Alleged Instigators of Capitol Riot Indicted For Sedition but Questions Remain About Government Infiltration and Incitement

[Source: revolver.news]By Jeremy KuzmarovCovert Action MagazineLeaders of the far-right Proud Boys group, including its national chairman, Enrique Tarrio, have been charged with seditious conspiracy for plotting to storm the U.S. Capitol to obstruct the certification of Joe Biden’s election win over Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.While this is certainly a move in the right direction, the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol needs to make a full investigation of right-wing charges about government infiltration that could have involved inciting the mob to commit acts of violence.

This is crucial because the right, along with Trump, uses these charges to minimize or dismiss what happened on January 6th. If the government knew about what was going to happen or its agents played a role in directing and/or inciting acts of violence we need to know what happened and why.

One of the main instigators of the riot appears to be Ray Epps, a sixty-year old former Marine Sergeant from Queen Creek, Arizona, who has not yet been charged.

Epps had been put on the FBI’s Most Wanted list after the January 6 riot though was curiously removed from that list in July 2021—after Epps allegedly called an FBI tip line to tell them that he was trying to calm the rioters. A video, however, captured Epps provoking the rioters and even urging them to enter the Capitol building.

Trump Stirs Up Mob

Whether you label it a coup attempt or not, the January 6 riot was a criminal act that represents a failed effort to undermine the peaceful transition from one plutocrat to the next. The rioters broke into the Capitol building and U.S. Senate chamber unlawfully and threatened violence against elected government officials.

As the January 6 committee seems intent on demonstrating, Donald Trump played a key role in instigating the riot by stirring up his base with [as yet] “unverified claims” of a rigged election.

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Did the Deep State Try and Capitalize?

The question lingers, however, as to whether “deep state” forces were intent on capitalizing on the polarized political atmosphere and growth of right-wing extremism to try and advance their own interests. In addition to routine surveillance, might there be additional motives for planting provocateurs within the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other right-wing groups loyal to Trump who helped to instigate and carry out the riot?

The latter scenario is not hard to imagine given that The New York Times has reported on the presence of FBI informants within the Proud Boys who marched on the U.S. Capitol, and given the history of FBI infiltration of left and right wing groups and use of agent provocateurs.

The alleged plot to blow up the Michigan statehouse and kidnap and/or kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is only one of the more recent examples—in which the court threw out the FBI’s case and scathingly denounced its blatant entrapment and fomenting of a fake plot whose purpose was to burnish the Bureau’s reputation by thwarting a threat of its own fabrication.

The very fact that Epps had been mysteriously removed from the FBI’s Most Wanted list when he was caught on camera helping to provoke the riot raises reasonable questions as to whether the FBI was protecting one of its agents or had “turned” him, which is the way local police, no less than the FBI, procure their informants and assets.

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House January 6 Committee Needs to Extend Investigation

If the House January 6 Committee is committed to exposing the truth, it should investigate the reason behind why the U.S. Justice Department has not as of yet indicted one of the main instigators of the January 6 riot and why he was removed from the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

So far only Republicans, who are hostile to the January 6 Committee because of its maligning of Donald Trump, have been asking about this.

By failing to investigate Epps and the mysteries surrounding him, the January 6 Committee leaves itself susceptible to the Republican charge that it is a partisan body (the committee consists of seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans); investigating Epps would in turn add credibility to its efforts to hold Donald Trump accountable for stirring the rioters because it would erase the perception of a cover up that Trump and his followers will likely seize upon during election season.

Related to the mystery about Epps is a question about the numbers of FBI informants and possible provocateurs among the Proud Boys and rioters on January 6, which should also be investigated.[2]

There is also the question about the delayed police response to the riots and lack of proper planning by law enforcement and the U.S. military when the threat of violence on that day was known to be real and telegraphed in advance.

Congress should additionally investigate the circumstances surrounding the beating of Ryan Samsel in prison, and as of yet unexplained death of Brian Sicknick, 42, whom the medical examiner claimed died of natural causes though was reported to have suffered from two strokes after allegedly being sprayed with some kind of chemical irritant.[3]

Other oddities begging for more investigation are a) the death of police officers Kevin Greeson, 55, and Benjamin Phillips, 50, who were said to have died naturally of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease; and b) the death of Rosanne Boyland from a drug overdose which seems very strange under the circumstances—especially given that Boyland looked to be in good health in a photo taken just before the riot started.

Finally, Congress should investigate the connection between the pipe bombs that were planted at Republican and Democratic Party headquarters on January 5 and the January 6 Capitol riot.

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Via https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/06/16/various-alleged-instigators-of-capitol-riot-finally-indicted-for-sedition-but-questions-remain-about-government-infiltration-and-incitement/