#SeditionHunters have wondered for months how the unruly crowd on Jan. 6 could produce synchronized action. Let’s ask an expert: Lt Col. Doug Mastriano (ret.), who taught Strategy at the U.S. Army War College & writes about “hybrid warfare” (link). 1/ fpri.org/article/2016/0…
Mastriano: Russia might use “not .. uniformed separatists.. but largely people in civilian attire, bemoaning fictional abuse... Hiding behind the veil of ambiguity, the unrest would appear local... If NATO [then] dithers”, Russian forces could move in “without firing a shot” 2/
Mastriano has gotten a lot of press recently for being an elected state rep. at the insurrection. But there are lots of those on Jan 6! So far AZ, GA, MO, PA, TX, WV... What sets him apart is this background. Here are some things that might scare you. 3/
In his paper, Mastriano admires the Russian strategy. At U.S. Capitol, action went pretty smoothly too. On Jan 6, Mastriano’s path suggests that he watched the 1:47 PM breach of the NW Scaffold (L), then walked to the NE corner to observe the 1:57 PM breach (R). 4/
Manipulating big crowds requires a lot of crowd control. Who could provide that? At the Capitol on Jan 6 we see some interesting groups: domestic militia, and also the Vets for Trump. Mastriano seems to know them both. (L photo are III%ers.) 5/
Here is Vets for Trump spokesman Rear Adm. Chuck Kubic (ret.) explaining how the group was founded in 2015 to provide crowd control at Trump rallies. “We started by helping to augment his security force...helping direct the crowd”. At CPAC, Feb. 2021 6/
Let’s ask Vets for Trump founder Joshua Macias! Here he is on Jan 6 shouting about Pence: “You backstabbed the veterans!” Might have to be quick because he's facing felony weapons charges for driving to Philly on Election Day in a Hummer full of guns. 7/
Or let’s ask Vets for Trump spokesman Thomas Speciale, intelligence officer (Army Reserves), employee National Counterterrorism Center. Here he is on Jan 6 shouting on Russian TV: “It doesn’t belong to them - it belongs to us!” 8/
Speciale is very instructive! Here he is watching a Thermobaric Improvised Explosive Device at a training camp. He really puts the “terror” in domestic terrorism! (Quiz: when was a thermobaric IED first used in the U.S.? A: Nashville, Dec. 2020) 9/ thedailybeast.com/nashvilles-big…
We could try to ask Speciale’s former boss at the NCTC, Chris Miller, who moved to Acting Sec. of Defense and supervised the (non) deployment of the National Guard on 1/6. But, Miller apparently doesn’t like answering questions much. 10/
You could ask our FORMER Secs. of Defense, though. On Jan 3 all 10 of them issued an unprecedented warning: “Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory” 11/ washingtonpost.com/opinions/10-fo…
Or ask the Joint Chiefs, who did something similar on Jan 11: "As Service Members...we support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the Constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values, and oath; it is against the law." 12/ 16af.af.mil/News/Article/2…
Note that nothing in this thread is difficult to obtain. The video is public. The information is public. The strategies are routinely taught. When are we going to ask these questions? Who is going to ask them? 13/
Mastriano himself explains the “brilliance” of hybrid attacks: if they fail one “..simply can wait for another opportunity to apply this strategy of ambiguity when and where the strategic environment is favorable.”
Reminder: Ed Martin, Trump's US Pardon attorney (R) and George Santos, whose sentence he just helped commute (L) were both speakers at the Stop the Steal rally the day before the Jan 6 Capitol attack. The next day, they both sat in the VIP section at Trump's Ellipse rally. 1/
On Jan 6, Ed Martin, as a founding member of Ali Alexander's Stop the Steal team, had a better seat than George Santos, a lesser figure. Brandon Straka, the man who first got Santos into politics, sat in the front row center; Ed two rows back; Santos deeper in the crowd. 2/
Santos, who rocketed from a minor part of Brandon Straka's WalkAway operation to a member of Congress, was sentenced to over 7 years in prison for wire fraud and identity theft. Today Trump let him out. Ed Martin says he was "honored" to help "make clemency great again". 3/
Trump's move this week revoking 6 visas for posting about Charlie Kirk is a wake-up call. These weren't random. They were all prominent people in the arts, with business visas. One is German filmmaker Mario Sixtus, whose new documentary criticizes AI and US tech firms. 1/
Sixtus' documentary examines how AI slop is infecting the internet, making it a "dumping ground for machine-generated nonsense". He's based in Berlin, but interviews famed US AI researcher Melanie Mitchell. Now he can't come to the US to promote it. 2/ arte.tv/de/videos/1221…
These six are not random. Another revokee, music exec Nota Baloyi from South Africa, has said he was targeted and wonders if South African right-wingers sent in a tip. US journalists need to ask how these six were chosen. Whose speech is being barred? 3/ news24.com/southafrica/ne…
A big caution here: we have to take seriously that GOP has coordinated talking points that No Kings will involve an act of terrorism. We have to ask seriously whether someone has planned such an act. It wouldn't be provoking people in frog costumes. It would be worse 1/
The last time we heard so much talk about "Antifa" as a terrorist threat was Jan 2021, just before the Capitol attack. The 200+ Proud Boys who kicked it off didn't wear "colors"; they came "dressed as Antifa". They talked about it repeatedly. That instruction came from above. 2/
Remember: in 1999, a month after he was made Prime Minister, Putin solidified his power using explosions that killed hundreds. He blamed Chechen terrorists as a pretext for a crackdown. Regardless of who planted the bombs, Putin found a use for them. 3/ henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/upl…
Jan 6 is in the news again as GOP Senators reveal that FBI searched their phone records in 2023. A totally reasonable action, but what's surprising is the list. The FBI left off Ted Cruz, by far the Senator with the most known ties to Jan 6! And they added some surprises 1/
The article by @etuckerAP & @stephengroves gives the basics, but not why this information was released now or why these Senators were chosen. Before Jan 6, Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were talked of as a team plotting something - so why isn't Cruz here? 2/ apnews.com/article/fbi-ja…
The FBI has private sources of information, but the list is still baffling. (Why Dan Sullivan of AK?) The Congressional Insurrection Scores rank lawmakers by publicly known actions around Jan 6. In this metric, Sens Cruz, Hawley, & Tuberville stand out. 3/ docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
Just unbelievable stuff coming from independent journalists. Jack Posobiec, a Roger Stone protege, was one of the biggest spreaders of Russian disinfo in 2016. Of Pizzagate. Of election-fraud claims in 2020. And it took til now to show he was voting fraudulently himself? 1/
Slate picked up this article (kudos!) but both journos are independent.
Poso was one of the first people tapped for Ali Alexander's Stop the Steal. He pushed election-fraud claims to 1M followers, watched the J6 attack from Alex Jones' rented rooftop. 2/ slate.com/news-and-polit…
How is it that with all the resources of mainstream media his own voter fraud gets uncovered only now? How did CBS cover Poso, a major propagandist and a vector for foreign influence? They interviewed him about "the death of his friend Charlie Kirk". 3/
Dear god, our politicians have learned nothing. DO NOT LET YOUR OPPONENT SET THE NARRATIVE. Offense, not defense. The answer to "you are shutting the government down to give illegal immigrants healthcare" is "The GOP shut down the government to give handouts to billionaires." 1/
Never, never, use their framing. It does not work to try to avoid a fight by saying "we all agree", if your opponent is determined to fight. It just concedes territory. It makes their framing the topic Don't defend against a bad-faith argument. Attack and move forward. 2/
If someone insists on fighting you, you have to fight back. DO NOT ANSWER A BAD-FAITH QUESTION. Do not cede that authority. Just say the question is bs - attack their motivation - and move on to say what you think is true. Be the boss, set the terms of the debate. 3/