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<ul class="summary-list"><li>January 6 defendants have started going to trial, and some have taken the stand to testify recently.</li><li>Their testimony has lacked credibility with jurors, and a judge said one defendant "lacked candor."</li></ul><keyword id="13915338" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="anthime-gionet" source="Orion">Anthime Gionet</keyword>, the far-right video blogger known as "<keyword id="13910589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="baked-alaska" source="Orion">Baked Alaska</keyword>," made the announcement just before 10 pm Monday: "No stream tonight!""Balls deep in legal shit as I prepare for Wednesday's Jan 6 hearing," Gionet told followers on Telegram, two days before he was set to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from his involvement in the attack on the Capitol.The hearing could have marked the beginning of the end of Gionet's legal woes from January 6, but there was more to come. Instead of pleading guilty Wednesday to a relatively low-level charge of unlawful picketing or parading at the Capitol, Gionet declared, "I wanted to go to trial, but the prosecutor said if I didn't go to trial they would put a felony on me, so I think this is probably the better route. I believe I'm innocent."The comment blew up his plea agreement hearing almost as soon as it began. Gionet left the virtual hearing with a trial date in 2023 and the possibility of facing stiffer charges, but with 60 days to reconsider taking the plea deal from prosecutors.It was just the latest instance of an accused Capitol rioter speaking up in a federal courtroom, perhaps to the detriment of his own legal defense.In recent weeks, as trials have commenced in connection with January 6, two other accused Capitol rioters have taken the stand to testify in their own defense. Both were found guilty after just hours of jury deliberations.Following each of those trials, jurors told Insider that the testimony lacked credibility and failed to stand up against a veritable mountain of evidence from federal prosecutors.The decision to take the stand is always perilous for defendants, legal experts said, subjecting them to cross-examination from prosecutors and opening the risk of untruthful testimony that could work against them at sentencing. But with <keyword id="12492086" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="january-6-cases" source="Orion">January 6 cases</keyword>, the volume amount of video footage and other evidence — including social media posts and text messages — magnifies that risk."It's really hard to mitigate that electronic evidence with taking the stand. That's what we're seeing in a lot of these cases," said Michael Sherwin, who oversaw the early weeks of the January 6 investigation as the Trump-appointed acting US attorney in Washington, DC. "The sheer amount of electronic evidence is really making these cases very strong."The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/16-months-jan-6-attack-capitol">said</a> Thursday that, in the 16 months since the <keyword id="11910059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="capitol-attack" source="Orion">Capitol attack</keyword>, more than 800 people have been arrested on charges related to January 6. Nearly 300 have pleaded guilty to federal charges, "many of whom faced or will face incarceration at sentencing," the Justice Department said.<h2><div type="image" title="Dustin Thompson" height="677" width="903" msid="91527133" hostid="261"></div></h2><h2>The Capitol rioter and the coat tree</h2>One of the defendant's testimony appeared to backfire with particular force. On January 6, 2021, <keyword id="13614235" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="dustin-thompson" source="Orion">Dustin Thompson</keyword> emerged from the Senate carrying a coat tree — a "trophy," as his friend described it in a text message that day, from his participation in the attack on the Capitol.But more than a year later, accused of stealing government property and other charges stemming from the January 6 insurrection, Thompson tried to apply a different varnish on his decision to take the wooden, would-be memento. "I was just moving it out," Thompson testified, claiming he only removed the coat tree to prevent other members of the pro-Trump mob from wielding it as a weapon.The comment left a federal prosecutor in disbelief. Thompson's own defense lawyer called the claim foolish. Speaking to reporters after Thompson was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guilty-jury-quickly-convicts-capitol-rioter-who-blamed-trump-for-january-6-2022-4">convicted on all six charges he faced</a>, one juror recounted having to keep himself from laughing at the testimony.After dismissing the jury, a federal judge appeared to share questions about Thompson's credibility in ordering him detained ahead of sentencing."In my view, I don't think he was candid when he testified," Judge Reggie Walton said, calling Thompson's conduct "reprehensible." Walton said Thompson was sure to face prison time and set his sentencing for July 20.In each of the two previous jury trials, the January 6 defendants elected not to testify. Judges instruct jurors not to hold that decision against defendants and note the constitutional right to not testify at one's own trial.For Thompson, the decision to testify was necessitated by a defense strategy of blaming his participation in the Capitol attack on former President Donald Trump and his false claims of election fraud. One juror said he empathized with people who go down "rabbit holes" and who "get caught up" in conspiracy theories.But that juror — who identified himself as a 40-year-old business owner but declined to give his name — said he was bothered by what he saw as a lack of remorse from Thompson."At no point did Dustin say what he did was shameful," the juror said after the trial.<h2><div type="image" title="Thomas Webster eye gouge" height="669" width="892" msid="91527134" hostid="261"></div></h2><h2>The retired cop and the self-defense claim</h2>For the latest January 6 defendant to stand trial, the decision to testify was similiarly driven by a need to take the jury inside his mind on January 6.Facing charges that he attacked a Washington, DC, police officer outside the Capitol, retired New York City police officer <keyword id="13695460" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="thomas-webster" source="Orion">Thomas Webster</keyword> argued that he acted in self-defense on January 6 after the officer hit him in the face like a "freight train." On the witness stand, the Washington, DC, police officer testified that he "incidentally" touched Webster's face with an open hand while gesturing for him to back up.But Webster said he was "seeing stars."Prosecutors showed video footage of Webster confronting the officer at a bike rack outside the Capitol and pushing the metal barrier into him. The video footage showed Webster then backing up and swinging a metal flag pole — bearing the Marine Corps flag — down at the bike rack.Webster then breached the bike rack and tackled the police officer to the ground, where he tried to remove his helmet and gas mask. On the witness stand, Webster said he put his hands to the officer's gas mask so he could "see my hands," as though to deescalate the confrontation.But, after the trial, jurors said the video footage belied Webster's claims of self-defense."There was just a lot of evidence from every conceivable angle," said one juror, who identified himself as a Washington, DC, hospital worker who was asked to stay late on January 6 for a potential mass casualty event. "There's so much video footage all just laid out in front of us in a really comprehensive way."Another juror, Doris Spruell, was more blunt about Webster's testimony."I did not think it was credible," she said.

Accused Capitol rioters are talking themselves into deeper trouble at hearings and trials related to January 6

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tim Gionet, the alt-right activist who goes by "<keyword id="2108356" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Baked-Alaska">Baked Alaska</keyword>, was arrested by the FBI on Saturday for his role in the Capitol riots, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-capitol-siege-alaska-crime-6666c735165a19a6ee019e412235bd8d">according to The Associated Press</a>.</li><li>Gionet was already facing criminal charges in <keyword id="57493" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Arizona">Arizona</keyword> after police said he refused to leave a bar and pepper-sprayed an employee, the Arizona Republic reported.</li><li>Leaving Arizona to go to DC and participate in the riots was in violation of his pretrial release conditions, a judge found.</li><li>When Gionet didn't show up for a scheduled court hearing Thursday, a warrant was issued for his arrest.</li></ul>Tim Gionet, the alt-right activist who goes by "Baked Alaska, was arrested by the FBI on Saturday for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-capitol-siege-alaska-crime-6666c735165a19a6ee019e412235bd8d">according to The Associated Press</a>.Gionet was arrested by federal agents in Houston, according to a law enforcement official who could not speak about the arrest until a criminal complaint was released.Tim Gionet used the blockchain service DLive to livestream himself inside the Capitol last week.His mere presence in DC was a breach of the conditions of his pretrial release on a criminal case in his home state, <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2021/01/14/u-s-capitol-riot-scottsdale-issues-warrant-livestreamer-tim-gionet/4162158001/">the Arizona Republic first reported.</a>On Thursday, an Arizona judge has issued an arrest warrant for Gionet after he violated pretrial release conditions on a local case to go to Washington, DC, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-electoral-college-loss-violence-presidential-election-extremism-2021-1">storm the Capitol building</a>.Gionet was already charged with assault, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespass in Scottsdale City Court after police said he refused to leave a local bar and then pepper-sprayed an employee, the paper reported.He was released from pretrial detention on the promise he wouldn't leave Arizona without a judge's permission.Last week, <a href="https://www.insider.com/washington-dc-protest-livestream-baked-alaska-us-capitol-riot-trump-2021-1">after Gionet made headlines for his presence at the Capitol</a>, a prosecutor filed a petition arguing that he violated his release conditions and a new bail amount should be set.On Thursday, Gionet didn't appear at a scheduled court hearing on the matter and his attorney, Zach Thornley, was unable to reach his client on the phone, the Arizona Republic reported.Judge James Blake issued the warrant for his arrest.<div type="image" title="Baked Alaska used the blockchain platform DLive to livestream himself during the riot at the US Capitol." height="874" width="1548" msid="80295187" hostid="261"></div>Gionet, whose full name is Anthime Joseph Gionet, is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-baked-alaska-milo-mike-cernovich-alt-right-trump-2017-4">known for holding Neo-Nazi and white supremacist views, supporting Trump, and promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories online.</a>The internet troll used to be libertarian who was against the war on drugs and supported Black Lives Matter, Oliver Darcy previously reported for Insider.His YouTube <a href="https://www.distractify.com/p/baked-alaska-banned">channel was banned</a> in October 2020 after he filmed himself harassing people during the COVID-19 pandemic.Expanded Coverage Module: capitol-siege-module

Tim 'Baked Alaska' Gionet, the far-right activist spotted among Capitol insurrectionists, has been arrested

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The far-right personality known as "Baked Alaska" tweeted that he can't believe he's "going to jail for an nft salesman."</li><li>"Baked Alaska," whose real name is Anthime Gionet, participated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.</li></ul>The far-right internet personality known as "Baked Alaska" was less than pleased with former President Donald Trump's announcement Thursday that he's launching a series of digital trading card NFTs."i can't believe i'm going to jail for an nft salesman," Baked Alaska, whose real name is Anthime Gionet, <a href="https://twitter.com/bakedalaska/status/1603475492618702848" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> Thursday afternoon.Gionet participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and later pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. The charge carries a sentence of up to six months, and Gionet's sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 12.Trump, who launched his 2024 presidential campaign last month, first teased his NFT collection in a Truth Social post on Wednesday."AMERICA NEEDS A SUPERHERO! I will be making a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT tomorrow. THANK YOU!" he wrote. The statement was accompanied by a video depicting Trump as a Superman-style superhero, complete with laser beams shooting out of his eyes.He followed up on Thursday morning, writing on his Twitter-esque social media site that the "official Donald Trump Digital Trading Card collection is here! These limited edition cards feature amazing ART of my Life &amp; Career!"He added that the cards, which are going for $99 apiece, are "like a baseball card, but hopefully much more exciting."Gionet, who livestreamed himself storming the Capitol on January 6, didn't mince words when reacting to Trump's announcement."i wanted to make america great again but all i got was this shitty nft," he tweeted."America doesn't need a super hero it needs Jesus," he wrote in another tweet.Gionet rose to prominence as a far-right internet troll and Trump supporter during the 2016 election. He participated in the neo-Nazi "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 and has a long history of sharing antisemitic and white nationalist propaganda.He was permanently banned from Twitter in 2017 for violating the platform's hateful conduct policy, which prohibits "repeated and/or or non-consensual slurs, epithets, racist and sexist tropes, or other content that degrades someone."But Twitter, which is now owned by the self-described free speech absolutist Elon Musk, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-reinstates-account-far-right-troll-baked-alaska-2022-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reinstated Gionet's account</a> earlier this week.Gionet was arrested shortly after the Capitol riot. "Occupy the Capitol, let's go!" he shouted at one point while storming the building, according to his livestream. "We ain't leaving this bitch!"He'll also start serving out a 30-day prison sentence beginning January 2 for an unrelated charge of macing a security guard in late 2020, <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/jan-6-troll-baked-alaska-is-going-to-jail-in-2023-for-attacking-security-guard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Beast reported</a>.He was convicted of that charge in January of this year and appealed the verdict but was denied.Gionet told his followers about the denial last month and expressed frustration about his upcoming sentencing hearing for the Capitol riot charge."And then, that's not even the January 6 thing!" Gionet said of the 30-day sentence for the mace charge. "Then I have to serve the January 6 time. So ah, it sucks! It sucks."

Far-right troll and Capitol rioter 'Baked Alaska' tweets that he can't believe he's 'going to jail for an nft salesman' after Trump announces digital trading card series

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <keyword id="11897870" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="january-6" source="Orion">January 6</keyword> defendant talked his way into a trial date he had sought to avoid, according to reports.</li><li>YouTuber "<keyword id="13910589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="baked-alaska" source="Orion">Baked Alaska</keyword>" declared his innocence despite planning to plead guilty, NBC <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">News</keyword> reported</li></ul>A January 6 defendant declared himself innocent at his plea hearing, despite having prepared a guilty plea — landing himself a <keyword id="11893066" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="court" source="Orion">court</keyword> date he had sought to avoid, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-nixes-jan-6-plea-right-wing-streamer-baked-alaska-declares-innoc-rcna28245">according to NBC News</a>.Anthime "Tim" Joseph Gionet — better known as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-baked-alaska-milo-mike-cernovich-alt-right-trump-2017-4">rightwing YouTuber Baked Alaska</a> — appeared in court on Wednesday over his alleged participation in the <keyword id="11907536" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="capitol-riot" source="Orion">Capitol riot</keyword> of January 6, 2022, the outlet reported.He was set to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of having "willfully and knowingly paraded, demonstrated, and picketed" inside the building, according to court documents seen by Insider. Riot defendants pleading guilty to this charge have so far overwhelmingly received more lenient sentences, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/baked-alaska-torched-plea-hearing-jan6">according to Buzzfeed News</a>. Gionet also initially faced charges of entering or remaining on restricted grounds, and disorderly conduct. The FBI complaint, seen by Insider, describes Gionet filming himself inside the building alongside the rioters, which he later posted to YouTube. Despite identifying himself as a member of the media, and saying he was "documenting" the events, the complaint said that Gionet also appeared to participate, shouting "Occupy the Capitol let's go. We ain't leaving this bitch," and joining chants of "traitors, traitors, traitors."At one stage, he told a police officer: "You're a fucking oathbreaker you piece of shit," according to the complaint. NBC News reports that at the plea hearing Wednesday, where Gionet was set to plead guilty to the lesser misdemeanor charge, he said he thought he was innocent.<div type="image" title="Left: Athime Gionet, also known as Baked Alaska, stands with white nationalist Richard Spencer (right) in June 2017." height="1000" width="2000" msid="91516642" hostid="261"></div>He told Judge Emmet G. Sullivan: "I wanted to go to trial, but the prosecutors [said] if I [went] to trial, they would put a felony on me, so I think this is probably the better route," the outlet reported."I believe I'm innocent ... but they're saying if I go to trial they're going to hit me with a felony."<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/baked-alaska-torched-plea-hearing-jan6">According to Buzzfeed News</a>, Sullivan responded: "Well fine, pick a trial date."Sullivan continued, per NBC News: "If Mr. Gionet wants to go to trial, he'll get a fair trial, like anyone and everyone else who has appeared before me, regardless of the charges ... Don't plead guilty to please me."A trial date was set for March 2023, although Gionet still has a window of 60 days in which to enter a guilty plea if he wishes, according to the outlet.

A January 6 defendant ruined his plea deal by saying he thinks he's innocent and was only going to plead guilty to avoid a trial

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The FBI raid on Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago compound has set off a firestorm of Republican fury.</li><li>Among those invigorated are some of Trump's most dedicated fans: Capitol riot defendants.</li></ul>Multiple Capitol riot defendants took to the internet with incendiary messages in the aftermath of the Monday <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/live-fbi-search-warrant-donald-trump-mar-a-lago-2022-8">FBI raid at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago compound</a> — even as some of those offenders await sentencing for their role in the January 6 attack.The FBI earlier this week <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-we-know-about-the-fbi-raid-on-trumps-mar-a-lago-home-2022-8">conducted a search at the former president's South Florida resort</a> as part of its investigation into his handling of classified and sensitive documents, according to several reports. A lawyer for Trump told media outlets on Tuesday that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-trump-mar-a-lago-raid-took-12-boxes-lawyer-2022-8">agents took about 12 boxes of records</a> during the search.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/garland-justice-department-mar-lago-trump-raid-murky-questions-2022-8">The unprecedented move by the Justice Department</a> set off a firestorm of Republican fury as the former president and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-raid-trump-elected-republicans-president-rubio-tillis-2024-2022-8">several GOP lawmakers</a> flung accusations of misconduct and partisan politicking at the agency. "For a large section of Trump's base, this probably energized them to some extent," Chris Haynes, a politics professor at the University of New Haven told Insider.Among those seemingly invigorated by Monday's raid are some of Trump's most fervent supporters — those devotees who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an effort to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's win. But even though federal prosecutors have frequently cited rioters' own pre-siege social media posts in charging documents against them, some Jan. 6 defendants couldn't resist weighing in on the most recent Trumpian drama.<h2>"This is war, this is absolute war."</h2>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-baked-alaska-milo-mike-cernovich-alt-right-trump-2017-4">YouTuber known as Baked Alaska</a> waded into the controversy this week during a livestream. Baked Alaska, whose real name is Anthime Gionet, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/youtuber-baked-alaska-pleaded-guilty-misdemeanor-charge-capitol-riot-2022-7">pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge</a> related to his role in the insurrection, during which he livestreamed himself for nearly 30 minutes as he urged other rioters to enter the Capitol, prosecutors have said."We need to win the midterms or literally die," Gionet said during a <a href="https://cozy.tv/bakedalaska/replays/2022-08-10">Tuesday livestream</a> where he discussed the Mar-a-Lago raid.Gionet, who is set to be sentenced in January 2023, faces a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/baked-alaska-pleads-guilty-misdemeanor-role-us-capitol-riot-2022-07-23/">possible maximum sentence of six months</a> in prison.Throughout the livestream, Gionet was careful to couch his language, repeating several times that he wasn't condoning violence or encouraging law-breaking. But the influencer couldn't completely avoid inflammatory language throughout the hours-long stream."This is war, this is absolute war," he said. "It's insane what they're doing to Donald Trump. If they can do it to him, they can do it to anyone. You've seen them do it to me."Gionet encouraged his listeners to pray for the former president and vote for Republicans in the upcoming midterms."Imagine [Trump] wins and we take power and never give it up, ever, ever," he said.Gionet's musings previously <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baked-alaska-january-6-defendant-plea-deal-nixed-trial-date-2022-5">put his plea deal in danger</a> after he told a judge he believed he was innocent ahead of entering a guilty plea. He ultimately pleaded guilty instead of opting for a trial."I hope [Trump]…destroys the FBI," Gionet said on Tuesday. "In a legal way. I'm not talking about violence." Attorneys for Gionet did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.<div type="image" title="Tim Gionet, better known as Baked Alaska, pictured in sunglasses and cheered on by fellow far right protesters outside Pfizer headquarters on November 13, 2021 in New York City" height="1000" width="2000" msid="93487831" hostid="261"></div><h2>"Are we not in a cold civil war at this point?"</h2>Other Capitol riot defendants have also likened Monday's raid to the start of a war.<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/mar-lago-search-users-trump-forums-agitate-civil-war-jan-6-rioter-rcna42148">NBC News</a> on Tuesday reported that a username belonging to <a href="https://www.insider.com/capitol-rioter-arrested-after-mother-posted-his-pictures-on-facebook-2021-8">defendant Tyler Welsh Slaeker</a> posted a comment on a pro-Trump internet forum suggesting the US was "in a cold civil war at this point."A username linked to Slaeker, "bananaguard62," added the comment under a post urging Trump supporters to "lock and load" and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-trump-supporters-protest-outside-mar-a-lago-after-fbi-raid-2022-8">head to Mar-a-Lago in the hours following the raid</a>, the outlet reported.Slaeker has yet to be sentenced for his role in the siege after he pleaded guilty to one count of entering and remaining in a restricted building. "I am awaiting sentencing for trespassing into the Capitol," he wrote on the forum. "I am only being careful with my words."Slaeker did not have an active attorney listed.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brandon-straka-charged-after-tweeting-himself-capitol-riot-fbi-says-2021-1">Brandon Straka</a>, a January 6 defendant who was already <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/capitol-attack-riot-brandon-straka-january-6-trump-rally-sentence-2022-1">sentenced to three months of home detention</a> in January after pleading guilty to a disorderly conduct charge, has garnered a massive online following as a pro-Trump influencer known for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cpac-capitol-rioter-mock-prison-cell-january-6-defendants-jail-2022-8">staging political stunts.</a>Straka on Monday posted an ominous message on his <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@BrandonStraka/posts/108790082267074020">social media platforms</a> following the raid."The FBI raiding Trump will only be the beginning," he wrote. "I've been trying as hard as I can to get the right to listen. God help us all." But it's not just Capitol riot defendants who are stoking the fire. And the internet users not currently entangled in federal legal issues are often prone to putting it even more bluntly.One user on Trump's preferred Truth Social warned that further action against the former president would be "the lighting of a civil war fuse," and predicted that "lead will fly," in messaging that reads eerily similar to much of the language that populated far-right forums and social media platforms ahead of the January 6 attack.

Jan. 6 defendants fan the flames after Trump's Mar-a-Lago raid: 'This is war, this is absolute war'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A YouTuber who stormed the Capitol last year pleaded guilty on Friday to a misdemeanor charge.</li><li>The YouTuber, <keyword id="13910589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="baked-alaska" source="Orion">Baked Alaska</keyword>, recorded himself inside the Capitol building for 27 minutes.</li></ul>A YouTuber known as Baked Alaska pleaded guilty on Friday to a misdemeanor charge in connection to the January 6, 2021 <keyword id="11907536" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="capitol-riot" source="Orion">Capitol riot</keyword>.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/baked-alaska-january-6-defendant-plea-deal-nixed-trial-date-2022-5">Baked Alaska</a>, whose real name is Anthime Gionet, stormed the Capitol on January 6 last year and livestreamed himself for 27 minutes while urging others to come inside the building, according to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/defendants/gionet-anthime-joseph">records</a> from the Justice Department.In the livestream, he's heard yelling "patriots are in control" and "whose house? Our house," an FBI agent investigating his involvement said in the records. "The defendant is repeatedly heard encouraging other protestors not to leave," per the records."Occupy the Capitol let's go. We ain't leaving this bitch," he said. The video, according to the FBI's statement of facts, shows him entering an office within the Capitol building and reclining on a couch while placing his feet up on a table. When law enforcement officers arrive and ask him to move, he claims to be a member of the media and asks for directions. A few minutes later, he begins to verbally attack a law enforcement officer, the records say."You're a fucking oathbreaker you piece of shit," he told the officer, per the FBI's statement. "You broke your oath to the constitution."The Capitol riot left five people, including one <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-capitol-police-officer-dies-after-attempted-insurrection-2021-1">police officer</a>, dead. Members of the Proud Boys, which is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, were also present.Organizers were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-trump-in-final-weeks-incited-his-followers-to-storm-the-capitol-2021-1">emboldened</a> by former President Donald Trump's urges to protest the results of the 2020 election with him, despite Joe Biden's election victory. While members of Congress were meeting inside the Capitol to certify the results and verify Biden's electoral win, Trump supporters organized an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-provoked-attempted-coup-capitol-sat-back-and-tweeted-2021-1">attempted coup</a> and stormed the Capitol.After the riot, insurrectionists <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insurrectionists-deleting-evidence-of-capitol-riot-participation-report-2021-2">scrambled to delete</a> photos and social-media posts proving their participation in the Capitol riot. Some broke their cellphones, scrubbed their social media accounts, and tried to wipe hard drives that might contain photos and other proof of their involvement. But others <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/19/capitol-riot-social-media/">boasted of their involvement</a>, making it easier for the FBI to identify and later bring charges against them. So far, more than 882 people have been charged in connection with the <keyword id="11940345" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insurrection" source="Orion">insurrection</keyword>, <a href="https://www.insider.com/all-the-us-capitol-pro-trump-riot-arrests-charges-names-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">according to Insider's database</a>.

A YouTuber named Baked Alaska who livestreamed himself inside the Capitol at the riot and urged others to 'occupy' the building pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Chicago police officer was arrested on suspicion of participating in the January 6 Capitol riots.</li><li>Karol Chwiesiuk, 29, has been a member of the <keyword id="312942" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chicago-Police-Department">Chicago Police Department</keyword> since December 2018.</li><li>Phone records show he texted someone saying he "knocked out a commie" on January 5.</li></ul>A Chicago police officer was arrested on Friday on suspicion of breaking into the US Capitol on January 6 among a mob of pro-Trump supporters, according to the <keyword id="67869" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Department-of-Justice">Department of Justice</keyword>Karol Chwiesiuk, 29, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Chwiesiuk is a two-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department and worked in the Harrison District of Chicago, according to the <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/6/11/22529794/chicago-police-officer-charged-connection-with-u-s-capitol-breach">Chicago Sun-Times.</a> He previously worked for the Cook County Sheriff's Office.Court filings show the FBI first identified Chwiesiuk after the "FBI learned that a device" associated with Chwiesiuk entered the Capitol on January 6. Investigators obtained his phone records and discovered he messaged several people while inside the building. After interviewing the people Chwiesiuk texted inside the Capitol, the FBI found texts from Chwiesiuk on January 3 saying how he was "busy planning how to f--k up some commies." On January 6, he messaged the same person to tell them he "knocked out a commie last night" but warned them not to tell someone whose name is redacted in the court filing,Images of Chwiesiuk outside of the Capitol show him wearing a Chicago sweatshirt affixed with a Chicago Police emblem. He also texted a selfie and communicated with others inside of Sen. Jeff Merkley's office while simultaneously appearing in a live stream by Anthime Gionet, also known as Baked Alaska.<div type="image" title="a selfie taken by Chicaho police officer Karol Chwiesiuk inside of the Capitol" height="233" width="250" msid="83449569" hostid="261"></div>In a <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-chicago-police-officer-capitol-breach-federal-charges-20210611-dof6a7g6wrf5be2w3wsdjurbje-story.html">press conference</a> on Friday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot condemned Chwiesiuk's alleged role in the attempted insurrection. She said his involvement was "a total disgrace to the badge."At the same conference, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said "participating in the siege on the Capitol in any way was a betrayal of everything we stand for.""The fact that a Chicago police officer has been charged in that attack on American democracy makes my blood boil, makes me sick to my stomach," he said. "If these allegations are true, it breaks my heart. At least <a href="https://www.insider.com/all-the-us-capitol-pro-trump-riot-arrests-charges-names-2021-1">520 people have been charged</a> with crimes associated with the January 6 riots. So far, two people: Jon Schaffer and Paul Hodgkins, <a href="https://www.insider.com/capitol-rioters-who-pleaded-guilty-updated-list-2021-5">have pleaded guilty</a>.

A Chicago police officer broke into the Capitol in January and bragged in a text that he "knocked out a commie," new court filings show

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> is selling three products promoting the far-right meme Groyper.</li><li>Groyper, a spinoff of Pepe the Frog, is closely linked with the white nationalist <keyword id="6176018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nicholas-Fuentes">Nicholas Fuentes</keyword>.</li><li>On Monday, <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">Media</keyword> Matters for America reported additional items that appear to have been removed.</li></ul>Amazon is selling books and a sticker set promoting the far-right white nationalist meme Groyper.Groyper, a toad-like derivative of Pepe the Frog that looks like a giant green amphibian with a wide smirking face resting on intertwined hands, has been linked to far-right activism, including the white nationalist internet personality Nick Fuentes, whose followers call themselves "<keyword id="11632959" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="groypers">Groypers</keyword>" and the "Groyper Army." Amazon, which has a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-removes-qanon-conspiracy-theory-products-from-site-2021-1">history</a> of selling products associated with white supremacist and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/maga-trolls/amazon-sold-products-touting-transphobic-and-anti-vax-term-has-its-origins-far-right">far-right</a> conspiracy theories like the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-qanon-merchandise-products-shirt-item-facebook-ban-conspiracy-theory-2020-10">QAnon movement</a>, is currently selling several items emblazoned with the Groyper meme. The merchandise includes two books - entitled "The Groyper And Frens Coloring Book" and "Who's that_groyper?" - both of which were written by the same person and are marked as children's books. As <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/amazon/amazon-selling-products-promoting-far-right-meme-associated-white-nationalist-group">Media Matters for America</a>, a left-leaning nonprofit that tracks right-wing media, first reported on Monday, the two products' descriptions say that they were "Sold and shipped by Amazon." While this can sometimes mean that Amazon bought inventory to supply to customers, it also applies to books that are self-published via the e-commerce giant's publishing platform.<div type="image" title="This is a picture of a Groyper book on Amazon." height="972" width="1301" msid="84384310" hostid="261"></div>In addition, Amazon is listing a sticker that features a mashed-up image of Groyper and the wrestler Hulk Hogan, who became an icon among Groypers after the celebrity shared that same meme in a <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2017/12/groyper-the-far-right-s-new-meme-is-a-more-racist-version-of-pepe-the-frog.html">now-deleted 2017 tweet</a>. Media Matters reported that Amazon was also selling three Groyper-themed T-shirts with the meme creature's face and the text "Groyper" and "Groyper Army" on them, and <a href="https://archive.is/ioG22#selection-1967.8-1967.38">provided</a> <a href="https://archive.is/qrf4e">screenshots</a> <a href="https://archive.is/R781S">taken</a> on Thursday of the listed products.Insider verified the existence of the three T-shirt items like "Groyper Political Meme T-Shirt" on Monday afternoon, but an Amazon search for those titles yielded no results as of Tuesday morning, suggesting Amazon may have removed them. Although a Google query for "Amazon groyper" shows two of the shirts - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Groyper-Army-Political-Meme-T-Shirt/dp/B081HDQRNW">"Groyper-Army-Political-Meme-T-Shirt"</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Groyper-Easter-Comfy-Halloween-T-Shirt/dp/B07ZFHWTMK">"Groyper-Easter-Comfy-Halloween-T-Shirt"</a> - as the first two search options, clicking those links yields Amazon error pages that read, "SORRY we couldn't find that page."Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.<div type="image" title="This is a picture of a Groyper-themed sticker." height="1234" width="1650" msid="84384313" hostid="261"></div>According to the meme-information website <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/groyper">KnowYourMeme</a>, the Groyper meme format first sprouted on 4chan in 2015 and began to circulate more widely on online forums like 4chan and Reddit after 2017.In 2019, Fuentes launched what would become known as the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/11/20948317/alt-right-donald-trump-jr-conservative-tpusa-yaf-racism-antisemitism">"Groyper Wars,"</a> in which he encouraged his followers to attend events held by conservatives whom he deemed not far-right enough - including Donald Trump Jr., Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, and right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro - and ask them provocative questions manufactured to "expose" the figures as "fake" conservatives. Fuentes, who also <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/07/07/we-make-mistakes-twitters-embrace-extreme-far-right">appeared at the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally</a> in Charlottesville, was <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/07/twitter-finally-bans-nick-fuentes/">banned from Twitter last week</a> for violating the platform's rules. Toward the end of 2020, <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/01/19/meet-white-nationalist-organizer-who-spewed-hate-against-lawmakers">Fuentes</a> encouraged his so-called Groypers to attend "Stop the Steal" events supporting the false idea that Donald Trump won the 2020 election and suggested followers join the US Capitol insurrection in January. Later that month, the FBI arrested one of those followers, <a href="https://twitter.com/ZTPetrizzo/status/1410748685231681537">Anthime Gionet</a>, who went by the online pseudonym <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-donald-trump-jr-landed-smack-in-the-middle-of-a-right-wing-civil-war">"Baked Alaska"</a> and has been linked to conspiracy theories and anti-semitism, for his role in storming the US Capitol.<a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounders/groyper-army">The Anti-Defamation League</a> lists "Groypers" under its Extremism, Terrorism &amp; Bigotry section and defines the "Groyper Army" as a "loose network of alt right figures," many of whom hold "racist and anti-semitic views."<a href="https://www.insider.com/culture">To read more stories like this, check out Insider's digital culture coverage here.</a>

Amazon is selling products emblazoned with a far-right, white nationalist meme

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US Marshals Service has been responding to a remarkable rise in threats against federal judges.</li><li>At least three times this year, the federal court in Washington, DC, received suspicious packages.</li></ul>On a Monday in late April, dozens of Washington, DC, residents arrived at a federal courthouse for jury selection in the trial of a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-new-york-police-prison-longest-sentence-capitol-attack-2022-9">retired New York City cop</a>accused of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/january-6-trial-police-officer-gas-mask-defense-capitol-attack-2022-4">assaulting</a> a police officer during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.Gathered on an upper floor, many in the randomly-summoned group waited patiently — if apprehensively — for their turn to field questions from the judge, prosecutors, and defense lawyers. Unbeknownst to them was a dreaded development unfolding floors below. While sorting mail, courthouse staff cut open a package to discover a suspicious powdery substance. Immediately, the mailroom staff alerted security and shut down airflow. A hazmat team soon arrived.It was not the first time such a suspicious package had arrived at the courthouse, and it would not be the last. On August 16, another package with a powdery substance evaded the courthouse screening process and reached the chambers of Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly — a rare breach that unnerved several judges and courthouse staff, according to people familiar with the previously unreported incident. A spokesperson for the Washington, DC, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department confirmed an August hazmat response to the federal courthouse and said the substance in the suspicious package turned out to be baby powder. Two previous suspicious packages, sent in February and April, contained substances also deemed to be nonhazardous, according to people familiar with those incidents.The succession of suspicious packages was reminiscent of anthrax-laced letters that — sent via US mail — targeted government offices and newsrooms shortly after the 9/11 attacks. The biological terrorism <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/amerithrax-or-anthrax-investigation">led to five deaths</a>. Arriving just months apart, the packages sent to DC's federal courthouse served as reminders of threats judges are increasingly facing across the country.That growing threat has been particularly pronounced in the nation's capital, where the federal trial court — long accustomed to high-profile, politically-charged cases — has been handling the wave of criminal prosecutions stemming from the January 6 Capitol attack.On July 21, for instance, police responded shortly after 11:15 p.m. to the home of Judge Emmet Sullivan, who was set to preside the following day over a plea hearing in the prosecution of a far-right video blogger on charges related to the Capitol attack.In a hoax call, known as a "swatting," an unknown person pretended to be Sullivan and claimed someone had come to his home with a weapon, according to people familiar with the incident and a police report.Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-01/jan-6-judge-targeted-in-swat-hoax-likely-won-t-be-the-last#xj4y7vzkg">first reported</a> on the "swatting" incident.Officers responded to the scene but found no threat and Sullivan "safe and secure," according to the police report. But the "swatting" could have ended badly — even tragically — with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/03/29/prankster-sentenced-years-fake-call-that-led-police-kill-an-innocent-man/">similar</a> <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/tech/what-is-swatting-and-how-can-it-lead-to-accidental-deaths/">incidents</a> across the country resulting in the injury or death of innocent people.A police department spokesperson said the "swatting" — a term that refers to SWAT, or "special weapon and tactics" teams — remains under investigation.Kollar-Kotelly, a 25-year veteran of the federal trial court in Washington, DC, declined to comment. Sullivan, a senior judge appointed in 1994, declined to comment on the "swatting."In an interview with Insider, Chief Judge Beryl Howell acknowledged the rise in threats but said she had "confidence" in courthouse security and in the protection of the US Marshals Service."Our Marshal has been active in informing judges about the steps being taken for security, and the judges have confidence in the systems we have in place," Howell said.<div type="image" title="Kavanaugh house protest" height="5464" width="7285" msid="95050282" hostid="261"></div><h2>A Supreme threat</h2>In early June, a month after a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473">leaked draft opinion</a> revealed that the Supreme Court stood ready to overturn Roe v. Wade and roll back the constitutional right to an abortion, police arrested a man a gun, a knife, and zip ties near the Maryland home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.Dressed in black, Nicholas John Roske had arrived by taxi just after 1 a.m. outside Kavanaugh's home on June 8, prosecutors said. Roske would tell police that he was upset with the leaked draft opinion and planned to break into Kavanaugh's house and kill him — then turn his Glock 17 pistol on himself, according to a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.514255/gov.uscourts.mdd.514255.1.0.pdf">criminal complaint</a> and <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.514255/gov.uscourts.mdd.514255.1.1.pdf">affidavit</a> filed in federal court.He pleaded not guilty to attempting to assassinate Kavanaugh, a justice appointed by President Donald Trump.Weeks before Roske's arrest, Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-meets-supreme-court-officials-regarding-judicial-security">around-the-clock protection</a> at the homes of all Supreme Court justices, among other security measures, in response to the leaked draft opinion. The arrest brought widespread attention to threats facing the federal judiciary. But, for years, federal officials have tracked a steady increase in the number of threats and "inappropriate communications" made against federal judges and others under the protection of the US Marshals Service.During the fiscal year that ended in September 2021, the Marshals Service logged 4,511 threats and inappropriate communications against judges and other protectees — nearly double the 2,357 reported in fiscal year 2016, according to <a href="https://www.usmarshals.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/PUB-2-2018-Annual-Report.pdf">government data</a> reviewed by Insider. The total number of threats surged in the early years of the Trump administration, <a href="https://www.usmarshals.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/PUB-2-2021-Annual-Report.pdf">jumping</a> from 2,847 in fiscal year 2017 to 4,542 in fiscal year 2018.The total has remained above 4,000 every year since, according to a Marshals Service <a href="https://www.usmarshals.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/PUB-2-2021-Annual-Report.pdf">report</a> for fiscal year 2021 — the latest year for which data are available.https://www.usmarshals.gov/sites/default/files/media/document/PUB-2-2021-Annual-Report.pdfAs recently as Wednesday, a grand jury indicted a Pennsylvania man on <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/columbia-county-man-indicted-threatening-president-congressman-and-federal-judge">charges</a> he sent a letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the House January 6 committee, containing what appeared to be a white powder. A message in the letter alluded to anthrax and included threats to kill Thompson, his family, President Joe Biden, and Judge Robert D. Mariani, of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.<div type="image" title="Trump supporters near Mar-a-Lago" height="1328" width="1771" msid="95050284" hostid="261"></div><h2>A Trump connection</h2>Just months after the arrest outside Kavanaugh's home, the FBI search of Trump's home and private residence in South Florida prompted numerous threats to judges. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhardt, who approved the warrant authorizing the August 8 search, endured an onslaught of antisemitic attacks and online threats, including some targeting the synagogue where he serves on the board. In September, a Texas woman was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-charges-woman-over-threats-against-judge-trump-special-master-case-2022-09-12/">arrested</a> on charges she left threatening messages on the voicemail of Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee presiding over the former president's legal challenges to the FBI's seizure of thousands of records from the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida.In those voicemails, the woman threatened to have Cannon assassinated in front of her family for "helping" the former president, <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23171527/gishtiffani.pdf">according to court filings</a>.For former federal Judge John Jones, the threats against Reinhardt are part of what he described in an op-ed as an "all too familiar" trend."He and judges like him signed up for a job that entails risk, but they didn't sign up to be killed," Jones, now the president of Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/mar-a-lago-search-federal-judge-reinhart-risk-20220818.html">wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer</a>.The title of his op-ed: "I'm afraid a judge is going to be killed."An appointee of President George W. Bush, Jones placed the blame, in part, on the "radicalized statements and utterly false narratives promulgated by former President Trump and his followers."On the campaign trail and in office, Trump openly impugned judges and disparaged decisions against his administration. In 2016, for instance, Trump noted the Mexican heritage of San Diego-based District Judge Gonzalo Curiel to question whether he could rule impartially in a fraud case against Trump University. Trump called the Indiana-born Curiel a "hater of Donald Trump," demanded that the judge recuse himself from the case and said that someone "ought to look into" him.In 2019, a federal judge in Washington, DC, <a href="https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2019/11/07/this-is-not-normal-us-judge-denounces-trumps-attacks-on-judiciary/">blamed</a> Trump for fostering the growing belief that judges reflexively decide cases not based on their reading of the law but rather in line with their personal political beliefs."We are in uncharted territory," said Senior Judge Paul Friedman, in an annual lecture delivered at the federal trial court in Washington, DC."We are witnessing a chief executive who criticizes virtually every judicial decision that doesn't go his way and denigrates judges who rule against him, sometimes in very personal terms," Friedman added. "He seems to view the courts and the justice system as obstacles to be attacked and undermined, not as a co-equal branch to be respected even when he disagrees with its decisions."In an interview with Insider, Jones attributed the rising number of threats against judges to a "road-rage society" in which public officials are not confining their criticism to mere points of disagreement but impugning the character of anyone who stands in their way. "It's completely irresponsible. It's like public figure malpractice, because we're dealing with a really volatile public at this point," Jones told Insider. "I'm sickened by the fact that we can't moderate some of this rhetoric. It's literally become so toxic now that I think we're going to get somebody hurt or killed by it."It is a cultural problem, he said, and "there's no legislation that's going to stop that."Legislation, he added, can at least help.<div type="image" title="Rand Paul." height="2666" width="3555" msid="95050286" hostid="261"></div><h2>Congressional solutions</h2>Congress has approved additional funding for bolstering the security of federal judges. But a bill designed to make finding judges' personal information online more difficult, including their home addresses, has faced obstacles despite bipartisan agreement.Introduced <a href="https://www.uscourts.gov/news/2021/12/02/judicial-security-bill-advances-judge-who-lost-son-urges-final-passage">last year</a>, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/2340/text">Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act </a>was named after the son of Judge Esther Salas, of the federal trial court in New Jersey. In July 2020, a man who had litigated a case before Salas arrived at her home dressed as a delivery man. He <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-jersey-us-news-ap-top-news-nj-state-wire-judiciary-fecbf88ebc2b33e35c291a43ad52939a">fatally shot</a> Anderl when he opened the door. Salas' husband was wounded in the shooting. The judge was in the basement.In an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes," Salas revealed that the FBI had found evidence that the gunman — who committed suicide after killing her son — was planning an attack on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. "Who knows what could have happened? But we need to understand that judges are at risk," Salas said "That we put ourselves in great danger every day for doing our jobs."  Salas has pushed for the passage of the judicial security bill, which would prevent commercial data brokers from selling, buying, or trading personal information about judges and their immediate family members. The legislation would also bar government agencies from posting such information online and give funding for state and local governments to scrub databases of judges' personal information.Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has blocked the bill. In a June floor speech, Paul said he supported the bill but believes its protections should also extend to lawmakers. "I agree that members of the judicial branch need better protection, but if recent years have taught us anything it is that members of the legislative branch need better protection as well," Paul said, pointing to the shootings of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, and Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican.Paul himself <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rand-paul-assault-was-yard-dispute-2018-6">suffered</a> serious injuries, including six broken ribs, in late 2017 when a neighbor attacked him.<h2><div type="image" title="Judge Emmet Sullivan" height="2000" width="2666" msid="95050288" hostid="261"></div></h2><h2>'Robes aren't bulletproof'</h2>For Sullivan, the July "swatting" was not the first incident involving a threat to his safety.In 2020, a Long Island, New York, man called Sullivan's chambers and left a graphic voicemail saying he would "not be safe." At the time, Sullivan was presiding over the Justice Department's prosecution of retired general and former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn on charges he lied to the FBI about his communications with Russia's ambassador to the United States in the lead-up to Trump's inauguration. (The Justice Department dropped the prosecution, and Flynn later received a pardon from Trump.)Judge Trevor McFadden sentenced the man who called into Sullivan chamber's to 18 months in prison, describing the threat as "heinous.""Judicial robes aren't bulletproof," McFadden <a href="https://www.law360.com/articles/1404525/man-gets-18-mos-for-murder-threats-against-flynn-judge">said</a>.A day after the "swatting" incident, on July 22, acting US Marshal Lamont Ruffin sent the judges an email with guidance to follow if subjected to a "swatting" akin to what Sullivan experienced. His email instructed judges to allow themselves to be arrested and have their homes searched, to alert police as quickly as possible to their status as Marshals Service protectees, and to avoid "sudden movements" that could be misinterpreted as showing hostility toward first-responders.Ruffin said that his office believed the July 21 hoax call might have been intended to intimidate Sullivan into postponing a plea hearing scheduled for the following day. His email did not specify the case, but Sullivan was set to hear a guilty plea from Anthime Gionet, a far-right video blogger known as "Baked Alaska" who had used his online platform to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/january-6-defendants-jury-trial-testify-capitol-attack-court-cases-2022-5">call attention</a> to his prosecution.The plea hearing went forward as scheduled, according to court records, and Sullivan set Gionet's sentencing for January. The court randomly reassigned the case to McFadden on Wednesday.The Marshals Service declined to make its director, Ronald Davis, or Ruffin available for an interview. Following the publication of this article, the Marshals Service responded to a list of questions Insider sent earlier this month and declined to comment on specific incidents.A spokesperson said the Marshals Service is expanding its efforts to educate judges and their families on how to report threats. Last year, the spokesperson noted, the Marshals Service stood up an open-source intelligence unit to enhance its ability to search for threats and other concerning online posts."The security of our federal judiciary is the cornerstone of our nation's democracy, and the Marshals take that responsibility very seriously," the spokesperson said. "Federal judges make hard decisions based on the rule of law in large part because the Marshals ensure they can make these decisions without fear, intimidation, or retaliation."After the suspicious package entered Kollar-Kotelly's chambers, the court reviewed and tightened its mail handling procedures. It was just one of the security measures the courthouse has taken in response to rising threats.Howell, the chief federal trial judge in Washington, DC, stressed that the courthouse has a very strong foundation of security.""We're focused," she said, "on our work as judges."This article has been updated to note that Judge Emmet Sullivan declined comment and include comments from the US Marshals Service.

Inside the threats federal judges are facing across the country: suspicious packages, white powdery substances, and a 'swatting'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Allan Smith/Business InsiderMike Cernovich.</div></div></div>Prominent pro-Donald Trump Twitter troll Mike Cernovich said he essentially deserved to be called what is considered to be the worst, and favored, insult among the so-called alt-right movement.That insult is "cuck," a popular expression used by the alt-right, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-mitchell-twitter-deploraball-2017-1" target="_blank">a movement</a> that consists of white nationalists, reactionaries, men's rights activists, and staunch protectionists, among others. "Cuck" is derived from the word "cuckold."Speaking to Business Insider at last week's Deploraball, Cernovich said being called a "cuck" is "pretty funny" considering how he had launched many similar attacks on people previously."It's karma," he said. "I troll, I'm trolled.""That's the thing," he continued. "That's why when people in the <keyword id="6354777" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Media">media</keyword> get trolled, and I'm like, 'Well, when you write about people you can f------ ruin a person's life. You got to own that. So if people want to f--- with you, it's only fair.' I definitely deserve to be trolled."Cernovich, who gained prominence online for his often controversial pro-Trump commentary, which also included efforts in spreading conspiracies such as PizzaGate and others related to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's health, was called a "cuck" by many after he had a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/alt-right-civil-war-twitter-cernovich-milo-alaska-2016-12" target="_blank">falling out with another prominent member of the alt-right</a>, Baked Alaska.Cernovich targeted Baked Alaska, who also goes by Tim Treadstone (real name is Anthime Gionet), and asked him not to attend the Deploraball for posts he made online about Jewish people. The Deploraball, which took place last week, was the pre-inauguration, Washington, DC, event for the alt-right, and Cernovich was a top organizer.That prompted Baked Alaska to go on a lengthy Twitter rant against Cernovich, capping off with a roughly <a href="https://twitter.com/bakedalaska/status/813585133156462593" target="_blank">45-minute scorched-earth Periscope video</a> in which he called Cernovich "a huge cuck" and "a massive cuck." Many others subsequently joined in on the trolling of Cernovich.The episode <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/deploraball-gop-alt-right-2017-1" target="_blank">showed splits within the alt-right movement</a>, which is unabashedly pro-Trump. Cernovich and others have begun to refer to themselves as the "new right." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/former-cia-director-james-woolsey-explains-why-will-not-advise-trump-transition-team-2017-1">Watch Former CIA director James Woolsey explain why he won't advise the Trump transition team anymore</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tzZG1yODE6p4yfYcHUaiLxgOQbL-TaFp" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

You Searched For "anthime gionet" and got 10 results

Accused Capitol rioters are talking themselves into deeper trouble at hearings and trials related to January 6

C. Ryan Barber

Tim 'Baked Alaska' Gionet, the far-right activist spotted among Capitol insurrectionists, has been arrested

Haven Orecchio-Egresitz

Far-right troll and Capitol rioter 'Baked Alaska' tweets that he can't believe he's 'going to jail for an nft salesman' after Trump announces digital trading card series

Sonam Sheth

A January 6 defendant ruined his plea deal by saying he thinks he's innocent and was only going to plead guilty to avoid a trial

Mia Jankowicz

Jan. 6 defendants fan the flames after Trump's Mar-a-Lago raid: 'This is war, this is absolute war'

Erin Snodgrass,Katie Anthony

A YouTuber named Baked Alaska who livestreamed himself inside the Capitol at the riot and urged others to 'occupy' the building pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge

Yelena Dzhanova

A Chicago police officer broke into the Capitol in January and bragged in a text that he "knocked out a commie," new court filings show

Madison Hall

Amazon is selling products emblazoned with a far-right, white nationalist meme

Kieran Press-Reynolds

Inside the threats federal judges are facing across the country: suspicious packages, white powdery substances, and a 'swatting'

C. Ryan Barber

Prominent pro-Trump Twitter troll admits that he deserved to be called the worst alt-right insult

Allan Smith

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