On Wednesday, January 6th, a group of pro-Trump supporters led an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol just before Congress was able to vote on certifying the 2020 presidential election results. These results named Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States, respectively.
Among the many videos of the riot that were posted to social media is one of police trying to clear the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. This footage was taken by Townhall reporter Julio Rosas.
A tall man in that video can be seen wearing a US Olympic Team jacket as police attempt to clear the Rotunda. At least a dozen people within the sport have identified that individual to SwimSwam as the 6’6” Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller after reviewing the video and screenshots.
Screenshot from Townhall Media/Julio Rosas
Screenshot from Townhall Media/Julio Rosas
Screenshot from Townhall Media/Julio Rosas
Screenshot from Townhall Media/Julio Rosas
In the video, the man that appears to be Keller can be seen with his back to police and his arms at his side as the officers move the crowd towards the exits.
Trump supporters fought back after Capitol Police moved in to retake the Rotunda. pic.twitter.com/4e7mNyqWZy
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) January 6, 2021
In another video by the same reporter, Keller can be seen standing calmly in the Rotunda holding a bottle of water.
Since the election results were first announced in early November, they have been contested by the sitting President, Donald Trump, and his supporters in Congress and throughout the country. On Wednesday, congressional Republicans issued their final challenges to the Electoral College votes. Then, Congress was set to count and confirm the Electoral College votes of each state, thereby rubber-stamping the results and setting accusations of election fraud to rest.
However, around 2 pm, before Congressional voting could take place, the mob breached the Capitol building. The U.S. Capitol Police described the chaos that ensued in a press release the next day:“These individuals actively attacked United States Capitol Police Officers and other uniformed law enforcement officers with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants, and took up other weapons against our officers. They were determined to enter into the Capitol Building by causing great damage.”
The violence resulted in five deaths, including the death of Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick who was reportedly “injured while physically engaging with protesters.” Four rioters died as well, one of whom was shot by Capitol Police as she tried to climb through a broken window. Members of Congress were evacuated from the most vulnerable areas of the building, and many were ordered to shelter in place in the House Chamber for hours while the Capitol Police struggled with the rioters.
Keller has deleted all of his social media accounts, but prior to their deletion, he was an outspoken supporter of President Trump.
Keller attended USC in 2000 and 2001 before he left to focus on swimming. He then trained under head coach Bob Bowman and former head coach Jon Urbanchek at Club Wolverine and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before returning to USC in 2007 to finish his bachelor’s degree in Science and Public Policy. He finished his collegiate career under USC and Trojan Swim Club head coach Dave Salo.
Post-college, Keller now works as an independent contractor for the Colorado and Ohio-based real estate agency Hoff and Leigh where he “spends his time advising industrial landlords and sellers on maximizing the value of their industrial asset.” On Monday morning, SwimSwam called Hoff and Leigh to verify Keller’s employment there. They responded that he was a current employee, and they seemed unaware of the Capitol video or of Keller’s possible involvement in the riot.
Update: On Tuesday afternoon, Hoff and Leigh released a statement saying that Keller is no longer with the company and has resigned. “Hoff & Leigh supports the right of free speech and lawful protest,” the company wrote. “But we cannot condone actions that violate the rule of law.”
“We pride ourselves on our deeply held core values of family, loyalty, community and stewardship. We continue to stand by these values.”
Keller has won a total of 5 Olympic medals over the course of 3 Olympic Games at which he represented Team USA:
- 2000 – bronze, 400m free
- 2000 – silver, 800m free relay
- 2004 – gold, 800m free relay
- 2004 – bronze, 400m free
- 2008 – gold, 800m free relay
He set the former American record in the 400 free at the 2004 Olympics and the former American and World records in the 800 free relay at the 2007 World Championships.
Keller struggled to adjust to post-Olympic life after 2008. He told the Olympic Channel podcast how swimming had set high expectations for his success which backfired in the work setting as it caused frustration. He explained how his past victories in the pool also made him feel “entitled” at first.
“I’ll be honest I wasn’t a good employee…for the longest time because I expected it all to come to me as easily as swimming did,” Keller said. “Once things started going south…I lost that enthusiasm.”
This struggle spiraled into all aspects of his life, culminating in the “reality check” which he pinpointed as the day he became homeless. In 2014, he and his wife got divorced, after which he lived out of his car for about 10 months. In an interview with USA Swimming, Keller explained that he did not have visitation rights to see his children for 4 years.
He described the reality behind what seemed like a sharp turn in his life. “It’s a slow leadup of shirking responsibility, and just letting the little things slide every day…it eventually builds a critical mass and once that critical mass is built it’s that last final straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Keller told the Olympic Channel. He detailed his outlook on life getting “lower and lower.”
Keller then talked about his gradual comeback after receiving “love and acceptance from his family,” specifically his sister and 2004 Olympian Kalyn Keller who took him in. He worked through this time by teaching swim lessons and running swim clinics.
He is most notably remembered in the pool for anchoring the 800 free relay at the 2004 Olympics where he went head-to-head with Australia’s Ian Thorpe, ultimately fending him off by .13 seconds and earning Team USA a gold medal.
Across the country, people are demanding accountability for the rioters’ insurrection on a building that is such a distinctive symbol of American democracy – where our laws are created and where presidential inaugurations take place. No known arrests were reported on-site, however, the FBI is carrying out an ongoing investigation which took to Twitter on Thursday to help them identify individuals who “unlawfully entered the U.S. Capitol on January 6.” The New York Times reported that “dozens have been charged” since then, and the FBI has received over 40,000 tips in photos and videos alone. Tips submitted over the phone were not included in that number.
According to the Washington Post, the rioters who breached the Capitol can be charged with multiple crimes including seditious conspiracy (the law states that this includes anyone who attempts “to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess, any property of the United States contrary to the authority of”), unlawful entry, damaging federal property, and terrorism (due to pipe bombs found at the scene.)
Members of Congress, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, place accountability with President Trump as well. Pelosi has called for President Trump’s impeachment due to remarks he made the morning of January 6 in a video he posted to social media. He told rioters, “We love you, you’re very special,” while also telling them to leave the Capitol. Trump has yet to face those legal and political charges, but social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have suspended his accounts. Twitter argued they took this action “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Ultimately, the attempt to hinder the certification of the Electoral College votes was unsuccessful. At 6 pm, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a citywide curfew enforced by police in riot gear and the National Guard. They were able to move the mob away from the building, allowing business to resume in the Capitol that evening. Both sides of the bipartisan system denounced the violence. 15 hours after the mob breached the Capitol, at about 3:30 am, it was official – the election results were certified.
wpDiscuz
what a beast. trump 2020
bruh
What a way togo Klete. Who name you!! Looks like your career is over. 1) you will have to wear something besides a swimsuit. Is orange your color? and 2) as far as I know they don’t have swimming pools in federal prison. Nice to “f” up a career. MORON
Come on People, Be patriots and respect what he did for the country
Respect? He committed treason against his country!
yes, his actions were dumb however pretty sure he retired
Trump will be forever synonymous with the year 2020… and that’s not something to be proud of.
Bruh it’s literally 2021
Bruh…you’re just plain stupid.
literally literally literallyliterallyliterallyliterallyliterallyliterallyliterallyliterally
Finally getting the down votes these comments deserve.
Luckily a free society doesn’t determine what you can say based on up or down votes.
And if it did, “special” people would just call it fake news and carry on with their ignorance.
1) not a beast for committing a federal crime, but sure, go off
2) it’s not even 2020 anymore
3) trump lost. very officially.
4) good luck coping with reality!
The commenter “youKnow” isn’t the one that said it and we know what “leisurely” meant by his post about 2020.
You’ve got to be extremely low on brain power and personal integrity to support a man
as thoroughly vile–in every way–and dangerous to this country as Trump. Seriously,
anybody who believes any of his election-fraud nonsense is beyond hope. He’s a gangster–
and a sinister, deranged man.
Anyone who believes in voter fraud doesn’t have two functioning brain cells. The checks within the system are incredible. Right wing America is nothing but Simplistic Angry Males spewing nonsense to each other and being ignorant and gullible enough to believe it. It goes far beyond Trump. There is no such thing as both sides. Both sides has been gone longer than Johnny Weissmuller. One side is nothing but runaway lies and stupidity. Trump supporters magically turn into Antifa during a two block walk to the Capitol Building, but somehow Trump supporters are the only ones brilliant enough to film themselves during the act. Antifa obviously vaporized because none were caught trying to fly back, even though some are on… Read more »
Thats just too simplistic. For starter, I think trump should impeached again and also face a legal investigation for the amount of money grifting to his own company let alone basically making his administration about TRUMP first, not america first. When the republican in alaska said she didn’t like his demenor,he said he’ll campaign for anyone good or bad over her. He never cared much except getting praise and I gotta say I’m disappointed in my country for buying the con.
That said, Trump is the tip of the iceberg. There are definitely fringe supporter who are racist and terrible and trump is sociopathic that if it benefits him he doesn’t seem to care. But we need to see… Read more »
Who was it that said “Our election was hijacked. There is no question. Congress has a duty to #ProtectOurDemocracy & #FollowTheFacts.”
If I’m not mistaken it was the speaker of the house in 2016. Does she have two functioning brain cells?
Speaker of the House 2016 was Paul Ryan (R), Wisconsin
Obama?
im proud of swimswam for giving this 700+ dislikes lol
Make that 700++
1.6k!
sounds like his bad decisions in life set him up to be a Trump supporter. Once again blaming others for his unhappy life
1107 dislikes – got to be a record? Braden, Jared?
1.4k LOL
This is crazy. Upvote record is 1200 something from a live recap. Makes me wonder how many people came here from outside of Swimswam (this article got linked on other news sites reports)
Most downvotes ever?
not sure “critical mass” has meet him.
Messy divorce, custody issues, professional failures… guarantee a lot of dudes at the Capitol on Wednesday can check the same boxes
…Although most of them were evacuated around the time the protestors entered the building.
“Prostestors” not the right label.
hambone – you’re probably the same one that said that burning buildings down, looting, and beating police officers is “peaceful protesting” am I right?!
Former libs who see the light (ie reverse woke)
Society rejects truth-seekers.
I replied with an article showing that the “viking” guy was part of Q and not antifa as they were saying, everyone blocked and continued to try to spread the misinformation. “Truth-seekers” my ass. Waving Trump flags instead of american flags too.
Censorship in the mainstream media works one way, and it’s only in leftist favor. At least Trump passionately stood for something, instead of resigning to the role of the public’s incompetent puppet. Trump isn’t a perfect man, but neither is anyone, and his conservative supporters are not all racist homophobic misogynists. The March was meant to be patriotic, which it ultimately wasn’t, but neither was burning and looting innocent businesses for the in-evident narrative that whites generally oppress blacks in America.
Probably and the same goes for those who looted, rioted and burned down businesses.
False equivalency. BLM protests were about a legit issue. Capitol insurrection had no legitimacy–
a bunch of idiots unable or unwilling to realize that they’ve been played by Trump since the election
and for four years. Trump used the red herring of Democratic election fraud to try and steal the election.
He accused the Dems of doing what he, in fact, was doing. He’s a transparent liar to anyone with a brain.
Doesn’t matter if the issue was legit it doesn’t justify the violence. Do you think the federal officers blinded by lasers aimed at them from BLM were ok with it because it was apparently a legit issue?
What’s your source for the “lasers”?
I remember that from this summer. A quick search will turn up multiple articles about it if you search for Portland, FBI, eye injuries. The DHS said there were 113 injuries.
Source links?
Wanna take odds on it being YouTube or Gateway Pundit as a “source”?
Only thing I could find is claims from the WH like Barr (clearly not a very credible source, and it was a total of 3 officers whose eyesight was affected… and none permanently.
There’s a huge difference between Black folks’ (and their supporters’) anger over the long history of Black Americans being murdered by cops for no reason (and anger that it continued even during the demonstrations) and White fascist Trumpists who are mad because they think Trump was cheated out of his election victory. (It’s easy to fact-check that Trump was NOT cheated).
And there’s a big difference between burning down a cop shop. — over a legitimate life and death issue, specifically murder-by-cop — and invading the Capitol building (which was motivated by false beliefs that are easily fact-checked).
“Violence and rioting are justifiable if you agree with the premise.” -Armchair
Ludicrous take. 2 billion in damage and over 75 dead. Legit?? No
Sit down – your number is 3x too high and almost of all those people were killed by counterprotestors, i.e. the same maniac losers who attacked the Capitol and tried to overthrown the government.. this article took about 10 seconds to find but there are plenty. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/americans-killed-protests-political-unrest-acled#:~:text=At%20least%2025%20Americans%20were%20killed%20during%20protests%20and%20political%20unrest%20in%202020,-Protest
It may be just a small thing. But, I want to thank you for your information. Facts matter. Even to those demented wackos who buy Trumps delusional act. Problem is that most of them are intellectually lazy and can’t or won’t accept the truth
It’s all they’ve got, so they’re clinging to this false equivalency. So sad. Rioting because you hate centuries of oppression when a video appears of a white cop kneeling on (another) black man’s neck for 9.5 minutes, Compared to following a false claim of “fraud” which has been debunked by 60 judges, many republican, and zero proof… yeah – not the same… but it’s literally all they’ve got. Thank goodness many are going to (or already in) jail. This same stupid #BLM was worse claim is voiced by every R in my family and today by the shitstain in Tx. So sad.
There is no evidence that the man was killed because of his color. The police officer could have treated a white man the same way. We never know, maybe he himself does not know. If you say that black people are more often victims of police violence, that does not mean that his being black caused this particular incident. But of course it gives a better excuse to start rioting if you see all actions in terms of racism.
Who made you the arbiter of what cause is more worthy?
stellar Whataboutism
Eighty percent of Trump supporters are rednecks–fact–and most are young rednecks.
Not exactly the best and the brightest.
75 million votes and you’re claiming 60 million are rednecks and stating that as fact? I don’t think there’s that many in the US.
It troubles me that so many Americans have been duped by one of the great con artists of all time. Don’t they realize that Trump looks after the millionaires like him and couldn’t give the time of day to the average American. All he can do is lie and cheat. Buying into his act is a sign of human failure.
There are 115 million americans in the south, more than 2/3s of them are out in rural and suburban areas. Guess that Texas education isn’t doing you any favors lmao.
While I abhor Trump and the extremists who are part of his base, to paint 80% of his supporters with a single brush is not fair, nor is it likely accurate. Plus, your generalizations smack of classism, which is not a good look.
Maybe, but it is really disheartening that so many can’t see through the con, I’d guess about half. The same one’s pushing COVID as a hoax on this site. The other half could see through it but the lake house and jet ski budget are more import than democracy in their mind. Never forget those in your life that enabled this autocrat.
LOL. You apparently don’t live in the south or midwest where his mouthbreathing followers look like rejects from the banjo porch scene in “Deliverance”
Yep…in other words he was like most of Trumps supporters are…Losers! People who have made a mess of their personal lives and are looking for someone to blame.
Those kind of things are hard to take, but how did they happen, and who was responsible for it happening. Sounds like he did a poor job and may have let go. Regardless, he has to take some responsibility. Hope things work out for him and his family, but I doubt breaking into the Capitol is going to be much help. Sure did not disguise himself very well.
Wearing his Olympic jacket . . Not the brightest bulb, is he?
Hope he likes prison food! Feds are coming to get him.
Not after the leftists defund them.
New Favorite Olympian
I am guessing Officer Sicknick and his family can’t say the same. Are you just trying to be disrespectful?
Second officer who died, took his life. He was 51. No doubt distraught over the situation, probably had PTSD from it. Hope all those selfies were worth it for those “patriots.”
You know, usually people can look and see which side the Nazi’s are on and then figure out which side is wrong. All but traitors and white supremacists.
So is this a formal outing of him? Looks like he wasn’t doing anything violent
Was the living in a car stuff to further ur point that he is a degenerate??
Lol no one is outing him, they’re helping paint a clearer picture of who he is. Any “outing” was done to himself. Anyone in there, whether they were violent or not, deserves to go to jail for a long time.
Just your average law breaking storm on the Capitol, nothing violent there… should we all just move along?
We did in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, La, NY, and DC this summer. Where was your snark back then?
Violence is wrong–and the protestors in Portland are pretty hard-core and crazy–but BLM was a reaction to a legit issue: police violence. The Capitol insurrection was a reaction to a deranged man
who’s been stoking up dumb rednecks for four years with transparent lies. Trump is a sinister and aggressive liar–always has been. He’s vile. Fraudulent self-promotion is his reason for living.
The capitol breach was about the very thing playing out now and that’s a systemic silencing of a political view. They were a bunch of people who wanted their case heard and just like in 2000, 2004, and 2016 when democrats objected the electoral votes they were there to witness the same thing. 800k strong and we are talking about 100-200 so your stroking with a very broad brush here.
Funny, in those other years I recall cases being brought before courts, and when courts ruled in one way, the other side admitted they lost…Can you show me the headlines from those years where a bunch of people who just didn’t like the facts at hand continued to claim election fraud with no evidence and then stormed the capital while yelling about killing elected officials? And it’s not silencing when one’s political view is based on nothing but fantastical thinking and people stop listening…
Hillary? Abrams?? Gore???
Sorry, I must live under a rock…pretty sure all those politicians conceded. Also, when did a bunch of people storm the capital and yell about hanging the vice president in relation to the results after the urging of one of the above mentioned leaders?
Ummm, the Dems conducted a 2 year investigation into manufactured allegations of Russian collusion in the 2016 election. The anti-Trump forces never stopped trying to remove him from office and to delegitimize his Presidency. Ironically, the only things of substance produced were:
I don’t think the way Trump roiled up the crowd before they stormed the Capitol was very smart. I don’t think a lot of the things Trump has done… Read more »
“Ummm, the Dems conducted a 2 year investigation into manufactured allegations of Russian collusion in the 2016 election. The anti-Trump forces never stopped trying to remove him from office and to delegitimize his Presidency.”
I really hope you can see how the above (regardless to how one feels about it) is drastically different than trying to delegitimize and circumvent democracy…
The department of justice investigated and threw all of Trump’s campaign managers in jail. That wasn’t just “the Dems”.
Use Occam’s razor. Trump and his cohort are in constant legal trouble because they are lifelong criminals.
Your intellect went straight into the dumpster when you wrote: “Don’t attack the validity of the gripes of either side, their perception is their reality.” Facts are reality and when your bias gets in the way of facts, for example: Investigations into Putin and Russia’s control of Trump,your comments on what others should do rings hollow.
You people (blackflag, nowhere, ringo, et al.) are not listening and that’s what got you Trump in the first place. It’s also what got you the events of 1/6. You don’t seem to realize that there are 70M people that are disenfranchised and upset by what’s going on in this country. I’d try to explain specifics, but you’re not interested. A large portion, maybe 20-30M are really angry. The attitudes I’ve seen on this message board are exactly what’s going to make the problem worse.
I’ve read on here how Klete was “radicalized”… the only radicals I see are those of you on the left that are so frothed up that you can’t even see your own hypocrisy. I’m… Read more »
“You don’t seem to realize that there are 70M people that are disenfranchised and upset by what’s going on in this country.”
Claiming disenfranchisement doesn’t make it true. Trying to actively subvert democracy with a violent storming of the Capitol while Congress is certifying those valid results because you “feel” like said disenfranchisement is true is treason.
In your own words – “I’d try to explain specifics, but you’re not interested“
There’s an altSwimSwam group over on Parler you might want to check out. Oh, wait…
Everyone who stormed into that building broke federal law. So yeah, if it is confirmed to be him, he should be arrested.
Would you consider setting fire to a federal building breaking a federal law as well?
With employees inside as well.
I don’t agree with what happened in DC, and I am not a Trump supporter, but I can’t help but feel the media portrayal of this vs the events over the summer is very biased.
Burning federal buildings, attacking police officers with fireworks and explosive devices were never called riots. Again, I’m not defending recent events but I have a hard time seeing a ton of difference between violence conducted on the right or left.
Are you kidding me? You don’t see a difference? If the crowd was a BLM crowd moving toward the Capitol, police would have opened fire before anyone got near! Take a look at the (in)famous photo of scores of police guarding the Lincoln Monument this summer from the BLM protester. Guarding a monument with full riot gear!
I honestly can’t say what the response would be in that scenario. I don’t know.
I am looking at what actually happened and the actions of the rioters on both sides and not the police response. On both sides, there was destruction of property, assaults on officers etc. Both are bad and should be condemned
Did police actually fire at any of the “protests”? I don’t think they did, despite being attacked with explosives, mortars, bricks, etc
There is a huge difference between damage of private property and utilizing violent force to breach The US Capitol while Congress is in session, threatening our federal government officials and our highest democratic process.
They intentionally won’t see the difference and depend on this false equivalency. So predictable.
Klete could face Federal charges just for being there. Many are being charged with “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry”.
These are not bogus charges and he could be tried along with others who have been identified. If he wasn’t displaying any aggressive behavior, he might not be charged with “violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds”. Still, common sense is not so common these days.
It will be difficult to prosecute a lot of these people when there is video footage showing the Capitol Police standing to the side and talking to some of the protestors as they calmly walk into the building. Some people even appear to be asking the cops if it’s okay, and the cops just shrug their shoulders.
Naaa: they’ll be easy to prosecute–and richly deserve prosecution .
69 arrests with more likely with charges such as seditious conspiracy, damage to federal property, crossing state lines to commit crimes, etc are some of the options.
No doubt he’s in some trouble here, but at the end of the day what did he really do other than exercise poor judgement? Was he simply there, did he vandalize anything, did he steal something, did he personally injure someone? Give him his punishment, but there should be a degree to that based on his actions.
The good news is he made Lochte look an Olympic hero in Rio.
Not sure how formal of an outing it is, but the guy is 6ft6 wearing an Olympic Team jacket. Pretty hard to conceal your identity at that point.
Poor judgement no doubt, but that could point to it wasn’t premeditated on his part and that he got caught up in the moment.
“Caught up in the moment” is the lamest excuse I’ve heard. But do go on.
Getting caught up in the moment gets brown people shot or arrested.
Lol no the living in a car stuff was to make clear how he became a Trump supporter
I’m not sure voting demographics would support your claim. Think about it, the underclass typically votes democrat.
It appears that in the last 2 elections the lower-class minorities have voted Democrat, but the uneducated whites have gone MAGA. For instance, according to a Pew study, 28% of Biden voters had high school or less education, while 42% of Trump voters had high school or less education. I’m not sure if you based your claim off 1996 or earlier demographics, when the uneducated leaned more towards Democrats, but the reality is that currently poor whites are voting Trump. Given that Klete Keller was a poor white when he was living out of his car, that is the demographic most important for this discussion.
Wasn’t Klete college educated?
Nah, he went to USC.
Oh zing!
I think the point is you can only protest, riot, or loot if your a liberal.
No it’s certainly not excusable to loot or riot if you are supporting BLM, but (1) it’s more understandable when you are protesting systemic racism that has made upward mobility even more challenging for African-Americans than for the average Trump supporter, and (2) it’s certainly less serious than storming the Capitol with the intent of harming lawmakers 🙂 I’m not excusing rioting or looting but rather showing the marked difference between BLM protests and the acts of domestic terrorism that happened last week.
We can agree that neither is excusable, but they are more similar than you thinkm
What about setting a federal building on fire or aiming high powered lasers into the eyes of fbi agents blinding them? How about storming a police precinct? That’s domestic terrorism.
Me thinkm you’re gonna have a rough 8 years and more.
I thinkm I agree
Pretty racist comment for a libby. Any american indians on your swim team Shorthorn?
Not true. Please use the law to bring any charge against any looter or rioter in any situation. When you storm into the Capital Building causing Senators and House Representatives to flee and following procedures for this type of thing. This was a protest that was turned into an angry mob to storm the capital and change the election results. It stopped being a protest after they started matching to the Capital Building..
This is what we call a break in and Coup not protest.
- Yelling assassinate Mike Pence outside the Capital Building
- Capital Police Officer dead (so much for those Blue Lives Matter)
- There was an actual huge mob of people heaving and hoeing trying to break
… Read more »I think you are either confused or didn’t pay attention to all the acts committed by BLM and Antifa this summer. Blue lives didn’t seem to matter when the Portland police station was set a blaze or the Minneapolis police station was destroyed. How about tossing bricks at cops and knocking them out. Finally, was it lawful to setup a fake sovereign country in the middle of an american city for 4 months?
Did you watched the Portland riots on FOX TV??? How about the hundreds of people arrested? How about the Press guys being beaten and having their cameras destroyed? How about the unmarked vans that were loaded with people, mostly by-standers? How about the medical personnel being pushed and beaten, all wearing Red Cross hats – they were out there only to help people on Both sides… I try to stay out of every political discussion, mostly in sites like this not dedicated to politics, but you just don’t quit with your bias comments. We are all Americans, and all this situation is driven by people that don’t know when to Stop! Yes, there were 70 millions that voted Republican, but… Read more »
And what did those in charge in the Autonomous Zone do? They put up walls/fence, were armed, bullied and assaulted people – all of these things they were supposedly protesting
I’m not on the far right, consider myself to be somewhere in the middle, but the far left is a very scary thing. You are either with them or against them
I’m sorry to tell you that “consider myself to be somewhat in the middle” is no longer an acceptable position. If they identify you, they will paint you to that far right corner if you aren’t all-in no matter how ridiculous the point of view.
You clearly have way too much time on your hands to be commenting uninformed responses to everyone’s posts. How embarrassing for you.
If your only response to an act of terrorism that sought to disrupt our democracy and resulted in the death of five people is to bring up BLM repeatedly, then you have no argument. These issues are completely unrelated and the comparison is offensive.
I feel bad for you
BLM protesters get this: https://kgw.com/embeds/video/283-f5eb311a-d655-4841-89d4-b936a2092c97/iframe?jwsource=cl
Capitol terrorists get let into the building by police.
I wonder why those silly BLM protesters were rioting!
and all under the context of protesting
True, you have to be Trumplican to actually go beyond that to commit insurrection.
That’s you’re. But sounds like you went to Texas so understandable.
To be fair Swim Swam did a catching up with Klete Keller article years ago about how his life has changed after he retired from swimming and it mentioned he was living in Colorado Springs… I don’t think they are painting a negative picture of him and on something they previously reported (I.e. living in his car). He gave them the info. I think their intent was to show how he was climbing his way out of a dark spot in his life and he had moved to CO for a fresh start.
Now, here we are two years later and he screws up big. Not the sharpest tool in the shed to wear his Olympic gear. Just saying.
This comment section needs only an hour before it gets turned into a warzone
Honestly I’m pleasantly surprised by the level of civility and general condemnation of the insurrection so far. Ups my faith in SwimSwam’s readership
Those people that showed up really didn’t think this thing through very well. Do you think they understood that they would be guilty of trying to overthrow the government?
No. They were interested in taking selfies, grandstanding and making fools of themselves.
This probably represents most, but there were some with other intentions.
Similar to occupying an autonomous zone.
Capital Building is not similar to an autonomous zone. Way off.
Yeah the hanging a gallows and chanting to get the #2 and #3 elected officials in the country totally went on in that autonomous zone.
I have a suspicion for some, they didn’t realize what they were doing is illegal since it’s not done a regular basis.
For some it needs to be outright said that intruding the US Capitol using violence is illegal.
People don’t realize that they shouldn’t break down doors or enter a place through broken windows? Huh? Read what you wrote please.
Ignorance of the law is not a defense.
It wasn’t really a defense of the terrorist, I think the author of the above comment was just making a point about how far down the rabbit hole some of these people are.
That is true. It is truly scary to realize the absurd nonsense that a lot of right-wingers immerse
themselves in nowadays–stuff that 4th graders would realize is idiotic. QAnon? Seriously? But Trump’s base is really about white supremacy and opposing Dems who espouse equality, multi-culturalism, etc. Young, burly, uneducated men who like guns and seem to enjoy walking around in camo and helmets and showing how tough they are are the market for a sinister, seditious white supremacist president.
Only for cops 🙂
While it may seem like I was defending their actions, I was only trying to answer the original question “Do you think they understood that they would be guilty of trying to overthrow the government?”.
It doesn’t let me edit my comment, but if I could I’d add at the end “Not realizing doesn’t justify their actions of course”
They’ve got f’in metal detector screening to get in, are you kidding me? It’s like saying they didn’t know you couldn’t storm an airport past airport security.