Summary of Sedition Hunters By Ryan J. Reilly: How January 6th Broke the Justice System

By Willie M. Joseph

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This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

Summary of Sedition Hunters By Ryan J. Reilly: How January 6th Broke the Justice System

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The January 6th attack on the Capitol building in 2020 was an unprecedented crime that challenged traditional law enforcement norms and strained the justice system. The FBI and Department of Justice are now dealing with a crisis of democracy and law that threatens to spread rapidly. The rise of online "sedition hunters" has created an ethical dilemma, as who gets to serve justice and how the justice system can function as a pillar of civil society. Ryan Reilly's Sedition Hunters provides an insightful look into this high-stakes story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willie M. Joseph
• Release date: Oct 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223623335

Willie M. Joseph

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Preface

Early 2023 Undisclosed Location

The largest FBI investigation in American history is not in the J. Edgar Hoover Building, Quantico, or a federal office building, but in places like Alex's garage. Alex was shocked by the violence and chaos at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and spent part of Jan. 7 surfacing videos that showed the extent of the chaos. As a software guy, Alex stumbled upon some of the budding efforts to identify the rioters, watching as social media users began collaborating online.

Flash forward to 2023, a community of online sleuths, Sedition Hunters, had aided in hundreds of cases against Jan. 6 defendants. They had identified more than 700 Jan. 6 participants who had not yet been arrested. The new identifications weren't stopping, and an online investigator named Josh, who had whipped up an app in his garage, was one of the main tools of the manhunt: driving investigations, organizing information, and generating new leads.

In the two years since the Capitol attack, the feds had racked up impressive numbers: nearly one thousand cases, about five hundred guilty pleas, dozens of significant prison sentences, and the largest number of seditious conspiracy verdicts in modern American history. Federal prosecutors around the country had stepped up to assist the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which was overseeing a breathtaking number of cases. Assistant US attorneys from across the country were dialing in for hearings and flying in for trials. Now, some of those offices were wondering how long this would last, as the clock on the statute of limitations was ticking, and the feds were quickly approaching the halfway mark.

The federal investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol was the largest FBI investigation in American history, and it was described as a clusterfuck. The FBI had hundreds of thousands of tips, which would have been a tremendous logistical challenge even if the FBI weren't a massive, sprawling bureaucracy operating with antiquated communication and organization technology. The FBI had nearly four million files, thirty thousand videos from body-worn cameras, surveillance video, and the footage rioters had captured on their own devices.

The FBI's information technology offerings were less than agile, burdened by onerous security settings that made simple operations like sharing large files and reviewing publicly available evidence burdensome. Some sleuths had formalized relationships with the FBI at this point, and the community knew how much their work was appreciated and thought the bureau special agents they dealt with were dedicated. However, the bureau's rules made it difficult for special agents to offer even basic updates on the status of investigations.

Since a mob of Donald Trump supporters whipped up by his lies about the 2020 election stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, the FBI has been immersed in the communities of online sleuths who are driving the FBI investigation. They have worked out of their home offices, from their couches, kitchen tables, bedrooms, garages, and—in one case— from the sleeper cab of their semitruck.

Jan. 6 was a pivot point for American democracy and the FBI and law enforcement, which were caught flat-footed despite all the warning signs flashing online ahead of Jan. 6.

The FBI has been working with a group of anonymous sleuths from across the country, including those from the east coast to California, the deep south to the Midwest. They have formed groups and formed real friendships through various messaging applications, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Rumble, Gab, and Telegram. Facial recognition and fresh video were crucial in the investigation, as rioters often kept their faces covered during their time at the Capitol.

A confidential human source (CHS) for the FBI, Chris, has been instrumental in the investigation. He led a team of open-source researchers who collaborated shortly after January 6, 2021, to identify United States Capitol rioters. The CHS derived information solely through open-source research and was motivated by their outrage regarding the attacks on law enforcement.

Chris and other sleuths have been compensated for their time and have been recognized for their work. They visited the FBI in 2021 and realized the extent of their impact. They felt that their work was crucial to the investigation and felt that their efforts had a huge impact. The FBI has been questioning Chris about their interactions with the bureau, but Chris was floored by the critical role the sleuths had played in the investigation.

PART I

Locker Room Talk

In the upcoming presidential election, a small group of Donald Trump supporters were plotting to overthrow the government and place a bomb at the US Capitol. Trump warned them that there would be fraud and that the election was rigged against him, and asked his supporters to go to certain areas to watch voters at the polling place. Curtis Allen, a military veteran who served in the US Marine Corps and later the Army National Guard, posted a Trump campaign sign outside his trailer in Liberal, Kansas. He worked as an airport security officer and liaison between airport officials, law