THEn January 6, Jackie Speier was one of several members of Congress threatened by the throng of violent supporters of Trump and white supremacy that invaded the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election.
Together with her peers, she was instructed to wear a gas mask and ordered to prostrate herself on the marble floor while the barking crowd knocked on the chamber door and the sound of gunfire tore the air. The terror of that day prompted her to flashback to the events that brought her to politics in the first place, when she was bleeding from five gunshot wounds in the Guiana jungle, unsure whether she would live or die.
It was November 18, 1978 and she had traveled to Guyana as part of a Congressional investigation into the settlement of Jonestown and its cult leader, Jim Jones. The fact-finding group of 24 was ambushed by members of the cult on an airstrip in the jungle; the congressman for whom Speier then worked, Leo Ryan and four others were murdered.
Speier, shot five times and presumed dead, had to wait 22 hours for help to arrive. She told herself while lying on the floor that if she survived the ordeal, she would dedicate herself to public service.
That devotion, born of his gunshot wounds, can be traced in a straight line from the Jonestown massacre, through the Capitol insurrection on January 6, to his renewed efforts today to protect the United States from the threat of violent extremism. She is determined to strengthen safeguards against sects – whether of the Jonestown or Donald Trump variety and the white supremacy sedition he unleashed.
“Jim Jones was a religious cult leader, Donald Trump is a political cult leader,” Speier told the Guardian. “As a victim of violence and a cult leader, I am sensitive to behaviors that smell like that. We have to be cautious with anyone who may have so much control over people that they lose the ability to think independently. “
Speier ran for his first election right after the Jonestown massacre. Since 2008, the Democratic Congresswoman has represented most of the California district that her murdered mentor, Ryan, served before her death.
The formative experience that gave rise to his political career gives Speier an unusually clear perspective on the danger posed by the Capitol insurrection. She thinks of it as “group thinking”, saying that “when group thinking is about overthrowing the government, then we have a serious problem”.
Since January 6, Speier has used his political strength as a member of the House’s armed services and intelligence committees to push for urgent reforms designed to strengthen protection against white supremacy and extremist violence. Last month, she wrote to Joe Biden and his recently confirmed defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, asking for a “new sense of urgency” after the “terrible events on Capitol Hill”.
In his letter, Speier told the president and the secretary of defense that he was “increasingly alarmed” at the connections between violent and military extremist groups. She warned that current efforts to contain the problem were “insufficient for the threat of these extremist movements”.
In his interview with the Guardian, Speier said that the current crisis of white supremacy and the military has been brewing for many years. “I thought it was urgent a year ago when I held a hearing on violent extremism in the armed forces and I was surprised at the number of military personnel who are recruited in part because of their training for these extremist groups.”
She added: “It’s not like we haven’t been warned.”
A recent CNN analysis of the first 150 people arrested for participating in the Capitol insurrection found that at least 21 had military experience. Some were still serving, and eight were ex-Marines with elite training in the art of war.
Speier said that training meant problems for the nation. “With military training you become skilled in the use of lethal weapons, ambush and control. Training is important to fight our enemies, but it is now being used as a recruiting tool for organizations engaged in violent extremism. ”
The congresswoman pointed out the case of retired lieutenant colonel Larry Brock who was accused of illegal entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Hill. She said: “An Air Force Academy graduate was identified early in his life as an excellent military leader who reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, and here he is on the Senate floor holding zippered handcuffs.”
Prosecutors said Brock’s handcuffs were intended to take hostages.
After the 2020 hearing at which Speier met as chairman of the military personnel subcommittee, she proposed creating an autonomous crime of violent extremism under the uniform military justice code. The Pentagon supported the idea, but was crushed at the insistence of Trump and with resistance from Republicans in the U.S. Senate.
Now she plans to reintroduce the proposal into this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. “Sometimes people need to be hit on the head before they recognize that there is a problem, and certainly January 6 was that two-by-four on the head,” she said.
Under the existing military code, the military must be “active” participants in an extremist group to be disciplined. Speier’s panel heard of an Air Force officer who was involved with Identity Evropa, a white supremacist group that recruits on US college campuses.
Even after a formal investigation, the officer was allowed to continue military service. “So you have a problem with the indifferent application of a law that allows you to be a member of a white supremacist group, you just can’t be an ‘active’ participant.”
A Military Times survey last year found that a third of all troops on duty, passing to more than half of blacks and other members of the minority service, said they had witnessed white nationalism within the ranks. Dozens of active duty members and veterans of the military have been arrested in recent years in connection with terrorist plans and murders.
Last July, an Air Force sergeant linked to the anti-government Boogaloo movement was accused of murdering a federal security officer in Oakland, California.
Speier is asking Biden to use his executive powers to identify white supremacy and extremism as a specific threat within the military. She also wants him to sign an executive order that would ensure that all military recruits and those seeking maximum security clearances are examined for signs of violent extremist activities on their social media accounts.
“It is amazing to me that we have to be pulled into the 21st century when it comes to how social media has become a tool for these violent organizations.”
Speier said that all of these measures are urgently needed, even before 6 January. Trump’s open dialogue with extremist organizations has overwhelmed the need for action, she said.
“Donald Trump had a code to speak with these groups. ‘There are good people on both sides’, ‘We love you’, ‘You are special’. He recognized that they were valuable to him, and they recognized that he could expand his recruitment. It was a toxic mix of personal gain and put the whole democracy of this country at risk ”.