Thread by @capitolhunters

#SeditionHunters - they had a long run but the FBI train is coming for the #SeditionVIPs. Owen Shroyer of InfoWars arrested today, was with Nick Fuentes at Ellipse, Alex Jones at the Capitol. On Jan 5 said "InfoWars brought a lot of these people here.." 1/

DOJ charging docs use extensive footage: Shroyer stuck to Alex's side at the Capitol, stood by him as he gave his speech on the NW side.. 2/
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2104…

.. then trekked with Alex across the North Lawn, over the police line on the E. Plaza, and up the East Capitol Steps where Alex gave another speech. Alex closed his remarks 2:23 PM, bugged out & down the stairs just before the first breach of the Columbus Doors at 2:25 PM. 3/

Their pal Joey Gilbert of NV (#PurpleMeathead) should be nervous, he pulled down police barriers. Shroyer's arrest shows though that for leaders, presence on Capitol grounds is enough for arrest. To watch Owen's day, here's a rough cut of a Jones reel: 4/
rumble.com/vjr2mf-alex-jo…

There's more Jones footage to add; for once FBI's speed surprised us! Jones helped fund the pre-insurrection rallies too. He's too crazy to be a military ops guy (see Jan 7 interview below), but InfoWars played a major role in the insurrection ecosystem 5/

To see more on Jan 6 activities by these perps, search hashtags
#IamOwenShroyer
#IamAlexJones
#PurpleMeathead (Joey Gilbert)
#IamNickFuentes
and h/t @ZoeTillman for flagging the arrest and posting the charging documents! 6/

To see how rattled the InfoWars people are, watch Owen Shroyer on his show on Friday, pausing and grimacing - he can barely get the words out - as he tells the audience he's been ordered to turn himself in for arrest by Monday morning. 7/

Shroyer's arrest is clever strategy by FBI. Charging a VIP for being on Capitol grounds is tricky as they may claim selective prosecution: "why me & not others?" But Shroyer was charged with disrupting a House meeting in 2019, and had a "deferred prosecution agreement" (DPA).. 8/

..that EXPLICITLY forbade him from engaging in his exact actions on Jan 6 - disorderly and disruptive behavior Capitol grounds - to avoid prosecution for his prior offenses. So Shroyer is uniquely vulnerable among the VIPs, and his Jan 6 charging documents say so up front. 9/

Shroyer's agreement gives him a bigger no-go zone than other perps on Jan 6, but he and Alex Jones went well within even the ordinary restricted ground. Here is their path from speech 1 (NW corner) to speech 2 (E steps), in close-up (L) and with restricted zone shown (R). 10/

You can see exactly where Owen is during Alex's first speech, because the yellow cherry-picker is right behind him. He's standing on a stack of folding chairs. One of the earliest #SeditionHunters projects (led by @SansaStark525) was to map every landmark on Capitol grounds. 11/

Because Shroyer has effectively no defense, he is not getting any kind of soft home-detention plea deal. He has only two choices: prison or talk. You can imagine why Alex is nervous right now, enough to be frantically spinning stories. Shroyer walked into an airtight trap. 12/

h/t @StevieG54099097 for the maps, and @emptywheel for discussion & details of the DPA. And just to keep the record precise, on the map the yellow construction vehicle you see behind Owen is labeled as a "telescopic forklift". 13/

There's actually a further twist to the Owen Shroyer arrest, makes the FBI look even cleverer. Shroyer's DPA should have held only 4 months from Feb. 2020. But, the fine print... the DPA is completed only when Owen finishes 32 hours of community service. Which he didn't. 14/

Shroyer blew off his obligation in 2020, then seemed to hustle to do it post-insurrection (starting Jan 19)...but STILL DIDN'T FINISH. Crazily, prosecuting the Jan 6 insurrection & saving American democracy may all come down to Owen being too lazy to do those last 2 hours. 15/