Think Capitol rioters were "ordinary people"? New research connects many to far-right groups

[MissMillie]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/think-capitol-rioters-were-ordinary-people-new-research-connects-many-to-far-right-groups/ar-AAWksLm?li=BBnb7Kz

On the one-year anniversary of Jan. 6, conservatives held more than two dozen "Justice for J6" vigils across the country, arguing that most of those arrested for storming the U.S. Capitol "were political neophytes" who hadn't realized what they were doing was wrong. In February, the Republican Party described the insurrection as "legitimate political discourse" in censuring the two GOP members of Congress who joined the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 events. And in early April, Donald Trump told the Washington Post that he had wanted to march to the Capitol himself, saying, "I would have gone there in a minute" if the Secret Service hadn't prevented it.

All this is part of a growing effort to normalize the riot at the Capitol, and to cast its perpetrators as overwhelmingly "ordinary people" who got caught up in the momentum of something beyond their control. But last week came decisive evidence that this simply isn't true: At least a third of those arrested in conjunction with Jan. 6 belong to a far-right network that is not just deeply interconnected but resilient and adaptable.

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The RWNJs would have you believe that these people are not "extremists" or "terrorists," but rather "patriots." If this behavior becomes "normalized" or "mainstream," it is the end of democratic values in America.

[2naSalit]

1. K&R

[niyad]

2. COUP, NOT "riiot", msn. Do better.

[Kid Berwyn]

3. VRWC

From Salon:

Last Thursday, Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at the University of Maryland's National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START center), released preliminary findings on the ideological motivations and connections of about 30 percent of all Jan. 6 defendants. While his research is ongoing, Jensen has already found that at least 244 of the 816 people arrested to date were either members of "extremist" organizations or self-identified with them. In his widely-shared map of the network (embedded below), Jensen documented at least 700 relationships between the defendants and both well-known far-right groups as well as more diffuse movements, including white nationalists, anti-vaccination activists, militias, militant anti-abortion groups, QAnon adherents and more.

https://mediaproxy.salon.com/width/600/

Source:

https://www.salon.com/2022/04/18/think-capitol-rioters-were-ordinary-people-new-research-connects-many-to-far-right-groups/

[yardwork]

4. All of it funded by Putin, in my opinion.

Money has poured into white supremacist groups in the U.S. and Europe. Where is that money coming from? Who funds the Proud Boys and why do they care who is president?

This kind of organization across groups means there's a lot of money and somebody is pulling the strings.

[speak easy]

8. Russia 'bought' Marine Le Pen's support over Crimea

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11515835/Russia-bought-Marine-Le-Pens-support-over-Crimea.html

[MissMillie]

12. Yeah, that's the same article (n/t)

.

[Kid Berwyn]

15. No disrespect intended.

I was able to link to the Salon illustration, which readers could reproduce and enlarge.

[MissMillie]

17. none taken (n/t)

.

[IronLionZion]

5. How many were connected to Antifa?

It's amazing how many excuses Republicans make for violent terrorism that resulted in deaths, serious injuries, and property damage. Yet the people arrested seem to be well organized with RW groups and lots of pre-meditated planning.

[Botany]

7. Brandenberg, KY June 2019 or 2020, Waiting for the attack on a confederate war monument by ...

BLM/Antifa who were coming down the OH River from Cincinnati on barges. They learned of the coming
attack from Facebook.

[IronLionZion]

9. Bowling Green Massacre

and whatever supposedly happened in Atlanta, and Sweden, and other incidents no one remembers because they never happened.

[Botany]

6. I think it was under w Bush or Obama* a study by the DoJ said the biggest threat to America was ....

... from racist right wing "patriotic militia" groups and the Republicans and organizations such as
Fox, hate talk radio, and web sites played the threat down.

* It might have been under Bill Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing.

America after Reagan got rid of the fairness doctrine, the rise of Christian Right /Evangelical-Taliban,
and the gutting of public education has really changed.

[IronLionZion]

10. Their numbers shot up during the Obama years

Many of the dumbest ones were unemployed from the Bush recession and needed someone to blame for their problems.

[AllaN01Bear]

11. i think he knew what he (tfg) was doing and planned this thing a while back

. in my humble opine .

[Kaleva]

13. As the article states, I think a majority were pretty much "ordinary people".

"But last week came decisive evidence that this simply isn't true: At least a third of those arrested in conjunction with Jan. 6 belong to a far-right network that is not just deeply interconnected but resilient and adaptable."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/think-capitol-rioters-were-ordinary-people-new-research-connects-many-to-far-right-groups/ar-AAWksLm?li=BBnb7Kz

[chia]

14. The data on this is incredible:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FQUQfCWXoAovS9B?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

[dlk]

16. They should have been referred to as domestic terrorists all along

Soft-pedaling their true nature is a form of enabling. We can do better.

[BlueWavePsych]

18. Kick

[Grins]

19. Take the time to read this. Not too long and VERY good! NM