Thread by @TheOddPost

#WildProtest: the protest that never was.

The day Trump tweeted his call for Jan 6 to "be wild", Ali Alexander registered WildProtest[.]com.

It was to be held on Lot 8 on Capitol grounds.

It never actually happened. Instead, it was used as bait.
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

To write this piece I looked at website registrations and web archives. Knitted that together with reporting from @propublica, @BuzzFeedNews, @emptywheel, @just_security and @capitolhunters into a single narrative centered on #WildProtest, the protest that never was.

@propublica @BuzzFeedNews @emptywheel @just_security @capitolhunters For weeks before Jan 6, Ali's #StopTheSteal protests outside government bldgs had brought together militants, conspiracy theorists (Alex Jones) & white supremacists. There were stabbings and capitol invasions.
Along the way they lied and lied and lied.
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

Ali's plans for Jan 6 preceded Trump's. The "wild" tweet was on Dec 19.
But by Dec 15, Ali was already holding a press conf standing by the side of 3 electors who would later show up on the falsified electoral votes sent to the National Archives.

theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

Two of those electors, Maddock & Sheridan, had tried to enter the MI State Capitol the day before. Cops blocked them.
Ali was already whipping GOP electeds to object along with Mo Brooks, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar.
He circulated a letter to get them to commit to objecting on Jan 6

Another group led by Tea Party Kremers was also working on their own Jan 6 plans (invaluable reporting from @js_kaplan, @jbsapien linked). They got the Ellipse.
Trump decided to speak there himself. This shows the importance of Jan6 to his coup strategy.
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

@js_kaplan @jbsapien Ali had planned a "loud war from the outside" of Capitol as certification proceeded. He was only able to bag a small lot on the east side of the Capitol. Only 50 people were permitted to gather.
This was the so-called #WildProtest.
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

@js_kaplan @jbsapien He lied on his permit application, calling themselves non-existent "One Nation Under God" (permit liberated by @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold).
Despite only 50 people, he expected millions, called for a days long occupation, threatened to make DC into a tent city....

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold ...said 500K would attack the Capitol if Congress didn't do their bidding. In his Jan 5 Periscope (now deleted, but linked here) he sounds like he is calling for holy war.
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold Then a very consequential plan was hatched, uniting the Ellipse rally with #WildProtest. It was a march from Ellipse to Capitol. This became the means of feeding thousands of MAGAs to the Joint Session at the right time. Around 1pm.
#MarchToSaveAmerica
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold One can get an idea of the timeline of this plan by looking at registration info for MarchToSaveAmerica[.]com. Registration Dec 31, plans up by Jan 3.
According to reporting, Trump was heavily involved in this plan. Also Caroline Wren, top Trump fundraiser.

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold Ali, Alex Jones, & Owen Shroyer marched from Ellipse to Capitol.
Videos/timelines pieced together by @capitolhunters show their march, when they arrived where, and what they said along the way. Lies, calls for revolution, 1776, etc.
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold @capitolhunters When they arrived on the west lawn, Jones stopped and yelled on his bullhorn.

Let's all go to the other side, he said. We have a permit. We have a stage. Trump will be there.

He was calling on them to join the #WildProtest.

Instead, he led them to the east doors of capitol.

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold @capitolhunters ...thus a mob was ready when the east doors were opened. From the *inside*.
Some deep source reading from @emptywheel describes this coordination in detail. I've linked several of her pieces here into a hopefully coherent narrative.
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold @capitolhunters @emptywheel Jones never led them to #WildProtest at all. It never existed.
Courtesy of @CapitolHunters found some videos that pan Lot 8 around that time. Stage exists but is rudimentary and doesn't appear to be fully set up. Nothing going on around 1pm, when the event was to start.

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold @capitolhunters @emptywheel #WildProtest. Heavily advertised on social media, with over 20 high-profile speakers, never happened.

Later, Jones, Ali, Shroyer showed up at the rooftop of 101 Constitution, a pre-rented space.

Here Ali pointed at the Capitol riots and famously said, I do not disavow this.

@js_kaplan @jbsapien @BuzzFeedNews @JasonLeopold @capitolhunters @emptywheel ~~~ finis ~~~
Also here is a detailed timeline of #WildProtest with tons of reporting from many sources, all linked
theoddpost.com/2022/01/20/the…

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