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Tag: us capitol

  • Virginia school board member arrested on Jan. 6 charges – WTOP News

    Virginia school board member arrested on Jan. 6 charges – WTOP News

    More than three years after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a Virginia school board member is facing several charges after federal prosecutors say he was caught on video entering the building and taking part in the disorder. 

    More than three years after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a Virginia school board member is facing several charges after federal prosecutors say he was caught on video entering the building and taking part in the disorder. 

    Miles Adkins, 40, was arrested Tuesday and faces four charges, including entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating and or picketing inside a Capitol building.

    Adkins is a member of the Frederick County School Board representing the Shawnee District, according to the school division’s website. Adkins told WTOP he was “not surprised at all” by the charges against him and believes the Jan. 6 charges are politically motivated.

    “It’s an election year,” he said. “We see how the DOJ has weaponized against people that lean more right than center.”

    Charging documents say Adkins was one of the first to enter the Capitol and “helped an individual enter the U.S. Capitol building through a broken window next to the Senate Wing Door.”

    Miles Adkins (yellow circle) helping a rioter enter through a broken window next to the
    Senate Wing Door. (Courtesy United States District Courts)

    Open-source videos cited in court documents show Adkins walking around the Capitol, drinking alcohol and chanting at some points. The charging documents also say he bragged on Facebook about being in the Capitol that day, telling friends he drank a Fireball and Coors Lite inside the building.

    When speaking to WTOP, Adkins maintains that he was exercising his right to freedom of speech and protest.

    “I don’t regret exercising my First Amendment right,” Adkins said. “I don’t condone any of the violence that happened in there.”

    During the investigation, Adkins first told the FBI he went to D.C. to hear then-President Donald Trump speak and then followed a large group to the Capitol, alleging there were no barriers for entry. He also told investigators that he had traveled to the District before Jan. 6 to act as an escort for members of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing extremist group.

    The Washington Post reports Adkins has faced calls to resign from the school board. In the interview with WTOP, Adkins said he will not be leaving his position, adding that he and current board members try to keep it as “nonpartisan” as possible.

    “I’m not going to be bullied out of this position, I was duly elected here, we’ve gotten a lot done,” he said. “We brought transparency back to the parents, before you couldn’t watch the videos (of meetings) without getting a FOIA request. Now, you can watch the meetings livestreamed.”

    Screenshot from an open-source video of Miles Adkins chanting and demonstrating in the Crypt of the U.S. Capitol. (Courtesy United States District Courts)

    The Post reported that parents have also complained about past controversies involving Adkins, including posting a video on Facebook showing other members of the board with devil horns and Adolf Hitler-style mustaches after they voted for a mask requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Adkins told WTOP he has apologized for the video, stating it was posted by a parent that he also believes was exercising her right to free speech.Developing story,

    When it comes to racially insensitive social media posts that also resurfaced from before he was on the school board, Adkins said those were “personal mistakes” and he hopes students can learn from him.

    “What I do on the board has always been student-first, student-focused,” Adkins said. “That does show students out there that, you know, when you make mistakes, own up to it, atone for it, and then, you know, move on.”

    Adkins is scheduled to appear in D.C. District Court again next week.

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    Emily Venezky

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  • Marjorie Taylor Greene Ripped For ‘Encouraging’ Violence In ‘Outrageous’ New Image

    Marjorie Taylor Greene Ripped For ‘Encouraging’ Violence In ‘Outrageous’ New Image

    A former sergeant with the U.S. Capitol Police tore into Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for posting a new image of herself arriving at the building with a massive gun.

    “Finding this outrageous and dangerous is an understatement,” wrote former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who left the force as a result of injuries and trauma sustained during the Jan. 6 attack.

    He called out her “delusional obsession with political violence.”

    Greene, a close ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), is a conspiracy theorist who last year spoke at a white nationalist event. The new image ― a promo shot for her “MTG Battleground” podcast ― was shared by Patriot Takes, which monitors right-wing media.

    “She is no longer flirting with violence,” Gonell wrote as he retweeted the image. “She is encouraging it…again.”

    Greene has not only downplayed the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but insisted that the assault would’ve been successful if she had been in charge.

    “I want to tell you something. If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won,” she said at a far-right event in December, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Not to mention, we would’ve been armed.”

    The new image ― showing her arriving at the Capitol armed ― was roundly condemned on Twitter:

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  • Jimmy Kimmel Spots ‘Desperate’ Trump Move He Might Quickly Regret

    Jimmy Kimmel Spots ‘Desperate’ Trump Move He Might Quickly Regret

    Trump was banned from Facebook in 2021 after his supporters assaulted the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block the certification of the election, which he lost, and keep him in office.

    Facebook later said the suspension would be in place for two years and he would be reinstated only if “the risk to public safety has receded.”

    “I’m actually surprised Trump wants to get back on,” Kimmel said on Thursday. “Isn’t Facebook just an unpleasant annual reminder that Don Jr. and Eric were born?”

    Kimmel delivered a warning to Facebook straight out of the movies.

    “This is like Jurassic Park saying they’re gonna ask around to see if it’s cool to let the raptors out again,” he cracked.

    Kimmel also couldn’t resist taking a shot at the former president’s own flailing social media platform.

    “Who needs Facebook when you can reach almost a dozen people a day on Truth Social?” he asked.

    See more on his Thursday night monologue:

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  • Jan. 6 Panel Pushes Trump’s Prosecution In Forceful Finish

    Jan. 6 Panel Pushes Trump’s Prosecution In Forceful Finish

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers expected to cap one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory with an extraordinary recommendation: The Justice Department should consider criminal charges against former President Donald Trump.

    At a final meeting on Monday, the panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans are poised to recommend criminal charges against Trump and potentially against associates and staff who helped him launch a multifaceted pressure campaign to try to overturn the 2020 election.

    While a criminal referral is mostly symbolic, with the Justice Department ultimately deciding whether to prosecute Trump or others, it is a decisive end to a probe that had an almost singular focus from the start.

    “I think the president has violated multiple criminal laws and I think you have to be treated like any other American who breaks the law, and that is you have to be prosecuted,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the panel, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

    From left, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., staff counsel Dan George, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., staff counsel Candyce Phoenix, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., sit on the dais as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington, July 12, 2022. On Monday, Dec. 19, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will hold its final meeting. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

    J. Scott Applewhite via AP

    The panel, which will dissolve on Jan. 3 with the new Republican-led House, has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, held 10 well-watched public hearings and collected more than a million documents since it launched in July 2021. As it has gathered the massive trove of evidence, the members have become emboldened in declaring that Trump is to blame for the violent attack on the Capitol by his supporters almost two years ago.

    After beating their way past police, injuring many of them, the Jan. 6 rioters stormed the Capitol and interrupted the certification of President Joe Biden’s win, echoing Trump’s lies about widespread election fraud and sending lawmakers and others running for their lives.

    The attack came after weeks of Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat — a campaign that was extensively detailed by the committee in its multiple public hearings. Many of Trump’s former aides testified about his unprecedented pressure on states, federal officials and on Vice President Mike Pence to find a way to thwart the popular will.

    “This is someone who in multiple ways tried to pressure state officials to find votes that didn’t exist, this is someone who tried to interfere with a joint session, even inciting a mob to attack the Capitol,” Schiff said. “If that’s not criminal, then I don’t know what it is.”

    Members of the committee have said that the referrals for other individuals may also include ethics violations, legal misconduct and campaign finance violations. Lawmakers have suggested in particular that their recommended charges against Trump could include conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress and insurrection.

    On insurrection, Schiff said Sunday that “if you look at Donald Trump’s acts and you match them up against the statute, it’s a pretty good match.” He said that the committee will focus on those individuals — presumably Trump — for whom they believe there is the strongest evidence.

    While a so-called criminal referral has no real legal standing, it is a forceful statement by the committee and adds to political pressure already on Attorney General Merrick Garland and special counsel Jack Smith, who is conducting an investigation into Jan. 6 and Trump’s actions.

    The committee is also expected at the hearing to preview its massive final report, which will include findings, interview transcripts and legislative recommendations. Lawmaker have said a portion of that report will be released Monday.

    “We obviously want to complete the story for the American people,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., another member of the committee. “Everybody has come on a journey with us and we want a satisfactory conclusion, such that people feel that Congress has done its job.”

    Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump stand outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
    Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump stand outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

    The panel was formed in the summer of 2021 after Senate Republicans blocked the formation of what would have been a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the insurrection. That opposition spurred the Democratic-controlled House to form a committee of its own. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, a Trump ally, decided not to participate after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected some of his appointments. That left an opening for two anti-Trump Republicans in the House — Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — to join the seven Democrats serving on the committee.

    While the committee’s mission was to take a comprehensive accounting of the insurrection and educate the public about what happened, they’ve also aimed their work at an audience of one: the attorney general. Lawmakers on the panel have openly pressured Garland to investigate Trump’s actions, and last month he appointed a special counsel, Smith, to oversee several probes related to Trump, including those related to the insurrection.

    In court documents earlier this year, the committee suggested criminal charges against Trump could include conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress.

    In a “conspiracy to defraud the United States,” the committee argues that evidence supports an inference that Trump and his allies “entered into an agreement to defraud the United States” when they disseminated misinformation about election fraud and pressured state and federal officials to assist in that effort. Trump still says he won the election to this day.

    The panel also asserts that Trump obstructed an official proceeding, the joint session of Congress in which the Electoral College votes are certified. The committee said Trump either attempted or succeeded at obstructing, influencing or impeding the ceremonial process on Jan. 6 and “did so corruptly” by pressuring Pence to try to overturn the results as he presided over the session. Pence declined to do so.

    The committee may make ethics referrals for five House Republicans — including McCarthy — who ignored congressional subpoenas from the panel. Those referrals are unlikely to result in punishment since Republicans are set to take over the House majority in January.

    Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Farnoush Amiri and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

    For full coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings, go to https://www.apnews.com/capitol-siege.

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