Transcription
[Music] we are going to march to the Capitol Washington January 6 2021 an enraged crowd storms the Capitol at the forefront are US Army veterans it breaks my heart that there were veterans among them many are actually decent people but we no longer live in the same reality the United States military of recent decades wants to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president through violence all men and women whether they have served or not become more violent after a war the assault on the Capitol a turning point in American history anyone who claims this could not happen again is either ignorant or part of the problem how could something like this happen in the cradle of modern democracy I have often wondered how I ended up on one side of the door and my army comrades who took the same oath as me ended up on the other I solemnly swear that I will protect the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic so help me God [Music] on January 6 I told my employees not to come to the office there were reports that far-right groups had booked flights to come in droves to the [Music] Capitol I think veterans will find much of what we saw in the January 6 videos familiar you can recognize the Oath Keepers the Three Percenters and the Proud Boys they are well organized and move tactically they understand mass dynamics you can see an organized line of militiamen ready to exploit a breach and push the crowd in the desired direction the mob broke into the Capitol the senators were evacuated from the plenary hall but they forgot about the 20 representatives in the gallery those in the plenary hall all got out but there was no safe escape route from the gallery we were trapped we couldn't get out it was a terrible moment I called my wife and told her I loved her and the children [Applause] in anger as a soldier I could have imagined living through something like this but not as a congressman in Washington we already know the images the door to the gallery was closed so they started banging on it and broke the glass in the clashes 150 police officers were injured and four police officers later committed suicide as a consequence of the traumatic experiences [Music] lived through Donald Trump posted a video in it he says we have done a very good job among those subsequently accused there was a disproportionate number of US Army veterans a fact that deeply divides and divides American society [Music] for some people who lost loved ones in combat or who served in the military like Michael Washington it is incomprehensible my son Michael died in combat in Afghanistan on June 14 2008 people enlist for different reasons Patriotism is undoubtedly one of them you can never lose sight that you are helping people in a foreign country achieve what we have in the United States even if it is not perfect my son died in Afghanistan for that ideal and here we are putting it at risk precisely the veterans who took the oath to defend the Constitution against all foreign or domestic enemies should understand how dangerous and unpatriotic that uprising was they wanted to overturn the results of a democratic election they shouted that the vice president had to be hanged that is an attempted coup it was an uprising that is what it was and seeing veterans at the forefront was inconceivable to me I still can't understand how there could have been veterans who did something [Music] like that I asked a friend can you get me some decent ammunition he told me I heard there's a drug dealer who now sells ammunition instead of drugs so I bought the ammunition from the dealer Eric Braden lives in the solitary vastness of Texas he is a US Army veteran and justifies the assault on the Capitol he did not participate but on his Texas ranch he makes his idea clear of what the United States should be like [Music] when people see firearms rifles pistols they think they are the cause of violence something dangerous that should not be allowed they don't understand that these weapons gave us our freedom this is how we obtained our independence they protect us from attacks defending ourselves is not only our God-given constitutional right but it is also the right thing to do this weapon will not harm anyone unless they get in its way Christopher Goldsmith is also a veteran his time in the army also marked his life and yet he sees the United States very differently my whole life I wanted to be in the army in the photo behind me I was perhaps 5 years old in camouflage clothes and a dog tag most children want to be police officers firefighters or soldiers but I never gave up the idea and when I was 16 years old the September 11 attacks occurred which made my desire even stronger I wanted to catch the bad guys and bring justice I was 18 years old when I was doing basic training it's a standard photo you take it before you know what the uniform means that ignorance is visible here in my [Applause] gaze a year later Christopher is sent to Iraq he was a kind of initial army reporter on May 15 2005 we were called to photograph a corpse in a garbage dump on the outskirts of Sader city we discovered that there was not one but many corpses I had never seen anything like it before I took photographs of the victims they had been tortured and murdered I saw their wounds and the tape they had used to cover their eyes I imagined their fear with every click of the camera one of those faces froze and just as the image was captured in the photo it was etched in my mind and that was just one mission I still had 7 months left in Iraq I joined the army as a simple rifleman I was sent to do special forces training there I was seriously injured when I returned home I had spent my life training to fight or fighting I could no longer see anything positive in myself or in my country or in democracy or in the world my beliefs and feelings were based on my experiences and they were all terribly negative upon returning from the army most people no longer understand the world they return to there you experience camaraderie friendship all those good things and then when you leave the army you find yourself in a society without competent discipline and simply horrible in August 2019 a violent confrontation occurred in Portland Oregon between far-right extremists and antifa left-wing groups Randy Ireland a veteran and a member of the leadership of the far-right group Proud Boys was there we are witnessing a war against the Constitution of the United States I joined the Air Force because I wanted to give something back to my country and serve in the military it's probably because of my family we were very proud to be Americans proud of what America represented to the world we were very patriotic much of that has been lost the members of the Proud Boys and antifa groups fought real battles the mayor said innocent lives have been endangered the group created in New York in 201 international terrorist We are Western chauvinists we defend Western culture and its values we are in favor of small government of having maximum freedom and of the First and Second Amendments we venerate the entrepreneurial spirit and the housewife we are by no means militaristic but in this world there are good and bad and you can only confront the bad by fighting them they became known in the United States in September 2020 in a presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump they are white supremacists Proud Boys stand by to be prepared to see the US president tell an extremist and violent organization to stand by was terrible it was no different than if the president had told Al-Qaeda or ISIS it will be a difficult election stand by I will tell you what to do it gave us a lot of notoriety of course but not because we are racist or white supremacists there are many militant right-wing groups and the white power movement they differ in details but in general their goals are the same their ideology is simple we had power we have a right to it they are taking it away from us we will take it back by any means necessary there are fascist groups national socialist groups of all kinds we are all united by the conviction that we white people have a right to exist that us is a white us and us against the government it all goes hand in hand the more laws they pass the more people will turn against the government for now we are peaceful but who knows when this will change I personally believe the point was reached a long time ago many think they are idiots there's no need to worry about them it's the same thing we said about the jihadists before September 11 and by the time we decided to pursue them it was too late in addition to the Proud Boys there are other far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters among their supporters are many ex-police officers and soldiers we awaken the interest of people with a military background and I think it's the same with the Three Percenters or the Oath Keepers what unites all these groups is our respect for the Constitution of the United States [Music] when I joined the army to defend this country basically it was the oath you take in the army is the same as the Three Percenters take [Music] in Atlanta I met with members of the Three Percenters and other groups they were all furious about the election a criminal has illegally become our president Joe Biden has already damaged this country his son too they are a criminal family here we are talking about treason and the punishment for treason is death in the United States you have the right to be an imbecile you can have the most pathetic opinions in the world I don't have to agree with you and you don't have to agree with me the First Amendment grants us that right but when we talk about violent extremist groups we are talking about people who not only speak but use violence people who plan to attack the US government because it is an evil power people who want to kill Jews immigrants or black people because of their race or religion if you not only speak but resort to violence or recruit people to use violence based on your completely absurd beliefs then you are a violent extremist you are a terrorist the militias had weapons prepared in Washington for the day of the uprising this is just one of the alarming accusations made by the Department of Justice after filing seditious conspiracy charges against Stewart Rhodes and several members of the far-right group Oath Keepers Stu Rhodes was a US Army paratrooper he studied law at Yale in 2009 he founded the Oath Keepers a far-right organization that recruited many law enforcement officers active-duty soldiers and veterans it soon became an armed militia aspiring to overthrow the government January 6 was not the first time Rhodes had summoned his host of nearly 35,000 members some of them heavily armed at the end of September 2020 violent protests erupted in Louisville Kentucky a young black woman Breonna Taylor had been killed in a shootout in her apartment and a jury had acquitted the officers Rhodes and the Three Percenters joined local militias in Louisville to suppress the protesters we are here to protect this gas station and the pawn shop and a private home chaos is not my main message it is you must prepare for what is to come too many Americans are being manipulated by communist professors to hate their own [Music] country what to do with someone who hates [Music] it's almost as if we were supporting a foreign country against an uprising one of our own is a special forces veteran another is a retired master sergeant I'm not surprised that extremists use veterans for their credibility and commitment veterans have said in many ways I do everything I can to preserve what I believe in and I will protect the values of my society if necessary with violence they do the same thing as in the army only doing it in the United States is a strange feeling in the army I received several decorations then they told me David we will only call you back if things get really difficult I was visiting my mother's house I was in the shower and she called me to see what was happening on TV then the second plane crashed September 11 I was in the second unit to arrive in Afghanistan it's so tempting you can finally fight again for what you were trained for you think your country is attacked it awakens skills you acquired during training and that could now help you are a great reinforcement for the group they are coming be prepared for the march distribute keep your eyes open and secure the area to stop them right yes I wish they would I was 21 years old and I was severely affected by a war in which I was lied to and for which my friends died then a guy like Rhodes with a Yale degree and his eye patch comes along you don't know that he shot himself you think he was injured in combat and he tells you with us you can defend the Constitution and quotes the Second Amendment that's enough you think he knows what he's doing he has the necessary experience why doubt him you don't have enough training to question what he says they don't let them get close they know that the fact that veterans participate is problematic for two reasons first they have experience they bring organizational and military skills that can make a movement more dangerous furthermore in our society veterans represent law and order they are highly respected and when we see veterans involved in something it gives some component of legitimacy to that [Music] cause veterans have a kind of social prestige that camouflages the extremist activities of groups if you go to a demonstration with uniformed people just like if you go with women it will be seen very differently than if you go with swastikas and hoods they also wear polo shirts and khaki pants or wear colorful Hawaiian shirts like the boogaloo movement these are all deliberate measures to influence public perception having veterans is one of them I was never in a militia but when I learned about the Black Lives Matter guys and my city in flames I said enough I joined the local militia and here [Applause] I am when you are in a vulnerable situation and looking for a family the closest thing is to be with your army comrades with them it's like you get back the idea of purpose and camaraderie you had in the army something you need now it's part of it and they can give it to you and when they tell you to fight you don't question it because it gives you a purpose a mission are the Three Percenters preparing for possible acts of violence in the elections yes we have people across the country making plans we are many there are many veterans I don't like the war on terror many of our rights have been restricted because of it but it has produced many war veterans 95 percent of whom are on the conservative side on the side of the Constitution this will not end well there is the man behind the curtain who pushes everyone onto the stage but often it is about unenthusiastic attempts the dangerous ones are those you only learn about after 2 years those that are tactical [Music] it's incredible that people don't understand how bad January 6 was what it represents and how it's reaching a critical point anyone who claims this could never happen again is either ignorant or part of the problem the assault on the Capitol should not be seen as an anomaly we must study what led us to it [Applause] [Music] an example in American history of a very successful terrorist movement is the Ku Klux Klan the Klan began as an organization of veterans but soon became violent against African Americans night raids lynchings serial rapes and murders they sought to terrorize African Americans to control the labor force and prevent them from voting in elections one of the most important tools of segregation was what we now call electoral subversion in this way in the state of Georgia 33 representatives were denied the seats they were entitled to in Louisiana a senator-elect was denied a seat and North Carolina there was an uprising to overthrow the black leadership in Wilmington an amendment to the Constitution of 1870 granted all American males the right to vote however African Americans continued to be prevented from voting even with violence the Ku Klux Klan managed to deprive African Americans of their right to vote for 100 years an amazing political success they achieved it because they were politically powerful they were very well connected and they had a majority in the Democratic Party the Klan established itself as a counter-power that prevented the arrival of new groups of voters whether black or Catholic because in their eyes they were not true [Music] Americans in the early 20th century the Klan had 4 million members they held parades on the National Mall in Washington in 1924 the situation reached a critical point at the Democratic Party convention the Ku Klux Klan decided to prevent the party from continuing to condemn their violent actions they took over the party and ran it according to their ideas 4 years later the Democratic Party freed itself from this dominance however for the first time a major political party had been taken over by a violent terrorist movement the Klan's influence over the Democratic Party ended soon but 100 years later there are still attempts to prevent free elections for all citizens election workers who have been assistants in many elections even respected leaders receive avalanches of terrible threats we will kill you and your family very slowly these death threats were directed at the wife of the Georgia Secretary of State Trump attacked her for declaring the elections in Georgia legal she is an enemy of the people intimidation is a way to suppress voters this today is no different from how it was in the past they want to manipulate elections we cannot allow it become election observers the Trump campaign's election monitoring program was called Army for Trump we need all men and women in our Army for Trump to secure the elections the message was we must protect our elections and prevent fraud it was a very militaristic campaign Army for Trump sought the support of groups like True Devout with many veterans in their ranks as a veteran I swore to defend the Constitution we were willing to shed our blood on the battlefield to achieve free elections for the people anger here now I ask you as Americans to get involved in these elections that military service gives you the right to speak about defending the Constitution is a problem it gives people a justification they don't deserve if you observe illegal ballot collections visit trb.org I am sure many of you have already seen things like this when it is subliminally suggested that the system is being manipulated those who participate in elections will feel the need to monitor in detail and that has consequences especially for African American voters we need to form an army that has the courage to go where we really need election observers in these places there are problems in the places it highlights there were also no reports of electoral fraud in 2020 it is only known that a particularly high number of African Americans vote in these places as in Harris County Texas the proportion of the white population has also drastically decreased 50 years ago about 80% of the American population was white according to forecasts by 2044 whites could be a minority due to demographic change in the United States from a predominantly white country to a multiracial and multicultural nation it is no longer said we are becoming a multiracial country our politics will change but rather we have to do something about it if these people vote and exercise their rights the white majority is in danger after the 2020 elections Republicans in Georgia and 18 other states passed laws restricting access to the polls can be achieved the same as with physical violence and intimidation and the combination of both means maximum undemocratic oppression and intimidation [Music] in the summer of 2021 staunch white Republicans joined the United States Senate [Music] certain groups have wreaked havoc in major US cities these militant Marxists want to prevent us from achieving great things I pray against them Holy Spirit in Jesus' name say amen all you joyful warriors and patriots who see how your tyrannical governments have separated you from your churches and schools from your prosperity and even from your families but now you can defend yourselves because that's what we do we defend ourselves they want to turn us into a socialist country perhaps even communist I mean it very seriously the next 3 years will decide if we remain a free country that's why we need people like Eric especially in the [Applause] Senate Mayor Giuliani continues to fight the day after the election he said there are irregularities we have to investigate the fraud and what did the mainstream media say that's not possible you can't say there was fraud in the election well I'm proud to be the only one in Missouri to go to the front in Arizona for the election audit they have to check all the votes all the votes he is a decorated ex-marine and a fellow at rads University he was a Democrat for a long time and after leaving the service he wrote several bestselling books on humanitarian work and with photographs and articles about eight countries where I have done humanitarian work he also co-founded the influential veteran non-profit organization Mission [Music] Continuous in 2016 he was elected governor of Missouri but resigned two years later due to a sex and fundraising scandal in 2021 he began his campaign for the Senate when I took the oath upon entering the army I swore to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic one thing is for sure in our country there is a struggle and we are here to let the mainstream media the left and the establishment know that we will win we are taking back our [Applause] country this is our country and we are going to take it back there are veterans from elite units who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and were at the best universities for them it should be clear but they have seen the rise of Trump to power and instead of turning away indignant because they do not represent our values they themselves ignore our values that makes all liberals tremble they know when they lie and they know when they are spreading hate Trump was robbed of the election the big tech companies want to ban us from saying that Joe Biden is the head of the largest criminal family in the world and they do it because it brings them to power for some young veterans it is important that some manipulators are former high-ranking military officers [Music] [Applause] [Music] Rank before he gave orders and now he still inspires respect that has an effect Trump has won he has [Applause] won a majority voted for him and he won the election he is a very special guy he embodies the camaraderie in the army in Flim you see that he truly loves and respects this country and honors his oath I am not a conspiracy theorist I base my life on facts and on what I believe is right for this country at this moment point Flim has revealed many truths he is one of the most dangerous men in America Michel is a retired US Army four-star general his specialty is military reconnaissance the soldiers he commanded were very successful in suppressing the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2012 Barack Obama appointed him director of military intelligence 3 years later this former Democrat had become an enthusiastic supporter of Trump calling for the arrest of Trump's rival Hillary Clinton exactly in January 2017 he became National Security Advisor to the president but after about three weeks Trump fired him for allegedly hiding his ties to Russia to avoid a conviction Flim made a deal with the FBI the review was still pending when Trump pardoned him at the end of 2020 shortly before leaving office I was a convicted criminal uses the word general as a middle name I am friends with him on Facebook his name is Gene Flim on Telegram General Flim has adopted radical fascist ideas from far-right groups like MAGA Yan as a leader of an uprising against the people of the United States this country has awakened we have fought and will fight for this land we could take our military to those states and repeat the elections there his military experience gives him legitimacy that he would otherwise not have I am a simple Marine and I want to know Myanmar cannot happen here there is no reason it should happen a clear endorsement of a coup is not the only time this former military intelligence officer has questioned the legitimacy of the US government when you have learned to lead in the army or anywhere else you can get people to act and that's what he does this is a crucial moment in US history we fight with faith and courage and no one can oppose the power of prayer he perverts military experience and religiosity to evoke a supposed higher purpose when I left the army I was a staunch libertarian like many military personnel I watched strange documentaries YouTube videos [Music] like awaken and understand that there are people controlling your life without you knowing it now that I research extremism I recognize antisemitic stereotypes the documentary suggests that Jews control the banks and because of the banks they happen so it is the Jews who are responsible for the death of my comrades the documentary establishes that connection the ultimate goal is to equip everyone with a chip in these chips will be the money everything and if someone protests what we are doing or misbehaves we turn off the chip I soaked up that propaganda I attacked it completely and all the ideas fit within me that I had been unable to express in words for so long that I was a victim not only of circumstances but of some kind of nefarious group of powerful individuals who manipulate us all and turn us into puppets what they call the deep state today but we had awakened and our mission was to awaken others Patriot [Music] video ladies and gentlemen prepare for the Storm B [Applause] many things are seen today still the pyramid on the dollar bills a photo of George Soros they talk about the World Bank they put it all in the same bag it's a lot of things I didn't understand in 2008 when I watched these conspiracy theory videos it's like they took note of the garbage that then these groups have always worked like this they use people's social context to radicalize them the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s was against black people and Jews and near the border against Mexicans where there were many immigrants it was against them they took advantage of existing issues in communities to win people over to their cause during the Vietnam War many returning veterans felt that society was ungrateful to them they accused the government and the media of abandoning them disappointed and misunderstood they were easy victims for a new wave of extremist violent conspiracy theories who wanted to eradicate the supposed internal enemy thousands of Cubans millions of Mexicans and hundreds of thousands of Haitians or wherever they are coming from white people can't take it anymore they can't even afford decent housing anymore but our government wants us to spend billions of dollars on non-whites enough is enough veteran Luis Beam is a key figure in the white power movement after the Vietnam War under his leadership terrorist cells were formed and the internet began to be used which promoted the rise of the movement today only one question is important will the United States remain white in 100 years and they will fight to ensure it Luis Beam served twice in the Vietnam War he was a helicopter gunner and returned in 1968 with several medals for bravery in combat Beam used the skills he acquired in the army and introduced them into the Ku Klux Klan there he quickly rose to leadership positions the government paid me $300 a month to fight and kill communists in Vietnam and what is the difference between Vietnam and Houston Texas apart from a few thousand kilometers [Music] in part Beam rose so quickly because he told a story of war and trauma that moved many including people who had not served I saw a young man trapped in an armored personnel carrier 22 miles northwest of Saigon an anti-tank shell had hit his legs he was asking for help on the radio again and again he begged them to get him out of there [Music] he spoke of the injustice of war of the horror of seeing the dead and wounded of the suffering of losing comrades and made it clear that the same violence should be used against all those in the United States who have been abandoned we are like a reconnaissance patrol we have information that the enemy is in this area the Jews have taken over the government they control us the government in Washington does not represent the interests of white people that's why we will replace them with people who defend the ideals of Western and Christian white civilization how will we do it by any means necessary Beam's rhetoric and military exercises caught the attention of the FBI in 1983 he settled in Hayden Lake in Idaho a refuge for white supremacists he joined forces with the Aryan Nation group and led a kind of terrorist cell the idea was that a few activists would cooperate individually to achieve specific goals but without links between them or with the leaders who could be prosecuted by justice cells spread across the country and Canada now they just needed to communicate with each other Beam's goal was for them to exchange ideas and create networks they created a social network Liberty Net one of the first posts said online for God and country Beam traveled the United States teaching people how to connect to the internet they shared lists of people to be assassinated ideological content of whom to hate and why but they also published personal content and that was in 1984 and 85 long before far-right internet activism decades before Facebook with the help of this early form of the internet members of the Ku Klux Klan skinheads neo-Nazis and other extremist groups joined forces to commit robberies across the country bombings and murders in 1985 the Department of Justice became convinced that the network represented a threat to national security in 1987 Luis Beam was charged with seditious conspiracy but the trial ended in a fiasco Beam and the rest of the defendants were acquitted of all charges after this humiliating experience the Department of Justice stopped all investigations into the white power movement as an internal terrorist threat even today we do not have laws against domestic terrorism the FBI's and prosecutors' main means of thwarting terrorist attacks against the United States is the charge of material support people who support a terrorist or violent organization can be charged with this offense but unfortunately we do not have that option with domestic terrorist organizations without laws against domestic terrorism you have to wait for something to happen to start an investigation you need a corpse and even then the author can only be charged with hate crimes but not terrorism we cannot take action against the terrorist network my God a third of the building is gone a car bomb destroyed a federal building in downtown Oklahoma City children federal employees soldiers died and Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building but neither he nor his accomplices could be charged with terrorism the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 was the deadliest in the period from Pearl Harbor to September 11 but almost no one is aware of what it meant the prosecution accuses former army comrades of planning the bombing McVeigh and Nichols met when they were in the army they did training together before McVeigh was sent to Iraq there he seems to have experienced traumatic combat experiences after leaving special forces he became increasingly involved in radical activities of the white power movement McVeigh used his military training to carry out the Oklahoma City bombing in a letter to a friend he invoked his military oath as justification for his actions I swore to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic blood will be shed in the streets good versus evil free people versus aspiring socialist slaves pray that it is not your blood my friend the Turner Diaries Timothy McVeigh often referred to The Turner Diaries a dystopian novel that describes how to overthrow the US government the fictional revolutionaries first blow up a federal building and then kill their political enemies including all Jews blacks and Latinos The Turner Diaries acquired enormous importance for the movement they seemed to provide a blueprint for how a small group could carry out its plan to overthrow the most militarized state in world history in 1997 McVeigh was sentenced to death for killing 168 people and blowing up a federal building they did not face any terrorism charges it was assumed that McVeigh and Nichols acted alone imagine if Timothy McVeigh were named Mohamed it would be seen completely differently of course it would be considered a terrorist threat McVeigh and anyone who had helped him would be investigated the investigation would continue until the entire network was dismantled however when you are very limited with the tools you use these groups benefit they are not lone wolves they are united by their ideology their social ties and their choice of targets they are part of the same movement to this day tonight the FBI thwarted the kidnapping of a governor in October 2020 less than a month before the presidential elections 14 men were arrested who wanted to kidnap the governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer their plan was to storm the parliament take hostages put the governor on trial and publicly execute her among them were members of the Wolverine Watchmen a paramilitary group among whose founders are also veterans the prosecution suspects that the kidnapping was intended to provoke a civil war before the 2020 elections they wanted to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president the accused were charged with various crimes most of them were sentenced to prison terms of 3 to 20 years their leader Adam Fox told an informant that McVeigh had inspired him and that if we can't have our world they shouldn't have theirs either we have to burn it all down as Luis Beam had already said if we can't have this country no one will have it it will only be ruins in Michigan they wanted to storm the parliament and kidnap and execute the governor on January 6 they wanted to overturn the results of a democratic election if we see this as a movement what it tries to do is prevent the American people from electing their government in an uprising it is about taking control not through electoral victory and democratic processes but through violence it is a form of warfare on January 6 three different currents converged the white power movement which has been organizing arming training for generations [Applause] we have gathered here in the heart of the nation for a simple reason to save our democracy we will go to the Capitol we will cheer our brave senators and deputies but some not so much remember we must show strength and we must be [Applause] strong the groups that stormed the Capitol on January 6 did not succeed in overturning the election results but nevertheless that day could have an [Applause] impact by encouraging journalists to read The Turner Diaries [Applause] on January 6 The Turner Diaries provided the symbolic framework the noose in front of the Capitol refers to the so-called rope day from The Turner Diaries when racial traitors including politicians are hanged it is significant that in the attack on the Capitol the goal was not to assassinate many people as in The Turner Diaries they only wanted to kill a few corrupt congressmen to show white people that extremists can attack the heart of American power [Applause] seen this way the campaign was a success Donald Trump posted a video in it he says we have done a very good job January 6 was a great success for them it convinced many people not only in the United States but also in Europe that violence is a way to overthrow the government with it you can bring down governments and political elites of the Western world whom they consider corrupt and evil for them governments are tools in the hands of Jews or some other conspiracy they believe in the rich people of the world use this disease to create an apocalyptic nightmare it makes sense for all of us to stay home and be afraid of the air [Applause] those who participated in January 6 wanted it to serve as a wake-up call for those in power those who were there that day are [Music] patriots as a patriot and especially as a veteran one takes an oath to the Constitution and many of those who were there that day thought our Constitution was being torn to shreds they were destroying our democracy before our eyes it breaks my heart that there were veterans among them many are actually decent people but we no longer live in the same reality those who were there were patriots they only violated the laws because the police did not do their job well people died because they did not do their job they stormed the Capitol because the police did not do their job they did not storm anywhere they let them in the Capitol is paid for with our taxes it is our property take care of the insults I'm sorry about the lie about electoral fraud a conspiracy theory that says the heart of our democracy has been destroyed and that they had no choice if the elections were a fraud it is undoubtedly impossible that Joe Biden won 81 million votes for Joe Biden I don't believe it we can no longer trust elections what is truly scary is what will people do what will the average American do when they wake up and see the reality the answer is we have no idea what the American people will do this is no longer the Republic of our Constitution but we will fight to restore it we have had violent extremist organizations for a long time but this is particularly dangerous for several reasons they may be taking advantage of a wave of conspiracy theories and distrust fueled by social media thanks to the internet they reach an incredible number of people on their own they would never have been able to reach so many people everyone has to participate we need them 24 hours a day they have to marry us strong as a soldier and retired general
I say we have an army of digital soldiers, you can control the lasers, fight evil on the side of God, the United States, and your oath. It sounds tempting. The sad thing is, you use all those skills and the goodness of your heart for something that is a complete stupidity, and it's all supported by the highest in the world of politics. We can only lose the election if it's rigged, remember that. The culmination of a two-month campaign by the president spreading conspiracy theories. Two-thirds of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to overturn electoral college delegates. We, a senator and members of the House of Representatives, file an objection to the counting of Pennsylvania's electoral votes. I support the objection, I support the objection, I support the objection, I firmly support the objection. This vote is actually a kind of ceremony. The results of the electoral college are confirmed. They have never been questioned. This was almost as incredible as the insurrection itself. Why do so many people believe the elections were not conducted properly? Because their president, their senator, and their congressman said so. We need a thorough review with court orders if necessary. I trust the voters. In my name and that of 60 colleagues, I file an objection to the count in Arizona. The objection is submitted in writing and signed by a senator. [Music] Yes, the Republican Party seems to have even more plans. Congressman Denman lost his party's primary to Bob. The Republican Party deposed me. I was probably the first person affected by conspiracy theories in 2019. I officiated a same-sex wedding for two young men who worked for me. Then I heard strange things: that I was being funded by George Soros, that I was secretly Jewish and a Democrat who wanted to change children's sexual orientation, that I was a tool of a new world order, and old anti-Semitic clichés. I was in intelligence for two decades, fought terrorism in war, and was a congressman. I will not allow conspiracy theorists to impede political debates that benefit all Americans. I was practically expelled for following the law and trying to save this country, and that's not an exaggeration. One of them carries out a kind of Orwellian whitewashing of history. If I didn't know it was a video from January 6th, I would think it was a tourist visit. Do you believe the myth of electoral fraud? Or at least have you not debunked the big lie of electoral fraud? What nonsense. The party barely questions conspiracy theories. Instead, it wants to get rid of party members who attack lies and theories. This is very serious. War is the continuation of politics by violent means, and the armed forces are the part of society that carries it out. Returning from war, we wonder if our political system works. Or now, in our country, politics must also be conducted by other means. Whoever believes they have the support of the highest levels of government thinks they are fighting for their country. After all, you took that oath. Those we call extremists see themselves as patriots, freedom fighters. And with this, it almost seems like I'm talking about terrorism. There is an organization that interests me in particular: the Patriotic Front. [Music] They call it propaganda. They study books on fascism because they believe democracy has failed. Their vision of the future is that of a dominant white race that takes over the Republican Party and defeats its political opponents through violence or exclusion. They appeared in Philadelphia on July 4, 2021, and attacked [Music] people. None of this was investigated because the local police didn't know what they were up against. It's a fascist group operating nationwide. The terrorist threat from an American group. Over the weekend, 31 men were arrested as they attempted to wreak havoc at a Pride event in Coeur d'Alene. Coeur d'Alene is very close to Lake Hayden in Idaho, from where Louis Beam operated. The Patriotic Front is particularly active there, and just as Denver Ryman was targeted for officiating gay marriages, the same intolerant ideology led the Patriotic Front to attack the LGBTQ community. Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Patriot Front – they are all dangerous. But what really scares me is Generation Z: young soldiers who joined the army in a time of relative peace to fight, but who could never fight, and who are now falling into the clutches of fascist groups through conservative forums on the internet, through the Proud Boys, Gab, for example, is an alternative social media platform that provides a safe space for neo-Nazis. One of the groups there is the National Justice Party, a neo-Nazi party in the United States that wants to use protests to radicalize Trump supporters in favor of white supremacy with a new type of advertising. They suggest to young soldiers that they can achieve political power and also fight as they wished to do when they joined the army. They try to make white nationalism seem like a way to fulfill oneself as a man, as a man full of testosterone. And young veterans join these groups: the Patriotic Front and the National Socialist Club, the latter also a neo-Nazi party. I fear that the Republican Party will adopt this ideology in ways that even I cannot imagine. I never thought the situation could reach where we are today, but I believe that in four years it could be even more terrible. Things could be worse than most people think. I can even imagine a civil war. All this time, it's about the same movement. This makes me think that we know perhaps only half of their activities. It is assumed that it partly acts underground, training in camps and storing weapons to prepare for violence. When we talk about civil war or sectors that could become violent, think about the first major protests of the extreme left when Republicans regained the House of Representatives. Boom. If there's anyone from Antifa or Black Lives Matter there, shoot me first. Or when Republicans believed the election was stolen from them. Boom. Forget writing to your legislators. We are the people. You would have to kill me. I will not give up under any circumstances. Anything can happen. It could lead to the repeal of the Second Amendment, to a civil war. No veteran wants a war in this country. But when I think about what our founding fathers wanted for this country, today we are very far from that. They are ready, and their closets are full of weapons. You have to be prepared, armed. You can defend yourself and your family. Without weapons, you are dog food. We are threatened by a civil war. If we don't hold our elections seriously again, there will be no 2024. Some members of the movement think that the nation as it is cannot be saved, that it should be overthrown to create a white supremacist state. Others think it's their opportunity to run for office and start the coup from within to change the nation. What worries me is that in 2024, one party controls Congress, the other wins the presidential election, and Congress does not certify the results. The Republican Party wants states to be more directly involved in certifying electoral college delegates. In this way, they hope to suppress Democratic votes. I think the chances of someone trying to overturn a legitimate election result are not few. And then someone becomes president who was not legally elected, and then the struggle begins. This is the end of our country, of our legal norms. That scares me immensely. This country, you yourselves, with your freedoms and individual rights, must take responsibility for your neighborhoods, for your cities. You have to get involved. The plan of the FLN is to undermine democracy and radicalize the Republican base with their digital soldiers. If you don't like the school board representative, run for office yourself. If you don't like who runs your small town, get involved. Get enough good people to support them. The government will run us over. I don't want guys like Michael Flynn deciding who is American and who is not. General Flynn believes that the violence of January 6th was justified. Right to refuse to testify, Fifth Amendment. They are interested in excluding others. It's not about the will of the people. It's about repressing the opposition to power. The general believes in the peaceful transition of power in the United States. Fifth Amendment. This is how countries are destroyed. From my experience as a veteran and from my work on human rights issues, I know what happens when a society collapses. I know what happens when ethnic identity becomes a matter of life and death, when neighbors kill each other. I've seen it. Regardless of what is said online about a civil war, no one can want that because it is hell. The worst-case scenario is that we become an authoritarian system and cannot get rid of it. We have seen it again and again in other countries. How they defended themselves against the first wave and were not prepared for the second and third. It will take time, and we will have to work hard to ensure that our democracy remains standing. In the end, I hope people are very scared because fear motivates people. They should be afraid of the truth. I want you to analyze the evidence, think critically, and do everything in your power, and within the law, to ensure that we do not end up in a dystopian future that could be only a few years away. I went to my son's grave. I was furious and felt that my son's sacrifice had been in vain. But I reflected and came to the conclusion that that is not true, and this fight is not over. It is far from over, and it may never end, but his sacrifice was not in vain. What if all young Americans, uniformed or not, performed a year of national service in healthcare, nature conservation, or education? How would they feel afterward? We know from experience that something like that changes people, creates closeness, and prejudices about other groups disappear. Trust grows. I went to college in 2013. After my terrible experiences in the army, my self-confidence was destroyed. I was afraid to enroll in courses because I feared failure. I spent my first semester fulfilling many of the negative stereotypes about veterans. I would arrive in class with my headphones on and cover my head with my hoodie. I would go in, sit there, and not talk to anyone. I didn't participate. A group of veteran students noticed and helped me come out of my shell. I went from being that guy who doesn't talk to anyone and sits in a corner to being elected to represent all the veterans studying at my university. Not everything changed immediately, but it helped me recover. I no longer felt that my future was determined by these powerful groups and that I could do nothing about it. I began to accept the idea that perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle. And as I interacted with many people, it was no longer so easy to be a victim of forums where my opinions were never questioned and where my negative beliefs were reinforced. This diversity of opinions prevented me from joining the Oath Keepers and helped me break free from those thoughts. Many veterans don't have that opportunity. They live in a different world. In this new world, our troops must not only be trained to defend themselves against Chinese snipers or Russian tanks, but also against enemy disinformation on the internet. And this disinformation does not only come from China and Russia. We know how to combat malicious disinformation. We did a pretty good job teaching soldiers and citizens not to fall for Nazi propaganda. We also did a good job teaching how not to fall for communist propaganda during the Cold War. In the United States, opposition to Nazis, as well as opposition to the Soviet Union, was something shared by most of the political spectrum. Instead, now this conflict divides the nation and is politically instrumentalized. We know how to do things, but for that, unity is needed. The problem is very complex. It occurs at the political level. It's about how journalists talk about the movement, how our laws pursue it, how our national leaders address it. There is a lack of political will to establish a law on domestic terrorism. But I think there is a good chance that we can designate these groups as international terrorist organizations. That would mean that we could apply the laws and powers that the FBI and other law enforcement and intelligence agencies use to pursue international terrorist organizations. Who among all these extremists, conspirators, and demagogues has paid for their actions, except for a few who were deceived and believed all these things? Most of them move on and are doing well. Voters must decide if they want to be represented by people who incite violence. These movements will only end when the entire population decides they are intolerable. But so far, that is not the case. The ideal solution is de-radicalization, but who is interested? I want justice. I want people who try to harm the United States to be brought to justice. I want to find the bad guys and hopefully put them in prison. I want to document potentially criminal behavior, things that, even if not illegal, are frowned upon by society. I want those who want to overthrow our government to pay for it. I am a soldier. That doesn't mean we win. That's what I tell people. Good doesn't always win. But I believe the oath means something. It's just that others also think they are fulfilling the oath, and that's what makes it so dangerous. What allows that division to occur is the lie. We share a commitment to our country. The only possibility for reconciliation is to maintain a dialogue within the framework of truth. Either we reconcile with each other as a country, or we will have conflict. Where should the United States go? Not where we are going. This path will destroy the country, kill freedom, our camaraderie, our compassion, our decency. I think it would be good if both sides stuck only to the truth. If we manage to do this, we can save the nation. I can imagine this, but that's what I hope for. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]