At least 57 individuals who played a role in the January 6 storm of the Capitol events – either by attending the Save America rally that preceded the riots, gathering at the Capitol steps, or breaching the Capitol itself – are now running for elected office.
Rather than disqualifying them from public service, the events of Jan. 6 appear to have served as a political springboard for dozens of Republicans who will be on the ballot this year for federal, state and local offices.
(Brittany Gibson. “Jan. 6 protesters find a new cause: Running for office.” Politico. January 05, 2022.)
A Politico review of Department of Justice case reports, social media posts, news accounts and interviews with attendees found that last year alone, 11 Jan. 6 protesters were elected to offices ranging from state legislature to city council to school board.
Politico now reports that this year, more than two dozen are running for Congress, state legislature or statewide office – including at least two protesters who actually entered the Capitol.
Doug Mastriano – Pennsylvania
At least five Jan. 6ers are gearing up for gubernatorial races, among them Doug Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator and a leading voice in the national movement to discredit the 2020 election results.
Mastriano, 57, issued a “monetary fleece” before God, seeking a financial sign that he should run for governor. He evidently got it. He has become a one-man force in conservative politics in Pennsylvania, leading anti-mask protests last year, pushing to overturn former President Donald Trump's reelection loss, and showing up outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Mastriano has boasted of speaking with Trump at least 15 times and organized an election hearing in Gettysburg that featured Trump's lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, and a phone call appearance by Trump.
Mastriano in July launched a "forensic investigation" of Pennsylvania's 2020 presidential election, mimicking a widely criticized partisan effort in Arizona before he was stripped of his Senate committee chairmanship by a rival for the gubernatorial nomination, Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, in a dispute over how to run it.
(Mark Levy. “Mastriano all but declares in race for Pennsylvania governor.” Associated Press. December 21, 2021.)
Teddy Daniels – Pennsylvania
Teddy Daniels is running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 8th District. He said and other candidates feel they’ve been unfairly labeled as seditionists, insurrectionists and traitors.
“Let me tell you, I took four bullets in Afghanistan with an American flag on my uniform. And to come back and because I was in D.C. on January 6, the Left and the mainstream media wants to call me a traitor to my country,” said Daniels, a veteran who was present for Trump’s speech but did not enter the Capitol. “It’s fuel in the tank.”
Daniels, a hard-line pro-Trump Republican, former cop and Afghanistan War veteran running in a Democratic-held district, was in Washington on Jan. 6, and posted a video from the east steps of the Capitol of the crowd of rioters about 90 minutes after they first breached the building. The video was shot well within where the original police lines had stood that day.
On the other side of the building were the leaders of the Rod of Iron Ministries, a MAGA-loving, conspiracy theory-obsessed fringe offshoot of the Moonies.
Members carry AR-15s during their church services and wedding ceremonies, and their leader, Pastor Hyung Jin “Sean” Moon, wears a crown of polished bullets as part of his ceremonial garb. Leaders of the organization, also known as Sanctuary Church, posted videos of themselves retreating from the Capitol after getting pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed by the police who defended Congress that day.
(Cameron Joseph. “Why Is a GOP Candidate Speaking at a Fringe Gun Church?” Vice News. October 08, 2021.)
On a weekend in October 2021, Daniels joined up with the church in Greeley, Pennsylvania, for a weekend of guns, conspiracy theorizing, and fundamentalist preaching at Kahr Arms headquarters – the weapons manufacturing company owned by Moon’s brother that sits in the congressional district Daniels hopes to represent in Congress after next year’s midterm elections.
Rod of Iron Church
Daniels said that he’s “100 percent confident” that there won’t be fraud in his race in 2022 largely because of efforts to focus attention on election integrity in the aftermath of the 2020 election. And, in Michigan, Kelley said he’s “hopeful” that there won’t be election fraud “because people have their eyes wide open.”
Ryan Kelley – Michigan
Ryan Kelley is running for governor of Michigan. Kelley, like the majority of Jan. 6 protesters who will be on the ballot this year, did not enter the Capitol or fight with police officers. But, Kelley’s activities on Jan. 6 are well documented in videos published by multiple sources.
MLive reviewed footage posted to YouTube and Parler for this report. Kelley downplayed his role in the violent riot in interviews, though the footage shows he was among a mob that muscled past Capitol Police into restricted areas.
Video footage places Kelley near the front of a crowd that stood face-to-face with police on the west side of the Capitol around 1:27 p.m. Roughly 15 minutes later, the mob clashed with officers and broke the police line. Kelley held his phone up to record the melee.
Officers fought with protesters but were forced to retreat as they were overrun. Footage shows Kelley stayed back during the brawl but moved forward after police pulled back.
MLive reports …
“Footage shows Kelley emerged from the scaffolding and stood on a set of stairs that gave him a vantage over the sea of Trump supporters behind him. Kelley can be seen in multiple videos gesturing for the crowd to move closer toward the Capitol. Kelley helped another man keep his balance while moving a metal police barrier. Others used police barriers as a makeshift ladder to climb up on the staircase where Kelley was standing.
“When protesters pushed police back at the top of the stairs leading to the west courtyard, Kelley followed behind. He was recorded waving his hands to encourage others to follow once he reached the top. By then, rioters had already breached the doors and entered the Capitol building.”
(Malachi Barrett. “Ryan Kelley pushed to arrest lawmakers, then stormed the Capitol. Now he wants to be Michigan’s governor.” MLive. March 27, 2021.)
Kelley led rallies in Lansing, Michigan, in November 2020 to protest the presidential election results and is a co-founder of American Patriot Council, an organization that demonstrated against Covid restrictions at the Michigan Capitol Building in April 2020. That April demonstration drew national notice when armed protesters tried to enter the floor of the chamber and then occupied the gallery above.
Jason Howland – Michigan
Jason Howland, who is running for a seat in the Michigan Legislature, was spotted inside the U.S. Capitol by Bridge Michigan. He's a founding member of the American Patriot Council, a group that describes itself as an effort "to restore and sustain a constitutional government." Many of the militia members who allegedly plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were reportedly found to have attended some of the group’s heavily armed rallies.
Audra Johnson – Michigan
Andrea Johnson is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Michigan's 3rd congressional district. She told the New York Times she traveled with others to Washington D.C. for Trump's protest of the congressional certification of Biden's win, but never went inside the Capitol.
Angela Rigas – Michigan
Angela Rigas, a Michigan resident who made headlines for battling to keep hair salons open during pandemic-related shutdowns, is running for the Michigan Legislature. She has received Trump's endorsement.
Rigas told The Washington Post that she traveled to D.C. for the January 6 rally, and described what she saw outside the Capitol as "an enormous amount of people, people as far as you could see, loving their country and wanting fair elections."
She also said in a speech that she was tear-gassed while in D.C. on January 6 while "chanting USA" and standing on a half-wall outside the Capitol building. She also said in the remarks that she considered being called an "insurrectionist" a "compliment."
Jon Rocha – Michigan
Jon Rocha, who was initially was running for a U.S. House seat but is now running for the Michigan Legislature in 2022, was at the Capitol on January 6. But he told NBC News that he "never got close to the actual steps" and wasn't aware of the violence until he left the area.
Mark Finchem – Arizona
Mark Finchem is running for Arizona secretary of state. He said he was in Washington D.C. from January 5 to January 8. The day of the January 6 insurrection, Finchem said he was late to Trump's rally and "walked at the rear of the crowd that made its way down Pennsylvania Avenue" but missed the crowd entering the Capitol building. He also blamed the turn of events on "Antifa."
Democrats in the Arizona House attempted to expel Finchem, currently a state representative, for attending the rally.
Finchem filed to run for office in March and was endorsed by Trump in September. Trump praised the Republican for his "incredibly powerful stance on the Voter Fraud that took place in the 2020 Presidential Election Scam."
(Alexandra Hutzler. “These 13 Candidates Who Were at Stop the Steal on January 6 Are Running for Office in 2022.” Newsweek. December 28, 2021.)
Tina Forte – New York
Tina Forte is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 14th congressional district. The seat is currently held by Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On her campaign website, Forte said she's running "to stop radical socialists from destroying the American Dream."
Forte attended the Capitol riot and live-streamed the January 6 event on her Facebook page, Snopes reported. In her video, she urged people at then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s rally on the Ellipse to make their way to the Capitol. Snopes even found that she entered a restricted area after the crowd knocked down barriers that law enforcement installed. All of her posts promoting the date in the weeks before Jan. 6 appeared to reach at least tens of thousands of people, but likely many more.
Forte said in the Facebook Live video: “Get your asses to the Capitol.” She was speaking to viewers who were watching from the Ellipse, where Trump was speaking. “We need to fight for our freedom, fight for our country, fight for our president, fight for our Constitution.”
A man on a bullhorn then asked that vulgar language be toned down because of the presence of “young children.” Forte responded: “Please, if you’re sensitive, go home.” She then added: “If I want to fucking curse, I’ll fucking curse.” Before the video ended, she claimed to be wearing a bulletproof vest.
Despite initially unfurling the Pelosi poster in a public space, Forte and others carried the artwork into a restricted area on the lawn in front of the Capitol. To reach the lawn, the crowd knocked down fencing that read: “AREA CLOSED. By order of the United States Capitol Police Board.” The video was reposted by the Twitter user @DianthaSol.
Snopes found that Forte repeatedly used hashtags related to QAnon conspiracy theories. The QAnon mentions even included cries of “Save the Children,” referring to the debunked conspiracy theory that makes claims of mass pedophilia and “Satanic blood-drinking” by Democrats. She took multiple photographs in October, November, and December 2020 with far-right Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio. Further, Snopes uncovered evidence that Forte pushed false election conspiracy theories, including the phrase “Stop the Steal.”
(Jordan Liles. “AOC Challenger Tina Forte Promoted and Attended Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.” Snopes. Special Investigation. August 25, 2021.)
Joey Gilbert – Nevada
Joey Gilbert, a personal injury attorney currently fighting an attempt by the state bar to reprimand him, is seeking to become Nevada's next governor. He made the announcement in June during a pro-Trump event, where he peddled Trump's lie that the election was stolen. He has become one of Nevada's most prominent voices calling into question the 2020 election result and decrying coronavirus vaccines.
"If election integrity isn't the No. 1 issue of these guys running, then they're either lost, confused or too stupid to be running," he said at the time, prompting cheers from the crowd gathered.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reported Gilbert spoke at a rally near Trump on January 6 and went to the Capitol. He said on Facebook that he did not go inside the building but that the crowd gathered there was "one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen."
In October 2020, Gilbert began working with America’s Frontline Doctors, a group of discredited conspiracy theorists and anti-mask advocates whose founder, Simone Gold, was arrested in January for her role in the Capitol riot. He represented the group in a new anti-vaccine lawsuit targeting a range of federal public health officials and agencies.
In an interview, Gilbert falsely declared that “masks don’t work,” adding that the pandemic scare was “nonsense.”
(Roger Sollenberger. “First He Was a Capitol Rioter. Now He Wants to Be Governor of Nevada.” Daily Beast. June 16, 2021.)
Charles Herbster – Nebraska
Charles Herbster, a Republican businessman, launched his campaign for governor of Nebraska in April. He's one of several GOP candidates running to replace Governor Pete Ricketts, a conservative who cannot seek reelection due to term limits.
Herbster attended the rally of Trump supporters in Washington D.C. on January 6, the Omaha World-Herald reported, but left before the violence broke out at the Capitol. Herbster also wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post that he met in Trump's private residence in his hotel with campaign advisers on January 5.
(Alexandra Hutzler. “These 13 Candidates Who Were at Stop the Steal on January 6 Are Running for Office in 2022.” Newsweek. December 28, 2021.)
Mark Middleton – Texas
Mark Middleton is running for a seat in the Texas House. He was arrested on April 21 and has pleaded not guilty to all counts, including obstruction of Congress and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers. Body cameras worn by law enforcement caught Middleton and his wife assaulting officers with their hands, according to a criminal complaint.
Derrick Van Orden – Wisconsin
Derrick Van Orden is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district. The district is currently represented by Democrat Ron Kind, who called Van Orden's presence at the Capitol "deeply disturbing."
Van Orden has said he left the "Stop the Steal" rally after rioters began entering the Capitol and that he never went inside the building. He condemned the violence during an interview with WQOW.
Jason Riddle – New Hampshire
Jason Riddle, a New Hampshire native, told NBC10 Boson that he would be mounting a campaign against Democrat Annie Kuster. Kuster has served as a U.S. congresswoman from the state's second district since 2013.
Riddle pleaded guilty to theft of government property and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building as a result of his participation in the events of January 6. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 2022. According to a criminal complaint, Riddle stole a book and a toy football from the Office of the U.S. Senate Parliamentarian, and also drank from a bottle of wine he also found in that office.
Conclusion
A sad narrative has arisen since the riot on January 6, 2021. People have become vulnerable to suggestions that breaking the law and committing acts of violence is appropriate when following directives – in this case, based on false and baseless claims – to interrupt the election process.
Vera Bergengruen, polititical correspondet for Time, reports …
“The number of Republicans who said they thought it was 'very important' to prosecute those who broke into the Capitol dropped from 50% in March 2021 to 27% in September, according to a Pew Research poll. 'There is no public outcry demanding that the government continue to comb through every snippet of video from Jan. 6, 2021, seeking people to indict,' the lawyer for Patrick McCaughey, a Connecticut man charged with assault, said in March. She called the investigation 'the largest political witch hunt in DOJ history.'”
(Vera Bergengruen. “For the Jan. 6 Rioters, Justice Is Still Coming.” Time January 5, 2022.)
A September 2021 “Justice for J6” rally in support of those arrested attracted only a few hundred supporters in Washington, D.C., yet the view of charged insurrectionists as “political prisoners” has become a popular rallying cry on social media.
Bergengruen says that in September, Trump himself released a statement in support of the Jan. 6 protest, saying, “Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest concerning the Rigged Presidential Election.”
According to The Washington Post, Trump has pushed Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, and other Republican officials to claim on television that the election was stolen, and repeatedly pressed the topic with Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to Republicans familiar with the conversations.
(Ashley Parker, Amy Gardner and Josh Dawsey. “How Republicans became the party of Trump’s election lie after Jan. 6.” The Washington Post. January 05, 2022.)
The Republicans have become the party of Trump's election lie. They welcome with open arms those who support his false claims and believe the violence on January 6 was not only inconsequential but also warranted. Some of them falsely claimed leftist “antifa” protesters were behind the violence. Then, you have people like Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) who claimed, the riot was simply “a normal tourist visit.” And some Republicans rebranded those arrested in the aftermath of the insurrection as “political prisoners.”
Now, the party finds their “political prisoners” poised to become key players as government officials, and if they succeed in getting elected, they are sure to continue to spread discontent and mayhem across America. Vladimir Lenin once said: “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” The Washington Post suggests President Donald Trump told 30,573 false or misleading statements over 4 years. Based on this number, he is clearly a prolific liar.
Yet, Trump's “Big Lie” – that the 2020 election was stolen – is the falsehood that most threatens our democracy. Despite a violent insurrection, he is the undisputed leader of the Republican Party and a leading contender for the 2024 presidential nomination.
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