J6ers Honored Guests at CPAC
There was a small insurrection of them at this years CPAC, here's what we know about all that attended. (there's likely more, but these are the ones that my colleagues and I saw).
Trump bragged that he pardoned January 6th insurrectionists. That of course was not what he called them - he called them “J6 hostages” from the stage at CPAC.
Always the martyr, Trump tied his own prosecution in with the J6ers and anti-abortion terrorists, “My father would look down on with my mother, “How the hell did this happen to my boy?” This was… No, I was under investigation at a far greater level than Al Capone or anybody else. Probably in the history of our country. These people are sick, is sick. They're bad people. I ended Joe Biden's weaponization. Soon as I got in, I said, I'm going to hit him with the same stuff.
But I ended his whole weaponization of our government and removed his hand-picked radical left Marxist prosecutors from the Department of Justice. I was so happy to do that. They weaponized government. They weaponized government. I pardoned hundreds and hundreds of Biden's political prisoners, including Christians, pro-life activists and the J6 hostages, who were treated terribly for years.”
Here’s a quick rundown of the some of the pardoned J6ers that I saw at CPAC… and their crimes.
Enrique Tarrio: Tarrio is a former(?) head of the Proud Boys. He wasn’t at the Capitol on J6th but was sentenced for his part in orchestrating the plan to keep Trump in the White House. He was not allowed in DC at the time of the attack on the Capitol.
Sentence: 22 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
The Crime: According to The Guardian: “Tarrio and three lieutenants were convicted of charges including seditious conspiracy, a civil-war-era offense previously rarely brought but now levied against members of far-right groups that took part in the January 6 attack.”
Stewart Rhodes: Rhodes is the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers militia.
Sentence: 18 years in federal prison for seditious conspiracy
The Crime: According to the DOJ: Following the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election, Rhodes, Meggs, and others began plotting to oppose, by force, the lawful transfer of presidential power. Beginning in late December 2020, via encrypted and private communications applications, Rhodes, Meggs, and others coordinated and planned to travel to Washington, D.C., on or around Jan. 6, 2021, the date of the certification of the electoral college vote.” Rhodes never entered the U.S. Capitol that day but presided over the insurrection “like a general.” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told Rhodes at sentencing, "You, sir, present an ongoing threat and peril to this country ... and to the very fabric of our democracy."
Gabriel Garcia: Former Member of the Vice City Proud Boys under Enrique Tarrio.
Sentence: Gabriel Augustin Garcia, 43, of Miami, Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to 12 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
The Crime: According to the DOJ: “Garcia was hand-selected by Enrique Tarrio to join a national rally planning chapter of the Proud Boys called the “Ministry of Self Defense”… On Jan. 3, 2021, Garcia posted a message that read, “1776 flag flying over the White House last night” and then later added, “time to stack those bodies in front of Capitol Hill.”
Brandon Straka: A founder of the #WalkAway movement which tried to pull Democrats away from the party. Straka promoted the march to the Capitol on J6th, telling people to “GO, GO!” and telling other J6ers to take a police officers shield.
Crime: Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in the Capitol Building or Grounds
Sentence: Three Years Probation, due likely in part that he cooperated with the DOJ much to the chagrin of other defendants. To this day he’s greeted with great suspicion in the far right.
Brendan Fellows: Fellows decided to testify himself in his hearings and ended up admitting to two new felonies. From WUSA9: “In her much shorter cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Furst got Fellows to admit – under oath – that he had climbed into the Capitol through a broken window without police permission, that he had used the previous judge’s wife’s contact information to try to get him removed from the case and that he had missed court-ordered mental health and drug testing appointments.” He went viral recently as The Good Liars interviewed him at CPAC wearing a Immigration and Customs Enforcement jacket joking about people being deported.
Crime: Fellows, like many J6th defendants documented his own crimes via his phone. Marching to the Capitol he filmed himself saying “ “Oh bro, we’re gonna get gassed soon. I heard windows just break.” Later on, according to the DOJ he recorded someone breaking into the building “overlaid the video with the message, “We are coming for you, traitors.” When the rioters finally broke the door open, Fellows celebrated, yelling, “Oh, sh—! Oh, sh—! Oh, sh—! Oh, sh—! Holy, sh—, bro!”
Once he entered the Capitol building he made his way to Sen. Jeff Merkley’s (D-OR) office and smoked weed with his feet up on the desk. He was pictured in a winter head covering made of yarn and a red beard that made him look like he has armor on his head. After leaving the Capitol he according to the DOJ “then climbed atop a U.S. Capitol Police motorcycle that was parked on the Upper West Terrace.”
Sentence: Fellows was sentenced to 37 months and additional five months for a contempt of court charge.
Robert Morss: Former school teacher still believes that “FBI informants and about 200 left-wing operatives whom he says dressed as MAGA” were the real attackers on J6th.
Crime: According to the DOJ, “He participated in a heave-ho motion in which the rioters rocked against the police line. He wrested a riot shield from an MPD detective and passed it back in the tunnel, towards other rioters. He and others then created a wall of shields that they used to continue with the heave-ho efforts. Morss later joined several other rioters in climbing through a broken window. Morss entered an office within the Capitol, took a chair, and passed it out of the broken window to the rioters outside.”
Sentence: 66 months in prison for assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, obstruction of an official proceeding, and robbery.
Samuel Lazar: Lazar arrived in DC ready for battle with police, wearing a camo tactical vest that had a patch saying, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle.” Ironically another patch was a blue lives matter skull. He also wore goggles to help with pepper spray and tear gas.
Crime: Lazar was captured on video spraying an “orange chemical irritant“ at police officers multiple times.
Later on J6th he was interviewed on camera saying “They attacked the people. We have a right to defend ourselves. Fuck the tyrants. There’s a time for peace and there’s a time for war…” “I was right at the front, on the tip of the spear, brother. That’s where you gotta be.”
Sentence: assaulting officers using a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to 30 months in prison (his sentencing heading was sealed, still no more information on why)
Richard Barnett: You’ll recognize him from the famous photo on J6th of a man with his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk. Barnett on top of participating in the break in of the Capitol carried a “Zap Hike ‘N Strike Walking Staff with spike electrodes” which he threatened a Metro Police officer with.
Crime: According to the DOJ, “Barnett was found guilty, on January 23, 2023, of all charges including: obstruction of an official proceeding, interfering with a police officer during a civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous or deadly weapon, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, all of which are felonies. He was also found guilty of entering and remaining in certain rooms in a capitol building, disorderly conduct in a capitol building, theft of government property, parading or demonstrating in a capitol building.”
Sentence: 54 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and a $2,000 fine
There were many others that I didn’t catch on camera, like Tommy Tatum and the violent stalker Bryan Bentancourt who wanted to be a “lone wolf killer.” Then there were the J6 hangers on, like Suzanne Monk who has made it her life goal to get the the J6ers pardoned, and has helped run a DC jail vigil for years.
Ivan Raiklin aka Secretary of Retribution who was at J6th but never arrested, was also trying to do his best to get media attention as he always do. I wrote about him previously for Bucks County Beacon. Sometime soon I’ll put together a full piece on him.
Other notables are Vincent Fusca, who some in the world of Q Anon believe is the return of JFK Jr. He denies this, usually with a smirk.
More reading
Pardoned January 6 defendants get the rockstar treatment at CPAC
Exclusive: Oath Keepers Leader Stewart Rhodes’ Children Speak
Fucking vulgar meatheads.
White Trash.