THREAD: After the break, the Gov. cross began, and it’s been particularly badgering. The main and unrelenting focus has been to belittle and diminish @stephenehorn’s claim to be a journalist. Basically, their only point, as....⬇️
...@stephenehorn did no property damage, violence, or assaults on police... and add to the fact they have been forced to acknowledge there were many other journalists on and inside "restricted areas," ... ⬇️
...which... BTW... is no legal justification for entering ANY restricted zone or uninvited on anyone's private property... BUT... the fact the government is not prosecuting so many other journalists forces them to persuade the jury that @stephenehorn is NOT a real journalist. ⬇️
So, the government's response is to claim that @stephenehorn only claims to have become a journalist on that day, and then to also criticize the quality of his video, and belittle him for not following what THEY believed would be worthy events to focus upon. ⬇️
I'll provide a more complete synopsis at the end of the day. Cross continues after lunch, then redirect, then one more defense witness, closing arguments, then jury instructions. I doubt we'll have a verdict before next week.
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THREAD: After the lunch break on today's second day of the @stephenehorn trial, defense counsel began the cross of @CapitolPolice Lt. McCree. Let's just cut to the chase... McCree seems like a stand-up guy. 30 years on the force. Probably an exemplary career, but... ⬇️
...Lt. McCree has no knowledge of what @stephenehorn either did or didn't do on #Jan6. He was simply brought in to show the DC jury a nice, well-spoken officer, decked out in his 'dress blues,' and talk about all the bad stuff that happened that day, which... ⬇️
...@stephenehorn didn't do. But, that's how it works with these trials. The DOJ puts together a bunch of prejudicial video clips, having nothing to do with the defendant's actions, and gets a nice guy on the stand to say, "Yep, that's what happened that day." Then... ⬇️
THREAD: Lunch break for @stephenehorn trial. Opening statements were made. The government recaps the events of #jan6 and characterizes Stephen as "one of those rioters," saying, "On January 6, he was part of the mob." They never mentioned his journalistic activities . . . ⬇️
The government says @stephenehorn ignored all the "signs" - literal and implied - of the restricted space he'd entered on J6. They make no mention of the hundreds of other journalists in that restricted space who have never been charged with a crime. Many who were . . . ⬇️
...already positioned to record the coming "mob." They do not mention the 80-100 journalists who entered the Capitol Building. (They did show a photo of @stephenehorn near the House chamber door, in which yours truly can also be seen.) ⬇️
THREAD: I've been unusually quiet here on X the last couple of days. I've been working in DC, from the crack of insanity 'til late. I've been able to spend more time in the 'video room' looking at the J6 videos for coming stories. Today, I'm covering the @stephenehorn trial. ⬇️
Stephen's trial is expected to last three days. Jury selection began this morning, so I ducked out to drop you a few notes. This trial isn't big enough to warrant a feed to the media room, so I can't use my devices in the courtroom. ⬇️
Interestingly, when I sat down in the courtroom this morning, at 9 am, seated directly in front of me at the plaintiff's table was none other than the same @FBI special agent, (Craig Noyes), who is investigating me. We acknowledged and nodded at each other. ⬇️
We also had testimony in the first Oath Keeper’s trial that Rhodes and other OKs were being surveilled at the Million MAGA March on Dec. 12, 2020. @CapitolPolice Special Agent Ryan McCamley - their liaison officer to @FBI - who also officed at DC FBI headquarters . . . ⬇️
. . . testified that he was on covert surveillance duty that day, and claimed he chanced upon the Oath Keepers and someone looking like Stewart Rhodes, (around 5 pm), took their photo, and immediately sent it to “other agents.” ⬇️
THREAD: Two and 1/2 years ago, in my 2nd article about #Jan6, (Feb. 24, 2021), I revealed a “very high probability that both [Army] ’Special Forces’ operatives and U.S. Marshalls were mixed in with the crowd that entered the Capitol Building.” ⬇️
10 months later (Jan. 3, 2022) Newsweek confirmed my sourcing with a story headlined, “Secret Commandos with Shoot-to-Kill Authority Were at the Capitol.” saying, “The role that the military played in this highly classified operation is still unknown.” ⬇️
I have quietly investigated this discovery ever since and eventually revealed my knowledge of a SpecOps group deployed on J6 to be a top-secret SIGINT group from Ft. Belvoir, just outside D.C. (I have no info if this is the same group Newsweek reported.) ⬇️
THREAD: I have once again collaborated with @EpochJoe64 on a @CapitolPolice whistleblower story. This one has to do with an unexplained order that former USCP Lt. Tarik Johnson received from Capt. Ben Smith in the days preceding #Jan6.
This was an order that violated equipment protocols on multiple levels. Receiving the order to collect helmets, Johnson was told to have his officers bring them to his office. Johnson said in his 23 years on the force, he had never experienced this.
Dept. protocol requires a one-for-one exchange of replaced equipment, “from tie tacks to bullets,” Johnson told me. There is also the matter that all equipment is to be returned or exchanged at the USCP Property Asset Management Division building - not to a superior officer.