John Sullivan said he was there to “watch the story” as a journalist, but he has no press credentials.
John Sullivan’s photo. Courtesy of Tooele County Sheriff’s Department.
Utah activist John Sullivan was charged at Tooele County Jail with a warrant on Thursday for allegedly participating in last week’s US Capitol riot.
Sullivan was charged in federal court in the District of Columbia with civil disorder for being in a restricted area and for disorderly conduct.
“I was there to observe; I was there to see what they were going to do, ”he said.
Much of the evidence against Sullivan comes from his own videos.
On January 6, after supporters of President Donald Trump surrounded the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, Sullivan made a video of protesters tearing down police barricades. As soon as the crowd passed, Sullivan can be heard shouting, “We got this shit. We did it together ”and,“ We are all part of this story. … let’s burn this ”, according to the statement.
Later, the video includes images of protesters climbing a wall to reach a square outside the entrance to the Capitol building. Sullivan can be heard shouting “come on” and other encouraging words to people climbing the wall, according to the statement. At one point, Sullivan tells a person that he is trying to climb the wall to hold Sullivan’s hand.
Wearing a ballistic vest and a gas mask, according to the documents, Sullivan entered the Capitol building through a broken window.
Once inside the Capitol, Sullivan went into an office, went to a window and said, “We did this —. We got this s — ”, according to the statement. A knocking sound is heard off the screen, and when the camera returns to the window, part of it that was not broken when Sullivan arrived is broken. Sullivan can be heard saying, “I broke it. My mistake, my apologies ”, according to the statement.
At one point during the riot, Sullivan was part of a crowd trying to enter a room guarded by police, according to the documents. He allegedly shouted that he had a knife and asked people to “let go”.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Sullivan says he was not in Washington to participate in the riot. He says he just seemed to be participating in the disturbances so he could mix it up for his own safety.
“I have to mix with the crowd because, you know, there are a lot of people who wanted to hurt me,” he said.
Sullivan is the founder of Insurgence USA, a Utah group focused on police reform and racial justice that he started after George Floyd’s death. An online fundraising event says the group wants to build local power to allow the community to “intervene in the violence practiced by state and government watchdogs”.
However, he is not affiliated with Black Lives Matter Utah. Lex Scott, founder of BLM Utah, told The Tribune on Thursday that Sullivan was never a member.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this article.