Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certification

Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:51 am

Pro-Trump dark money groups organized the rally that led to deadly Capitol Hill riot
by Brian Schwartz
@SchwartzBCNBC
PUBLISHED SAT, JAN 9 202110:58 AM ESTUPDATED SAT, JAN 9 20214:47 PM EST

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KEY POINTS

• The rally, officially known as the “March to Save America,” was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First.
• Women for America First’s Facebook pages show they were calling on supporters to be part of what they described as a “caravan” to Washington for the event.

Image
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police, during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. Shannon Stapelton | REUTERS

A web of pro-Trump dark money groups helped organize the rally that led to a deadly riot on Capitol Hill.

During the rally on Wednesday, President Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to march to the steps of Congress to protest the results of the Electoral College vote that certified Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them,” Trump said at the rally just in front of the White House before the riot started. After the rally, Trump supporters marched to the steps of Congress and broke into the U.S. Capitol building.

At least five people have been pronounced dead, including a police officer. Though the Justice Department has said Trump himself is not expected to be charged, acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin had previously acknowledged he’s “looking at all actors” that had a role in Wednesday’s attack.

Trump is currently embroiled in yet another potential impeachment inquiry following the riot. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that unless the president resigns, the House will move ahead with a motion for impeachment.

The rally, officially known as the “March to Save America,” was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First. The organization was certified by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit that can engage in limited political activities. These groups are known as dark money organizations as they do not publicly disclose their donors.

However, America First Polices, a pro-Trump policy advocacy dark money group, did disclose in 2019 that they contributed to Women for America First. America First’s 990 disclosure form from that year shows they contributed $25,000 to Women for America First.

America First Policies, which is also a 501(c)(4) that does not disclose its donors, is chaired by Linda McMahon, a longtime Trump ally and former head of the Small Business Administration . The 2019 filing shows America First Policies ended up raising over $30 million. They were not involved with the planning of the rally itself.

Women for America First is chaired by Amy Kremer, a longtime political operative that was once the head of the Tea Party Express, an organization that was created to support the conservative Tea Party movement. Kylie Jane Kremer, the executive director of Women for Trump, is named on the rally’s permit as the person in charge. The permit was first obtained by The Washingtonian.

The permit for the event says that the anticipated number of attendees was 5,000 people. Yet, in Women for Trump’s denunciation of the violence that took place on Capitol Hill, they say that “hundreds of thousands of Americans” came to Washington to attend their rally.

Women for America First’s Facebook pages show they were calling on supporters to be part of what they described as a “caravan” to Washington for the event. A recent post says to meet at an address in Virginia on Jan. 5, the day before the now infamous rally, to “join the caravan to D.C.” There’s a picture of a bus with their logo on it and, though it notes they are not providing transportation, they encourage people to follow the bus.


A post on Jan. 5 shows a video of what appears to be from within a bus part of the “caravan.” In the post, a woman says they had an escort going into Washington D.C. and called on people to attend the upcoming rally.

“Send the word. We’re rallying tomorrow. It’s in front of the White House... that way they don’t have to go far to see us, ” the woman holding the camera says. “It’s going to be epic,” she adds.

Women for America First’s executive director promoted the rally through a Twitter post that has been retweeted over 16,000 times and, she notes that it was shared by the president himself. Trump had over 80 million followers before he was permanently banned from Twitter on Friday.


Image
Kylie Jane Kremer
@KylieJaneKremer
The cavalry is coming, Mr. President!
JANUARY 6th Washington, DC
TrumpMarch.com
#MarchForTrump #StopTheSteal
Image
MARCH FOR TRUMP
TO DEMAND TRANSPARENCY & PROTECT ELECTION INTEGRITY
JANUARY 6TH
WASHINGTON, DC
THE PRESIDENT IS CALLING ON US TO COME BACK TO WASHINGTON ON JANUARY 6TH FOR A BIG PROTEST -- "BE THERE, WILL BE WILD"
SPECIFIC LOCATION & TIME TBA SOON
#MARCHFORTRUMP
TRUMPMARCH.COM
Image

1:50 PM Dec 19, 2020


Both leaders and a spokesman for the group did not return requests for comment.

The permits also give a glimpse into the expense of the event.

From Jan. 2 through Jan. 5, organizers were involved with setting up lighting, tents, flooring, bike racks, chairs and decor, all for Trump’s speech on Jan. 6. The listed production vendor was Event Strategies, a company that was founded by Tim Unes. On the company website, Unes is credited with producing Trump’s 2015 “campaign announcement tour” and later joined the campaign as a deputy director of advance.

On their list of clients is the Trump campaign, the executive office of the White House and other presidential campaigns, including Sen. Mitt Romney’s, R-Utah.

Data from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows that Trump’s reelection campaign paid Event Strategies over $1 million throughout the 2020 election cycle. Other pro-Trump groups also paid for the vendors production services.

Women for Trump were involved with setting up a backstage area, the permit says. According to video obtained by CNBC, those backstage included the president, Donald Trump Jr., his girlfriend and Trump campaign advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle, his brother Eric Trump and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Many behind the scenes were laughing and dancing before the festivities ensued.

Beyond Women for America First, there were other outside groups involved in encouraging people to go to the rally.

NBC News reported that the policy arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, sent out robocalls encouraging people to march on the U.S. Capitol.

“At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said the voice on the recording, according to NBC. The calls did not call for violence.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who leads the policy arm, has said the calls were made without his go-ahead and that he’s initiated an internal review.

The Republican Attorneys General Association raised over $18 million in 2020.
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:18 am

West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans faces federal charges in Capitol siege
by Erin Donaghue
CBS News
January 8, 2021 4:05 PM

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A West Virginia state lawmaker who filmed himself storming into the U.S. Capitol along with a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump is now facing federal charges, the U.S. District Attorney's office for the District of Columbia said Friday.


Derrick Evans, West Virginia lawmaker, filmed during US Capitol riot
by Guardian News
Jan 8, 2021

Derrick Evans, a newly-elected lawmaker in West Virginia house of delegates, filmed himself during the pro-Trump riot on the US Capitol on Wednesday that left five people dead. On Friday, the Justice Department announced he had been charged with entering a restricted area.

Evans, a Republican and Trump supporter, was seen on a Facebook Live video in which he was heard shouting "We're in! We're in baby!" while moving among a crowd of rioters as he walked through a doorway of the Capitol Rotunda.

The video has since been deleted. John H Bryan, a civil rights lawyer who is representing Evans, said the delegate traveled to Washington DC to “engage in peaceful protest, activism and amateur journalism" and that he engaged in "no illegal behavior". In a statement released Thursday, Bryan added: "Given the sheer size of the group walking in, Mr Evans had no choice but to enter ...". The lawyer added that Evans has no plans to resign.


West Virginia State Delegate Derrick Evans is charged with entering a restricted area, Ken Kohl, principal assistant U.S. Attorney for D.C., said on a press call.

Evans is among 15 people who have been charged at the federal level so far, including an Arkansas man who was photographed with his feet up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and another man found with 11 Molotov cocktails along with an assault rifle and two handguns in his Alabama-registered truck. The U.S. Attorney's office has charged 40 others in D.C. Superior Court, officials say.

#BREAKING WV Delegate Derrick Evans has been taken into federal custody.

He’s charged after allegedly entering a restricted area of the US Capitol with rioters Wednesday.

A woman saying he was his grandmother came out telling us to leave as he was put in a car. #WSAZ pic.twitter.com/wK2RqFcaF7

— Chad Hedrick (@WSAZChadHedrick) January 8, 2021


Evans, a newly elected Republican lawmaker, is facing bipartisan calls for his resignation. But Evans' lawyer told CBS affiliate WVNS-TV that he would not step down and he "committed no criminal act that day."

The video Evans posted to social media Wednesday showed him yelling, "We're here. We're here. Derrick Evans is in the Capitol."

In a criminal complaint released Friday, an FBI agent wrote he identified Evans as the person in the live-streamed video by comparing the voice to the lawmaker's voice in a campaign video. In addition, the agent wrote, "Evans identifies himself by first and last name in the video recording the offense."

At the beginning of the video, according to the complaint, Evans is seen with a crowd outside a closed 12-foot door yelling "Open the door!" and "Our house!" before the crowd is able to pry it open. Evans is seen entering the building with the crowd, yelling, "We're in!" and "Let's go, keep it moving, baby!"

Once inside, according to the complaint, Evans is seen apparently fist-bumping a Capitol police officer and saying, "We still respect you, all right?" He later yells, "No vandalizing property!"

The complaint says Evans posted a meme to his Facebook account on December 28 with the text, "Fight for Trump. January 6. We're comin," and the caption, "Anyone else going to D.C. on Jan. 6?"

He posted another meme on December 30 with an image of Trump and the text, "Take America Back. Be There. Will be Wild. Washington, D.C. Jan 6., 2021" with the caption, "One week from today! Who's going?"

The complaint says on January 6, Evans posted a video of himself in a crowd outside the Capitol, saying, "They're making an announcement right now saying that if Pence betrays us, you better get your mind right because we are storming that building." He then laughs and says, "I'm just the messenger, so don't be hating on me. I'm just telling you what I'm hearing right now on the ground."


In a Facebook statement, Evans later said he recorded the events on Wednesday "as an independent member of the media to film history." He said he did not have negative interactions with law enforcement or engage in property destruction.

The complaint notes that on his Facebook page, Evans identifies himself as a political candidate and not a member of the media. The complaint also includes a charge of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Evans' lawyer, John Bryan, told The Associated Press said he hadn't seen the complaint against Evans and couldn't comment. A reporter for television station WSAZ posted video of Evans being taken into custody outside a home.

The Republican speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, Roger Hanshaw, condemned the assault on the Capitol in a Wednesday statement and said Evans "will need to answer to his constituents and colleagues."

Image
West Virginia House of Delegates member Derrick Evans on December 14, 2020.
PERRY BENNETT/WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE VIA AP


"While free speech and peaceful protests are a core value of American society, storming government buildings and participating in a violent intentional disruption of one of our nation's most fundamental political institutions is a crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Hanshaw wrote.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Steven D'Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington field office, said investigators are combing through tips, social media and video to identify more suspects in Wednesday's siege. The FBI and the Washington Metropolitan Police Department have released a series of photos of people who stormed the Capitol and asked the public to contact them with any information. D'Antuono thanked the public for tips that have already been submitted and vowed, "Make no mistake, our work here is not done."

"Just because you've left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on your door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol," D'Antuono said.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin said "all options were on the table" when it comes to considering more serious riot or sedition-related charges for those arrested and anyone else who may have been involved with planning the attack.

When asked whether he would be examining the role of President Trump's comments to his supporters prior to the assault, Sherwin repeated: "We're looking at all actors here and anyone that had a role, and if the evidence fits the elements of a crime, they're going to be charged."

First published on January 8, 2021 / 4:05 PM

© 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:29 am

2 Seattle police officers being investigated for involvement in Capitol attack: The police chief says he is prepared to "immediately terminate them."
by Rosa Sanchez
ABC News
January 9, 2021, 12:45 AM

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At least two Seattle police officers have been placed on leave and are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol protests.

The Seattle Police Department released a statement Friday night saying that it was made aware Friday of the officers' involvement in the Jan. 6 siege and is now taking the appropriate measures.

"The Department fully supports all lawful expressions of First Amendment freedom of speech, but the violent mob and events that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol were unlawful and resulted in the death of another police officer," Chief Adrian Diaz said in the statement, referring to Brian Sicknick, who died of injuries he sustained during the attack.

Diaz said the case is now being reviewed by the Office of Police Accountability.

"The OPA will investigate whether any SPD policies were violated and if any potential illegal activities need to be referred for criminal investigation," he said. "If any SPD officers were directly involved in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, I will immediately terminate them. While OPA investigates, these officers have been placed on administrative leave."

Image
PHOTO: Pro-Trump protesters clash with police during a rally at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., U.S, Jan. 6, 2021. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

This seems to be the first report of out-of-state law enforcement officials being involved in the violent pro-Trump protests.

The FBI is currently working to identify those involved and has already made various arrests.

In a statement late Friday, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D'Antuono said in a press call, "Just because you've left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out that you were part of criminal activity inside the Capitol. Bottom line—the FBI is not sparing any resources in this investigation."
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:33 am

San Francisco police are prepping for a pro-Trump rally at Twitter headquarters
by Jonathan Shieber @jshieber
7:56 PM MST January 10, 2021

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San Francisco police are preparing for a pro-Trump protest at Twitter’s headquarters, a building which has been essentially abandoned since the start of the pandemic last year, with most Twitter employees working remotely.

The potential protest comes days after Twitter banned the president from using its service — his favorite form of communication to millions of followers — following what the company called his continued incitements to violence in the wake of the January 6 assault on the Capitol last week by a mob of his followers.

“The San Francisco Police Department is aware of the possibility of a demonstration on the 1300 block of Market Street (Twitter) tomorrow, Monday January 11, 2021. SFPD has been in contact with representatives from Twitter. We will have sufficient resources available to respond to any demonstrations as well as calls for service citywide,” a police department spokesperson wrote in an email. “The San Francisco Police Department is committed to facilitating the public’s right to First Amendment expressions of free speech. We ask that everyone exercising their First Amendment rights be considerate, respectful, and mindful of the safety of others.”

The San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported the preparations from SF police, noted that posts on a popular internet forum for Trump supporters who have relocated from Reddit called for the president’s adherents to protest his Twitter ban outside of the company’s headquarters on Monday.

Twitter is one of several tech companies to deplatform the president and many of his supporters in the wake of the riot at the Capitol on Wednesday.

At this point, most of the biggest names in tech have pledged to deny service to the President for what they said was his incitement to violence in the wake of the Capitol hill raid that left five people dead — including a Capitol Police officer.
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:37 am

Records show fervent Trump fans fueled US Capitol takeover
by Michael Biesecker, Michael Kunzelman, Gillian Flaccus and Jim Mustian
Associated Press
1/10/21

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Image
In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 file photo supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. Jacob Anthony Chansley, the Arizona man with the painted face and wearing a horned, fur hat, was taken into custody Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021 and charged with counts that include violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — They came from across America, summoned by President Donald Trump to march on Washington in support of his false claim that the November election was stolen and to stop the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden as the victor.

“Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Trump tweeted a week before Christmas. “Be there, will be wild!”

The insurrectionist mob that showed up at the president’s behest and stormed the U.S. Capitol was overwhelmingly made up of longtime Trump supporters, including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists, members of the military and adherents of the QAnon myth that the government is secretly controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophile cannibals. Records show that some were heavily armed and included convicted criminals, such as a Florida man recently released from prison for attempted murder.

The Associated Press reviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to the Jan. 6 unrest or who, going maskless amid the pandemic, were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the melee.

The evidence gives lie to claims by right-wing pundits and Republican officials such as Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., that the violence was perpetrated by left-wing antifa thugs rather than supporters of the president.

“If the reports are true,” Gaetz said on the House floor just hours after the attack, “some of the people who breached the Capitol today were not Trump supporters. They were masquerading as Trump supporters and, in fact, were members of the violent terrorist group antifa.”

Steven D’Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, told reporters that investigators had seen “no indication” antifa activists were disguised as Trump supporters in Wednesday’s riot.


The AP found that many of the rioters had taken to social media after the November election to retweet and parrot false claims by Trump that the vote had been stolen in a vast international conspiracy. Several had openly threatened violence against Democrats and Republicans they considered insufficiently loyal to the president. During the riot, some livestreamed and posted photos of themselves at the Capitol. Afterwards, many bragged about what they had done.

As the mob smashed through doors and windows to invade the Capitol, a loud chant went up calling for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence, the recent target of a Trump Twitter tirade for not subverting the Constitution and overturning the legitimate vote tally. Outside, a wooden scaffold had been erected on the National Mall, a rope noose dangling at the ready.

So far, at least 90 people have been arrested on charges ranging from misdemeanor curfew violations to felonies related to assaults on police officers, possessing illegal weapons and making death threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Among them was Lonnie Leroy Coffman, 70, an Alabama grandfather who drove to Washington to attend Trump’s “Save America Rally” in a red GMC Sierra pickup packed with an M4 assault rifle, multiple loaded magazines, three handguns and 11 Mason jars filled with homemade napalm, according to court filings.

The truck was found during a security sweep involving explosives-sniffing dogs after two pipe bombs were found and disarmed Wednesday near the national headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties. Coffman was arrested that evening when he returned to the truck carrying a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun and a .22-caliber derringer pistol in his pockets. Federal officials said Coffman is not suspected of planting the pipe bombs, though he was charged with having Molotov cocktails in the bed of his truck.

His grandson, Brandon Coffman, told the AP on Friday his grandfather was a Republican who had expressed admiration for Trump at holiday gatherings. He said he had no idea why Coffman would show up in the nation’s capital armed for civil war.

Also facing federal charges is Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., a Georgia man who in the wake of the election had protested outside the home of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, whom Trump had publicly blamed for his loss in the state. Meredith drove to Washington last week for the “Save America” rally but arrived late because of a problem with the lights on his trailer, according to court filings that include expletive-laden texts.

“Headed to DC with a (s—-) ton of 5.56 armor-piercing ammo,” he texted friends and relatives on Jan. 6, adding a purple devil emoji, according to court filings. The following day, he texted to the group: “Thinking about heading over to Pelosi (C——’s) speech and putting a bullet in her noggin on Live TV.” He once again added a purple devil emoji, and wrote he might hit her with his truck instead. “I’m gonna run that (C—-) Pelosi over while she chews on her gums. … Dead (B——) Walking. I predict that within 12 days, many in our country will die.”

Meredith, who is white, then texted a photo of himself in blackface. “I’m gonna walk around DC FKG with people by yelling ‘Allahu ak Bar’ randomly.”

A participant in the text exchange provided screenshots to the FBI, who tracked Meredith to a Holiday Inn a short walk from the Capitol. They found a compact Tavor X95 assault rifle, a 9mm Glock 19 handgun and about 100 rounds of ammunition, according to court filings. The agents also seized a stash of THC edibles and a vial of injectable testosterone.

Meredith is charged with transmitting a threat, as well as felony counts for possession of firearms and ammunition.

Michael Thomas Curzio was arrested in relation to the riots less than two years after he was released from a Florida prison in 2019 after serving an eight-year sentence for attempted murder. Court records from Florida show that he shot the boyfriend of his former girlfriend in a fight at her home.

Federal law enforcement officials vowed Friday to bring additional charges against those who carried out the attack on the Capitol, launching a nationwide manhunt for dozens of suspects identified from photographic evidence

The FBI has opened a murder probe into the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, according to law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly. He died at a hospital.

The Trump supporters who died in the riot were Kevin D. Greeson, 55, of Athens, Alabama; Benjamin Philips, 50, of Ringtown, Pennsylvania; Ashli Babbitt, 35, of San Diego; and Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Georgia.

Boyland’s sister told the AP on Friday she was an adherent of the QAnon conspiracy theory that holds Trump is America’s savior. Her Facebook page featured photos and videos praising Trump and promoting fantasies, including one theory that a shadowy group was using the coronavirus to steal elections. Boyland’s final post on Twitter — a retweet of a post by White House social media director Dan Scavino — was a picture of thousands of people surrounding the Washington Monument on Wednesday.

“She would text me some things, and I would be like, ‘Let me fact-check that.’ And I’d sit there and I’d be like, ‘Well, I don’t think that’s actually right,’” Lonna Cave, Boyland’s sister, said. “We got in fights about it, arguments.”

The AP’s review found that QAnon beliefs were common among those who heeded Trump’s call to come to Washington.

Doug Jensen, 41, was arrested by the FBI on Friday in Des Moines, Iowa, after returning home from the riot. An AP photographer captured images of him confronting Capitol Police officers outside of the Senate chamber on Wednesday.

Jensen was wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with a large Q and the phrase “Trust The Plan,” a reference to QAnon. Video posted online during the storming of the Capitol also appears to show Jensen, who is white, pursuing a Black police officer up an interior flight of stairs as a mob of people trails several steps behind. At several points, the officer says “get back,” but to no avail.

Jensen’s older brother, William Routh, told the AP on Saturday that Jensen believed that the person posting as Q was either Trump or someone very close to the president.

“I feel like he had a lot of influence from the internet that confused or obscured his views on certain things,” said Routh, of Clarksville, Arkansas, who described himself as a Republican Trump supporter. “When I talked to him, he thought that maybe this was Trump telling him what to do.”

Jensen’s employer, Forrest & Associate Masonry in Des Moines, announced Friday that he had been fired.

Tara Coleman, a 40-year-old mother who lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was arrested at the Capitol for a curfew violation and for unlawful entry. On her Facebook page, Coleman re-posted articles supporting the QAnon beliefs about a “deep state” conspiracy to target children. The AP could not find a working phone number for Coleman and her attorney, Peter Cooper, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

And Jake Chansley, who calls himself the “QAnon Shaman” and has long been a fixture at Trump rallies, surrendered to the FBI field office in Phoenix on Saturday. News photos show him at the riot shirtless, with his face painted and wearing a fur hat with horns, carrying a U.S. flag attached to a wooden pole topped with a spear.

Chansley’s unusual headwear is visible in a Nov. 7 AP photo at a rally of Trump supporters protesting election results outside of the Maricopa County election center in Phoenix. In that photo, Chansley, who also has gone by the last name Angeli, held a sign that read, “HOLD THE LINE PATRIOTS GOD WINS.” He also expressed his support for the president in an interview with the AP that day.

The FBI identified Chansley by his distinctive tattoos, which include bricks circling his biceps in an apparent reference to Trump’s border wall. Chansley didn’t respond last week to messages seeking comment to one of his social media accounts.

There were also current and former members of the U.S. military in the crowd.

Army commanders at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are investigating Capt. Emily Rainey’s involvement in the Wednesday rally. The 30-year-old psychological operations officer told the AP she led 100 members of Moore County Citizens for Freedom who traveled to Washington to “stand against election fraud” and support Trump. She insisted she acted within Army regulations and that no one in her group entered the Capitol or broke the law.

“I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,” Rainey told the AP.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. of Texas was charged in federal court on Sunday after he was identified in photos showing him standing in the well of the Senate, wearing a military-style helmet and body armor while holding a pair of zip-tie handcuffs.

The insurrectionist mob also included members of the neofascist group known as the Proud Boys, whom Trump urged to “stand back and stand by” when asked to condemn them by a moderator during a presidential debate in September.

Nicholas R. Ochs, 34, was arrested Saturday after returning home to Hawaii, where he is the founder of the local Proud Boys chapter. On Wednesday, Ochs posted a photo of himself on Twitter inside the Capitol, grinning broadly and smoking a cigarette. According to court filings, the FBI matched photos of Ochs taken during the riot to photos taken when Ochs campaigned unsuccessfully last year as the Republican nominee for a seat in the Hawaii statehouse.

Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was arrested Monday in Washington on weapons charges and ordered to stay out of the nation’s capital. Tarrio is accused of vandalizing a Black Lives Matter banner at a historic Black church last month.

Jay Robert Thaxton, 46, was arrested near the Capitol for curfew violations on Wednesday. A North Carolina man with the same name has also been linked to the Proud Boys. He told The Stanly News & Press in 2019 that he was a Proud Boys supporter but wouldn’t say if he was an official member of the group. Another North Carolina newspaper, The Jacksonville Daily News, published a photo of Thaxton wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat at a 2019 protest over the removal of Confederate statues.

A man who answered a telephone number associated with Thaxton hung up on an AP reporter. The recipient of a text message to the same number responded with an expletive.

Also arrested at the Capitol was William Arthur Leary, who owns a manufactured housing business in Utica, New York. In an interview Friday, Leary told the AP that he strongly believes the election was stolen from Trump and that he went to Washington to show his support.

Leary said he doesn’t trust information reported by the mainstream media and that one of his main sources of information was Infowars, the far-right conspiracy site run by Alex Jones. He denied he ever set foot in the Capitol and complained that he was held for more than 24 hours and had his cell phone seized.

“They treated us like animals,” he complained. “They took all our phones. I didn’t get to make a phone call to tell anybody where I was.”

Leary said he remembers seeing a woman, Kristina Malimon, 28, sobbing at the detention center because she had been separated and not allowed to translate for her mother, who primarily speaks Russian. Both women had been charged with curfew violation and unlawful entry. According to a video posted on her Instagram account, the younger Malimon says she was born in Moldova, where her family had faced persecution under the Soviet-era regime for their Christian beliefs.

Malimon, who traveled to D.C. from Portland, Oregon, is vice chairwoman of the Young Republicans of Oregon, according to the group’s website and is also listed as an “ambassador” for the pro-Trump group Turning Point USA. Her social media feeds are full of photos taken at Trump events, including the earlier “Million MAGA March” held in Washington last month. She also posted photos of herself posing with Donald Trump Jr. and Roger Stone, who was convicted of crimes including obstruction of justice and pardoned by Trump on Christmas Eve.

Media reports from Oregon quoted Malimon in August as the primary organizer of a Trump boat parade on the Willamette River, where big waves created by speeding boats flying Trump flags swamped and sank a smaller boat that was not participating, throwing a family into the water to be rescued by the sheriff’s department.

“Oregon, today you came out and showed your love and support for our wonderful President, Donald J. Trump thank you!” Kristina Malimon wrote on Facebook following the parade.

Malimon also served as a Republican poll watcher in Georgia and spoke at an event organized by the Trump campaign in December, claiming to have seen voting machines and tabulation computers in Savannah, Georgia, with suspiciously blinking green lights she interpreted as a sign they were being secretly controlled by outside hackers — a claim debunked as false by GOP election officials in the state.

A phone number listed for Kristina Malimon rang without being answered on Friday. At the address listed for her in southeast Portland on Friday night, her teenage brother answered the door as other family members, including young children, ran around.

The family spoke Russian to each other and the brother, Nick Malimon, translated. He said his sister was still in Washington but had called the family following her release from jail and didn’t seem upset about her arrest.

Others are facing consequences even beyond arrest.

A Texas sheriff announced Thursday that he had reported one of his lieutenants to the FBI after she posted photos of herself on social media with a crowd outside the Capitol. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Lt. Roxanne Mathai, a 46-year-old jailer, had the right to attend the rally but he’s investigating whether she may have broken the law.

One of the posts Mathai shared was a photo that appeared to be taken Wednesday from among the mass of Trump supporters outside the Capitol, “Not gonna lie......aside from my kids, this was, indeed, the best day of my life. And it’s not over yet.”

A lawyer for Mathai, a mother and longtime San Antonio resident, said she attended the Trump rally but never entered the Capitol.

Attorney Hector Cortes said Mathai’s contract bars her from speaking directly with the press but that she welcomes an FBI investigation and that her actions were squarely within the bounds of the First Amendment.

Brad Rukstales, a Republican political donor and CEO of Cogensia, a Chicago-based data analytics firm, was arrested with a group of a half-dozen Trump supporters who clashed with officers Wednesday inside the Capitol. Campaign finance reports show Rukstales contributed more than $25,000 to Trump’s campaign and other GOP committees during to 2020 election cycle.

He told a local CBS news channel last week that he had entered the Capitol and apologized. He was fired Friday and did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

Derrick Evans, a Republican recently sworn in as a delegate to the West Virginia House, resigned Saturday following his arrest on two charges related to the Capitol riot. He had streamed video of himself charging into the building with the mob.

“They’re making an announcement now saying if Pence betrays us you better get your mind right because we’re storming the building,” Evans, 35, says in the video, as the door to the Capitol building is smashed and rioters rush through. “The door is cracked! … We’re in, we’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”

On Saturday he issued a statement saying he regretted taking part.

“I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians,” the statement said.

Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland, Flaccus from Portland, Oregon, and Mustian from New York. Associated Press writers Jake Bleiberg in Dallas; Michael R. Sisak in New York; Michael Balsamo in Washington; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; James LaPorta in Delray Beach, Florida; and Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, contributed to this report.

Follow Associated Press investigative reporter Michael Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:41 am

Pelosi: MAGA Mob Was ‘Organized’ and ‘Directed to Get People’: “The evidence is now that it was a well-planned, organized group with leadership and guidance and direction. And the direction was to go get people,” the speaker said on “60 Minutes”
by Peter Wade
Rolling Stone
January 10, 2021 8:27PM ET

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed disturbing details about the attack on the Capitol and called President Trump “deranged, unhinged, [and] dangerous” in an appearance on 60 Minutes.

While walking through her ransacked and vandalized office, Pelosi told journalist Lesley Stahl that evidence shows people in the mob were focused on finding “get[ting] people.”

“The evidence is now that it was a well-planned, organized group with leadership and guidance and direction,” she said. “And the direction was to go get people. They were vocally saying, ‘Where’s the speaker? We know she has staff. They’re here someplace. We’re going to find them.’"

Pelosi did not reveal specifics, but we now know the outcome could have been much worse. Some in the mob of the president’s supporters came equipped with bulletproof vests and zip-tie-style handcuffs, potentially to take hostages. They built a gallows and chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.” Two pipe bombs were found near Republican and Democratic party headquarters. And the mob came dangerously close to reaching lawmakers as they evacuated from their respective chambers to a safe location.

Pelosi lays the blame for this squarely at Trump’s feet, and she emphasized the need for action because the country could still be in danger in the last days of his administration. “The person that’s running the Executive Branch is a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States,” Pelosi said. “And we’re only a number of days until we can be protected from him. But he has done something so serious that there should be prosecution against him.”


In a letter to House Democrats on Saturday, Pelosi outlined the next steps the party will take to try to remove Trump from power. First, she said, the House will ask for unanimous consent to bring up a resolution authored by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) calling on Vice President Pence to “convene and mobilize the Cabinet to activate the 25th Amendment.” If a majority of cabinet members vote in favor of using the amendment, Trump would be removed and Pence would become acting president. If Pelosi does not get unanimous consent, the resolution will be brought to the floor on Tuesday.

Pelosi also told 60 Minutes that she and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer initiated a call to Pence about the 25th amendment, but the vice president never answered. “We were kept on the line for 20 minutes,” she said. ”‘He’s going to be here in a minute, a minute, a minute,’ [we were told]. Well, he never did come to the phone.”

After pursuing the 25th, Democrats will start the impeachment process, which she said has “strong support” in the party. But while Pelosi may get the numbers to impeach Trump in the House, where Democrats hold the majority, reaching a conviction in the Senate will be more difficult. Democrats will need to find 14 Republicans to vote with them.
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 6:55 am

Stripe reportedly quits processing payments for Trump campaign website: Action due to violations of service terms that prohibit businesses that promote or encourage violence from using the service, the Wall Street Journal reports.
by Steven Musil
cnet.com
Jan. 10, 2021 3:41 p.m. PT

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Image

Online payments processor Stripe has stopped processing payments for President Donald Trump's campaign website in the wake of last week's deadly pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The company, which handles online payments for millions of online businesses, is cutting off the Trump campaign due to violations of its policies against encouraging violence, sources told the newspaper. Stripe's terms of service prohibit its service to be used by any "high risk" business that "engages in, encourages, promotes or celebrates unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property."


Violence that erupted Wednesday afternoon when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol during the vote to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Twitter and Facebook each suspended Trump's accounts for incendiary comments following the riots.

Trump released a video statement that night telling the rioters to go home but referred to them as "special people" and told them "we love you."

Neither Stripe no the Trump campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 7:14 am

Amazon Is Booting Parler Off Of Its Web Hosting Service: Amazon's suspension of Parler's account means that unless it can find another host, once the ban takes effect on Sunday Parler will go offline.
by John Paczkowski and Ryan Mac
BuzzFeed
Last updated on January 9, 2021, at 10:08 p.m. ET
Posted on January 9, 2021, at 9:07 p.m. ET

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

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Image
[DELETE] [DELETE] 1 day ago
@ [DELETE]
How bout make them hang? #executethemfortreason #treason #deathtotraitors #fuckmikepence
VIOLENCE WORKS MAKE THEM AFRAID

A screenshot included in Amazon's letter to Parler

Amazon notified Parler that it would be cutting off the social network favored by conservatives and extremists from its cloud hosting service Amazon Web Services, according to an email obtained by BuzzFeed News. The suspension, which will go into effect on Sunday just before midnight, means that Parler will be unable to operate and will go offline unless it can find another hosting service.

People on Parler used the social network to stoke fear, spread hate, and coordinate the insurrection at the Capitol building on Wednesday. The app has recently been overrun with death threats, celebrations of violence, and posts encouraging “Patriots” to march on Washington, DC, with weapons on Jan. 19, the day before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.


In an email obtained by BuzzFeed News, an AWS Trust and Safety team told Parler Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff that the calls for violence propagating across the social network violated its terms of service. Amazon said it was unconvinced that the service’s plan to use volunteers to moderate calls for violence and hate speech would be effective.

“Recently, we’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms," the email reads. "It’s clear that Parler does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service.”

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the suspension.

In a post on Saturday evening following publication of this story, Parler CEO John Matze, who did not return a request for comment from BuzzFeed News, said it is possible the social network "will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch."

Image
John Matze 16 minutes ago
@John
Sunday (tomorrow) at midnight Amazon will be shutting off all of our servers in an attempt to completely remove free speech off the internet. There is the possibility Parler will be unavailable on the internet for up to a week as we rebuild from scratch. We prepared for events like this by never relying on amazons proprietary infrastructure and building bare metal products.
We will try our best to move to a new provider right now as we have many competing for our business, however Amazon, Google and Apple purposefully did this as a coordinated effort knowing our options would be limited and knowing this would inflict the most damage right as President Trump was banned from the tech companies.
This was a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the market place. We were too successful too fast. You can expect the war on competition and free speech to continue, but don't count us out.
#speakfreely

Parler

"This was a coordinated attack by the tech giants to kill competition in the market place," he wrote on Parler. "We were too successful too fast."

On Parler, reaction to the impending ban was swift and outraged, with some discussing violence against Amazon. "It would be a pity if someone with explosives training were to pay a visit to some AWS data centers," one person wrote.

Image
NewKenPatr... @Ronglaister
9 secs ago
Sounds like war! It would be a pity if someone with explosives training were to pay a visit to some AWS Data Centers -- the locations of which are public knowledge.

Parler

Amazon's move comes after Apple banned Parler from its App Store on Saturday afternoon, after the platform failed to introduce a moderation plan to protect public safety. On Friday, Apple gave Parler 24 hours to mitigate the "planning of illegal and dangerous activities" occurring on its service or face expulsion, BuzzFeed News first reported. Google has also suspended Parler from its Google Play app store.

On Saturday, ahead of Apple's expected banning from the App Store, people rushed to download Parler's app, making it the most downloaded free app. While people will still be able to use Parler on their iPhones after the App Store ban, the social media company will not be able to distribute updates through Apple's services.

Amazon's move, however, will remove the infrastructure from which Parler operates.

Parler, which was launched in 2018, has become a safe haven for people banned by popular sites including Facebook and Twitter. The Henderson, Nevada–based company has billed itself as a free speech alternative to mainstream social networks and taken a more relaxed approach to content moderation, attracting conspiracy theorists, hate group members, and right-wing activists who have openly incited violence.


Recent threads on Parler have called for the execution of Vice President Mike Pence and encouraged the conspiracy theory that left-wing antifa activists were behind Wednesday’s events.

Republican lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz and Congressman Devin Nunes as well as President Donald Trump’s family members and surrogates have all established Parler accounts, and have publicly encouraged their supporters to join them there. So too have many figures in conservative media.

Amazon's email to Parler also contained examples from the platform of calls for the assassinations of lawmakers, members of the media, and activists.

Image
[DELETE] [DELETE] 8 hours ago
@ [DELETE]
On January [DELETE] we need to start systematically assasinating #liberal leaders, liberal activists, #blm leaders and supporters, members of the #nba #nfi #mlb #nhi #mainstreammedia anchors and correspondents and #antifa. I already have a news worthy event planned #blmterrorists #militia #civilwar #civilwar2

Parler

Image
[DELETE] [DELETE] 6 days ago
@ [DELETE]
You liberals and dirty left domonrats and antifa and blm and rhino politicians and Muslims who are against our country our president our constitution and burning down our jobs burning down our businesses burning down our life destroying our children's lives and scaring them destroying our culture our freedoms and our rights our history our lord Jesus? You cry for free shit? I'll give you something free a damn bullet to your damn head there's your damn free!!!! It's coming we are coming with our list we know where you live we know who you are we are coming for you and it starts on the 6th civil war 2 is on the arise and it's coming with hell and death! Lol if you will think it's a joke but when we are in your faces with our guns or fire burning your asses out you won't be Laughing then will you? Enjoy your last few days you have because it will be your last! Semper Fi

A screenshot included in Amazon's letter to Parler.
Parler


“[W]e cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others,” the email continues. “Because Parler cannot comply with our terms of service and poses a very real risk to public safety, we plan to suspend Parler’s account effective Sunday, January 10th, at 11:59PM PST.”

On Amazon Web Services, Parler had gone from negligible spend to paying more than $300,000 a month for hosting, according to multiple sources.

Amazon employees had publicly called for an AWS ban of Parler, and a Change.org petition calling for the same thing had amassed thousands of signatures this week. Multiple employees had also filed internal complaints to AWS management citing hate speech on the social network.

Here is Amazon’s letter to Parler in full.

Dear Amy,

Thank you for speaking with us earlier today.

As we discussed on the phone yesterday and this morning, we remain troubled by the repeated violations of our terms of service. Over the past several weeks, we’ve reported 98 examples to Parler of posts that clearly encourage and incite violence. Here are a few examples below from the ones we’ve sent previously: [See images above.]

Recently, we’ve seen a steady increase in this violent content on your website, all of which violates our terms. It’s clear that Parler does not have an effective process to comply with the AWS terms of service. It also seems that Parler is still trying to determine its position on content moderation. You remove some violent content when contacted by us or others, but not always with urgency. Your CEO recently stated publicly that he doesn’t “feel responsible for any of this, and neither should the platform.” This morning, you shared that you have a plan to more proactively moderate violent content, but plan to do so manually with volunteers. It’s our view that this nascent plan to use volunteers to promptly identify and remove dangerous content will not work in light of the rapidly growing number of violent posts. This is further demonstrated by the fact that you still have not taken down much of the content that we’ve sent you. Given the unfortunate events that transpired this past week in Washington, D.C., there is serious risk that this type of content will further incite violence.

AWS provides technology and services to customers across the political spectrum, and we continue to respect Parler’s right to determine for itself what content it will allow on its site. However, we cannot provide services to a customer that is unable to effectively identify and remove content that encourages or incites violence against others. Because Parler cannot comply with our terms of service and poses a very real risk to public safety, we plan to suspend Parler’s account effective Sunday, January 10th, at 11:59PM PST. We will ensure that all of your data is preserved for you to migrate to your own servers, and will work with you as best as we can to help your migration.

- AWS Trust & Safety Team
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:39 pm

Raffensperger escorted out of Ga. Capitol after it was surrounded by pro-Trump mob
by Marquise Francis
National Reporter & Producer
Thu, January 7, 2021, 3:17 PM PST

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ATLANTA — On Wednesday, while much of the country’s attention was focused on the riots unfolding in Washington, D.C., another standoff was taking place in Georgia.

Militiamen and other far-right Trump supporters in Atlanta surrounded the state’s Capitol building in search of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

As the group tried to enter the building to hand deliver a list of grievances about the November election, and Raffensperger’s refusal to overturn the results, Georgia Capitol police, fearing for the safety of the secretary of state and his staff, escorted them out of the building, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“We heard reports of threats and left immediately,” spokeswoman Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said.


Image
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's secretary of state. (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Raffensperger is Georgia’s top elections official, who last Saturday was pressured by Trump on a phone call that was recorded and published by the Washington Post. On the call, Trump is heard asking Raffensperger to “find” him enough votes to overturn the results of the general election in the state.

The standoff at Georgia’s Capitol building followed a small “Stop the Steal” protest nearby where roughly two dozen people, some carrying assault-style weapons, had gathered to challenge the legitimacy of the November election. One of the men in attendance was Chester Doles, a longtime white supremacist and member of the Ku Klux Klan, who made headlines last month after posing with a picture with GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Some cars passing the protest honked in support, while others looked on in dismay.

The incident came the same day history was made in the state as Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were declared the winners of their Senate runoff races against incumbents Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Sen. David Perdue. Those wins will give Democrats control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 2015. Warnock became the first Black senator from Georgia and Ossoff became the first Jewish senator to represent the state.

Image
The Georgia state Capitol building in Atlanta. (Wang Xiaoheng/Xinhua via Getty)

But the significance of those victories were overshadowed by what took place in D.C.

“Today’s insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol was incited by Trump’s poisonous lies & flagrant assault on our Constitution,” Ossoff tweeted Wednesday. “The GOP must discard and disavow Trump once and for all, end its attacks on the electoral process, & commit fully to the peaceful transfer of power.”


“In this moment of unrest, violence and anger, we must remember the words of Dr. King, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that,” Warnock tweeted. “Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Let each of us try to be a light to see our country out of this dark moment.”

Atlanta’s demonstration was puny in comparison to the massive “Stop the Steal” rally where 25,000 to 35,000 diehard Trump supporters gathered before hundreds of them stormed the Capitol and occupied it before the National Guard was called to restore order. Four people died as a result of that rally, according to Washington, D.C., police.

Image
Supporters of President Trump at a "Stop the Steal" rally in Georgia. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)

In an interview with Yahoo News on Thursday, Warnock maintained that Wednesday’s riot in D.C. shows that words matter.

“What we saw yesterday is that words have power,” Warnock said. “Unfortunately, the occupant of the White House has been ginning up this bigotry, frustrations and resentments [for] some time. The problem is it’s been aided and abetted by other politicians, including my opponent during this Senate race. So this is what you get.”
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Re: Trump lashes out at Gov. Doug Ducey following certificat

Postby admin » Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:46 pm

Loeffler condemns White supremacist after taking photo with him
by Alex Rogers
CNN
Updated 2:17 PM ET, Mon December 14, 2020

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[x]
Loeffler dodges questions on Trump's election fraud claims 01:59

(CNN) Georgia GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler's campaign disavowed a photo spreading on social media of her smiling next to a White supremacist at a campaign event on Friday, as her Democratic opponent and others criticized her for it ahead of the January 5 runoff elections for control of the Senate.

The photo shows Loeffler posing next to Chester Doles, a former Ku Klux Klan leader and member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance who was sentenced to prison in the 1990s for assaulting a Black man in Maryland. Doles marched in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, with the Hammerskins, a racist skinhead gang.

The Loeffler campaign condemned the White supremacist on Sunday in a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Loeffler campaign did not respond to CNN's requests for additional comment. Video from Friday's rally shows Doles attended.

"Kelly had no idea who that was, and if she had she would have kicked him out immediately because we condemn in the most vociferous terms everything that he stands for," Loeffler's spokesman Stephen Lawson told the newspaper.

There is no evidence she recognized Doles or sought his support. In September, Georgia House Republican candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene removed Doles from a rally that also featured the Republican senator. A Loeffler spokesman then told the AJC that she was not aware of Doles or the controversy over his attendance.
Doles, who took the photo, posted it this weekend to VK, a Russian social networking site, and it quickly drew criticism from Democrats.

Image
GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler is pictured next to Chester Doles, a White supremacist and member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, during a campaign event in Georgia on Friday. Doles posted the photo to VK, a Russian social networking site.

Loeffler and Republican Sen. David Perdue are respectively running against Democrats Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to protect their party's control of the Senate. If both Warnock and Ossoff win, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will break tie votes in the chamber.

The contests have turned increasingly nasty, with Republicans trying to portray the Democratic candidates as socialists who will ruin the country, while the Democrats have attacked the senators over their multi-million-dollar stock trades earlier this year, charging that they've profited off the pandemic. The candidates have said their opponents are spreading falsehoods.

Warnock spokesman Michael Brewer seized on the photo, saying there was "no acceptable explanation" for Loeffler's photo with Doles. If elected, Warnock would be the first Black person elected to the Senate in Georgia.

"While Kelly Loeffler runs a campaign based on dividing and misleading Georgians, she is once again trying to distance herself from someone who is a known White supremacist and former KKK leader who nearly beat a Black man to death," Brewer said.

CNN's Ryan Nobles, Caroline Kenny, Kyung Lah and Donie O'Sullivan contributed to this report.
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