Was Antifa at the Capitol Protest? Here Are The Facts and the Guy Who Threatened to ‘Rip Trump’ Out of the White House

 
By Nick Arama

Many people were spreading pictures yesterday of people who they thought were ‘Antifa’ at the Capitol protest/riot.

So I wanted to walk through some of the stories and highlight what’s true and what isn’t, at least in terms of the evidence we know at this point.

First of all,’horn guy,’ the guy who infamously made it to the speaker’s chair and was featured in many pictures with horns on his head and paint on his face. He’s an actor, as my colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connell reported earlier. He’s been at events identifying as a Trump supporter as well as holding a Q sign and has been identified by local Arizona media as a Q supporter. There is a picture of him at a BLM protest, but he was allegedly there as a counter-protester holding a Q sign. The sign was cropped out as the picture was passed around social media.

This is the image they're cropping by the way. He's carrying a sign that says 'Q Sent Me' pic.twitter.com/4BuQ7DIEdv

— Aoife Gallagher (@aoifegall) January 6, 2021

People keep saying this guy is Antifa or BLM, he is not

Please stop spreading disinfo

I’ve spoken to him in depth on camera in Arizona

He’s a huge supporter of Qanon & regularly walks around w/ a sign saying “Q sent me”

How does this stuff keep spreading?

Stick to facts pic.twitter.com/d39VRcBfRH

— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) January 7, 2021

Then there was a guy who was said to have a “hammer and sickle” on his hand. He and another man were identified as Philly Antifa. But the tattoo on his hand is not a hammer and sickle, it’s a tattoo related to the video game “Dishonored.” He and the other man were on the Philly Antifa page because they were being identified by Antifa as an alleged Neo-Nazis/supremacists.

So now onto someone who has in fact been involved in and organized BLM protests that resulted in violence, John Sullivan, who uses BLM and Antifa hashtags. Sullivan was at the doors inside the Capitol near Ashli Babbitt when she was shot. You can see him here:

The Utah man told 2 News he was there to document the protests. He is seen in the video moments after a woman was shot and killed trying to break through a window in the U.S. Capitol. You can hear from him tonight at 10. pic.twitter.com/WRwtupKZ3y

— Heidi Hatch (@tvheidihatch) January 7, 2021

Heidi Hatch also notes that Sullivan was been involved in violent BLM protests in Utah and faced charges.

John Sullivan faced charges here in Utah after organizing protests. His most recent video post on Intsa. https://t.co/hD7A90Cc2s

— Heidi Hatch (@tvheidihatch) January 7, 2021

Sullivan was arrested in July and charged with investigation of rioting, making a threat of violence and criminal mischief. He helped organize a protest that ended up in a motorist getting shot by another BLM person in Provo.

The police affidavit in the incident describes Sullivan this way.

From Deseret:

“As a protest organizer John Sullivan is heard and seen as he is promoting protesters to block roadways, keeping motorists from traveling lawfully and freely.”

Sullivan was also captured on video threatening to beat a woman in an SUV, according to the affidavit, and then kicking her door, leaving a dent.

Sullivan was seen with Jesse Taggart — the man charged with shooting the motorist — throughout the protest, the affidavit states.

“As a protest organizer, John Sullivan is heard talking about seeing the shooting, looking at the gun and seeing smoke coming from it. John did not condemn the attempted murder nor attempt to stop it nor aide in its investigation by police.”

He's part of "Insurgence USA"https://t.co/OpoVxjoy52 pic.twitter.com/cDbfNRMagG

— Rich Weinstein (@phillyrich1) January 7, 2021

Here he is threatening to rip the president from the White House in D.C. in August.

BLM inc. threatening to “rip the president out of the White House”

They say they won’t wait until the next election.

They’re openly calling for a revolution.

This is domestic terrorism on full display, out in the open. They don’t even try to hide it. pic.twitter.com/OyhNSzBEwu

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 29, 2020

You can look at John Sullivan’s twitter feed @activistjohn for yourself. Or check out his Instagram. pic.twitter.com/cXgRbPFLCV

— Heidi Hatch (@tvheidihatch) January 7, 2021

So was Sullivan arrested? No. He claims he was there to “document” what was going on but somehow ended up in that front group at the doors. But interestingly, CNN saw no issue with interviewing him. Anderson Cooper had him on to talk about what had happened.

He will be going to jail soon pic.twitter.com/tNXLMRGumG

— Jerimiah Johanson (@isinorbit) January 7, 2021

There’s also a viral video going around that was cited in a story earlier about the shooting of Ashli Babbitt. The person takes it from right next to Babbitt, approximately where Sullivan was. Warning for being very graphic.

Read more