invited in" in order to know "the truth"?

Would giving the radicals a loudspeaker make them more convincing, or would it make more moderate-leaning conservatives realize these are nutcases who should be isolated?
Honestly, I can see merits to both arguments. If someone is a racist white supremacist, it's probably better for everyone involved that they reveal themselves as such, rather than being a closet supporter.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 09 January 2021 - 04:18 AM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Apparently they're planning another attack on the 17th, 19th, or 20th. Better hurry up arresting them.

Though I wonder how much of Germany's modern antifascism stems from Nazis dying in the war, committing suicide, or being executed---a mass culling of the people most inclined towards fascism. Or maybe it was just the de-Nazification, the Marshall Plan, and education....

[Edit: link:

https://www.cnbc.com...mvpl0S7e2JXDaYs
]

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 09 January 2021 - 05:21 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

I think partly because it seems Germany hasn't shied away from going "our nation did this and this is not good". As opposed to US and UK history lessons going "look how great we are and always have been, don't question us about slavery or any of these other dark chapters..."

A vast oversimplification, admittedly but that's how it seems.

[amphibian]

There's far right extremist groups in almost every country. The questions are more along the lines of "are they allowed or harbored within the police?"

Germany has been trying to uproot many in their police recently: https://www.nytimes....zis-police.html

For the USA, the question is often more along the lines of "who in the police is not in a far right group?"

[Mezla PigDog]

HoosierDaddy, on 09 January 2021 - 01:46 AM, said:

Trump must be impeached. I don't care if it hurts the Democratic chances in 2022 and 2024. It must happen.

There is no point in having a mechanism of impeachment if inciting your supporters to insurrection and sedition does not merit it.

Definitely this. And to think he's sitting there with access to nuclear codes when he's clearly capable of almost anything. People saying there is no point with him leaving office on 20th may be sorry when the world ends on 19th.

I'm so glad his Twitter account has been suspended. All those pointless news stories we've been in a spin about over his presidency because he sits watching Fox News and tweeting when he should be doing serious work. The man is not fit to hold a Directorship nevermind Presidency.

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

McConnell has already said that unless there is unanimous consent to proceed in the Senate, a Senate trial wouldn't start until 1pm on the 20th at the earliest. I'm in favour of impeaching Trump again, because they can bar him from ever holding office again, but it won't see him removed from office prior to the 20th.

https://www.washingt...9da2_story.html

[Mezla PigDog]

Gwynn ap Nudd, on 09 January 2021 - 07:38 PM, said:

McConnell has already said that unless there is unanimous consent to proceed in the Senate, a Senate trial wouldn't start until 1pm on the 20th at the earliest. I'm in favour of impeaching Trump again, because they can bar him from ever holding office again, but it won't see him removed from office prior to the 20th.

https://www.washingt...9da2_story.html

I read that impeachment also strips him of post-White House Secret Service protection. There is no way the US tax payer should be paying for that asshole the rest of his life.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Since Trump isn't going to be at the Inauguration, but there will be a physical in-person inauguration... I really hope Pelosi and the president ex tempore of the Senate (currently Grassley, not clear if new one will be selected before inauguration) are in a secure location. If Biden dies before he can officially appoint a new Acting Secretary of State, and a 'terrorist attack' just happened to assassinate them all, I guess that would make the current Acting Secretary of State the president? And as I mentioned before, Trump could appoint an extreme loyalist as Acting Secretary of State (maybe Eric). Then become president again "legally" by having the new president appoint him Acting Secretary of State and then resign.

https://www.cnn.com/...IHyEwKyDWKx4b1M

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 09 January 2021 - 07:44 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Tiste Simeon, on 09 January 2021 - 06:39 PM, said:

I think partly because it seems Germany hasn't shied away from going "our nation did this and this is not good". As opposed to US and UK history lessons going "look how great we are and always have been, don't question us about slavery or any of these other dark chapters..."

A vast oversimplification, admittedly but that's how it seems.

Japan seems to have acknowledged it far less, but in terms of far-right extremism post-WII they seem comparable to Germany. (Not counting Mishima....)

[Malankazooie]

I've talked about flags Trump supporters fly proudly a few times and tried to understand what they mean and what the various colors symbolize. The link below covers some of it, but by no means is comprehensive. It goes into other iconography seen at the attack on the capital. Most of it is racist.

Decoding the extremist symbols and groups at the Capitol Hill insurrection

*link is to CNN

[Malankazooie]

It goes even further. The woman who complained about getting pepper sprayed and saying they were storming the capital because a revolution is happening. She is wearing a piano scarf. Piano > 88 keys > HH > Heil Hitler.