Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Washington Post reports:
Most nights at 9 p.m., defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol flicker the lights in their D.C. jail cells to signal to supporters outside that it’s time to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” together. The recital has become a sacred ritual for a subset of Donald Trump’s movement devoted to heroizing the accused rioters. The former president is now embracing their cause, lending his voice to a recording of the “J6 Prison Choir” and playing it to start the first rally of his 2024 campaign.
The D.C. Department of Corrections confirmed that the video was taken in one of the jail’s housing units. The agency is now investigating. Spokeswoman Sylvia Lane declined to elaborate on the nature of the probe but said that “any social media use or video-sharing platforms is prohibited” for detainees. The Washington Post identified five of the roughly 15 men who are featured in the video. Four of them were charged with assaulting police, using weapons such as a crowbar, sticks and chemical spray.
Read the full article.
The campaign and the Trump allies who produced the song wouldn’t name the choir members. But we found a video of Jan. 6 inmates singing inside the DC jail — a nightly ritual that inspired the song Trump played https://t.co/TWonJsOySn
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
Using physical characteristics & interviews w/ family members, supporters & attorneys, we ID’d 5 of the men sining in the video.
Four were charged with assaulting police, including Officer Brian Sicknick, who died the next day. pic.twitter.com/k6Nj7Ua4hh
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
Julian Khater, seen in the video saying a prayer, pleaded guilty to using chemical spray on Sicknick. The D.C. medical examiner concluded that Sicknick died of natural causes after two strokes, but that “all that transpired on that day played a role in his condition.” pic.twitter.com/eilRhScXuv
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
The video was recorded by Ryan Nichols, who faces multiple charges, including assault on a federal officer with a weapon. Nichols is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty to all counts and was released in November. pic.twitter.com/j3cljldYRh
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
Shane Jenkins was found guilty of all charges at trial on March 29. He threw multiple objects at police and tried to break a window with a metal ax, according to court records.
Jenkins’s attorney confirmed he was in the video but not singing in the version Trump played. pic.twitter.com/PBypNWmw1M— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
William Chrestman is awaiting trial and pleaded not guilty to all counts. He’s accused of leading a Kansas City-area group of Proud Boys and using an ax handle to keep police from closing building gates. pic.twitter.com/g2iQzQwZMz
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
Jonathan Mellis was captured on video repeatedly hitting police officers with a giant stick. He is set to plead guilty on Friday. pic.twitter.com/AbZLQdCfxg
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
Inmates & supporters have circulated complaints about the conditions in the jail. There is no evidence of anyone being held without charges. The people held there are being processed, awaiting sentencing or awaiting trial after a judge deemed them too dangerous to release.
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
Trump’s glorification of the inmates coincides w his own deepening legal peril. When he returned home last month after NY arraignment, he DJed for aides & guests until 2am. 1 of the songs he picked on his iPad was the recording of him w the “prison choir.” https://t.co/XIzjrKUXND
— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023
“It was very much an honor,” Trump said, adding that playing the song was his idea. “Those people were treated very badly.”
He has also floated pardoning rioters, praised a slain insurrectionist, & last week embraced a woman convicted in a Jan. 6 case. https://t.co/7BVS5qk3Dl— Isaac Arnsdorf (@iarnsdorf) May 4, 2023