BREAKING: Rachel Powell (aka #bullhornlady) who gave instructions at the #Capitol has been identified.

Story by @RonanFarrow & team ft. investigations by Forrest Greene @1600PennPooch & me.

THREAD on why the case is not what it seemed.. 1/

Story: newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
2/ Rachel Powell acknowledged her conduct to @RonanFarrow.

Her path to the #Capitol was troubling, and something that all of us that examined saw as an increasingly-familiar story. In her case, views & exposure to misinformation on COVID & masking seemed to play a key role.
3/ Rachel Powell (#Bullhornlady) attracted *so* much interest because she calmly delivered directions through a window, leading many to conclude that she must be an insider.

However, many of us began to suspect that her knowledge wasn't really very deep...
4/ Join me in acknowledging the amazing sleuthing of @Forrest_Rogers & the @1600PennPooch volunteer team that first made the ID

Once I'd arrived at a high confidence identity I reached out and..after mutual verification we had the same ID, we began to work with @RonanFarrow
4/ I commend the @1600PennPooch volunteers & @Forrest_Rogers for modeling good investigative behavior despite tremendous public interest.

We all felt strongly that cases like this should not be made public until serious journalistic investigation w/an admission, or an arrest.
5/ We had a common breakthrough: finding footage of Powell at local, events throughout 2020, which included some mentions of enough biographical data to begin an inexorable narrowing down on a specific name and geographic area.

Pic: Rachel at a 2020 protest.
6/ The #bullhornlady #PinkHatLady puzzle got attention b/c everyone wants to know:

-who organized / planned the #Capitol siege.
-were there 'insiders'?
-etc.

That your interest too? Pay attention to the ongoing investigations of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers & militias et al.
7/ If you are submitting tips...THANK YOU! ESSENTIAL pieces of the puzzle came via the tip form! The process is working!

Reminder: NEVER share unconfirmed names, and discourage others from doing so.

Have new tips to share? Submit here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…
8/ Typo alert: 1st tweet calls @Forrest_Rogers Forrest "Greene," Should be Forrest *Rogers* (a now-corrected typo carried over from the original magazine piece).

He is a careful, talented investigator and leads the @1600PennPooch team. I urge you to follow both accounts.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with John Scott-Railton

John Scott-Railton Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @jsrailton

31 Jan
Antivax protesters disrupted #dodgerstadium vaccination site tonight. Far right groups present, too.

Seems like part of a preidictable resurgence of big-ideological-tent COVID protests.

h/t @willsommer
By @marisagerber @latfoto @carlosvlozano
Story: latimes.com/california/sto…
More pics of the COVID vaccine-site disruption in LA tonight via @latfoto 👇👇

General note, in footage from the #Capitol you find a ton of:

-Anti Vaxx
-Anti-shutdown
-COVID conspiracy

Pretty sure some participants' paths to radicalization involved going to anti-COVID events / consuming that content.
Read 5 tweets
30 Jan
BREAKING: @TheJusticeDept just indicted two members of the Proud Boys, Dominic Pezzola (#spazzo) & William Pepe for conspiracy & other charges related to #Capitol siege.

Quick THREAD
Source: justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/two…
2/ Charges include those stemming from the Proud Boys efforts to breach the layers of defense around the #Capitol, and make specific mention of the ripping away of a riot shield...which Pezzola (aka #spazzo) was shown using to breach a window. 👇👇

3/ This #ProudBoys indictment for #conspiracy is quick on the heels of the #OathKeepers indictment.

Nice to see this for the other group that clearly coordinated some of the breaching.

Thread on that from yesterday is here
Read 6 tweets
29 Jan
BREAKING: the 3 Oath Keeper militia members named as conspirators may not have acted alone, per an excellent visual investigation by the @nytimes.

Quick THREAD 1/
Source: nytimes.com/interactive/20…
2/ Beginning at the Rally, the @nytimes team identified a group of Oath Keepers moving together. Many of us have been tracking this group..

It includes both alleged named conspirators and others that participated in the raid.
3/ Some members of the group, already doing their hand-on-shoulder routine begin leaving the Rally crowd as a group, 20 minutes before Trump finishes speaking. Spotted in @FoxNews footage by @nytimes
Read 11 tweets
28 Jan
New #OathKeepers indictment is surfacing interesting puzzle pieces, like:

-Coordination between regional Oath Keepers groups
-A Dec. North Carolina training camp & contingent on the 6th.
-Weapons brought up separately

& more

Quick THREAD 1/
Source: justice.gov/usao-dc/press-… ImageImageImage
2/ "...our duty as Americans to fight, kill and die for our rights."

By November 2020 there is talk among the conspirators of the need to get violent..

By Dec. 20 hotel reservations are made by CALDWELL for the 6th... and CROWL has attended a North Carolina training camp. Image
3/ By Dec 30, WATKINS (Ohio) confirms to CALDWELL (Virginia) that her group will come. They discuss staging, logistics..

CALDWELL says a "full bus 40+" people coming from North Carolina.

[Observation: I suspect we will learn a lot more about NC folks in coming weeks] Image
Read 9 tweets
27 Jan
MUST WATCH: investigation by @WSJ shows 100+ Proud Boys coordinating, instigating and leading key elements of the #Capitol breach

Proud Boy 1: "Lets take the f* ** capitol"
Proud Boy 2: "Lets not F*** yell that alright"...

Etc.

wsj.com/video/video-in…
2/ The investigation walks through the footage (props to @WSJ, there's so much!) starting with Proud Boys staging under the direction of leaders including (now-arrested) Joe Biggs outside the #Capitol
3/ In the staging area, a Proud Boy identified as Dan Scott aka 'Milkshake' yells "lets take the f***ng capitol"
-Milkshake is admonished by another PB.
-Someone makes fun of 'Milkshake' for the indiscretion(?). Some laughter.
-"Don't yell it, do it" says another, quietly.
Read 16 tweets
26 Jan
"...what I’m talking about is setting up a sleeper cell, just like our Founding Fathers did "

I found a website apparently by former CIA Officer Jason Hanson encouraging 'patriots' to create sleeper cells & promoting a "step-by-step blueprint" book.

Join me on a wild THREAD 1/
2/ I came across Jason Hanson while looking a right wing content @YouTube. He was promoting "Sleeper Cell Secrets By Spies And Our Founding Fathers." Ultimately, YouTube served me multiple advertisements. I found the title jarring, so I began digging...
3/ Turns out Jason has not avoided the limelight. He's been on popular shows like @ABCSharkTank. He's got plenty of books on @amazon...But "Sleeper Cell Secrets..." is notably not on there.
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!