Thread by @capitolhunters

#SeditionHunters: the "1776 Returns" document referenced in the Proud Boys indictment was released today as a court exhibit. Just a quick take: this is not the ops plan for the Capitol attack. It seems meant for the public, to move crowds around. 1/
acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri…

Remember not everyone gets all info. The crowd is told enough to get them to the Capitol. Proud Boys have specific assignments, as do regional militias. The PBs themselves have minders. The people directing the attack are largely not identified, though can be sometimes seen. 2/

The Capitol attack itself was highly coordinated with signals. Those are not described here. On Jan 6 there were no organized attempts seen to get into other buildings from outside, though it's possible that with larger crowds the story would have been different. 3/

There were seeming attempts to move crowds into the Visitors' Center of the Capitol, which would have allowed access to other buildings. Those attempts failed, it seems, because police caused critical delays and reinforcements had arrived by the time the building was breached. 4/

Taking these words at face value, that the goal was just to let "We the People" "present our list of demands" (p. 4) undercuts the seriousness of the attack. That is for sure the story told to the crowd, which was the weapon. But this is not the document used by coordinators. 5/

Everyone wants a "Rosetta Stone" document that would explain the whole complicated attack, answer all the questions. Unfortunately this isn't it. It's a piece of the story, but not the whole story. Untangling Jan 6 still requires looking at what actually happened - in video. 6/

And a caution: this doc, which doesn't mention the Capitol, is from Tarrio's phone (h/t @emptywheel). Tarrio's a protege of Roger Stone, one of the slipperiest of operators. And Tarrio did CYA before the attack - seemed to know it would be bad, tried to limit his exposure. 7/

Working on Jan 6 is painful because of all the lies, the shifting stories - and that different people are told different things. But wanting easy answers is what lets people be led astray. The Capitol attack is solvable - if we're patient enough to work out what's real. 8/

A last thing, h/t @alanfeuer: the "1776 Plan" document is public because it was released BY A PROUD BOY's DEFENSE ATTORNEY. Who thought it would help PB leader Zach Rehl's case. It's not a gotcha proof of seditious conspiracy, if the defense put it out there! Be skeptical. 9/