This week, more developments covered in the update, including:
- Updates on Capitol Police response to J6, regarding both preparation and individual response
- III% caught with pipe bombs, texting friend planning to use them against “Twitter or the democrats”
- Wolverine Watchmen member plans to cooperate with Feds
- Kansas III% members lose appeal in bomb plot
- GOP member links to militias continue to be unearthed
- DHS bulletin indicative of new trajectory?
J6 Updates
(Okay yes, this seems like the story that never ends…)
We are almost a month out from the storming of the US Capitol Building by a cohort of pro-Trump demonstrators and still reading news about it every day. It’s been a weekly staple for pretty much all of 2021 and will likely remain in the headlines for weeks to come.
US Capitol Police now confirm that they knew Congress would be targeted, as an internal report cited a “strong potential” for an attack like what we observed during the day. From the new Capitol Police Chief: ” We knew that militia groups and white supremacists organizations would be attending.”
At least twelve officers of the US Capitol Police force are under investigation for their role during the J6 riot, including one filmed taking selfies with demonstrators.
Two more Ohioans were charged for their role in the raid and have been taken into FBI custody. Both men, Robert Lyon and Dustin Thompson, are from the Columbus area of Ohio. The FBI also iterated that Facebook Messenger was widely used by those involved in the attack, too.
More militia-aligned charities were removed from the Amazon Smile program this week. All five had “Oath Keepers” or “III%” themed names.
Threeper caught with pipe bombs, texted threats to a friend
Another member of the III% movement was caught with pipe bombs in his home after texting a friend that he was plotting bombings against “Twitter or the democrats”, adding that he wanted “to blow up a democrat building bad”. He was also researching guerrilla warfare for use against these targets. 49 guns were seized in a raid, as well as a “kit-built MG-42 belt-fed machine gun”. Here’s what an MG-42 looks like:
Legal Updates
Michigan Wolverine Watchmen surveilled Whitmer’s home, plans to ‘fully cooperate’ with the Feds
One of the men arrested in the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has agreed to cooperate with investigators as part of a plea agreement to stop new charges from being filed against him. The Michigan man, Ty Garbin, also admitted that he and his crew had surveilled Whitmer’s home as part of their plot.
A new bill proposing a full ban on firearms at the State Capitol Building in Lansing has been submitted to the legislature, following a previous ban on open carry in the building passing earlier. This would add concealed firearms to a list of prohibited items at the site.
Rittenhouse update
After he was photographed with Proud Boys hanging out in a bar last week, Rittenhouse’s bond was modified to prohibit him from consuming alcohol and to “not knowingly have contact with any person or group of persons known to harm, threaten, harass or menace others on the basis of their race, beliefs on the subject of religion, color, national origin, or gender.”
Kansas Security Force bombers lose appeal
The Kansas Security Force militia members accused of plotting to attack Muslim refugees a few years back lost their court appeal this past week. They claimed they were entrapped by the FBI/an undercover informant, through which they were arrested and charged.
The Kansas Security Force (KSF) was a state chapter for the III% Security Force that is run out of Georgia. The specific unit of the KSF that embarked on this terror plot was a group calling themselves the “Kansas Crusaders”, drawing directly from the III% Security Force leader’s discussion of an “American Crusade”. The Security Force’s leader, Chris Hill, currently goes by the nom de guerre “General Blood Agent”, but previously called himself “General HolyWar”.
More GOP connections to militia groups reported this week
Josh Hawley: wrote a column defending militias after the Oklahoma City bombing
Lauren Boebert: posed for photos with Bikers for Trump and III% members at a December 2019 “We Will Not Comply” gun rights rally
As a bonus, here’s an article about three current/past county constables in Hood County have or had ties to the Oath Keepers
Indications about the future?
As we attempt to read the writing on the wall before the paint can has yet been picked up, it does appear that the CVE switch from “jihadis” to “militias” is well underway. Anyway, there was some news this past week of Biden admin ‘threat assessments‘ for a review on ‘domestic extremism‘ as well as a DHS bulletin pertaining to a period of heightened threat of violence.
Futher reading
- On the rise of Colorado’s militias. (Denver Post)
- On the “Recall Gavin Newsom” campaign being linked to III%ers and more. (Newsweek)
- On the links between Timber Unity and militias. (Mother Jones)