Extremists

Politico reports: The Jan. 6 select committee has issued a subpoena for the phone records of a security guard for pro-Trump broadcaster Alex Jones, a sign of the panel’s deepening interest in Jones’ contacts related to his involvement in Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally, which preceded the violent attack on the Capitol. In a court filing late Tuesday, Jones revealed …

Media Matters reports: Ben Marble, a medical doctor who recently spoke at a Capitol Hill event held by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), made a deranged appearance on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ broadcast where he said the COVID-19 pandemic could be ended by killing several government officials and public figures and bombing the next meeting of the World Economic Forum. …

The Hill reports: Far-right French presidential candidate Eric Zemmour said on Tuesday that former President Trump encouraged him to “stay true” to himself during a phone call this week. “He told me to remain who I am, that the media would call me brutal but that what mattered was to stay true to myself,” Zemmour told reporters. “We share the …

Media Matters has the transcript: I mean this has been going on forever. It’s like your big brother Russia comes in and, you know, beats you up on a routine basis, but it’s not the Huns, and it’s not George Soros that’s going to cut your son’s balls off, OK? So you can have the Russians in there or you …

The Colorado Sun reports: Embattled Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was briefly jailed last week on charges of obstructing a peace officer and obstructing government operations, said she is running to become Colorado’s top election official. Peters, a Republican, announced her candidacy to become Colorado secretary of state on Monday on a show run and hosted by Steve Bannon, …

Law & Crime reports: A former Air Force Sergeant pleaded guilty on Friday to shooting and killing a federal guard, and attempting to murder another, prosecutors announced. Authorities previously linked defendant Steven Carrillo, 33, to the far-right, anti-government “Boogaloo” movement. He fired approximately 19 rounds from a white van, killing Protective Services Officer Dave Patrick Underwood, 53, and injuring another …

Right Wing Watch reports: White nationalist youth leader Nick Fuentes announced Friday the line-up of speakers for the America First Political Action Conference, featuring old school white nationalists alongside “Groyper” contemporaries. AFPAC, which is holding its third annual conference later this month on Feb. 25, is a white nationalist alternative to the more mainstream Conservative Political Action Conference, which is …

ABC News reports: A Beverly Hills cosmetologist who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in support of the man she calls “Trumpy Bear,” recently told fellow supporters that she only pleaded guilty “to stay out of jail,” that she didn’t read the plea deal she signed, and that she doesn’t think Capitol defendants will get locked away for …

Law & Crime reports: A Maryland man who had previously argued that he was just following the orders of Donald Trump when he joined the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol has pleaded guilty to two felonies. Matthew Ryan Miller, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one charge of obstructing an official proceeding and one charge of assaulting, resisting, or …

Law & Crime reports: Family drama will be sure to pervade the debut trial for the Jan. 6 attack. Two children of accused militia member Guy Reffitt, including the son who flagged his father to the FBI, will be called as government witnesses, prosecutors confirmed in a filing on Monday. Linked to the Three Percenters militia group, Reffitt memorably told …

NBC News reports: A Jan. 6 rioter who stormed the Capitol while he was out on bail on an attempted first-degree murder charge was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday, more than 10 months after he was first identified by online sleuths. Matthew Jason Beddingfield, of North Carolina, faces felony charges of assaulting officers, impeding officers during a civil disorder …

The Guardian reports: The so-called “freedom convoy” – which departed for Ottawa on 23 January – was the brainchild of James Bauder, an admitted conspiracy theorist who has endorsed the QAnon movement and called Covid-19 “the biggest political scam in history”. Bauder’s group, Canada Unity, contends that vaccine mandates and passports are illegal under Canada’s constitution, the Nuremberg Code and …

Reuters reports: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing a meeting in a downtown DC garage the day before the January 6 Capitol Hill riot between the then-leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, the now-indicted leader of the Oath Keepers militia and other far-right figures, according to two witnesses interviewed by FBI agents. Among the half dozen people gathered …

Rolling Stone reports: Analysts watching right-wing chatter on apps like Telegram have recently seen an outpouring of organizing around direct actions similar to Canada’s trucker protests, which spread from the Ottawa occupation to large disruptive actions across the country, including at a border crossing to the U.S. in Alberta. I In particular, some right wingers seem to be plotting to …

The Detroit News reports: A second member of an alleged plot to kidnap and hurt Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has agreed to plead guilty, giving federal prosecutors two key insiders to fight defense claims of entrapment during next month’s trial, according to a federal court filing Monday. Waterford Township resident Kaleb Franks, 27, will plead guilty to kidnapping conspiracy, which is …

The Express reports: Sir Keir Starmer has been bundled into a police car after being mobbed by a group of anti-vax protesters. Police were forced to quickly intervene after the group hurled abuse at the Labour leader. They booed the Labour leader as they chased him down the street. The activists could be heard screaming “traitor” as they confronted the …

The Washington Post reports: The Justice Department has sought phone and email records of a defense attorney who represented Stephen K. Bannon, the former adviser to President Donald Trump, in his dealings with a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and his subsequent indictment for contempt of Congress, his defense said. Bannon’s team decried the collection of Robert …

Politico reports: While the Canadian standoff against Covid-19 restrictions paralyzes Ottawa, it’s becoming viral online as a rallying cry for leading U.S. Republican politicians, far-right influencers and white supremacist groups who have transposed the criticism of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to an international audience for their own political gain. Politicians from former President Donald Trump to Rep. Marjorie …

The Nashville Scene reports: Pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Greg Locke [photo] decided to turn it up a notch by organizing an old-fashioned book burning. The books included millennial staples like Harry Potter and Twilight — hits of the early Aughts that were targeted by Christian book burnings back in the day. In a sermon preceding the bonfire, Locke described beefing with …

Bloomberg News reports: It would be a “good deal” for any bank in the European Union to extend a loan to French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, a senior official in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government said. Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas’s comments followed a report by RTL media in France Wednesday that a Hungarian bank had provided a …