No one should have been surprised.
Law enforcement agencies have said they had “no intelligence” indicating that a group of Trump supporters would overpower police and break into the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021. But journalists and researchers who study the online far right say that’s not true. In fact, the groups at the heart of the riot had been planning it for days, in plain sight, on social media.
In this video, Logan Jaffe of ProPublica and Robert Evans of Bellingcat describe the warning signs they observed weeks, months, and even years before a mob of Trump supporters broke into the Capitol.
Sources
ProPublica: Members of Several Well-Known Hate Groups Identified at Capitol Riot
ProPublica: Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Weren’t Ready.
Bellingcat: How the Insurgent and MAGA Right are Being Welded Together on the Streets of Washington D.C.
Vox: Police bias explains the Capitol riot
Vox: Where things stand with the investigation into Capitol security failings
Author: Liz Scheltens
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