Just following the orders

Written by

Ophelia Benson

in

She didn’t mean anything by it, and besides Trump told her to.

A Texas real estate agent who was part of the pro-Trump mob that attacked the US Capitol said on Monday she was just following the orders of Donald Trump even as she faced federal charges for her part in the insurrection.

“I have no guilt in my heart,” Jenna Ryan told NBC News. “I’m glad I was there because I witnessed history. And I’ll never get the chance to do that again.”

I certainly fucking hope not.

“President Trump requested that we be in DC on 6 January,” she said. “So this was our way of going and stopping the steal.”

…

“I listen to my president, who told me to go to the Capitol,” she told CBS in an earlier interview.

Useful evidence for the Senate impeachment trial, and federal prosecution later on.

She subsequently left a trail of social media posts documenting her participation in the insurrection, including a picture next to a broken window and a video of her saying: “We’re armed and dangerous. This is just the beginning.”

A Facebook live stream showed Ryan entering the Capitol, promoting her real estate business and saying: “We’re going to fucking go in here. Life or death.”

…

She told NBC that, though she joined a mob that broke into the Capitol, where some rioters ransacked offices and sought out lawmakers to kidnap and kill, some chanting “Hang Mike Pence”, she had not been advocating aggression.

In that case she should have turned around and left the scene. She didn’t leave, she stayed and participated and boasted about it.

It is unclear whether Trump will include any of the rioters in a list of about 100 people he plans to pardon in his last days in office. Allies have warned against it.

Meaning, they told him it would be bad for him. That means he won’t do it.

Comments

8 responses to “Just following the orders”

  1. iknklast Avatar
    iknklast

    Last I knew, saying you were armed and dangerous is tantamount to advocating aggression.

  2. KBPlayer Avatar
    KBPlayer

    This is a fascinating report on the Last Days of Trump. It is like Downfall in the same atmosphere of general madness and desperation.

    https://www.axios.com/off-the-rails-episodes-cf6da824-83ac-45a6-a33c-ed8b00094e39.html

    I’m really looking forward to when this is just historical drama, rather than danger.

  3. Ophelia Benson Avatar
    Ophelia Benson

    So am I. 45 hours + 20 minutes…

  4. What a Maroon Avatar
    What a Maroon

    In case you missed it:

    Authorities are searching for an alleged Capitol rioter who — according to a “former romantic partner” — may have stolen a laptop or hard drive from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the FBI says.

    The issue “remains under investigation,” according to a criminal complaint filed Sunday against Riley June Williams, the Pennsylvania woman named in the potential theft and charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. An ex-partner of Williams called the FBI to identify her in video footage and relay the laptop allegation, an agent wrote in the complaint.

    The ex-partner, identified only as W1 in court filings, told the FBI that friends of Williams played a video of her stealing the drive or computer from Pelosi’s office, and that Williams “intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service,” the complaint states. According to the witness, however, the plan fell through for unknown reasons, and Williams still has the device or has destroyed it, the FBI said.

    Patriotism in action.

  5. Steven Avatar
    Steven

    Trump has a track record of pardoning people who break the law on his behalf.

    OTOH, everything Trump does is transactional. At this point there wouldn’t seem to be anything that the rioters can do for him. Without a transaction on the table, he may not have any motivation to pardon them.

    What’s more, he has already expressed his contempt for the rioters (he said they looked “low class” when he watched the riot on TV).

    So the question is which of his conflicting (ahem) principles will control here? We’ll know in two days.

  6. Your Name's not Bruce? Avatar
    Your Name’s not Bruce?

    Allies have warned against it.

    Meaning, they told him it would be bad for him. That means he won’t do it.

    He could also go all contrarian and “Nobody’s the boss of ME!!!” It’ll be the last time he gets to do this as prez, so there’s that.

    So the question is which of his conflicting (ahem) principles will control here? We’ll know in two days.

    Shitty or shittier?

  7. GW Avatar
    GW

    Just saw this. Nice people, eh?

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-man-who-stormed-capitol-allegedly-threatened-shoot-kids-if-n1254606

  8. zubanel Avatar
    zubanel

    If he can’t pardon someone until they’ve had a trial and been found guilty, none of them will be pardoned. But I don’t know if it’s more like daddy calling up his sheriff buddy telling him to let his kid go even before the charge.

More posts