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WASHINGTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — There have been indicators that these main the mob that stormed the nation’s Capitol — the seat of American democracy — both had army coaching or have been educated by those that did.
As President Donald Trump’s supporters massed in Washington, D.C. final week and sang the nationwide anthem exterior the Capitol, a line of males sporting olive-drab helmets and physique armor trudged purposefully up the marble stairs in a single-file line, every man holding the jacket collar of the one forward.
The formation, generally known as “Ranger File,” is customary working process for a fight workforce that’s “stacking up” to breach a constructing — immediately recognizable to any U.S. soldier or Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An Associated Press evaluate of public information, social media posts and movies reveals at the least 21 present or former members of the U.S. army or regulation enforcement have been recognized as being at or close to the Capitol riot, with greater than a dozen others beneath investigation however not but named. In many circumstances, those that stormed the Capitol appeared to make use of techniques, physique armor and expertise similar to two-way radio headsets that have been much like these of the very police they have been confronting.
Experts in homegrown extremism have warned for years about efforts by far-right militants and white-supremacist teams to radicalize and recruit individuals with army and regulation enforcement coaching, they usually say the Jan. 6 revolt that left 5 individuals lifeless noticed a few of their worst fears realized.
“ISIS and al-Qaida would drool over having someone with the training and experience of a U.S. military officer,” mentioned Michael German, a former FBI agent and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “These people have training and capabilities that far exceed what any foreign terrorist group can do. Foreign terrorist groups don’t have any members who have badges.”
Among essentially the most outstanding to emerge is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and embellished fight veteran from Texas who was arrested after he was photographed sporting a helmet and physique armor on the ground of the Senate, holding a pair of zip-tie handcuffs.
Another Air Force veteran from San Diego was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to leap via a barricade close to the House chamber. A retired Navy SEAL, among the many most elite particular warfare operators within the army, posted a Facebook video about touring from his Ohio house to the rally and seemingly approving of the invasion of “our building, our house.”
Two cops from a small Virginia city, each of them former squaddies, have been arrested by the FBI after posting a selfie of themselves contained in the Capitol, one flashing his center finger on the digicam.
Also beneath scrutiny is an active-duty psychological warfare captain from North Carolina who organized three busloads of people that headed to Washington for the “Save America” rally in assist the president’s false declare that the November election was stolen from him.
While the Pentagon declined to offer an estimate for what number of different active-duty army personnel are beneath investigation, the army’s prime leaders have been involved sufficient forward of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration that they issued a extremely uncommon warning to all service members this week that the precise to free speech offers nobody the precise to commit violence.
The chief of the U.S. Capitol Police was pressured to resign following the breach and a number of other officers have been suspended pending the result of investigations into their conduct, together with one who posed for a selfie with a rioter and one other who was seen sporting one of many Trump’s purple “Make America Great Again” caps.
The AP’s evaluate of a whole bunch of movies and pictures from the insurrectionist riot reveals scores of individuals combined within the crowd who have been sporting military-style gear, together with helmets, physique armor, rucksacks and two-way radios. Dozens carried canisters of bear spray, baseball bats, hockey sticks and pro-Trump flags hooked up to stout poles later used to bash cops.
An in depth examination of the group marching up the steps to assist breach the Capitol reveals they wore military-style patches that learn “MILITIA” and “OATHKEEPER.” Others have been sporting patches and insignias representing far-right militant teams, together with the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and numerous self-styled state militias.
The Oath Keepers, which claims to depend 1000’s of present and former regulation enforcement officers and army veterans as members, have turn into fixtures at protests and counter-protests throughout the nation, usually closely armed with semi-automatic carbines and tactical shotguns.
Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran who based the Oath Keepers in 2009 as a response to the presidency of Barack Obama, had been saying for weeks earlier than the Capitol riot that his group was making ready for a civil warfare and was “armed, prepared to go in if the president calls us up.”
Adam Newbold, the retired Navy SEAL from Lisbon, Ohio, whose greater than two-decade army profession contains a number of fight awards for valor, mentioned in a Jan. 5 Facebook video, “We are just very prepared, very capable and very skilled patriots ready for a fight.”
He later posted a since-deleted follow-up video after the riot saying he was “proud” of the assault.
Newbold, 45, didn’t reply to a number of messages from the AP however in an interview with the Task & Purpose web site he denied ever going contained in the Capitol. He added that due to the fallout from the movies he has resigned from a program that helps put together potential SEAL candidates.
Protesters enter the Senate Chamber on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session in the present day to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. Pro-Trump protesters have entered the U.S. Capitol constructing after mass demonstrations within the nation’s capital. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. of Texas was launched to house confinement Thursday after a prosecutor alleged the previous fighter pilot had zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate flooring as a result of he deliberate to take hostages.
“He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer mentioned. “His prior experience and training make him all the more dangerous.”
Army commanders at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are investigating the doable involvement of Capt. Emily Rainey, the 30-year-old psychological operations officer and Afghanistan warfare veteran who instructed the AP she traveled with 100 others to Washington to “stand against election fraud.” She insisted she acted inside Army laws and that nobody in her group entered the Capitol or broke the regulation.
“I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,” Rainey mentioned.
More than 110 individuals have been arrested on prices associated to the Capitol riot to this point, starting from curfew violations to severe federal felonies associated to theft and weapons possession.
Brian Harrell, who served because the assistant secretary for infrastructure safety on the Department of Homeland Security till final 12 months, mentioned it’s “obviously problematic” when “extremist bad actors” have army and regulation enforcement backgrounds.
“Many have specialized training, some have seen combat, and nearly all have been fed disinformation and propaganda from illegitimate sources,” Harrell mentioned. “They are fueled by conspiracy theories, feel as if something is being stolen from them, and they are not interested in debate. This is a powder keg cocktail waiting to blow.”
The FBI is warning of the potential for extra bloodshed. In an inner bulletin issued Sunday, the bureau warned of plans for armed protests in any respect 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., within the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, police departments in such main cities as New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston and Philadelphia introduced they have been investigating whether or not members of their businesses participated within the Capitol riot. The Philadelphia space’s transit authority can also be investigating whether or not seven of its cops who attended Trump’s rally in Washington broke any legal guidelines.
A Texas sheriff introduced final week that he had reported certainly one of his lieutenants to the FBI after she posted pictures of herself on social media with a crowd exterior the Capitol. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar mentioned Lt. Roxanne Mathai, a 46-year-old jailer, had the precise to attend the rally however he’s investigating whether or not she could have damaged the regulation.
One of the posts Mathai shared was a photograph that seemed to be taken Jan. 6 from among the many mass of Trump supporters exterior the Capitol, captioned: “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 mom and longtime San Antonio resident, mentioned she attended the Trump rally however by no means entered the Capitol.
In Houston, Police Chief Art Acevedo mentioned an 18-year veteran of the division suspected of becoming a member of the mob that breached the Capitol was positioned on depart and can face a disciplinary listening to.
“There is no excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer,” Acevedo mentioned. “I can’t tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer, and other police officers, thinking they get to storm the Capitol.”
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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