What The New Yorker Got Wrong About Freedom Corner

The Vigil Keepers of January 6th is the latest puff piece on the insurrectionist meetup outside the DC Jail known as “Freedom Corner.”

It’s not the first, nor the last, article seeking to “both sides” January 6th terrorists and find some sort of common humanity in their struggle to escape accountability for their crimes.

As Americans, we suffer the naive belief that “it can’t happen here” rather than admit to ourselves that it did. Many of us can’t face that truth so you get desperate acts of apologia such as The New Yorker article that seeks to depict January 6th supporters as misunderstood women worthy of your sympathy.

The Vigil Keepers of January 6th takes their claims without any investigation, printing them as if they’re fact.

Let’s look at the truth about Freedom Corner.

Freedom Corner Celebrates Violence

Every night outside the DC Jail, cult leaders Micki Witthoeft and Nicole Reffitt lead a small group to read out the names of the men and women who attacked the Capitol on January 6th. After each name, they chant, “Hero.”

Their heroes include:Brian Jackson, a Neo-Nazi from Texas with a lengthy criminal record, who pled guilty to felony assault on police officers.David Dempsey, recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for attacking the police with pepper spray, a crutch and pieces of furniture.John Banuelos, described as “mind-numbingly dangerous,” who fired a gun on January 6th and, later in the year, stabbed a teen to death in Utah.

These are men that the Freedom Corner activists would see free and walking among us.

Freedom Corner Indulges in Violence

But the vigil keepers do more than just applaud the violent insurrectionists of January 6th; they also engage in violence.

Micki Witthoeft, mother of Ashli Babbitt, has called for the lynching of Michael Byrd, the black Capitol Police officer who shot her daughter to death as she attempted to break into the Capitol.

Nicole Reffitt joins her in that demand:  “Michael Byrd absolutely deserves to swing from the end of a rope, as does Nancy Pelosi,” she said during one of their live broadcasts from outside the DC Jail.

#FreedomCorner participants call for execution of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, again @FBI @FBIWFO pic.twitter.com/gM0yjxEJee

— DJ Classic Rock (@DJClassicRock) September 27, 2023

The vigil keepers do more than just talk about violence; they have personally engaged in it. Micki Witthoeft was arrested for assault and destruction of property after attacking a counterprotester. She was “no papered” i.e., not charged, which has encouraged vigilgoers to engage in more attacks on the people of Washington.

Steven Girard, a regular at the vigil, was recently found guilty of Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse for shoving a flag pole between a woman’s legs. The assault occurred outside the United States Court House in Washington, DC, during the trial of Trump aide Peter Navarro.

Confident that Trump is going to return, vigilgoers use violence because they believe that they are untouchable.

This is part of their extreme disrespect for the law. In The New Yorker article, Tami Perryman, wife of Brian Jackson, dismissed her husband’s admission of guilt in court as so much “wordsmithing.” They regard the court system as illegitimate and believe that Trump will free all of the January 6th insurrectionists.

The vigil keepers should be judged by their actions, not the sweet words they whisper to a reporter. They have used violence before and will use it again, if given the opportunity.

The post What The New Yorker Got Wrong About Freedom Corner appeared first on Joe Flood.