US Radical Leader Among Rioters In Capitol
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – The leader of a hardline leftist group has admitted he was among rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol housing Congress in violence that killed 5 people.
John Sullivan, who founded Insurgence USA, which claims to fight police brutality, revealed he was on the frontlines when rioters broke into Capitol Hill and attacked police.
He also recalled the moment he saw Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt got shot inside Capitol Hill. “I remember looking into her eyes and seeing the lifelessness and understanding that she was dead,” he said about the staunch supporter of President Donald J. Trump.
His comments came ahead of a push by mainly Democrats to impeach President Trump for allegedly encouraging his supporters to attack America’s house of democracy.
Critics say Sullivan’s group is part of, or at least supports, the broader leftist Antifa movement, which includes militant leftists using violence. In a video-monitored by Worthy News, a woman can be heard shouting “Antifa, Antifa” as she filmed events unfolding.
The anti-Trump activist who once said he wanted to “rip” the president out of office entered the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday alongside rioters claiming pro-Trump protesters.
The 26-year-old Sullivan claimed he was there “to document” the protests in statements monitored by Worthy News. He denied affiliation to Antifa, although he posted related ‘hashtags,’ or links, to the movement on social networking site Twitter.
Sullivan was also involved in Antifa backed Black Lives Matter protests.
“There’s this narrative going around right now that Antifa was the people there causing the riots, causing the tension, “ he noted. “I wanted to be able to tell a part of history and show that that was anything but the case,” Sullivan told the Fox News network.
His Insurgence USA describes itself as “the revolution.” It began protesting racial injustice in policing last year following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.
In August 2020 remarks to a small crowd at a Washington, D.C., intersection, Sullivan pointed to the nearby White House. He also unleashed a torrent of violent rhetoric there. “We … about to burn this s— down,” he said. “We gotta … rip Trump right out of that office right there,” he continued. Sullivan added: “We ain’t about … waiting until the next election.” He then led the crowd in a chant of, “It’s time for revolution.”
Amid the turmoil, Sullivan was detained by Washington police for about an hour and a half last Thursday night, Worthy News learned. The detention came a day after he talked to local and national media about what he witnessed Wednesday.
He claimed he was handcuffed the entire time, and said police questioned him about being inside the Capitol and witnessing the shooting death of one of the protesters.
He was not yet arrested. But questions remain about the alleged role played by leftist radicals among Trump protestors in the worst violence near the US Capitol in recent memory.
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