Schrödinger’s Capitol: Three Things Owen Shroyer Neglects to Mention

Owen Shroyer has filed a motion to dismiss his trespassing case claiming that FBI left out material information in the arrest warrant against Shroyer. Basically, he argues that the FBI arrest affidavit neglected to describe that Jones and his entourage were begging the cops to let them go de-escalate the crowd.

Burns, however, omits that nothing in the video shows where the restricted area was, what its boundaries were, or warns Shroyer that he was in the restricted area. Burns also omits that, over the course of the 20-minute video, Shroyer’s bodyguard talked to multiple United States Capitol police officers, including on the United States Capitol steps, and expressed that Shroyer and his colleagues wanted to follow the law and help the United States Capitol police deescalate events. Burns conveniently omits the fact that a United States Capitol police officer – identifiable by his name tag as “C. Atkinson” – directs Shroyer and his colleagues to the opposite side of the Capitol building as being where the crowd is the worst when Shroyer’s bodyguard asks where the United States Capitol police needs help the most instead of telling them to leave a restricted area or not to go in one.

Shockingly, Burns hides from the Court that, when Shroyer and his colleagues went where Officer Atkinson directed them to go, Shroyer’s bodyguard had several more conversations with United States Capitol police officers right in front of what appears to be the United States Capitol steps. In these conversations, Shroyer’s bodyguard, Shroyer, and his colleagues interact with both rank-and-file Capitol police officers forming a line to guard the Capitol steps and a Capitol police commander who placed a phone call to his superiors asking whether they could allow Shroyer and his colleagues to assist in deescalating the crowd. Burns fails to tell the Court that, in these interactions, not a single Capitol police officer asked Shroyer or his colleagues to leave or told them that they were unlawfully in a restricted area. Burns also does not tell the Court that the United States Capitol police officers pled with their superiors to allow Shroyer and his colleagues to help them deescalate the crowd.

Shroyer additionally claims that the restricted area for every participant who didn’t already have a legal restriction on being on the Capitol grounds (as Shroyer did) changed after cops moved some barricades.

But Shroyer leaves out three key details that make it clear this filing is a bunch of propaganda.

Alex Jones invited the crowd to add to the mob on the East side even before a cop said there was a problem there

First, he’s lying about what the video shows. It starts with the interaction he describes in the motion, with a timestamp of 13:00. Except then it reverts to earlier footage, time stamped beginning 12:52, where Jones already makes the decision to move to the East front, promising viewers that Trump will speak and explaining they have a permit and a stage. The cop had nothing to do with their decision to go to the East side, and (as I noted here), Jones clearly suggested he was taking his mob to a place where he had legal permission to be, where he had a stage and a permit. That wasn’t the top of the steps; it was an area away from the Capitol that he never used.

Furthermore, the interaction in question captures the cop saying that “you” (meaning the rioters) had breached the East side barricades, undercutting their claim that the cops let rioters in or that the restricted area (for people not named Shroyer, who had a pre-existing one) had changed. Another cop describes that the stairs had been breached, again emphasizing that everyone was trespassing. The video shows Jones’ handlers attempting, but failing, to get legal coverage for Jones to mount the steps. That is, it pointedly shows that the cops never did sanction Jones’ trespassing (though one female cop said if he made it there on his own he could try).

And the video doesn’t show what happened when Jones did climb the steps.

This video (h/t @gal_suburban) shows that amid a mob of people Jones already knew had illegally “breached” the steps, Jones and Shroyer both yelled into blowhorns, “1776” amid an inflamed mob.

Only after that did Jones ask people to be peaceful, then shifted to a “Fight for Trump” chant, again inflaming the crowd (as he began to walk away).

That is, once they got the top of the steps claiming they were going to de-esecalate, they did the opposite, they used the language of Revolution.

Shroyer never denies he knew that his incitement throughout this video was illegal

Shroyer’s filing admits a key detail used to arrest him: less than a year before January 6, he had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement that prohibited him from making a ruckus anywhere at the Capitol, including the grounds of the Capitol.

The DPA defines the “Capitol Buildings” as the “United States Capitol, the Senate and House Office Buildings and garages, the Capitol Power Plant, all subways and enclosed passages connecting 2 or more of such structures, and the real property underlying and enclosed by any such structure.” Id. at p. 4. It the provides a map delineating what are considered to be the U.S. Capitol Grounds. Id. at p. 5. FBI Special Agent Clarke Burns insinuates that Shroyer violated this agreement even though federal prosecutors have left that decision to D.C. prosecutors.

DC prosecutors are AUSAs.

What Shroyer doesn’t mention is that the map he references includes all the places he was during the video he says exonerates him.

the term “United States Capitol Grounds” was defined to include an area delineated in a map attached to the DPA spanning the Capitol grounds from 3rd Street NW on the west side of the Capitol building, to 2nd Street SE on the east side of the Capitol building

And that’s it. He doesn’t deny his inflammatory speech was a violation of his DPA. He doesn’t say he didn’t have special notice and special prohibition to be on the Capitol grounds riling up a mob.

Having admitted to the DPA, he just ignores the import of it.

Shroyer neglects to mention the import of Ali Alexander’s presence

The video Shroyer says he exonerates him often doesn’t show who is in the entourage (it doesn’t even show his presence), though other videos clearly show who was with Shroyer and Jones as they made a public announcement they were moving to the East side even before speaking to a cop, then moving to the East side and chanting “1776” from the midst of the mob.

But one short clip shows that Ali Alexander was there (as, again, other videos confirm he was throughout).

The significance of Alexander’s presence is that — as BuzzFeed and others have shown — he used a series of front organizations to obtain permits at various locations around the Capitol. And those getting the permits on Alexander’s behalf were clearly told that their permits — the permit Jones used to lure people to the East side, only to ignore once he got there — were limited to 50 people.

Martin, an Iraq War veteran who serves on his local city council, directed the officer to speak with Stephen Brown, a sound and lighting technician who was listed as a “spokesperson,” because Martin said he “only deals with the logistics and the hotel bookings for the event.”

Brown, according to the officer’s notes, said he was “shocked” Martin would say that “because he is in daily communication with Mr. Martin for information regarding the event. He does not understand why he would say that or not give me the information I requested.”

A screenshot of the text from the documents

Obtained via Capitol Police

Brown, who did not respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment, told the officer Martin “is associated with Stop the Steal and travels with Ali Alexander.” Martin “does not seem to have an official title but he deals with the daily operations to include hotel books and car rentals.”

Alexander did not respond to a request for comment.

The officer reported advising Brown “of my concerns of not being able to regulate their numbers to 50 persons or less,” he wrote. “I explained that once information is on social media it is hard to regulate the number of participants. If his event is in fact one in the same Capitol Police will not be able to accommodate his event to the participant numbers being out of regulations and a public safety issue.”

Even the mob that Jones led to the East side exceeded what were allowed under the permit, and he (accompanied all the time by Alexander) didn’t lead them to the permitted area, which might have had the effect of drawing people away from (or at least prevented further accumulation on) the steps.

Shroyer didn’t need cops to tell him what was permissible for everyone who, unlike him, didn’t already have a prior prohibition tied to the Capitol grounds. He was steps away from Alexander the entire time in question.

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45 replies
  1. L. Eslinger says:

    Ali Alexander has stated that he had help from Representatives Brooks, Gosar, and Biggs, so his being subpoenaed by the Select Committee may be useful in at least strengthening the foundation of evidence leading up to the puppet masters (including, hopefully, those who secretly bankrolled myriad actions that have extended beyond the attacks of January 6th).

    Alexander appears to be just another self-promoting right-wing grifter and eager useful idiot, but under oath he may inadvertently help in enervating his cause.

    • Eureka says:

      I’m glad we got this deal started last Sunday — seriously, it was good to be mentally prepared.

      I knew “for sure” last night by how he said goodbye to the head of security entering the locker room.

      Did you see his press conference, crying (We love you too, Zach).

      With 12 more catches he’d beat the Eagles all-time receiving record; said he hoped to come back for that.

      Go Cards.

      I was pretty zen for the Super Bowl; one of the only breaks in my chill was when Michaels brings up the Jesse James catch (paging scribe) on Ertz’ game-winning TD: Me, yelling at tv: “He’s a runner!, Al.. He’s a freaking runner — not the same thing (and he had control besides)!”:

      https://twitter.com/BrendenDeegNFP/status/1449032474340823045

      [Speaking of some significant YAC, lol, if there was ever a time for it…]

  2. harpie says:

    I’m getting constantly interrupted today, so this may not be too coherent,
    but the timestamps on that video Shroyer uses seem to be one hour off.

    Eureka and PJ Evans were talking about that a little in this comment thread I did about a CapitolHunters twitter thread about JONES movements, here [scroll down to Eureka on 10/9 at 9:08pm]:
    https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/10/05/david-judd-claims-hes-not-being-treated-as-well-as-the-teenager-who-got-murdered/#comment-903984

    Might this be part of what Capitol Hunters calls JONES’ “shell game”?

    • harpie says:

      In that thread, Capitol Hunters links to this VIDEO [on Rumble]:

      Alex Jones at the Capitol on Jan 6th
      Hunting Insurrectionists Published October 5, 2021 [VIDEO 17:26]

      I broke that VIDEO down at this comment:
      https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/10/05/david-judd-claims-hes-not-being-treated-as-well-as-the-teenager-who-got-murdered/#comment-904050

      The JONES speech that’s stamped as 12:52pm in the video Shroyer uses, is [I think] the same as what’s shown in the Rumble video, [see video at 1:52] at 1:54 PM, but from a different angle.

    • Eureka says:

      The other thing is (and my brains are a touch preoccupied atm, too, so maybe I misread) Capitol Hunters’ map (in tweets 1 and 7, IIRC, of the tweet-thread version you’d linked) of Jones’ movements places the 13:00-labeled “BODYCAM” footage in/atop the NW-towards-N lawn area. And I thought Marcy above (twice) (and assume based on court docs) placed that interaction with Officer C. Atkinson in the East, (by) referring to them being told they (“you”) breached the barricades.

        • skua says:

          Hey harpie and Eureka. Thank you both for the work you do.

          Is the following what you wish for?
          “Alex Jones at the Capitol on Jan 6th (Updated 10/05/21)”
          httpsLINKBREAK://rumble.com/vndge8-alex-jones-at-the-capitol-on-jan-6th-updated-100521.html
          It is 17:26 mm:ss long.
          If so it is also archivable for research purposes using youtube-dl and the associated “EMBED” URL
          httpsLINKBREAK://rumble.com/embed/vkra9i/?pub=4
          I can’t find anything more recent.
          There are two more “hunting insurrectionist” videos on Rumble at httpsLINKBREAK://rumble.com/c/c-969823 than at httpsLINKBREAK://www.youtube.com/c/HuntingInsurrectionists/videos
          “Alex Jones at the Capitol on Jan 6th (Updated 10/05/21)” is one of the ones missing from YT.

            • harpie says:

              Yes, Skua, I’m adding my gratitude to Eureka’s!

              I apologize for not responding sooner.
              I absolutely depend on the memory and help of others here, and very much appreciate that people read/try to decipher the sometimes rambling trains of thought.

              THANKS to ALL the Hands on Deck here at emptywheel!

              -love,
              harpie

          • Eureka says:

            Appreciate your helpful intentions and video count, skua.

            Remember that time back in March when were were looking for Biggs (ca. the OK stack who’d breached the East) in new video and a still from Christiaan Triebert (NYT)? Some time later when NYT released their video investigation, Day of Rage (with longer and additional clips), it became clear that Biggs was indeed that briefly, barely visible plaid blur off to the right of the video (I’d talked myself out of having identified Biggs there, speaking of de-gaslighting). [The still photo CT’d tweeted at the time was of just _after_ Biggs had passed through, so he wasn’t in that one.]

            There are millions (likely an underestimate of scale) of data points in this morass, a vastness that’s hard to apprehend. It’s good to pipe up (and just as we’re wrong about being right, we’re wrong about being wrong — & each vice versa). It all requires many hands on deck, a lot of try and try again, and patience.

      • Eureka says:

        I’m glad you did that thread over there (closed), it refreshed me to a time I was not gaslighted about where SoRelle, Rhodes, and them were hanging out (despite having made any number of arguments relying on them being in the correct place — NE / E via N — at some point I’d rotated them to S/SW). Glia Cleanser!

        • harpie says:

          So true, wrt: the gaslighting…and what makes it worse is that
          that IS exactly the plan and the MO of these despicable people.

        • harpie says:

          And, speaking of these despicable people,
          if ALL HANDS are ready for a new adventure: ITALYGATE

          https://twitter.com/visionsurreal/status/1449761728099725313
          11:38 AM · Oct 17, 2021

          THREAD:
          The Italygate conspiracy theory alleged an Italian company switched votes in the 2020 US election.

          An overlooked person played a key role in its spread just before Jan 6th: Ann Vandersteel (Flynn Org)

          What good is a conspiracy theory if it can’t be weaponized? /1

          [… … …]

          If there was ever a confession as to what Flynn Org’s Vandersteel was doing, it was exactly that:

          A “social media psyop.”

          I urge journalists & @January6thCmte to
          focus on Flynn Org.

          Flynn Org weaponized disinformation and targeted our population in advance of Jan 6th. /36x

          [… …]

          BONUS #3 On 12/30/20, six days before Vandersteel “broke” the Italygate story on 1/5, note that Flynn tweeted that “Italy” was involved in our election. Interesting :)

    • harpie says:

      ON THE DAY that FLYNN tweeted about ITALYGATE:

      12/30/20 Steve BANNON convinces TRUMP to return to WH to prepare for 1/6/21
      BANNON: We’re going to bury Biden on January 6th, fucking bury him.

      SEE:
      https://twitter.com/justinhendrix/status/1441199636077637642
      8:35 PM · Sep 23, 2021

      Why did the Jan 6 Committee subpoena Steve Bannon?

      He is one of the architects of the Big Lie. This is the segment from the Woodward/Costa book on Bannon’s efforts to coach Trump to create a spectacle to “fucking bury Biden on January 6th” to kill his presidency “in the crib”: [screenshot]

      12/30/20 WH announces that TRUMP will return to DC on 12/31 [1 day early]

      • harpie says:

        [From the screenshot of the Woodward/Costa book] [I added the numbers]

        12/30/20 TRUMP/BANNON phone call:
        [Bannon from his “townhouse on Capitol Hill”, Trump at Mara Lago]

        Trump ranted about how Republicans were not doing enough to keep him in power.

        “You’ve got to return to Washington and make a dramatic return today,” Bannon told him. […]
        “You’ve got to call Pence off the fucking ski-slopes and get him back here today. This is a crisis,” […]

        Bannon told Trump to focus on January 6. That was the moment for a reckoning.

        “People are going to go, ‘What the fuck is going on here?’” Bannon believed.
        “We’re going to bury Biden on January 6th, fucking bury him.”

        If Republicans could cast enough of a shadow on Biden’s victory on January 6, Bannon said,
        1] it would be hard for Biden to govern.
        2] Millions of Americans would consider him illegitimate.
        3] They would ignore him.
        4] They would dismiss him and wait for Trump to run again.

        “We are going to kill the Biden Presidency in the crib,” he said.

      • harpie says:

        11/25/20 TRUMP pardons M. FLYNN
        12/23/20 TRUMP pardons STONE and MANAFORT [others]
        12/27/20 [at Mara Lago] STONE tells TRUMP “exactly how to continue“as our president. #StopTheSteal #rogerstonedidnothingwrong”
        1/19/21 TRUMP pardons BANNON

        • harpie says:

          Jack Goldsmith evaluates TRUMP’s pardons:

          https://twitter.com/jacklgoldsmith/status/1341737918063407105
          8:30 AM · Dec 23, 2020

          Updated pardon/commutation chart (still WIP).
          Total by Trump: 65.
          Breakdown:
          1) Advance political agenda? 42/65
          2) Personal Connection? 31/65
          3) TV/TV Commentator? 12/65
          4) Celebrity? 16/65
          Personal or Political Connections (i.e. 1,2,3 or 4): 60/65 Also, as best that we can tell (lots of inferences here), only 5/65 of Trump’s pardons/commutations were recommended by the DOJ Pardon Attorney.

          Thanks as always to @matthew_gluck for the lion’s share of work on the chart. >>>
          Trump’s Aberrant Pardons and Commutations Chart [link]

        • harpie says:

          Speaking of MANAFORT:

          https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1450497349084663814
          12:21 PM · Oct 19, 2021

          #SeditionHunters – while the depth of foreign influence on the Jan 6 Capitol attack remains unclear, hopefully will get clearer soon… because FBI just raided the DC mansion of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, connected to Trump advisor and potential J6 figure Paul Manafort 1/

          As a reminder, Manafort’s company, Event Strategies, arranged the Jan 6 Ellipse rally. […]

          The Jan 6 attempt of course was supported and enabled by the kind of public disinformation campaign that Manafort ran in Ukraine… [The GUARDIAN link] 4/

          Is it a coincidence that Manafort’s Dec. 23 pardon was issued the same day as one for dirty trickster and Jan. 5th rally speaker Roger Stone? 5/

  3. pdaly says:

    Harpie, your comment on 10/07/21 about Alex Jones’ bodyguards included ex-Blackwater hires makes me wonder whether Blackwater/Xe/Academi is another possible way to categorize people involved in the 01/06/21 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

    Harpie 10/7/21:

    “Read about the INFOWARS show, that day, and JONES’ bodyguards, “many ex-Blackwater”.
    “Alex’s men are proud to show their Blackwater connection. Here they are on Jan 5th in the Willard Hotel posing with ex-Blackwater guard Paul Slough, convicted for killing Iraqi civilians, then pardoned by Trump on Dec. 22, just 2 weeks before.” ”

    My comment on July 9, 2021 indicates that Proud Boys leader Charles Donohoe has Blackwater ties, too:

    

“Donohoe served 2 tours in Iraq while with the U.S. Marines from 2006 to 2010. 

Then he worked as a contractor for the U.S. Department of State. 
He also worked as a contractor for either Xe or Academi the subsequent newer names of Erik Prince’s erstwhile Blackwater.

    So I assume Donohoe was aware of the 12/22/20 news, (right before the 1/6/21 insurrection), that Trump pardoned 4 Blackwater guards for their 2014 conviction of the 2007 “Nisour Square massacre” in which 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians were killed and 20 other people were injured when the Blackwater guards opened fire.

    What I did not realize: these Blackwater guards initially had their case dismissed by a judge in USDC in DC on 12/29/2009. However, then VP Joe Biden, overseeing U.S. policy in Iraq, promised Iraqi leaders that the U.S. DOJ would appeal their dismissal. The charges were reinstated 2011, and the four guards were put on trial.”



    I also wrote that this Donohoe comment takes on a new meaning when considering Donohoe has Blackwater ties:

    “DONOHOE: Stop right there… All of what you said doesn’t
 matter…We stormed the capitol unarmed…And took it
 over unarmed…The people are fucking done… Wait when 
joe biden tells us we are all criminls” [sic]

    The ‘unarmed’ comment in the same sentence as the ‘joe biden’ comment made me wonder if Donohoe was upset by how the Blackwater guards were treated by the US government.

    I also noted that Academi has a presence near the U.S. Capitol in Arlington, VA (as well as Reston, VA):
    “Also wonder if Donohoe had time to pay a visit to his former employer. Looks like Academi has, among other locations, an Arlington, VA building due north of the U.S. Marine War Memorial and due west of Theodore Roosevelt Island.”

    Subtropolis helpfully added in that July 2021 thread this link to an article about the group of about 10 men hanging out near the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, VA just south of Academi’s building. Was it a possible ‘quick reaction force’ that day?

    https://www.arlnow.com/2021/03/01/exclusive-while-the-capitol-was-stormed-a-group-of-men-gathered-near-the-marine-corps-war-memorial/

    • Rayne says:

      Yeah. That’s a good set of observations and question. How many of the Proud Boys were former BW and how many were there among other groups?

      • Leoghann says:

        AFAIK, previous military service has always been a requirement for employment on an E Prince contract, whatever name they might be using at the time. So any ex- or current employee would qualify for Oath Keepers. Whether any were Proud Bois operatives would be something to research. In my experience with former Blackwater employees, some were not keen on having that part of their employment history known. And some who were public about having worked for Prince previously were actually still in his employ.

    • harpie says:

      Oh man, I was thinking along similar lines when I couldn’t sleep…again (arrrrg).
      THANKS for putting all that together, pdaly!

      The questions and assertions of the guy who was talking on the bodycam video [same guy who wore it?] really had that kind of vibe…and also as if Capitol Police were inferior/needed their help. I’ll try to transcribe that when I get a chance to illustrate what I mean.

      Here’s a place where we talked about the guys at the Marine War Memorial / possible QRF connection: [with some maps links]:
      #J6TL >>>
      https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/02/28/pro-tip-dont-go-to-insurrection-on-facebook/#comment-884838

      And, along these lines, let’s remember the First Amendment Praetorians (1AP), and Gen. Michael Flynn. [who also had a grudge against the Obama/Biden administration.]

  4. Leoghann says:

    Like some other defense motions we’ve seen, these were clearly crafted for consumption by the general, gullible, right-wing public. And as always for the InfoWars group, it consists of at least 50% gaslighting. As long as they keep repeating inaccurate timelines, encounters with authorities, and series’ of actions, they have deniability at the least. And then, when Shroyer and whomever else are eventually convicted, they can claim persecution by the Deep State. I doubt the judge will fall for being told to believe Alex, instead of his own lying eyes.

    • David B Pittard says:

      The time stamp set on a video camera normally used in Austin would probably be set for the Central Time Zone and carelessly not set for Eastern when used there.. That might explain some apparent discrepancy between other videos and those handled by Shroyer, Jones, and their videographers.

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