6.7 White Nationalists: “The Capitol Siege was Fucking Awesome…”

6.7 White Nationalists: “The Capitol Siege was Fucking Awesome…”

¶Nick Fuentes is an online provocateur who leads a white nationalist movement known as “America First,” or the “Groypers.” Fuentes immediately responded to President Trump’s “be wild” tweet. On December 19, 2020, Fuentes wrote on Twitter: “I will return to Washington DC to rally for President Trump on January 6th!”²⁵¹²⁵¹ “Nicholas J. Fuentes: Five Things to Know,” Anti-Defamation League, (July 9, 2021, updated Nov. 30, 2022), available at https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/nicholas-j-fuentes-five-things-know?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ITXgYH6-wIVaUpyCh08sgxaEAAYASAAEgLGNPD_BwE; Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes), Twitter, Dec. 18, 2020 11:26 p.m. ET, available at https://web.archive.org/web/20201219072617/https:/twitter.com/NickJFuentes/status/1340196694571540490 (archived). As noted in the Executive Summary, this tweet, like others, was likely sent from or archived in a separate time zone, which explains why it shows a sent date of December 18, 2020, while President Trump issued his tweet at 1:42 a.m. on December 19, 2020.Show full note Fuentes and his Groypers did return to Washington, DC for the joint session. As the attack was underway, Fuentes incited followers from his perch immediately outside of the U.S. Capitol. Some of his followers joined the attack inside, with one even sitting in Vice President Pence’s seat on the Senate dais.²⁵²²⁵² “California Man Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach,” Department of Justice, (Oct. 19, 2022), available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/california-man-sentenced-prison-actions-during-jan-6-capitol-breach; Tom Dreisbach, Allison Mollenkamp, “A Former UCLA Student Was Sentenced to over Three Years in Prison for Capitol Riot,” NPR, (Oct. 19, 2022), available at https://www.npr.org/2022/10/19/1129912913/a-former-ucla-student-was-sentenced-to-over-three-years-in-prison-for-capitol-ri.Show full note

¶Fuentes and a fellow Groyper leader, Patrick Casey, rose to prominence in 2017 after rallying at the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” event.²⁵³²⁵³ “Student Who Attended Charlottesville White Supremacist Rally Leaves Boston University After Backlash,” Time, (Aug. 17, 2017), https://time.com/4905939/nicholas-fuentes-white-supremacist-rally-charlottesville/; “Neo-Nazi Hipsters Identity Evropa Exposed In Discord Chat Leak,” Unicorn Riot, (Mar. 6, 2019), https://unicornriot.ninja/2019/neo-nazi-hipsters-identity-evropa-exposed-in-discord-chat-leak/.Show full note For years, the Groypers have repeatedly promoted white supremacist and Christian nationalist beliefs, often cloaked in wink-and-nod humor, puns, or religion, and they regularly gin up public opposition to other right-wing organizations or politicians whom they deem insufficiently conservative.²⁵⁴²⁵⁴ See Statement of Oren Segal, Marilyn Mayo and Morgan Moon, (Mar. 31, 2022); “Groypers Army and ‘America First’,” Anti-Defamation League, (Mar. 17, 2020), available at https://www.adl.org/reources/backgrounders/groyper-army-and-america-first.

¶Fuentes was a key voice for “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theories leading up to January 6th. He spent 2 months leading rallies in State capitals across the country,²⁵⁵²⁵⁵ See, e.g., Malachi Barrett, “Far-right Activist Who Encouraged U.S. Capitol Occupation also Organized ‘Stop the Steal’ Rally in Michigan,” MLive, (Jan. 7, 2021), available at https://www.mlive.com/politics/2021/01/far-right-activist-who-encouraged-us-capitol-occupation-also-organized-stop-the-steal-rally-in-michigan.html; Studio IKN, “Nick Fuentes at Stop the Steal Phoenix,” YouTube, Nov. 29, 2020, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_vjzjMDenk.Show full note spreading the Big Lie and livestreaming coded calls to violence.²⁵⁶²⁵⁶ Megan Squire (@MeganSquire0), Twitter, Jan. 5, 2021 10:27 a.m. ET, available at https://twitter.com/MeganSquire0/status/1346478478523125767?s=20. He also used his livestream to raise significant funds between November 2020 and January 2021.²⁵⁷²⁵⁷ Fuentes personally earned $50,000 from his livestreams between November 3, 2020, and January 19, 2021. He raised his highest-ever total the day after the 2020 election, and he raised similarly high figures on January 5, 2021. Some of Fuentes’ proceeds were refunded to customers following Fuentes’ ban from DLive. See Statement of Michael Edison Hayden, Megan Squire, Ph.D., Hannah Gais, and Susan Corke, (Apr. 7, 2022), at 6-7.Show full note

¶On November 9, 2020, Fuentes promised, “GROYPERS ARE GOING TO STOP THIS COUP!”²⁵⁸²⁵⁸ See, Statement of Oren Segal, Marilyn Mayo, and Morgan Moon, (Mar. 31, 2022), at 12. Two days later, Fuentes organized a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Michigan State Capitol. He told the crowd that they should be “more feral” in their tactics to overturn the election, suggesting that they target lawmakers in their homes.²⁵⁹²⁵⁹ Malachi Barrett, “Far-Right Activist Who Encouraged U.S. Capitol Occupation Also Organized ‘Stop the Steal’ Rally in Michigan,” MLive, (Jan. 7, 2021), available at https://www.mlive.com/politics/2021/01/far-right-activist-who-encouraged-us-capitol-occupation-also-organized-stop-the-steal-rally-in-michigan.html. On November 14th, Fuentes rallied a crowd of his followers at the Million MAGA March in Washington, DC, pushing “Stop the Steal” conspiracies, calling for President Trump to rule for life, and exhorting his followers to “storm every State capitol until January 20, 2021, until President Trump is inaugurated for 4 more years.”²⁶⁰²⁶⁰ Chuck Tanner, “Deciphering Nick Fuentes’ ‘Stop the Steal’ Speeches,” Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, (Nov. 24, 2020), available at https://www.justsecurity.org/74622/stopthesteal-timeline-of-social-media-and-extremist-activities-leading-to-1-6-insurrection/.

¶As discussed above, Fuentes was a prominent figure at the “Stop the Steal” rally in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 2020.²⁶¹²⁶¹ “#StopTheSteal: Timeline of Social Media and Extremist Activities Leading to 1/6 Insurrection,” Just Security (Feb. 10, 2021), available at https://www.justsecurity.org/74622/stopthesteal-timeline-of-social-media-and-extremist-activities-leading-to-1-6-insurrection/. He promoted election conspiracies, criticized the Republican Party, joked about the Holocaust, and denounced former Vice President Biden as illegitimate.²⁶²²⁶² Chuck Tanner, “White Nationalists Prominent at ‘Stop the Steal’ Mobilization in Georgia,” Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights,” (Nov. 24, 2020), available at https://www.irehr.org/2020/11/24/white-nationalists-prominent-at-stop-the-steal-mobilization-in-georgia/. Fuentes also suggested his followers intimidate politicians in their homes.²⁶³²⁶³ Aquarium Groyper, “Nick Fuentes Georgia State Capitol 11/20/2020,” YouTube, at 1:38, Nov. 20, 2020, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS1f--Tkn1M.

¶On December 12th, Fuentes again rallied a crowd of supporters at the “Stop the Steal” events in Washington, DC, calling for the destruction of the Republican Party because it had failed to overturn the election.²⁶⁴²⁶⁴ Peter White, “MAGA Protestors Chant ‘Destroy the GOP’ at Pro-Trump Rally,” Rolling Stone, (Dec. 12, 2020), available at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/protesters-chant-destroy-the-gop-at-pro-trump-rally-1102967/. As others spoke at the Jericho March rally, Fuentes headlined a “Stop the Steal” protest just a few blocks away.²⁶⁵²⁶⁵ “Pro-Trump Rallies in DC Attract Extremists & Erupt into Violence,” Anti-Defamation League, (Dec. 13, 2020), available at https://www.adl.org/blog/pro-trump-rallies-in-dc-attract-extremists-erupt-into-violence.

¶On January 4th, Fuentes suggested that his followers kill State legislators who don’t support efforts to overturn the 2020 election. As discussed in Chapter 2, President Trump and his surrogates were pressuring State legislators at the time to do just that. Fuentes complained that his side “had no leverage.” Fuentes then asked: “What can you and I do to a state legislator, besides kill them?” He then quickly added: “Although we should not do that. I am not advising that, but I mean, what else can you do, right?²⁶⁶²⁶⁶ Megan Squire (@MeganSquire0), Twitter, Jan. 5, 2021 10:27 a.m. ET, available at https://twitter.com/MeganSquire0/status/1346478478523125767?s=20.

¶On January 5th, Casey advertised the marches in Washington, DC on his Telegram channel and provided repeated updates on the logistics of getting into the city. Casey also spoke to his followers about the next day’s rally on a livestream on DLive.²⁶⁷²⁶⁷ Patrick Casey (@Patrickcaseyusa), Telegram, Jan. 5, 2021 6:20 p.m.; Documents on file with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Public Source), CTRL0000930909 - CTRL0000930912 (collection of Patrick Casey telegram posts). As discussed in Chapter 8, the Groypers clearly played a role in the January 6th attack. They even planted their flag in the inner chambers of the U.S. Capitol.²⁶⁸²⁶⁸ Mallory Simon and Sara Sidner, “Decoding the Extremist Symbols and Groups at the Capitol Hill Insurrection,” CNN, (Jan. 11, 2021), available at https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/us/capitol-hill-insurrection-extremist-flags-soh/index.html. Fuentes crowed about the attack the day after, tweeting: “The Capitol Siege was fucking awesome and I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t.”²⁶⁹²⁶⁹ Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes), Twitter, Jan. 7, 2021 10:56 a.m. ET, available at https://web.archive.org/web/20210107185745/https://twitter.com/NickJFuentes/status/1347255833516765185 (archived). In another tweet on January 7th, Fuentes wrote: “For a brief time yesterday the US Capital [sic] was once again occupied by The American People, before the regime wrested back control.”²⁷⁰²⁷⁰ Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes), Twitter, Jan. 7, 2021 1:03 p.m. ET, available at https://web.archive.org/web/20210107210736/https://twitter.com/NickJFuentes/status/1347287851629764610 (archived).

¶Despite his boasts on Twitter, Fuentes exercised his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to provide information about his organizing activities to the Select Committee.²⁷¹²⁷¹ See Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, Deposition of Nicholas J. Fuentes, (Feb. 16, 2022).