More than 700 suspected Capitol Hill participants face felon fees ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. At least a hundred of them do crowdfunding to pay for their legal defenses and living expenses.
Since the violent mob descended on Congress on January 6, 2021 in hopes of annulling the election, it has raised millions, and they several million more.
A Daily Dot investigation of more than 120 fundraising events for the accused rioters revealed that they have raised nearly $3 million to date. Together, they hope to raise $13 million, depending on their fundraising goals.
A few did not solicit donations, but the vast majority were successful, some enormously. The funds increased diversity from a few hundred dollars to more than $300,000. Their goals also diversified widely, from $10,000 to a part of a million dollars. the average sought is more than $100,000; the average raised is $25,000. Some studio papers have express fundraising goals.
In total, the Daily Dot uncovered $ 2,828,135 in donations to parties claiming to be affiliated with defendants or accused of being involved in the Capitol riots.
These figures do not come with all fundraisers for those accused of the Capitol riots, however the total raised is as reported to date. In September, CNN reported that the defendant had raised $ 2 million from more than 100 crowdfunding sites.
The accused rioters constitute a giant patron of Americans of various ages, races, genders, and backgrounds; beyond their for former President Donald Trump, they are united through the false confidence that the 2020 election was stolen; most have pleaded not guilty.
Although they are varied as a body, there are no unusual themes either in their demographics or in how they characterize themselves and the Capitol Riot.
The Daily Dot found that crowdfunders are predominantly white, male, and profess to be Christian, which isn’t surprising, given that many fundraisers are held around Christian GiveSendGo fundraising.
They characterize them as a non-violent manifestation and themselves as persecuted.
Capitol police officers were beaten, trampled underfoot, massacred and stabbed during the insurrection. Officer Brian Sicknick later died. His union said 140 police officers suffered physical injuries, adding concussions, vertebral disc fractures and lacerations. There is no official count for the number of other people. Four have died by suicide since the insurrection. The widow of an officer who shot herself dead while returning to her paintings 8 days after the insurrection told the New York Times that she blamed the occasions that day for her husband’s death.
To hear the crowdfunders say, none of them touched a hair on an officer’s head. His characterization of the violent attack portrays Capitol officials as the aggressors and themselves as nonviolent, even heroic. Officials and other crimes say he seeks to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a user who had suffered cardiac arrest when he was massacred through police.
Defendant Peter Schwartz is accused of removing pepper spray from officials, turning it on against them and bragging about it in text messages; is one of those who have been denied bail; their fundraiser frames the events of this day in a very different way. Patriot Pete never imagined he would see federal police officers beating unarmed nonviolent protesters and murdering an unarmed nonviolent protester, Roseanne [Boyland], with bloodless blood beating her savagely to death with his tyrannical batons. trampled to death in the crowd as she walked towards the police line.
Even those accused of organizing the day’s occasions call it a nonviolent protest. One of the two fundraisers for Joe Biggs, a leader of the Proud Boys, calls him and his accused colleagues “nonviolent American patriots. “
One of GiveSendGo’s fundraising events for Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander insists, “We didn’t do anything wrong on January 6. “
The fundraisers themselves accentuate other commonalities. Military or law enforcement uniforms are a popular selection for images, as are American flags. Photos posing with children, couples, and other members of the family circle are another popular selection. An unexpected number of fundraisers use images of themselves the mutiny.
An overwhelming number of people call themselves “patriots” or “political prisoners” and insist they are being persecuted for their ideals or simply for supporting Trump, not for a violent attack on democracy.
Many complain about the way they have been treated by law enforcement. One of them complains that, despite having no “criminal record,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation “conducted a full SWAT raid” to arrest him. Another insists: “As soon as Biden became ‘president,’ the FBI began harassing and oppressing ‘his family. ‘
Many fundraisers continue to falsely insist that the election stole.
During their incarceration, the defendants allege that the guards beat them and violated their rights, their court cases stemming from allegations about food — Jacob Chansley, better known as QAnon Shaman, insisted on biological nutrition — and how often they are allowed to bathe. , to serious allegations of beatings, denial of life-saving medical care and worse. . .
Richard “Bigo” Barnett, whose photo with his feet resting on the table of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif. ) It is one of the most recognizable images of the riot, saying it “hit, ridiculed, denied access to medicine, denied access to Barnett faces years in prison for obstruction of Congress and violent access to the Capitol. He pleaded not guilty. To help raise cash for his legal defense, Barnett also sold photographs of himself in Pelosi’s office, Arkansas Online reports.
While the veracity of those allegations of abuse in is unknown, the s and s in the United States are known for their human rights violations.
Some of the most successful fundraisers, the ones that raised $100,000 or more, aren’t for other people whose names are as well known as Biggs and Chansley. the Daily Dot reported that members of the organization had raised more than $500,000.
Oath keeper Kenneth Harrelson, one of many members of the far-right organization who were arrested after the riots, raised more than $200,000 to achieve his $325,000 purpose. Joseph Hackett, partner at Oath Keeper, raised more than $100,000
The largest amount raised through the Daily Dot went to the Patriot Freedom Project. The organization describes itself on Twitter as “dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of the politically persecuted. “He says he brings financial, emotional and ethical resources to the accused.
To that end, he raised over $330,000 with his GiveSendGo alone. It also accepts other budgetary means, such as PayPal.
The Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection remains a flashpoint in the American conscience, and while it was a tragic day in U. S. history, many alleged perpetrators still insist they were right.
And they would like me to make a donation to them.