Articles by Brian Lupo

Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Jan. 6 demonstrator Ashli Babbitt, is being promoted. (@NBCNightlyNews / X screenshot; @ForgiatoBlow47 / X)
The official narrative behind US Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd just got much more interesting.
On January 6, 2021, video evidence captured US Capitol Police Lieutenant Michael Byrd shooting unarmed Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt without warning as she attempted to climb through a narrow window near a barricaded entryway to the Speaker of the House’s office area in the U.S. Capitol.
Following an investigation, Byrd was cleared of any wrongdoing, although questions remain about the escalation to lethal force without attempts to subdue or detain Babbitt. In the video, other armed law enforcement officers are visible in the background, appearing available to provide backup if needed.
In addition to Byrd leaving his Glock 22 service weapon in a Visitor’s Center bathroom in February 2019, Byrd also had his police powers revoked on several occasions for failing to meet semi-annual firearms qualifications standards.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported this in an article outlying a $30 million wrongful death suit brought by Judicial Watch on behalf of Ashli’s husband, Aaron Babbitt.

Despite previous lapses in protocol, such as leaving his service weapon in a Visitor’s Center bathroom in 2019, Michael Byrd was exonerated of any wrongdoing in Babbitt’s death and later promoted.
Now, Newly published emails by Just The News raise additional questions regarding Byrd’s treatment and circumstances: Could this indicate a potential cover-up?

“[Chairman was speaking with] Lt. Mike Byrd.  He is very upset with how he is being treated.  He wants us to figure this out and now,” reads an email from Steve Marchese, who describes himself as “Clerk and Subcommittee Staff Director Legislative Branch Committee on Appropriations” for the US House of Representatives in the signature.
The email was sent on November 18, 2021 to Timothy Blodgett, who was then and is still serving as the Chief of Staff for US Capitol Police, according to his LinkedIn.  Blodgett was also named as Acting Sergeant at Arms for the House from January 12, 2021 through April 21, 2021.
It was CC’d to Elizabeth Lapham, who was an Administrative Assistant to the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, according to her LinkedIn.

The email that sparked this interaction and upset Byrd for his treatment is even more concerning.  On November 16th, 2021, two days prior, Byrd reached out to US Capitol Police General Counsel Thomas A. DiBiase (TAD) with concerns about how much money he was receiving.  DiBiase disclosed that Byrd had received $36,000 and specifically drew attention to the fact that other officers were only receiving $3,000 each.
Byrd initially wrote DiBiase inquiring about the “status of the memorial fund and the background check.”  In response, DiBiase said in regard to the Memorial Fund “we have all your information.  We are working on an announcement for the entire Department as to how folks injured on 1/6 can apply to the Fund and we will consider all claims at that point.”
For the record, there is no evidence or claims of Michael Byrd sustaining any injuries on January 6th.  Why is he being allocated funds from a “Memorial Fund” for injured or deceased officers?

DiBiase’s response angered Byrd, who replied:
I don’t think that’s fair to me and my wife[.] [Y]ou know our situation and what we’ve been dealing with.  What you proposed could take months.  Our expectation was that this would be done soon.  Now you’re telling me we got to wait for the rest of the department to even file claims, get evaluated and go through the process we have endured for months.
That is blatantly wrong to treat us like this.  This was never proposed to us in this manner.  Now we’re being grouped in with everyone else.  Wow!  This is really bad for you all to do this to us when you know we’re expecting to have the funds soon.  So disappointing!”

Since there is no evidence that Byrd was injured or otherwise eligible under the criteria for the Memorial Fund, his entitlement to these funds remains unclear.
In response, DiBiase acknowledges that they “have already provided [Byrd] $36,000 in unrestricted retention funds.”  DiBiase then admits that the “rest of the department” is only receiving $3,000, less than one-tenth of what Byrd received.

DiBiase then states that it will likely take weeks, not months, and in the meantime, they are providing Byrd with “housing, training to take a Department shotgun home and extensive security upgrades at your personal residence.”

The response from DiBiase further angered Byrd, who wrote back, “We play the game as you request and then once we’re in compliance You guys change the rules on us.”  Byrd says he wasn’t aware that he would be “looped in with everyone” in the department and would have been better prepared if he did.
Byrd notes that his wife is “vividly upset and in tears because of this news” and complains that he has to wait to start a GoFundMe until he can get approval.
You can read the email chain obtained by Just The News here.

A History of Trouble
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, inquired with USCP Chief Thomas Manger to better understand the promotion process that led to Lt. Byrd’s promotion to Captain.
In the letter, Rep. Loudermilk wrote that then-Sergeant Byrd was referred to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) in 2004 for discharging his service weapon at a fleeing vehicle in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Byrd claimed that he was investigating a “loud banging noise” in the middle of the night from outside his home.  When he went outside with his service weapon, two vans were parked outside of his neighbors house.  The vans fled, the first one apparently attempting to hit him.  Byrd said he fired two rounds at the oncoming vehicle after shouting “STOP!”

The second van then drove towards him, at which point Byrd alleges he fired a single round through the window at the driver’s side.
However, the investigation did not support Byrd’s claims.  From the letter:
After this encounter, Prince George’s County Police found both vans and conducted a search of the vehicles. According to Prince George’s County Police, there were no bullet holes in either van’s windshield.

Police did find, however, a bullet hole near the gas cap of the second van.  Police determined that the bullet entered the van from a “rear angle,” indicating the van was shot at from behind.  One of the investigating officers observed that, “based on where [the bullet was found]…where’s the threat, because it [was] in the driver’s side rear quarter panel.”
OPR noted that “based on the location of the shell casings and the angle that Sergeant Byrd alleged he discharged his service weapon,” Byrd’s testimony that he fired at the vans as they attempted to hit him is “inaccurate.” 
OPR concluded that the evidence suggests Byrd “discharged his service weapon at the vans after they passed him by.” Despite this, USCP noted that the investigation found insufficient evidence to determine Byrd violated USCP’s Truthfulness policy.

At the conclusion of the investigation, OPR determined that Byrd violated USCP’s Use of Force Policy and Use of Weapon Policy by discharging his weapon in a “careless and imprudent manner.”  Specifically, OPR concluded that Byrd improperly discharged his service weapon while his neighbor was in the line of fire and after both stolen vehicles had passed by him.  OPR also noted that the Maryland state prosecutor assigned to the incident determined Byrd used “bad judgement” in his actions responding to the carjacking.
Additionally, following OPR’s review, Inspector Yancey Garner sent a memorandum to Chief Terrance Gainer concurring with OPR’s findings.  Despite both OPR and Inspector Garner concluding Byrd violated USCP policy, an appeal to the Disciplinary Review Board subsequently overruled OPR’s findings and ruled that Byrd did not violate USCP policy.  As a result, this incident is reflected as “not sustained” on Byrd’s OPR record.
Loudermilk also mentioned a 2015 incident at a football game in Montgomery County, MD, where Byrd called an Montgomery County Police Officer, tasked with preventing people from entering the field, a “piece of shit, asshole, and racist.”  Byrd was suspended for seven days following this incident.

In 2019, Byrd left his loaded service weapon in a House Chambers section restroom for approximately 55 minutes before another officer discovered it.  Byrd would end up being suspended for 33 days over that instance.
Shockingly, Loudermilk disclosed three other referrals to the OPR against Byrd.  Those records are reportedly missing.
Equity, not Equality
Lt. Byrd appears to have been treated differently from his fellow officers.  USCP helped Byrd setup a GoFundMe in November 2021 that helped raise $164,000 for the disgraced officer.

The “security upgrades” for Byrd’s home mentioned previously would set the USCP back $21,000.  While the security upgrades were being made, USCP put Byrd up in local hotels and the Distinguished Visitors Quarters at Joint Base Andrews.
He was also provided with a USCP Dignitary Protection Detail when he left the secure base.
USCP instructed Byrd to skip over his Fitness For Duty evaluation after January 6th, 2021 over concerns that he would fail and no longer be permitted to carry his service weapon.

In September 2021, Byrd attempted to buy a shotgun for his own personal protection, however, he failed the background check required under federal law.
After seeking assistance from USCP to resolve the background check issue, they were going to simply issue him a USCP shotgun.  However, Byrd failed his shotgun proficiency exam and was ultimately not provided with the firearm.
After being placed on administrative leave following Jan. 6, 2021 and ending June 2021, the USCP signed a telework agreement with Byrd in July 2021, allowing him to telework five days a week.

Still, Byrd did not return to work.  Not only was he not disciplined for this, but USCP retroactively put him on Administrative Leave for the days he didn’t work in July and August 2021.
If you recall, former USCP Assistant Chief Yogananda Pittman was placed on Administrative Leave so she could reach her retirement time-in-service requirements while she was working as the Chief of Police at the UC Berkeley making $283,000 per year.
Loudermilk ends his letter to Chief Manger by requesting “the preservation of all digital records, including emails, text messages, other chat messages, calendars, notes, and files for:

• Captain Michael Byrd’s cell phone, email account, computer, or any other electronic device issued by USCP from January 1, 2021, through January 1, 2024;• Copies of all documents prepared by USCP summarizing actions taken by USCP on behalf of then-Lt. Byrd such as the one attached, dated November 18, 2021. Please also indicate the date such documents were shared, the names of the Members or individuals it was shared with, and any digital records such as emails referencing such documents, including drafting and transmittal.”
Now-Captain Michael Byrd, according to Rep. Loudermilk, has:

recklessly discharged his firearm at a fleeing vehicle and lied about it to investigators
accused a police officer of being “racist” at a high school football game after a heated encounter
left his service weapon for almost an hour in a public restroom in a US Capitol restroom (a gun-free environment)
has three missing referrals to the OPR that just disappeared
and shot an unarmed 5’1 Air Force veteran crawling through a window by herself with several officers in the background to back him up in detaining her

As a result, Byrd has received:

a promotion to Captain
$36,000 in retention bonuses (compared to $3,000 for all other officers)
$164,000 in a USCP-set up GoFundMe
$21,000 in security upgrades
lodging at the Distinguished Visitors Quarters at Joint Base Andrews
a USCP-issued shotgun for take home personal defense (never received because he failed proficiency testing)
a 5-day a week telework agreement (for which he failed to comply with and was subsequently given retroactive Administrative Leave for that period)
Instructions to skip Fitness for Duty Evaluations for fear of failing and thus not being permitted to carry a firearm
an internal request to fellow officers to donate their Annual Leave to Byrd

Captain’ Byrd’s treatment raises questions about whether it reflects preferential treatment or efforts to ensure his cooperation regarding sensitive matters related to January 6th. […]

2024 was an proverbial ‘red wave’ across the board for the GOP at the Federal and State levels

As if it were planned, liberals who hang on every word of Mockingbird propagandist outlets like the New York Times and Politico woke up this morning to two inaccurate, but reassuring headlines from each of the aforementioned media conglomerates.
Politico published a piece titled “Trump Won Less Than 50 Percent.  Why is Everyone Calling it a Landslide?” while the New York Times writes, “The ‘Landslide’ That Wasn’t:  Trump and Allies Pump up His Narrow Victory.”
In the stand-first below the title, NY Times’ Chief White House Correspondent Peter Bake writes:
The latest vote count shows that Donald J. Trump won the popular vote by one of the smallest margins since the 19th century. But Mr. Trump claims a “powerful mandate.”

Politico’s Michael Schaffer is a little more blunt in his stand-first, stating, “Right and left have bought the narrative of a crushing triumph.  They’re wrong.”

But are they wrong?
In 2012, the San Francisco Giants swept the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, winning four straight games.  That was 12 years ago, in which a World Series has occurred in each succeeding season.  In that same time frame, there have been just four elections, including both 2012 and 2024.
Prior to the 2012 sweep in the World Series, the last sweep was 22 years prior in 1990 when the Cincinnati Reds swept the Oakland A’s.

In either of those World Series, it is irrelevant what the score of the individual games are.  Even if they won by just a single run, winning is winning.  But a sweep is monumental!
Well, get out your brooms because a “sweep” is precisely what Donald Trump did in the 2024 Presidential Election.
Not only did President Trump win 312 electoral votes to 226 and the popular vote, the first time a Republican had done so in 20 years, he also swept every single “swing state” from 2020 and picked up a win in Nevada, where he broke a four-election win streak for the Democrats.

Trump won Florida by more than 13 points, or almost 1.5 million votes.  This included a ‘yuge’ win in the former Democrat stronghold of Miami-Dade County by an earth-shattering 11.5%.  This small victory could perhaps be the single largest county swing after Joe Biden ‘won’ Miami-Dade by 7.3% in 2020.
That’s a 18.8% swing in Florida’s most populous county.
The electorate in the United States is pretty solid in either direction.  Statewide Republican candidates aren’t likely to win California, New York, or Massachusetts, while Democrats aren’t likely to win Texas, Florida, or Oklahoma.

Contrary to “fact checks,” Kamala Harris won all but two of the states that do not require voters to show an ID (Pennsylvania and Nevada).  Strange, huh?  Of the remaining 35 states requiring voter ID, President Trump won all but six: Virginia, Colorado, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.
However, the ‘not a landslide’ didn’t end with the Presidency.  The Republicans flipped seven seats in the House to maintain a majority, currently at 219 to 213.  To be fair, Democrats flipped six with three races still undecided, but the Republican is leading in two of the three races.
Furthermore, the GOP completed the trifecta by winning the Senate in a 53-47 majority.

Totally ‘not a landslide,’ though.
Unfortunately for the Mockingbird outlets mentioned above, the ‘not a landslide‘ doesn’t end there.

The GOP retook the Michigan House after two years of a Democrat majority
In Minnesota, they brought the margin to a tie
In Pennsylvania, the GOP closed the gap to one in the House while retaining control over the commonwealth’s Senate
In New Hampshire, the GOP expanded their control of the House and achieved a supermajority in the Senate
In both Iowa and South Carolina, the GOP also picked up supermajorities

All of this was accomplished while being outspent in the state legislative races by $175 million to just $50 million, according to NBC.

Despite the totally ‘not a landslide’ from the GOP this election cycle under the RNC leadership of Chair Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump, President Trump is still facing apparent obfuscation from Establishment neocons in the Senate.  This resulted in Matt Gaetz withdrawing from the Attorney General appointment in the face of a years-long sexual assault allegation that was investigated by the DOJ with no charges brought.
And as we move along, a new allegation against Secretary of Defense appointee Pete Hegseth seems like a veiled attempt to thwart another one of President Trump’s nominees.
As Rumble podcast host Dan Bongino stated: […]

Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota has introduced a bill that would “abolish the Department of Education” and “for other purposes.”  The bill, also referred to as the “Returning Education to Our States Act,” has now been referred to committee for a vote.
If passed, the bill would abolish the Department of Education, except for certain programs.  For example, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act will be transferred to Health and Human Services, along with the Impact Aid program under Title VIII.  The program and authority from the Office of Indian Education will be transferred to the Department of the Interior.  Federal Pell Grants will be transferred to the Department of the Treasury, as well as the bulk of the Federal Family Education Loan Programs.
Under Sen. Rounds’ bill, elementary and secondary education grants will also be delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury.  The amount funded, dependent on the number of students enrolled in public, private, and home schools in each State, will remain the same as the pervious fiscal year.
On November 19th, President Trump issued a statement naming Linda McMahon, the former Administrator of the Small Business Administration and co-founder of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).  In that statement, the President stated, “We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”

However, part of the bill introduced by Sen. Rounds not only seems to simply delegate those authorities to another executive bureaucracy, namely the Treasury, but it also has a cut out requiring states receiving block grants to commit to the following:

Submitting student data to the Secretary of Treasury annually, as requested by the Secretary of Treasury and as necessary for executing the program under this section
Completing of annual audits that conform to generally accepted accounting principles, auditing procedures, and safeguarding of funds that conform to the Single Audit Act and submitting the results of such audits to the Secretary of Treasury
Complying with all applicable Federal civil rights laws

While the bill does abolish the Department of Education, as President Trump has expressed great desire in doing, it seems to simply delegate those responsibilities to two other cabinets, the Treasury and Health and Human Services.
Given the current Democrat majority of the Senate currently, and their agenda in continuing the Marxist indoctrination through our education system, it is unlikely this bill will pass.
The Gateway Pundit has previously written about President Trump’s desire to diminish the Carter-era Department of Education to “one person plus a secretary.”  And all that person has to do is ensure, “Are you teaching English?  Are you teaching arithmetic?…and are you teaching ‘woke’?”  He has also promised on “Day 1” to sign an executive order cutting federal funding to schools that are “pushing Critical Race Theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto the shoulders of our children.”

Trump in Milwaukee says he wants to close down the Department of Education and have parents run public schools to make sure teachers aren’t “teaching woke” or “start teaching a language we don’t want them to teach” pic.twitter.com/HTjYIIqfQU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 1, 2024 […]

After the results from this week’s Presidential election shocked Democrats across the country, following months of being told by disingenuous polls that Kamala was leading or neck-and-neck with President Trump in each of the swing states, some have begun to call for audits and investigations.  The proverbial shoe is now on the other foot.
While Kamala has conceded defeat to President Trump and Democrat politicians have remained relatively silent in these calls, constituents have had a different sentiment and have taken to social media to insist something is amiss.
Thankfully, Elon Musk’s X platform, formerly Twitter, no longer censors people for questioning elections like they did in the lead up to- and following the 2020 Presidential election, as YouTube and many other social media entities did, often at the behest of the government, violating the First Amendment.

But what exactly are they calling for?  These democrat supporters are playing from behind after years of denying overwhelming evidence of improprieties in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Following the 2020 election, investigators began to collect data and evidence through open records request, including chain-of-custody (or in most cases the lack of), cast vote records, system log files, ballot images, voter rolls, grassroots door-to-door canvassing efforts, and any other piece of data they could get their hands on.
Through these acquisitions, many grassroots election groups published numerous reports on the anomalies and improprieties in the conducting of those two elections.  Perhaps the most egregious was the admission from former Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections member Mark Wingate during the disbarment hearing of former Deputy US Attorney General Jeff Clark.  Wingate testified, under oath, that Fulton County did no signature verification on returns in the largest county in Georgia.  He also testified that he was denied chain of custody documents to assist with certifying the validity of the election.
A close second would be the evidence presented in Kari Lake’s 2022 lawsuit that revealed hundreds of thousands of signatures impossibly verified in under 3 seconds, especially considering this required scrolling down on a computer screen to perform the verification.

THERE IT IS.
Testimony today, under oath, from Fulton County Registrations and Elections Board Member Mark Wingate.
Fani Willis now KNOWS that NO signature verification was done in Fulton. That 147,000 ballots that, BY LAW, are invalid.
This influence NOT JUST THE… pic.twitter.com/4J8KwAVi8V
— CannCon (@CannConActual) April 2, 2024

In 2024, however, the shoe is now on the other foot.  Kamala supporters are taking to X to call for investigations and/or audits into the 2024 results.  And this writer supports that fully.
One X post with over one million views states “Trump and Musk and their band of thieves have stolen 20,000,000 Democratic votes.  Buckle up, it’s going to get ugly.”  This type of election denialism is a ‘threat to democracy!’
It seems they forgot when Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan donated $440,000,000 to elections office that went predominantly to Democrat strongholds, especially in the swing states.

Trump and Musk and their band of thieves have stolen 20,000,000 Democratic votes.
Buckle up, it’s going to get ugly.
— Kevan Young (@KevanYoung2) November 8, 2024

Another post on X from Pam Keith, an attorney and the CEO of the Center for Employment Justice, asks, “Is it possible that the machines were hacked to switch the tallies from Harris to Trump?  Because that would make actual sense.”  The post currently has 1.5 million views on X.  She has turned off comments on her post after being called an “election fraud insurrectionist”, among other things.
Keith was a Democrat congressional candidate who lost by almost 15 points to Republican Congressman Brian Mast in Florida’s 18th District.

Is it possible that the machines were hacked to switch the tallies from Harris to Trump?
Because that would make actual sense.
— Pam Keith, Esq. (@PamKeithFL) November 8, 2024

Others have been more reserved in their remarks, stopping just short of calling for audits/investigations.  One X user writes “So, she raised a billion dollars, packed stadiums, record number of early voters, but 15 million of us sat this one out.  Okay.”  That post currently has 6.2 million views.

The explanations for this one are quite simple.  The “billion dollars” will likely be proven to be funds laundered through smurfing via ActBlue once a House investigation is completed.  The ‘packed [arenas and gymnasiums]’ initially consisted of busloads of out of towners, followed by celebrity guest performances, such as Meghan Thee Stallion, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, and the promise of a Beyoncé performance (she never took the stage to sing).  Donald Trump did not use musicians to fill his arenas.

So, she raised a billion dollars, packed stadiums, record number of early voters, but 15 million of us sat this one out. Okay.
— Derek (@DerekNeverFails) November 8, 2024

As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier, there is definitely something strange about the vote totals.  In this past election, Kamala Harris received 13 million fewer votes than Joe Biden did in the 2020 election.  But the anomaly isn’t the 2024 results.  It’s 2020’s.
In 2020, Joe Biden received ’81 real, lawful American votes,’ if you are to believe that.  Donald Trump shattered records for an incumbent president and received 74 million.  But the 2020 numbers are anomalous to 2012, 2016, and 2024, which all align pretty consistent according to a chart posted by ZeroHedge on X.

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but can we go back to what happened here? pic.twitter.com/FkScNHivuU
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 6, 2024

Two other X posts each receiving 446,000 views and 194,000 views called for Kamala to “not concede the race until a thorough recount is done” because “something doesn’t add up.”  They write, “Someone please investigate this before Trump takes office.”  The other post asks, “Who else wants to see a forensic analysis, an investigation, and a hand recount of this year’s election results?  Because you know he cheated.”

Kamala should not concede the race until a thorough recount is done. Something doesn’t add up. Trump said he didn’t need more votes. He knew he was going to win. Someone please investigate this before Trump takes office.
— LaVaque Audio ️‍ (@LaVaqueAudio) November 6, 2024

Who else wants to see a forensic analysis, an investigation, and a hand recount of this year’s election results?
Because you know he cheated.
— Jeras Ikehorn (@JerasIkehorn) November 8, 2024

Perhaps to the surprise of the users who made the posts, most of the comments are either agreeing with the calls for an audit/investigation or pointing out the hypocrisy after four years of being called “election deniers” and hearing Mockingbird Media regurgitating the premature remarks of environmental lawyer-turned-CISA Director, Chris Krebs, who stated days after the election that 2020 was “the most secure in American history.”

Either way, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the MAGA/America First movement, especially those deeply vested in election integrity, such as myself, who would object to a thorough and fully transparent audit of the entirety of elections, especially in swing states.  After all, how likely is it that Democrat Senators outperformed the top of the ticket Democrat, Kamala Harris, while Republican Senatorial candidates grossly underperformed Donald Trump?
Careful what you wish for.  You’re starting to sound like ‘conspiracy theorists.’ […]

This image from video provided by the Justice Department and contained in the government’s sentencing memorandum, shows Ray Epps, left, at the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. Epps, a former Arizona resident who was targeted by right-wing conspiracy theories about the U.S. Capitol riot, was sentenced on Tuesday to a year of probation for joining the Jan. 6, 2021 attack by a mob of fellow Donald Trump supporters. (Justice Department via AP)

One of the most mysterious figures of January 6th is Arizona resident Ray Epps.  So many questions surround the Arizonan’s actions on that day and the lack of interest exuding from the DOJ that has seemingly been interested in prosecuting any- and everything having to do with the protesters at the US Capitol on that day.
The Praying Grandma, Rebecca Lavrenz, and Jalise Middleton, a middle-aged woman dependent on a knee-scooter to move around, have been persecuted by the weaponized Department of Justice under Attorney General Merrick Garland.  A security guard for Dr. Simone Gold, and Dr. Gold herself, have been thrust into the perils of the justice system despite being permitted to speak at the events that day.
One of those J6ers who was sucker-punched by cops, James Grant, had some incredible information that he wanted to share but was reluctant because of his status with the Department of Justice.
But that’s over and Grant has now reached out exclusively to The Gateway Pundit to tell his story.

Ray Epps went from #16 on the FBI’s list of suspects to being completely removed almost overnight despite insurmountable evidence that he participated in inciting the “insurrection” (as the Democrats, Mockingbird Media, and J6 Select Committee have falsely and defamatorily labeled the events).
Epps, a former President of the Arizona Chapter of the OathKeepers, somehow managed to evade prosecution until he was finally charged with Disorderly or Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds in September 2023 and eventually sentenced to a laughable one-year probation.
New allegations, however, have emerged from J6 political prisoner James Grant regarding not just Ray Epps actions on that day, but selective editing of certain events surrounding that first “breach” of the bike racks utilized to hold back a crowd of potentially hundreds of thousands of MAGA protesters.

Before the events of January 6th, James Grant had a promising future.  He had just graduated from North Carolina State University with honors and was headed to the University of Alabama on a merit scholarship to attend law school.  After the events on January 6th, the young man’s dreams and ambitions have come to a screeching and indefinite halt.
Grant was charged as a co-defendant of Ryan Samsel, despite the pair having no prior knowledge of each other.  He would go on to serve just over 32 months in federal prison after being convicted on 4 of 9 charges in a Washington DC court, including assault with a deadly weapon.  The weapon was the bike rack that Ryan Samsel and others had pushed into a police line just moments after Ray Epps whispered in Samsel’s ear.  Grant, however, was not one of those individuals pushing that bike rack and never used a weapon to engage with police officers during the events of that day.
According to the New York Times, Ryan Samsel told the FBI in January 2022 that when Epps whispered in his ear shortly before pushing the barricades, “his entire words were ‘Relax, the cops are just doing their job.‘”

Video evidence and Grant’s recollection of what was said do not align with this statement.
Last week, Grant reached out to The Gateway Pundit, now unburdened from the grips of the Department of Justice, to tell us what he believes Epps said:  “We need more [unintelligible]”.  And a video posted to YouTube filmed from just over Samsel’s shoulder makes it now quite clear:
“We need more people.”
[embedded content]
There is an abundance of prior, and post, actions from Epps that supports him thinking and saying “we need more people” rather than “the cops are doing their job.”

On January 5th, Epps famously appeared on a live-stream at two separate points, first whispering “we’re here to storm the Capitol” and then later telling a crowd “We need to go into the Capitol! Into the Capitol!” after first saying he can’t say it because he’d probably get arrested.  Of course, when the crowd urged him not to say it then, he insisted.  The crowd immediately began chanting “Fed, Fed, Fed, Fed…”
Side Note:  It also must be mentioned that on January 5th, BLM activist John Sullivan (Jayden X) was also in that same crowd around Epps.  On January 6th, Sullivan would enter the Capitol with Jade Sacker filming.  Sacker would say, “I’ll give you your hug now… we did it! You were right! We did it!” To which Sullivan responded, “Dude, I was trying to tell you!  I couldn’t say much!”  Sacker asks, “You weren’t recording, right??”  “I’ll delete that sh*t” Sullivan responds.  Oops.

On January 6th, Epps was recorded screaming to the crowd “we are going to the Capitol, where our problems are!  It’s that direction!”

He told another protester, “When we go in…leave this here.  We don’t need to get shot.”
Then, of course, he was seen at the first Capitol breach at the bike racks whispering in Ryan Samsel’s ear seconds before Samsel pushes the bike racks.

Former FBI Assistant Director of Counter-Terrorism Jill Sanborn famously refused to answer Senator Ted Cruz’s questions about Ray Epps and whether or not he was a federal asset.

“We’re here to storm the capitol.” -Ray Epps pic.twitter.com/bSjbqH4RqH https://t.co/tQG4FuXIVS
— E (@Simply4Truth_) October 10, 2024

Ray Epps organizing & rallying people to go into the Capitol on January 6th. I will show it AGAIN, AGAIN, & AGAIN until the WHOLE world sees the truth. Who paid Ray Epps?! pic.twitter.com/Hrt4WuBvzf
— KC (@KCPayTreeIt) December 29, 2023

One lesser-known fact is that Epps was not just at the first breach at the bike racks, but he’s also on footage running up to the next set of barricades to the Capitol.  From footage obtained by M5News on Rumble, you can see a man wearing the same red hat and tan Marine Corps MARPAT F.R.O.G. gear at the second breach of the US Capitol Police perimeter.
Further, Gary McBride of M5News also discovered that, moments after a bizarre red smoke canister is deployed, Epps falls back through the crowd with several others in front and rear.  Mission accomplished?

Minutes later, at 2:12pm, Epps would text his nephew “I was in the front with a few others.  I also orchestrated it,” according to a transcribed interview under oath with the J6 Select Committee.

Just to recap:

On January 5th, Epps is seen near BLM activist John Sullivan telling the crowd “We need to go INTO the Capitol!” and “We’re storming the Capitol!”
On January 6th, he’s seen urging people to goto the Capitol.  “That’s where our problems are!”
Then he whispers “we need more people!” into Ryan Samsel’s ear before the first breach
Epps jogs up to the front of the second barricade and is seen interacting with protesters before the second breach
Later, Epps is seen egressing out of the crowd with several other individuals moments after red smoke is popped from directly behind him
He then texts his nephew “I also orchestrated it.”

So why would the New York Times report that Samsel told the FBI that Epps told him the cops were just doing their job?  Perhaps the same reason that James Grant was afraid to speak out about this while he was still under the thumb of the weaponized DOJ?  Do your own research on the abuses Ryan Samsel has suffered while in prison and form your own researched opinion.  You can start here.

There will be more coming from James Grant’s statement in the coming days. […]

Aaron Spencer, a combat veteran, is facing potential first-degree murder charges after shooting a 67 year-old man with his 14 year-old daughter. His daughter was the only witness in an assault against her by the 67 year-old.

An Arkansas father and combat veteran is currently facing potential first-degree murder charges in Lonoke County for shooting and killing a 67-year-old man who was found in a vehicle with his missing 14-year-old daughter.
On October 8th, Aaron Spencer called the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Department to report his missing 14-year-old daughter.  While deputies were en route to his home, Spencer called back around 1:12 am to inform dispatch that he had found his daughter in a truck with Michael Fosler, a 67-year-old man.
After pursuing Fosler, there was a vehicle crash, at which point an altercation allegedly ensued.  Spencer shot Fosler during the altercation.
Fosler had previously been arrested and booked in July by another agency for internet stalking of a child and sexual assault, according to Lonoke County Sheriff John Staley.  Spencer’s wife wrote an update on social media, stating, “We absolutely called 911 during the entire event.  We had no idea this man was in contact with our child again.  He was [a]waiting 6-9 felonies for what he did…He was looking at the rest of his pathetic life in jail, and our daughter was the only witness.”

While Spencer was arrested for the homicide, it is still unclear if he will face first-degree murder charges.  Sheriff Staley said, “When we get on scene and there’s a homicide, it means one person took the life of another.  It’s either justified or not justified.  That’s what the…investigation is going to find out.”

WATCH: Lonoke County Sheriff, John Staley has released the following statement pertaining to the shooting on October 8th that left one person dead. @KARK4News @FOX16News pic.twitter.com/CXhRQkgxRP
— Gary Burton JR (@GaryBurton_JR) October 10, 2024

Spencer’s wife, Heather, created a GoFundMe account to collect money for legal fees.  However, she posted to Facebook that GoFundMe had taken down her fund and was returning all funds to the donors.  The family has since opened up a GiveSendGo to help retain funding for the legal battle that is sure to ensue.
She wrote on the GiveSendGo:

In spring/summer 2024 our then 13 year old child was targeted, groomed and ultimately raped by the boyfriend of a family friend. Our family did not know this monster. He just appeared in a place where our child should have been safe and got access to her phone number. And that’s all it took.
We let the justice system do its job. The monster who hurt our child was charged quickly, but released even faster on a $50k bond. He was awaiting court in December for several felonies in relation to what he did to our child.
In the early morning hours on Tuesday, October 8th, 2024, we awoke to our daughter’s dog barking. This is unusual and caused us to check on her. In that moment we lived every parents biggest fear as we realized our teen child was missing.

We frantically searched our home/property and started calling friends, family, and 911. My husband immediately got into his truck to go blindly searching for our child.
By God’s never failing grace, my husband passed this man driving on our road with our minor child in the vehicle. As soon as the predator knew my husband was behind him, he ran. The chase ended in an accident. Aaron was able to retrieve our child alive, but in the process he was attacked and did what he had to do to protect himself and our minor child. He is now facing an outrageous murder 1 charge.
We were able to bring him home on $150k bond, but now we need to retain a legal team. I’m starting this campaign with a goal of $50k but I understand now it will likely cost much more.

My husband is a combat veteran, who has always protected his country and family. I have no doubt our child would have not come home if my husband hadn’t found her. Please help us keep him home with us where he belongs. Any donation is appreciated, but we will also take all the prayers we can get.
Spencer revealed another shocking detail in an update on social media, stating:
First, just want to thank the community and all the victims who have reached out to us. We have gotten a clear picture of a predator who continuously worked with children and preyed on young girls. This man was Chief of police in Indiana and resource officer, giving us a better idea of why the Lonoke county courts have been protecting him and going after my husband.

We have…received numerous stories of other victims that received no justice after this man attacked them. The system failed over and over to put away a predator. Everywhere this man went he preyed on weak young girls.
Spencer was released on a $150,000 bond.  The family hopes to raise at least $50,000 for their legal expenses but acknowledges it will likely cost much more.

We will update the story as it develops. […]

Former EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland and political prisoner Peter Navarro join Ari Melber to discuss President Trump and the Jan 6 protests
During the first impeachment hoax in 2019, then-EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland testified against his boss during the Adadm Schiff-led impeachment hoax over a “perfect phone call” between the President and Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky.  Sondland would go on to write a book about his time as ambassador to the EU that railed on both President Trump and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Sondland famously testified that President Trump attempted a ‘quid pro quo’ with Zelensky, leveraging a White House visit and the release of military aid in exchange for for an investigation targeting Hunter and Joe Biden.  But he also testified that “Quid pro quos happen all the time.”
Trump would eventually fire Sondland in February 2020.  After the events of January 6th, Sondland stated, “it was a no for me,” referring to whether he would back his former boss in a future presidential run.
During MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber”, a panel consisting of former Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews, Peter Navarro and Gordon Sondland were assembled in an apparent attempt to tag-team Trump-loyalist Peter Navarro with MSNBC’s Jan 6 fear-mongering.  Matthews resigned after the events of January 6th after eight months on the job and would go on to testify against President Trump in the second impeachment hoax.

Ari Melber, the show’s host, asked Sondland, “Why was it important for you to say ‘no more Trump’ because of his January 6th conduct and do you stand by that?”

Sondland shocked Melber and quickly fired back, “No, I don’t stand by that.”  He continued:
“I’ll tell you why:  I’ve now lived four years under the Biden-Harris policies and I have to say that those policies are not only becoming an existential threat to our country’s way of life, but to our allies’ as well.”

Melber, completely taken aback, interrupts immediately and decries, “This is so striking!  You said, ‘it was a no for me after that’…after January 6th.  And here we are right now, and you’re saying it is a ‘yes’ for me?”
Sondland responded “it is a yes for me.  It is an absolute yes for me!  That is how badly the Biden-Harris team have prosecuted their job.”
Melber would not let it die.  After all, Sondland and Matthews were there to refute Peter Navarro’s position on President Trump.  He then said, “But the whole point you seemed to be making was that January 6th and that kind of attack on democracy is bigger than any policy?”
The former EU Ambassador answered, “But I am seeing so many attacks on democracy that it clips January 6th.”  As Melber was attempting to save face, he moved on to Matthews, ignoring Sondland’s efforts to explain what those “attacks” he referenced were.

MSNBC’s Ari Melber loses it after the anti-Trump impeachment witness he invited on his show said he was voting for Trump because of how bad things are
Melber: You said it was a no from me after J6. Now you say it’s a yes?
Sondland: It’s an absolute yespic.twitter.com/aMx1x5jfER
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 2, 2024

As the panel was beginning to fall apart after Sondland’s shocking admission, Melber turned to the next Democrat talking point:  the 2020 election.  Melber asked each of the panel members “Do you acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election?”
Matthews, of course, fell right in line falsely claiming that Trump lost the 2020 election, as she had testified to during the J6 Sham Committee.  Sondland was a little more reserved and acknowledged that there were voting irregularities but they “sadly” did not amount to enough to change the election.
Peter Navarro responded that he “stands by the Navarro Report” (at PeterNavarro.com).  Navarro cited the Kennedy Nixon election stating that it took 30 years to acknowledge Kennedy stole the election from Nixon.  Melber interrupted, seeking confirmation of Navarro’s ‘election denialism.’
Melber went on to say “Well, we’re dealing in facts, not…that” as Navarro shot back that he presented “three volumes of facts”.
Matthews interjected that she has looked at the report and one of the things he cites is “Trump was up in certain states on election night and in the morning that changed.  I think that we need to acknowledge that in states that he mentioned…mail-in ballots are not able to be counted before hand until election day.  So no wonder Donald Trump was up on election night because all of those ballots that would favor Joe Biden were not yet counted.  That’s the kind of stuff that’s in this report of his.”
“What I looked at were things like no signature match in Georgia after 2016.  It went from a 6% rejection of ballots because of signature match in 2016 to zero.  If you simply do the numbers on that, there’s endless possibilities for fraud” said Navarro before, once again, being interrupted by Melber.

Breaking/Exclusive: Sarah Mathews former Trump Spokesperson tells Peter Navarro (fresh out of jail) and Gordon Sondland how easy it is to admit Trump lost the 2020 Election …and how dangerous Trump’s BIG LIE is.She states loyalty with Donald J Trump is a one way street. pic.twitter.com/sBK4N5mcLl
— Chris Borkowski (@cborkowski) October 2, 2024

Thanks to the disbarment hearing of former Asst. Attorney General Jeff Clark and the testimony of former Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections member Mark Wingate, we know that Navarro was, in fact, correct.  There was no signature matching done in Georgia’s most popular county.

Peter Navarro is right. Must watch.
Besides Trump impeachment witness Gordon Sondland now saying he’s voting for Trump after saying he was a “No” because of J6, we got some election truths out there from @RealPNavarro
This clip was under oath in @JeffClarkUS’s disbarment… https://t.co/QS3bHTmAW1 pic.twitter.com/3Ljhqs85zP
— CannCon (@CannConActual) October 3, 2024 […]

On Monday evening, music mogul Sean “P Diddy” Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt hotel in New York, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.  This morning, that indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York.
Combs faces three charges: racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution.  Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson argued before Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky that the three crimes carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, or death.  Combs plead not guilty.

Dammmmmmmmmmmm pic.twitter.com/hhF3D6mEDT
— Karli Bonne’ (@KarluskaP) September 17, 2024

According to coverage from Inner City Press of today’s hearing, AUSA Johnson argued that Pre-Trial Services deemed Combs should be detained after an interview with the defendant.  She claimed Combs set up “freak-offs,” forcing sex and masturbation of its participants.  The events were occasionally filmed.
AUSA Johnson cited an event in March 2015 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles.  During an altercation, a security guard was helping a victim leave one of the “freak-offs” when she was allegedly assaulted by Combs.  Combs then tried to bribe the guard with a “handful of cash.”  The guard refused.

Video from the hotel “disappeared” at the time and Combs denied the incident.  Then, in November 2023, the video resurfaced and, at that time, Combs admitted to being involved in the assault.
Combs is also alleged to have tried to contact witnesses who received grand jury subpoenas.  One witness claims she was contacted 54 times in one day by Combs and “intermediaries.”
As a result of the accusations, the resources available to Combs, and the witness’s fear of retaliation, Combs was denied bail, despite proposing a $50 million bond, and will remain in the NYC Metropolitan Correctional Center, the same Manhattan jail that housed Jeffrey Epstein five years ago.  Though not yet on the docket, Combs has reportedly appealed the bail decision and will have a hearing tomorrow afternoon, according to Matthew Russell of Inner City Press.
NYC Metropolitan Correction Center where Jeffrey Epstein allegedly hung himself in August of 2019.

The indictment alleges that Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”  He is accused of manipulating women into performing “highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity” with male commercial sex workers and orchestrating their flights to his locations for such acts.  He maintained the concealment of his operations by controlling the careers of his victims, leveraging financial support for them and ultimately using intimidation and violence.
In one example, believed to be referenced above, Combs “kicked, dragged, and threw a vase” at a woman as she was trying to leave.  When hotel security attempted to intervene, he tried unsuccessfully to bribe them.
There is potential for co-conspirators to be named as well.  The indictment alleges that “members and associates of the Combs Enterprise” helped facilitate the “freak-offs.”  This included “high-ranking” supervisors, security, household staff, personal assistants and other employees.  They were tasked with booking hotels and stocking the rooms with “controlled substances, baby oil, lubricant, extra linens, and lighting.”  They also were tasked with orchestrating the travel of both Combs and the commercial sex workers.
The indictment alleges that controlled substances were used, among other tactics, to keep his victims “compliant.”  Members and associates of his enterprise allegedly kept victims concealed in hiding, sometimes for several days, while they healed from any evidence of physical violence.  If a member spoke out, Combs and his staff would threaten them with “acts of violence” which included kidnapping and arson.
You can read the full indictment here.

OK- now US v. Sean Combs bail fight. Inner City Press asked US Attorney Damian Williams if seeks to detain; he: Yes. Coverage below, support: https://t.co/PJ2bKhEWJLVenmo: [at] Matthew-Lee-675 https://t.co/nU0Q0PSY13 https://t.co/mmos6LonY0 Live thread below pic.twitter.com/QNXkkMT5jG
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) September 17, 2024

Combs has previously faced several lawsuits, including one reported by The Gateway Pundit that was brought by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones.  The lawsuit alleged numerous sexual acts and parties, picking up women from a strip club in Miami, and named other celebrities, including Cuba Gooding Jr., in the filing.  Jones also alleged that Combs and his son were involved in the cover up of a shooting incident in a recording studio bathroom in September 2022.
Jones’ lawsuit alleges Combs was also “responsible for the shooting in the nightclub in New York with rapper Shyne” and that his then-girlfriend, J-Lo (Jennifer Lopez) “carried the gun into the club for him and passed him the gun after he got into an altercation with another individual.”
The above-mentioned indictment does not reference these events. […]

According to Nielsen ratings, the Trump-Kamala debate got 67.1 million viewers representing a 31% increase from the June 27th debate against Joe Biden.  During that debate, in front of 67 million viewers, ABC hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis, a fellow Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister of Kamala Harris, “fact-checked” President Trump five times.  They “fact-checked” Kamala zero times, despite her making numerous disproven claims, including the recent very-public debunking of the “Fine People” and “bloodbath” hoax.
During ABC News This Week on Sunday night, host Martha Raddatz finally fact-checked some of the claims made during the debate by both candidates to an exponentially smaller audience than the debate itself.  Raddatz pressed Massachusetts Governor and Harris-Walz campaign advisory board member Maura Healey on one of the claims made by Harris.
Raddatz referenced a clip of Harris claiming, “As of today, there’s not one member of the United States military, who is in active duty, in a combat zone in any war zone around the world for the first time this century.”  Despite numerous qualifiers and semantical escapes in that statement, Raddatz still pressed Healey on the legitimacy of Harris’s claim.
Raddatz said:

“Our fact-checkers found that to be false…there are currently 900 US military personnel in Syria, 2500 US troops in Iraq, all have been under regular threat from drones and missiles for months.  We also have action in the Red Sea.  We also have, every single day, Navy SEALS, Delta Force, special operators, can be part of any sort of deadly raid.  So why would she make that claim?”

Healey’s response was downright shocking:
“Well, I think that what’s important here Martha is that Kamala Harris, in contrast to Donald Trump, demonstrated herself to be Commander-in-Chief.  We’re in a world where there are all sorts of conflicts.  And its all the more reason we need somebody who’s serious and who supports the military.”
Raddatz interrupted and pushed back on the absurd remark, doubling down on the false claims by Harris asking if she simply didn’t know about these people.
Healey followed up by saying:
“That was a comment in a debate.  I think the point that she was trying to make was a broader point.  And of course we have military in place all around this country (?).  That’s important, we’re the United States of America.  Kamala Harris is the person who stands with NATO, who supports our allies and is working to bring our countries together.  Donald Trump stands with Vladimir Putin.  I think that’s what’s really important.  Harris respects our military…our servicemembers…Donald Trump calls them ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ (another claim with no factual basis).  And it’s why Donald Trump’s former military generals support Kamala Harris.  They say that Donald Trump shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.  And I think those are the points, Martha, that people need to understand.”
Raddatz also fact-checked the remark Harris made about late-term abortions, stating that nine states and DC have no gestational ban on abortions.  Harris remarked that “nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion.  That’s not happening.”  But as Raddatz stated on Sunday night, it is legal in nine states.  And this was published by ABC News in June just before the Trump-Biden debate.
David Muir bizarrely called the city manager in Springfield, OH to “fact check” Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats, but didn’t have his own outlet’s publication, line by line, state by state, on abortion laws researched?  Color me shocked.
Harris also claimed that Trump’s abortion bans don’t allow for rape or incest abortions, which is also blatantly false as Roe v. Wade relinquished abortion laws to the individual states, something President Trump never had any authority over.  Another miss from the Muir-Davis tag team.

Another episode of the Twilight Zone just dropped
ABC’s Martha Raddatz says Trump was Wrongfully “Fact Checked” and Right about Abortion, and then Eviscerates Kamala Harris’ for Lying about the Military
• NINE states, plus DC, have no restrictions on Abortions — the fact… pic.twitter.com/8yofHthV4s
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) September 17, 2024

It is worth noting that Donald Trump is the first President in over 40 years who started not one single new war, helped negotiate the historic Abraham Accords in the Middle East, and left the groundwork for a withdrawal from Afghanistan.  He was also ridiculed by MSNBC’s Joy Reid, Nicole Wallace, and on MSNBC’s Morning Joe over claims that Mullah Abdul Ghana Baradar doesn’t exist:

The dishonest, corrupt media in all of their glory.
“There is no Abdul. Trump made it up.”
In 2021, before the botched withdrawal, Biden’s CIA Director met with the same Abdul that they now claim doesn’t exist.
Share this far and wide. Someone should get it to Trump. pic.twitter.com/TphmTO1fd4
— MAZE (@mazemoore) September 13, 2024

TV Tonight reported that ABC News received 1,177,000 views, or 1.8% of the 67.1 million who viewed the debate.  The damage was done on September 10th when a crowd more than 50 times the size of the “correction” saw a 3 versus 1 debate.
The co-founder of the Commission on Presidential Debates has come out and railed against the ‘moderators’ for “bend[ing] backwards to help” Harris in the debate, acknowledging Muir one time inserted his opinion as “fact”.  Senator Roger Marshall has inquired with ABC to obtain all of their communications regarding the debate.  And Bill Ackman has issued a public letter acknowledging allegations that the debate was rigged against President Trump. […]