A crowd of Trump supporters marched on the Capitol on Wednesday, and reportedly members of the white supremacist group Proud Boys and the conspiracy group QAnon were involved in the insurrection.
Trump has been known to encourage these two groups throughout his election campaign. As reported by the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, during the insurrection, four people have died and many others have been injured. It has also been reported that one cop who got injured during the riot, also passed away. One of the US Capitol Police officers shot a woman while the remaining deceased succumbed due to medical emergencies.
1.6.21 Chief Contee and @MayorBowser provide situational updates https://t.co/Pk5yfs302D
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) January 7, 2021
The most prominent figure at the insurrection, which appeared repeatedly in the photos and videos, was a man who was adorned in a fur hat with a horned helmet along with the American flag painted on his face. The rioter was identified as Jake Angeli, a man in his 30s who is renowned as the QAnon Shaman.
Photos of the man showed him holding a spear with the American flag attached to it, and a bullhorn. He was photographed while he mounted the Senate dais. An investigation into the man revealed that his Facebook page was flooded with QAnon conspiracy theories, which include a theory that a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles has penetrated the American government and President Donald Trump is working against them.
A meme was also posted to his page, encouraging violent action by saying that the traitors need to be hanged if they want to fight against their enemies. Angeli has participated in several pro-Trump protests.
The founder of the Proud Boys in Hawaii, Nick Ochs, was also seen at the protest. In an interview with CNN, he claimed that they did not have to break into the Capitol and he was not prevented from going inside or questioned. He also added that thousands of people were present inside the building and the law enforcement did not have a handle on the situation.
users on Tim Gionet's, aka Baked Alaska, live stream on DLive are calling to give lawmakers the "rope" and to "hang all the congressmen" on DLive while he's streaming inside the Capitol building. pic.twitter.com/fq9t7KAlfA
— hannah gais (@hannahgais) January 6, 2021
Another far-right activist live-streamed the whole event while protestors stormed the building. He is a renowned extremist known as Baked Alaska and has been banned from several online platforms in the past, and was also a part of the Unite the Right Rally.
Here’s Mr. Barnett, who goes by “Bigo,” telling the story in his own words pic.twitter.com/oSyKiCDXgy
— Matthew Rosenberg (@AllMattNYT) January 6, 2021
The founder of a pro-gun rights group from Arkansas was featured in one of the most popular photographs from the protest, where he appeared to be sitting in Nancy Pelosi’s office while resting his feet on her desk. According to a New York Times reporter, he stole an envelope from her office and left a quarter claiming that he is not a thief.
