Coup in the USA?

[Innula Zenovka]

Here in NL we have a "report crime anonymously line" , a police phone number where you can report what you know about criminal activities, without being asked personal identity questions.
Very helpful at times, if you want to point the police in the right direction, without getting further involved.

Certainly, and we have something similar here, too.

But what I'm wondering is whether Zaida's acquaintance who attended the January 6 rally in Washington DC is under any legal obligation to tell the FBI he was there, or to offer to allow them to search the contents of his phone/camera/social media in case they contain any useful evidence.

It might be advisable and public-spirited of him to volunteer the information, but I'm unconvinced he's under any legal duty so to (as he would be, at least in the UK, if he were a teacher who suspected one of his pupils was being abused, or a bank employee who suspected a customer was involved in money laundering).

 

[Free]

But what I'm wondering is whether Zaida's acquaintance who attended the January 6 rally in Washington DC is under any legal obligation to tell the FBI he was there

Anyone who was at the *rally* and left would probably have little to no knowledge of the criminal (and insurgent) actions of the crowd after they walked over to and invaded Capitol Hill.

Even so, it probably couldn't hurt to inform their local FBI office they were in D.C. and at the rally that day, but left after Trump spoke.

 

[Free]

FBI Warns That QAnon Followers Have Discussed Infiltrating National Guard At Biden Inauguration

The FBI has discovered that adherents of the bogus “QAnon” conspiracy theory, which alleges that President Donald Trump is secretly...

talkingpointsmemo.com

The FBI has discovered that adherents of the bogus “QAnon” conspiracy theory, which alleges that President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a cabal of pedophiles in elite circles, have discussed ways to potentially disguise themselves as some of the National Guard troops that have been assigned to watch over President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20.

An FBI intelligence report obtained by the Washington Post warns law enforcement agencies that “QAnon members have discussed posing as National Guard soldiers, believing that it would be easy for them to infiltrate secure areas.”

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Sid]

Than why is there this ancient joke:

Newspaper ad:
For sale, encyclopedia, Never used.
Wife knows always everything better.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

For some unknown reason (other than my persistent addiction to history), I am now re-reading James McPherson's classic "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era". His details on the political and domestic chaos preceding the war are absolutely eye-opening. I knew most of this stuff already since my college studies, but re-reading it in the context of the Trumpian era is both comforting and scary -- comforting because we always seem to have had "fire-eaters" and disrupters among us, then and now, and yet managed to get through; but also scary because in the early 19th century we were on a predictable road to a war that killed more Americans than any other single conflict in our history; more even than the current Coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 400,000 dead in one year. I try not to ponder the gory details much, hoping that we've learned enough to get around it this time. But after Jan 6 I'm not nearly as sanguine as I used to be.

The next Civil war won't be with front lines and trenches. It's already being fought in the pages of social media and regional prejudices.

 

[Arkady Arkright]

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if those geriatric senators treat their laptops like Hillary Clinton treated hers. I mean, whatever you think about that email situation politically, I think everybody can agree that she should have at least been using PGP or something. She was violating all kinds of best practices with her computer. I don't think she's alone in that, among higher ups in Washington DC.

Do you actually know it wasn't encrypted, or is that just an assumption on your part ?

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

 

[bubblesort]

Do you actually know it wasn't encrypted, or is that just an assumption on your part ?

It's been so long ago, my memory is hazy, but I think I remember the emails were taken from an exchange server that hadn't been patched in 4 or 5 years or something stupid. If they were using PGP, the plaintext would not have hit the server. They would have been encrypted by the sender, before being transmitted, and then decrypted by the recipient locally.

 

[Free]

McConnell says Trump, others 'provoked' attack on US Capitol

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is explicitly pointing his finger at President Donald Trump for helping to spur the attack on the Capitol.

www.stltoday.com

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell opened the Senate on Tuesday saying the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol was "fed lies" by the president and others in the deadly riot to overturn Democrat Joe Biden election.

McConnell's remarks are his most severe and public rebuke of outgoing President Donald Trump. The Republican leader vowed a "safe and successful" inauguration of Biden on Wednesday at the Capitol, which is under extremely tight security.

"The mob was fed lies," McConnell said. "They were provoked by the president and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of branch of the federal government."

 

[Cindy Claveau]

McConnell says Trump, others 'provoked' attack on US Capitol

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is explicitly pointing his finger at President Donald Trump for helping to spur the attack on the Capitol.

www.stltoday.com

Funny how he sheds his costume AFTER Trump is voted out. Now he wants to be "responsible statesman" even though he's anything but.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

But what I'm wondering is whether Zaida's acquaintance who attended the January 6 rally in Washington DC is under any legal obligation to tell the FBI he was there, or to offer to allow them to search the contents of his phone/camera/social media in case they contain any useful evidence.

Yes? Being an accessory after fact and preventing a criminal from coming to justice can result in imprisonment/fines up to half of what's prescribed for the crime itself.

In my several stints as a juror though in crimes where there were absolutely accessories (during or after the fact), they never seemed to be part of the trial itself. I presume the accessory charges were dropped in exchange for the accessory's help to firm up the case against the primaries being accused.

The obligation exists, but in practice it doesn't seem come to much for its own sake.

 

[Jolene Benoir]

Funny how he sheds his costume AFTER Trump is voted out. Now he wants to be "responsible statesman" even though he's anything but.

I'm curious how much of it has to do with him losing his Senate Majority seat, as well. While he did acknowledge Biden's win prior to the Georgia runoffs, he had little else to say about the, by that time, two months straight of lies propagated everywhere.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

McConnell says Trump, others 'provoked' attack on US Capitol

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is explicitly pointing his finger at President Donald Trump for helping to spur the attack on the Capitol.

www.stltoday.com

How magnanimous of him to actually deign to make a reality-based comment.

Was that @%(& even in the Capitol Building when the riot happened?

We know Pelosi and Pence were there, but I haven't heard anything about where this shithead was at the time.

 

[Jolene Benoir]

Certainly, and we have something similar here, too.

But what I'm wondering is whether Zaida's acquaintance who attended the January 6 rally in Washington DC is under any legal obligation to tell the FBI he was there, or to offer to allow them to search the contents of his phone/camera/social media in case they contain any useful evidence.

It might be advisable and public-spirited of him to volunteer the information, but I'm unconvinced he's under any legal duty so to (as he would be, at least in the UK, if he were a teacher who suspected one of his pupils was being abused, or a bank employee who suspected a customer was involved in money laundering).

I wouldn't think that simply having attended the rally is criminal in any manner. It was the people on the stage committing incitement, not the members of the audience. Well, let me amend that, there may have been some at the conclusion who were rallying folks to attack the capitol, but if this person was not part of that, they did nothing wrong.

I suppose, had the person videotaped the rally and happened to film someone on tape who later showed up inside the Capitol, they might think about providing that to authorities, but I wouldn't think they would be obliged to do so.

 

[Jolene Benoir]

How magnanimous of him to actually deign to make a reality-based comment.

Was that @%(& even in the Capitol Building when the riot happened?

We know Pelosi and Pence were there, but I haven't heard anything about where this shithead was at the time.

I believe he was there at the time, but was evacuated. This is the only source that I can find at the moment. He had been speaking not long before the breach to the effect that we should not allow unproven allegations to alter the certification, that it would damage our republic forever or words to that effect. Link to his actual speech further down.

McConnell, other lawmakers evacuated from US Capitol after breach

* * *

www.timesofisrael.com

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other senators are led out, escorted by staff and police. Members of the House were also being evacuated. Both chambers had been debating the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College.

Watch McConnell side against Trump in Senate speech

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Yes? Being an accessory after fact and preventing a criminal from coming to justice can result in imprisonment/fines up to half of what's prescribed for the crime itself.

In my several stints as a juror though in crimes where there were absolutely accessories (during or after the fact), they never seemed to be part of the trial itself. I presume the accessory charges were dropped in exchange for the accessory's help to firm up the case against the primaries being accused.

The obligation exists, but in practice it doesn't seem come to much for its own sake.

Yes, but what are the elements of the offence of "being an accessory after the fact"?

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Yes, but what are the elements of the offence of "being an accessory after the fact"?

You mean like "Knowing that someone committed a crime" and "Refusing to turn them in if they won't do it themself?"

Does there need to be more than that?

 

[Jolene Benoir]

You mean like "Knowing that someone committed a crime" and "Refusing to turn them in if they won't do it themself?"

Does there need to be more than that?

Hmm...I should think that, say a person actually did go to the Capitol with a friend, and that friend was among those that beat that officer, that would be a case of accessory after the fact in particular if they helped them to evade detection directly after the attack by means of removing them from the scene or deleting video evidence of the attack. That would be, to me, at least a clearer area where it could apply.

I'm certainly no lawyer so even in that more extreme and possibly more clear cut example, it would still behoove that person to seek out a lawyer before proceeding. For other scenarios it certainly has a moral implication but maybe not a legal one.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

But if they went back to their hotel and heard that a friend went to the Capitol, then they are not a witness and they have no direct knowledge. That's hearsay.