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January 6 Insurrection

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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was caught on a recording admitting to having a strong bias against the Left in his views.
On Monday (June 10), documentary filmmaker Laura Windsor released a recording in a post on X, formerly Twitter, of a conversation with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito which captures him expressing that he has a bias against the Left wing of the nation and feeling the U.S. should go back to a “place of godliness.” The conversation took place at the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner which was held last week. Windsor can be heard asking Alito about political polarization in the audio. “I don’t know that we can negotiate with the Left in the way that needs to happen for the polarization to end,” Windsor says. “I think that it’s a matter of, like, winning.”

“I think you’re probably right,” Alito replies. “On one side or the other — one side or the other is going to win. I don’t know. I mean, there can be a way of working — a way of living together peacefully, but it’s difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can’t be compromised. They really can’t be compromised. So it’s not like you are going to split the difference.” Windsor then followed up her words to Alito with another statement: “People in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that — to return our country to a place of godliness.”
“I agree with you. I agree with you,” Alito replied. Alito was responsible for authoring the infamous Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court in 2022, which reversed five decades of established law settled by Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion. Windsor also posted a recording of her talk with Chief Justice John Roberts, who disagreed with Alito’s viewpoints. When pressed by Windsor if he felt the court should rule to guide the country on “a more moral path,” Roberts responded: “It’s not our job to do that. It’s our job to decide the cases the best we can.” 
The justice has recently come under intense scrutiny after it was revealed that he flew a flag supporting the false claims of Donald Trump that the 2020 presidential election was stolen outside of his homes in Virginia and New Jersey. He has refused to recuse himself from all cases related to Trump and the January 6 insurrection.

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A second home belonging to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was found flying a flag supporting the January 6th rioters.
According to reports, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was flying another flag that was carried by rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, at a vacation home that he owned in New Jersey. The flag, captured in photographs, was an “Appeal To Heaven” flag which is also known as the Pine Tree flag. It was on view as late as last year, when the Supreme Court weighed a decision on when to prosecute January 6 rioters, according to neighbors in the area on Long Beach Island where the home is located.

The “Appeal To Heaven” flag, which was first flown in the Revolutionary War by the forces of General George Washington, shows a green pine tree on a white background with the phrase “An Appeal To Heaven” inspired by British philosopher John Locke’s “right to revolution” – which encourages violence as a means – doctrine on it. It had fallen out of usage for many years until the last decade when it had become a symbol primarily for “a theological vision of what the United States should be and how it should be governed,” according to Institute of Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies scholar Matthew Taylor. The flag has recently been seen in the office of House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and has been promoted by Dutch Sheets, a man who was prominent in helping to further former President Donald Trump’s false claims of the 2020 presidential election being stolen.
The news comes days after Alito’s denial that he was responsible for flying the U.S. flag in reverse at his home in Virginia after the January 6 insurrection, which was reported by the New York Times. The conservative Supreme Court Justice has been under fire for leaking the decision that would overturn Roe V. Wade, as well as selling Bud Light stock as the company dealt with right-wing backlash over working with a trans influencer. There have been calls from Democrats in Congress for Alito to be censured for his actions, and for him to recuse himself from any January 6-related cases including the question of immunity for Donald Trump concerning his involvement in the events of January 6.

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Another Supreme Court Justice is under fire for photos showing a US flag at his home as a sign of support for Donald Trump.
The Supreme Court is the subject of another controversy – this time courtesy of conservative Justice Samuel Alito. On Thursday (May 16), a published photograph of his home in Alexandria, Virginia showed an American flag that flew upside down – a universal signal of distress co-opted by supporters of former President Donald Trump and his “Stop The Steal” false claims. That same flag style was spotted among those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The photo showed that the reverse flag flew at Alito’s home on January 17.

The photograph is also significant because, at the time, the Supreme Court was weighing in on a case from Pennsylvania concerning the 2020 presidential election which saw Alito in the losing minority of the decision. “I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Justice Alito said in a statement emailed to The New York Times after the report was published. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.” The report did say that Alito’s wife, Martha, had been involved in a dispute over a neighbor’s anti-Trump sign on their lawn. “It might be his spouse or someone else living in his home, but he shouldn’t have it in his yard as his message to the world,” said Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia. Alito has been a contentious figure on the court, with his leaking of the ruling overturning the landmark Roe V. Wade decision concerning abortion a nagging issue.
The bombshell report from the Times caused shockwaves among many observers and scholars, who stated that such a move undermines any credibility that Alito has in ruling on upcoming cases involving Trump. Those cases include the Supreme Court determining if Trump has immunity for his actions – which are being argued as incitements to insurrection – concerning what took place on January 6th. It adds to more chaos surrounding the court, as Justice Clarence Thomas has refused to recuse himself despite his wife Ginni Thomas’ direct involvement with efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

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Harry Dunn, one of the Black police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol from rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection, is running for Congress.
On Friday (Jan. 5), former Capitol police officer Harry Dunn announced that he was running for a congressional seat in Maryland. Dunn declared his candidacy on X, formerly Twitter, a day before the third anniversary of the vicious and violent attack by supporters of former President Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol building, which temporarily disrupted the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden.

In an interview with the Associated Press concerning his announcement, Dunn said: “As a Capitol Police officer, I did all that I can do in that role to protect, defend, and preserve democracy. But that is exhausted now.” The 15-year veteran retired from the Capitol Police last month. Dunn became known as one of the prominent faces representing the embattled officers saying he was “hell-bent on finishing what he started” being one of the figures who protected members of Congress as rioters swarmed the halls, protecting a stairwell leading to the Lower West Terrace.
In testifying before the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection, Dunn, who is Black, spoke about the intense violence of the rioters and being hit with numerous racial slurs. “I know so many other officers continue to hurt both physically and emotionally,” Dunn said during his testimony. “What we went through that day was traumatic.” The investigation would lead to over 1,230 people arrested and charged with federal crimes related to the insurrection, with 730 pleading guilty and 170 being convicted of at least one charge through trial.
Dunn would later be awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Biden for his service. He is entering the race for the 3rd District of Maryland, a heavily Democratic district after Rep. John Sarbanes declared he would not seek reelection last October. Sarbanes is one of 12 from his party not returning to Congress while 14 Republican members of Congress have also declared that they would not seek reelection.
“A lot of people are leaving, because I don’t know of a better way to say it, it’s a very toxic place. But I do believe that in times like this it is important for good people to stand up, so the bad guys, so to speak, do not win,” Dunn said in an interview with AP. 

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The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified from the Republican ballot for 2024 due to engaging in insurrection, prompting many online responses.In a striking decision, Donald Trump was disqualified from holding political office again by the top court of Colorado on Tuesday (December 19) due to his engaging in actions that led to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. The decision means that the former president is ineligible to appear on the state’s ballot for the upcoming 2024 Republican primary elections for president. It also rules that voters cannot write Trump’s name in on that ballot.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the four-justice majority wrote in the decision. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.” The majority decision cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment which disqualifies anyone engaging in insurrection against the Constitution. The three remaining justices dissented.
The monumental decision does not apply to the presidential ballot, but it has major ramifications for Trump’s current campaign. Representatives for Trump said that they would immediately appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, setting the stage for a decision that could not only impact the upcoming presidential election but other cases set before them such as whether he is immune from criminal prosecution for actions he committed while in office including his alleged involvement in the January 6 insurrection. The Colorado Supreme Court did state that they would uphold the decision until January 4 next year for the
The reactions to the ruling online ranged from observers and experts applauding the decision to those showing skepticism over the conservative-dominated Supreme Court’s majority (with three justices nominated by Trump during his term) upholding the Colorado court’s ruling. One Republican candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, issued a video stating that he would withdraw his name from the state’s GOP primary ballot in protest and demanded that Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis do the same in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

We’ve collected some of the responses from social media below.

1. Robert Reich

2. Joey Blue

A “Seinfeld” meme gets employed to imagine the real reactions of Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and other GOP nominees to the news of the decision.

3. Alex Cole

4. Ragnarok Lobster

5. Jon_Davis

6. Elie Mystal

The Nation writer and lawyer chimed in initially with a witty reference to Trump’s past rage reactions.

7. Imani Gandy

The lawyer and journalist offered her perspective on why the public may not see the Supreme Court uphold the Colorado decision.

8. Tristan Snell

9. Neal Katyal

Katyal, who has argued several cases before the Supreme Court, offered his analysis of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision and his opinion on how the Supreme Court could rule. 

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Federal prosecutors revealed messages that a D.C. police officer exchanged with the leader of the Proud Boys before the January 6th insurrection during his trial.

On Wednesday (Feb.15th) in the trial of the far-right group’s leader, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, and four associates, prosecutors for the federal government presented a series of text messages between him and Metropolitan Police Lt. Shane Lamond. These messages included internal information that Lamond shared with Tarrio. Lamond was an intelligence officer with the Metropolitan Police tasked with investigating the group, and a 23-year veteran of the force.

One exchange on December 18th, 2020 featured Lamond asking Tarrio if he had called in an anonymous tip claiming his responsibility in burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a historically Black church in downtown Washington D.C. after a Trump rally. Tarrio responded that he had done “more than that”, confirming he shared the deed on social media. On the same day, Tarrio had expressed to other Proud Boys members that he “got the jump on the narrative” on the burning in an effort to make it difficult to charge him with a hate crime. He cited his “contact at DC Metro”, advising those members to keep the info to themselves. Tarrio would also get word that he was to be arrested on January 4th, 2021, changing the settings in his chat with Lamond to have messages “self-destruct”.
Another startling exchange took place a week later as Lamond informed Tarrio that he had ID’d Tarrio to the criminal investigation department in a photo the leader had posted to Parler. “They may be submitting an arrest warrant to the U.S. Attorney’s office,” he wrote. Justice Department prosecutor Conor Mulroe asked FBI Special Agent Peter Dubrowski if he had ever observed law enforcement disclosing sensitive information in that manner, to which Dubrowski replied, “I’ve never heard of it. I see no benefit [to law enforcement].” Sabino Jauregui, Tarrio’s attorney, stated to the judge when the jury was removed that further exploration of Lamond’s texts would show that Tarrio provided heavy information to federal and local authorities to help stem the damage from the riots on January 6th.
In a statement released that day, Lamond’s attorney Mark Schamel said that the officer (who was placed on administrative leave in February 2022) aided in Tarrio’s arrest for the banner burning and that his job “was appropriate and always focused on the protection of the citizens of Washington, DC.”

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Supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in a move eerily similar to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
On Sunday (Jan. 8), rioters in support of the former president of Brazil stormed the buildings of Congress, the presidential palace, and the federal Supreme Court in the capital of Brasilia. The mob of far-right individuals numbered in the thousands, smashed windows, set fires while, ransacked offices, and made off with official documents and weaponry. Federal troops were able to regain control and push them out after three hours of their actions.

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva swiftly condemned the rioters, stating that the “fanatical fascists” responsible “will be found and they will be punished,” laying the blame squarely on Bolsonaro. His office, along with House Speaker Arthur Lira, Chief Justice Rosa Weber of the Supreme Court, and Veneziano Vital do Rego, the deputy president of the Senate officially declared the riots “acts of terrorism” in a statement Monday (Jan. 9) morning.

The footage and photos from the riots showed scenes eerily similar to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by insurrectionists who were supporters of former President Donald Trump Jan. 6, 2021. Bolsonaro, like Trump, had vehemently claimed that the election which he lost by two percentage points to his leftist opponent in October was “stolen.” He refused to attend the inauguration last week, flying to Florida instead.
According to authorities, over 1,200 people were detained in Brasilia. Ibaneis Rocha, Governor of Brasilia stated on Sunday night that they had arrested 400 of the rioters. But Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered that Rocha, a Bolsonaro ally, be removed from his position for 90 days due to an investigation into his possible involvement in the unrest. Outside observers also noted that local police allowed some rioters through barricades before they began to vandalize the buildings. Journalists on the scene also reported being violently attacked by rioters.
Bolsonaro issued a statement decrying the violence on Sunday night through social media and denied his involvement. Congressional Democrats, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, issued calls for President Joe Biden to extradite Bolsonaro back to Brazil in the wake of the riots. President Biden issued his condemnation of the events through social media, with no further word on if there would be steps to revoke Bolsonaro’s visa.