Thread by @capitolhunters

#SeditionHunters - this week’s hack of the roster for the ultra-secretive Council for National Policy, “the most powerful conservatives in the country” (NYT), reminds us that longtime CNP member Jason Jones (#VIPCamel) was at the front of the East Capitol breaches on Jan 6. 1/

Anti-abortion activist Jones has been a CNP member since the last hack in 2014. ID’d in January, he was so brazen people thought first he might somehow be legal. Instead he may be the first CNP member arrested for Jan 6 actions - he helped pull down the barricades. 2/

On Jan 6, Jones began the day in the VIP section at the Ellipse near others later seen at the Capitol (labeled in blue here, including #IamDougMastriano). 3/

Mastriano's not a CNP member, but many well-known names are. CNP rosters from 2014 and 2020 are publicly viewable: 2014, from the SPLC at link below; 2020 at ddosecrets. com. More on the CNP and its membership from @jennycohn1: 4/
splcenter.org/sites/default/…

https://twitter.com/jennycohn1/status/1441100812835442688

Jones (#VIPCamel) crossed barricades with his mini-entourage (#VIPCamelSidekick & 2 others), made a long phone call while watching the mob break the police line on the stairs, then climbed the stairs himself. Midway they stop & seem to gesture urgently to someone below. 5/

Once at the top, Jason Jones aka #VIPCamel cheered from the north balcony, shortly after Michael Coudrey (#IamMichaelCoudrey) did the same… 6/

...then both #VIPCamel and Coudrey watched InfoWars’ #IamAlexJones arrive & give a speech. Both joined up with him after - #VIPCamel came down the stairs a little behind the InfoWars group, but met up with them on the E. Plaza. 7/

Jason Jones’ connection with Alex (no relation) is not that surprising; he appears plugged in to the Jan 6 crowd of election-fraud conspiracists, anti-vaxxers, anti-abortion figures. Here he is in the VIP tent at the Jan 5 Freedom Plaza rally with now-arrested #IamSimoneGold. 8/

The Jan 5 tent swarmed with #SeditionVIPs - everyone labeled in this pic besides Lindell entered restricted Capitol grounds on Jan 6. Watch for yourself & hear the histrionic talk. (Roger Stone: "1 million Americans are going to.. stand up for truth") 9/

Jason Jones seemed well-aware of a planned Capitol attack from very early on. Already on Dec. 20 he was publicizing on FB a call to the Capitol 1/6, and was clear about expectations: “will you be bringing any of your kids?” “nope” “because of the threat of violence?” “yup”. 10/

In comments on a Dec. 28 post, people suggest bringing bear spray, Jones didn’t disagree. On Jan 1 posted an article "On January 6, we learn whether our Constitution will hold", added “let’s roll”. On Jan 4, invoked religion: “God never forsakes those who fight in his ranks” 11/

Jones is not out of step with the CNP - while its membership skews geriatric, with names from the Reagan era (Ed Meese, pushing 90! Tom DeLay! Wayne LaPierre of the NRA!), its younger members are firmly part of the modern conspiracy-theory set. 12/

https://twitter.com/jimstewartson/status/1440843255021588480

Linking the establishment & the radical fringe is in fact a CNP hallmark. The SPLC called it a “key meeting place” for these different worlds, a “venue where mainstream conservatives and extremists mix”. 13/
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016…

In Aug. 2020, speakers at CNP’s VA meeting “discuss[ed] election tactics, amplif[ed] conspiracy theories and describ[ed] much of America in dark and apocalyptic terms.” (WaPo, from bootleg video). Acting Sec. of Homeland Security Chad Wolf was there. 14/
washingtonpost.com/investigations…

Older CNP members spoke darkly in VA too: Leo Bozell III (CNP executive comm.) claimed the left wants to “steal this election”, then “democracy is finished because they usher in totalitarianism.” On Jan 6, his son Leo Bozell IV (#HersheyChristianAcademy) breached the Capitol. 15/

Amy Kremer, organizer of the Jan 6 morning “Save America March” rally at the Ellipse and a “founding mother” of the 2009 Tea Party movement (per Mother Jones) appeared as a CNP member in the 2014 roster, but was no longer listed in 2020. 16/

Jenny Beth Martin, CNP Exec. Committee Secretary and founder of the “Tea Party Patriots”, has long feuded with Kremer, but both supported Trump from 2016 and Martin sat front and center at the Jan 6 Ellipse rally. Dad Ed Martin (also CNP) sat nearby. 17/
motherjones.com/politics/2021/…

CNP's Jenny Beth Martin later issued a statement decrying the Capitol attack -"We are shocked, outraged, and saddened at the turn of events on January 6" - but seemed awfully enthusiastic while it was ongoing, on the W. Capitol lawn with her bullhorn. 18/

For people wanting more information on the CNP, the definitive resource is Anne Nelson’s 2019 book “Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right“. 19/
amazon.com/Shadow-Network…

@anelsona: the CNP combines “the manpower & media of the Christian right with the finances of Western plutocrats & the strategy of right-wing...political operatives."

More recently, @davetroy has written about the CNP in the context of January 6. /20

https://twitter.com/davetroy/status/1371104415780851723

The information & video sightings in this thread were gathered by many #SeditionHunters in a collective crowdsourced effort; no-one wished to be named. We’re still working on a complete #VIPCamel reel; meanwhile see thread below for more sightings. 21/

https://twitter.com/AE06788511/status/1385960863798943752