Ever since the January 6 Capitol attack, the discourse has largely been dominated by semantics. The narratives have ranged from the notion Trump incited an insurrection, to the event being a peaceful tourist visit. In the first part of this series, the core facts both sides of the media had displayed were established. In this part, we look more at what happened at an on-the-ground level in answering the question this series seeks to answer: was any part of the January 6 Capitol Attack an inside job?

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As previously established, on January 6, President Trump began his speech at 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time and mentioned going to the Capitol at roughly 12:16. Despite it being a 44-minute walk from the location of Trump’s speech to the U.S. Capitol, people appeared in mass outside of the Capitol at around 12:30. This means hundreds already had the idea to protest at the Capitol before the President mentioned it. Trump ended his speech at 1:15, which was 15 minutes before people began to overtake Capitol police, by saying, the following:

“We’re going to walk down to Pennsylvania Avenue… and we’re going to the Capitol… we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride boldness that they need to take back our country. So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Considering many who were there that day could not have gotten to the Capitol so fast after Trump told his supporters to go to the Capitol, these details run contrary to the FBI report from August 2021 which concluded that the Capitol attack was not at all pre-planned.

At around 1:51, one man can be seen very casually walking around cutting down fences that state “area closed” along them. The occurrence generated discussion online, fueled in part by its perceived unusual nature. Adding to the intrigue, however, was the involvement of an undercover Capitol police officer in the crowd, Ryan Roe. Claims circulated on X that Officer Roe expressed gratitude to the individual responsible for cutting down fences. A court filing makes this claim as well, which says, “At the 14-second mark of CAPD_000003728 (a video from Roe’s body camera), a voice consistent with the voice of Officer Roe says, ‘appreciate it, brother.’” The video cannot be viewed by the public, however, as it is currently under seal.

One individual from the Capitol riot in particular who has sparked much more controversy is Ray Epps. In many videos, Epps can be seen outside of the Capitol directing people to go in, whispering something into a person’s ear seconds before the first attack, trespassing on the grounds, and throwing a large Trump 2020 sign at Capitol police officers. These videos come as other clips from a live stream the night before showing a video of Epps in a large crowd of Trump supporters. In the video, he tells the crowd, “Tomorrow we need to go into the Capitol – Into the Capitol.” Several of the Trump supporters in the crowd around him then yell “No!” before they start to chant “Fed! Fed! Fed!” at him, insinuating that he was working on behalf of the FBI.

One video from a short time after the first attack on the Capitol shows teargas being shot into the front end of the main crowd, which up until that point had been peaceful. After a few more times of this, the crowd then began to push past the fences and overtake Capitol police. Another video then shows what was happening after the crowd had taken over the police from the perspective of another undercover Metropolitan police officer. In the video, the officer can be heard encouraging the crowd of Trump supporters to move forward. The officer is seen in videos from his body camera chanting “USA!” along with the crowd and telling others to help some people up a ladder, further onto the Capitol grounds.

As people made their way up the Capitol steps, two undercover Capitol detectives, Ricardo Leiva and Michael Callahan, could be identified within the crowd. This has been confirmed by a Metropolitan Police internal investigation as well.

The motion states that Detective Leiva ran up to some individuals who were breaking the Capitol’s windows and said, “Hey, what’s up man; you’re doing an amazing job. Awesome, awesome, awesome!” In April of 2023, the government released two of Leiva’s recordings, although the footage is black for about five minutes. Some of the missing parts have been synchronized through Capitol security footage by an X user who follows the individuals over the course of a few minutes. In the video, Detectives Leiva and Callahan can be seen taking selfies with people as they enter the Capitol building. Leiva and Callahan are then shown talking with members of the Proud Boys, which is also confirmed through evidence in a court case laid out in the same court filing. Detective Callahan then takes a picture for a protestor posed in front of the open Senate wing door.

In the X video it makes the claim that those same detectives had previously infiltrated the Proud Boys at a rally in December of 2020. This appears to be true, as proof has shown that not only had they infiltrated the group, but so did another officer, Nicholas Tomasula. The same court filing as before states, “Tomasula, Leiva, Callahan, and three other unnamed undercover Metropolitan Police officers infiltrated the Proud Boys at Harry’s Bar in D.C. on December 11, 2020.” A photograph also shows part of a report written by Officer Tomasula regarding what he witnessed whilst infiltrating the Proud Boys, further confirming his involvement. It has also been confirmed that Officer Tomasula was undercover during the Capitol attack as well.

Tomasula has said that he was instructed to “blend into the crowd” and record events with his body camera. He also admitted to chanting “Whose House? Our House!” as well as “Stop the steal!” Tomasula said as well that he later destroyed his iPhone, and that all text messages from January 5 and 6 were automatically deleted. Evidence such as this was enough to entitle a January 6 defendant, Dominic Pezzola, to a new trial.

More video from later shows Capitol police being ordered by their supervisor to “let them have this motherf—-r,” in reference to one of the Capitol’s entrances. A frustrated officer afterward says, “they set us the f–k up,” with another officer saying, “I can’t believe they let them in.” Another video shows an outraged officer during the events saying, “They set us the f–k up, that’s what they did; they set us up… and then they answered the call 2 hours later… we don’t got s–t.”

Another video shows what appears to be the first attack on the Capitol building itself by two individuals dressed in all black. Trump supporters can then be heard repeatedly yelling, “Stop him!” as well as “No!” Eventually, a few supporters stepped in the way of the individuals and stopped them. The crowd then begins chanting “f–k Antifa!” Additional video shows Trump supporters brawling with another man in all black at another location as some in the crowd yell, “he’s Antifa!” While there is no direct evidence that those individuals were a part of Antifa, the crowd present that day was convinced that they were.

Other photographs and videos show Trump supporters clashing with a man who was attempting to break one of the Capitol’s windows. Some online have claimed that this individual was also Antifa. While the individual did vote for Obama twice and didn’t vote in the following two elections, suggesting he could be of left-wing ideals, solid evidence that he was Antifa was unable to be found. This runs against some of the media’s claim that accusations of any left-wing individuals aggressing against the Capitol that day were false.

A similar instance occurred when one video showed a young individual by the name of Hunter Ehmke smashing a window before being apprehended. After a couple of minutes, the individual is let go by the police. While some on X also concluded that this person was Antifa, no evidence of this person was able to be found either.

Rather than him being Antifa, his father’s defense of this behavior was that he had begun experimenting with marijuana and psychedelics and that his son did not understand what was going on during the events. His father, who has been very open about his left-wing views, testified that he sent his son to D.C. thinking it would be “a good education in civil discussion.” Despite smashing a window of the Capitol, he got a lighter sentence than others who did not deal any damage: four months of prison and 36 months of supervised release.

From within the Capitol, one video from 2:51 that day shows officers having a conversation about “identifiers” for undercover cops in the crowd of people rioting at the Capitol. “They will have a wrist brand, their guns will have a candy stripe on the barrel,” a USCP officer said.

In another video, an individual from the inside of the Capitol can be seen talking to someone off-camera on the upper level of the building, seeming to ask someone to open the door since they are magnetically sealed. The off-camera individual then opens the doors, and Trump’s supporters begin to flood through. How the magnetic doors opened is still unknown.

One individual in particular who filmed inside the Capitol was John Sullivan. This is another example of someone who can be verified to have been of left-wing values that aggressed against the capitol. Sullivan founded “Insurgance USA” in 2020, which set up protests against police violence after the death of George Floyd. He was also shown on video prior to January 6 saying, “We got to rip Trump out of that office.” One Instagram post of his also says, “Time to kick the fascist out of DC on January 6, 2020.” This was posted on January 2, 2021, making it assumable that he meant to type January 6, 2021. Furthermore, not only has Sullivan said on video that he is a supporter of black lives matter, but his brother has said that he was involved with Antifa. This is in spite of the FBI saying there is no evidence of any Antifa involvement.

Additionally, as part of the 44,000 hours of security footage that then-Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy had given to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, some videos do show Capitol police escorting some around. One of these videos, for instance, shows two Capitol police officers escorting an individual inside the building who is handcuffed. Once they get to a private area, one of the officers removes the cuffs, and the individual fist-bumps the other officer. Another video also shows Capitol police talking to protestors before opening the door for them.

Several other videos have shown several individuals inside the Capitol walking around peacefully, with some officers walking around with them for large durations of their time within the building.

The rest of the events unfolded as it were told; some people ran around looking for congress members, some ran around in excitement, and the building was mostly cleared out between 4:00–6:00 P.M.

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A couple weeks after the events of January 6, the FBI reported that pipe bombs were found at both the DNC and RNC the night before. Almost three years later, the individual who planted them remains a mystery. The individual who did so was seen wearing a hood with a face mask.

During an interview with Ray Epps in a committee conducted by the U.S. House of Representatives on January 21, 2022, Epps was faced with criticism. “You [texted your nephew] back, ‘I was in the front with a few others. I also orchestrated it… what did you mean by orchestrate?’” Epps responded by insinuating he was joking about the situation, though video evidence shows the contrary.

Despite the evidence as well as Epps being identified early on, he was never charged with anything for years. This resulted in mass upset with many conservatives familiar with the situation. One X user wrote, “Ray Epps, the face of incitement! Never charged or questioned. Why? Because he was an FBI plant!” After many years of criticism, he was officially charged with a misdemeanor and was placed on probation on January 9, 2024. Despite the charge after years of his identity and involvement being widely known, some of the internet was still unhappy about this. One person posted to X, “More than 1,265 J6 defendants have been charged. The total combined years of prison sentences handed down to these defendants is approximately 847 years. Many are STILL in jail awaiting trial. What’s Ray Epps getting? Zero days in jail.”

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As of January 5, 2024, over 1,200 people have been arrested, and nearly 800 people have been sentenced with the vast majority of them having received time behind bars, many of which were for trespassing being the only charge. The former national chairman of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, was given the longest prison sentence despite not being present at the Capitol that day. Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years behind bars on charges of conspiracy.

An individual who was present at the Capitol on January 6 and documented much of what she witnessed stated on X the following:

“Whether by Trump supporters gone wild or infiltrators, this was a planned and well-executed situation. It did not happen organically.  Also, there was very little security and very little struggle to breach such a high level building.”

While all of this evidence reveals foul play, the question remains was the FBI involved? Furthermore, whether they were or not, were any other institutions potentially involved? Those topics are what the next part of this four-part series will cover.