Insurrection, an impressive display of strength for conspiracy groups, extremists and marginal movements

Insurrection, an impressive display of strength for conspiracy groups, extremists and marginal movements

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The insurrection at the heart of America’s democracy, fueled by Trump’s rhetoric, represented an impressive display of strength for marginal movements and their supporters.

One of the most recognizable figures in the videos and photos of chaos on Capitol Hill was a man in his 30s with a painted face, a fur hat and a horned helmet.

The protester, Jake Angeli – known to followers as the QAnon Shaman – quickly became a symbol of the bizarre and frightening spectacle as photos circulated of him wandering the Capitol halls holding an American flag affixed to a spear in one hand and a megaphone in another, and even standing shirtless on top of the Senate platform.

Angeli, who lives in Arizona, could not be reached for comment, but her cousin, Adam Angeli, confirmed that the man in the horns was his relative in a brief call to CNN on Wednesday. Adam Angeli said that he thought his cousin could be unemployed and that “he is a patriot, he is the very big type of person in the United States of America”.

Jake Angeli’s Facebook page is full of posts that evoke QAnon’s conspiracy theories, whose supporters believe in a ridiculous theory that there is a conspiracy of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who have infiltrated the upper echelons of the American government and are being fought by President Trump.

Some of Angeli’s posts on Facebook have a violent edge, like a meme stating “we will have no real hope of surviving the enemies arranged against us until we hang the traitors lurking among us”. A photo on Angeli’s Facebook page shows him adorned with skins and horns, pointing at the camera with a rifle.

For the past few months, Angeli has been a regular presence in pro-Trump protests in Arizona, including demonstrations outside the Maricopa County vote-counting center.

Other protesters photographed on Capitol Hill wore clothes with QAnon icons and held signs with slogans associated with the bizarre movement.

CNN highlighted Nick Ochs in a crowd of protesters who stormed the Capitol building during a joint session of Congress on January 6.
The rioters who filled the Capitol also included Nick Ochs, the founder of Proud Boys Hawaii, a chapter in the far-right group. “Hello from the Capital lol,” Ochs tweeted Wednesday, with a selfie of him smoking a cigarette in the building.

“We didn’t have to break in, I just went in and filmed,” Ochs told CNN in an interview on Wednesday night. “There were thousands of people there – they had no control over the situation. I was not stopped or questioned ”.

Ochs ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state legislature last year, winning the endorsement of Trump’s confidant, Roger Stone, who shot a video with him. He said in the interview with CNN that he was working as a professional journalist when he entered the Capitol and that he did not enter any Congressional office or chambers.
One far-right activist who was at the Capitol on Wednesday was Tim Gionet, who broadcast a live video of himself inside the building for more than 25 minutes, according to several footage from the recording shared on Twitter.

Gionet, a prominent extremist voice who goes by the alias “Baked Alaska” online, participated in the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, said Hannah Gais, senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Gais said he monitored the live broadcast while it aired.

Gionet has been suspended or barred on several online platforms. He was not found for comment.

Richard "Bigo" Barnett sits in the office of Mayor Nancy Pelosi on January 6.
One of the most shared photos of the chaos showed Richard “Bigo” Barnett, the leader of a pro-arms group in Gravette, Arkansas, resting in the office of Mayor Nancy Pelosi, with her feet on a table.
Barnett, 60, then showed reporters outside the Capitol an envelope he said he took from Pelosi’s desk. “I didn’t steal,” he said of the envelope, which was addressed to another deputy, in a video posted on Twitter by a New York Times reporter. “I put a coin on her table, even though it’s not worth it.” He said he also left a note on her desk that said “Nancy, Bigo was here, you b * tch” and claimed he was Macedonia.

Videos from Facebook that appear to have been posted by Barnett on Wednesday show him walking near the Capitol. A photo posted that morning, on which he carried an American flag, had the caption “it’s time”, and he previously asked for prayers “while we do our best to protect our patriots in DC”.

Barnett could not be reached for comment.

CNN’s Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken, Curt Devine, Scott Glover and Yahya Abou-Ghazala contributed to this report.

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