The Jan. 6 defendants are victims of a "two-tiered justice system based on politics," according to Marjorie Taylor Greene. On Tuesday, she released Unusually Cruel, a 28-page eyewitness account documenting her Nov. 4 visit to the D.C. jail that houses the Jan. 6 defendants. Joined by Rep. Louie Gohmert and staff, Greene said they witnessed firsthand evidence of the detainees' horrible conditions and unfair treatment and contends the defendants are political prisoners.
Green says the J6 prisoners are treated differently from other prisoners in the jail. And, as investigative reporter Julie Kelly told Tracy and Frank on Wednesday's Dark to Light podcast:
"Not one of the nearly 700 defendants so far has been charged with insurrection or treason. The biggest crime they can come up with aside from assaulting police officers is this obstruction charge. And some of these people are locked up now for [almost] a year in pretrial detention.
A lot of these defendants did not have good attorneys out of the box who could argue vociferously against the pretrial detention of their client. Now, what happens once they're denied bail? It's very hard to go back and petition the court again. So a lot of them are just stuck." Kelly says most of the cases have been pushed back until late spring.
The report demonstrates that pretrial inmates related to Jan. 6 are treated more harshly than any other inmates in the D.C. jail, even though they have yet to be convicted of any crime. While Young Men Emerging (YME) and other convicted inmates are given access to flat-screen T.V.s, moot court lessons, and educational iPads, Jan. 6 detainees are denied basic medical care, bathrooms, exercise, religious services, haircuts, and a nutritious diet.
Greene explains that "racist and Anti-American propaganda" is being spoon-fed to prisoners in the facility—"whether in the form of Nation of Islam newspapers, Critical Race Theory articles, or academic studies teaching young inmates that the United States perpetuates a racial caste system. While these materials are ubiquitous throughout the jail, many inmates cannot get Bibles or basic legal materials to aid in their casework."
The detainees tell stories of solitary confinement, being denied the privilege of attending religious services, being unable to speak with their loved ones, and conditions of squalor. One of the prisoners told her that when he first arrived, "the cells were crawling with rats and bed bugs."
Greene's report documents the conditions of confinement of some of the detainees:
"The air circulation in the individual cells is so minimal that human feces and other smells begin to fester and pollute the air. But the physical conditions of the area were just the start. Inmates were only allowed out of their cells for five hours a day, a small mercy. Prior to this relative freedom, inmates were kept in their cells similar to the maximum-security inmates: 23 and 1 (23 hours in the cell, 1 hour out), 22 and 2, (21 and 3), etc. One inmate, who had been detained since Feb. 3, 2021, explained that he had been subjected to "23 and 1" for four months, followed by two months of 22 and 2. This inmate stated that he had gone through 200 days of solitary confinement. This type of treatment is being used against inmates who are all pretrial. They have been convicted of nothing."
Greene emphasizes in her report the "severe treatment of these inmates within the facility cannot be overstated."
It was no easy task to gain entry to the jail in general, let alone the part of the jail that houses the 40 or so defendants. Greene and Gohmert spent months trying to access the D.C. Central Treatment (CTF) and Central Detention (CDF) facilities. They were repeatedly met with denial of their requests, as evidenced by their Nov. 4 letter to Mayor Bowser. The letter is contained in the Appendix on pages 26-28 of the report. As a member of Congress, Greene says she should have free access to the facility.
Jan. 6 And The Whitmer Kidnapping Plot
Kelly is one of the few reporters other than Darren Beattie of Revolver News, who has doggedly covered the plight of the J6 defendants. She and Beattie have allegedly found a nexus between the Whitmer "kidnapping" case and Jan. 6, involving FBI plants and provocateurs. She says the trial—set for March 2022—will be eye-opening for the American people. Kelly believes the parallels between the two will be "fascinating and illuminating." It seems there may have been entrapment activity on the part of the FBI and other federal agencies.
"The [Whitmer] trial is going to begin in March of 2022. It's going to be a fascinating and illuminating backdrop to the initial trials for the Jan. 6 defendants in the spring of 2020. The FBI opened up [what] was called "Operation Cold Snap. The rationale was to infiltrate quote-unquote militia groups who were allegedly planning to organize violent anti-lockdown rallies. Now, of course, as you remember, Michigan was sort of Ground Zero for this. Donald Trump and Gretchen Whitmer were constantly in a battle back and forth. She really had one of the strictest lockdown policies."
Kelly stated what happened in Michigan at the anti-lockdown rallies seems to "mirror" what occurred on Jan. 6. Allegedly FBI agents used posts on social media to attract informants and to orchestrate anti-lockdown rallies in Michigan in the spring with the goal of infiltrating alleged "militia groups." Kelly says that some of them had "military garb," and others had rifles. Kelly recounts that an FBI informant talked to his FBI handler and suddenly "the Michigan State Police stand down." People start screaming for Whitmer, and the media is there documenting events.
"These are the same optics that we saw on Jan. 6," continues Kelly, "it's almost like this was a dress rehearsal organized by the FBI." In addition, says Kelly, the informants in those activities allegedly participated in an FBI "concocted plot" to kidnap Whitmer.
"It was completely concocted, organized, and funded by FBI informants who entrapped these young, kind of pathetic young guys into going along with this kidnapping plot. There are tons of evidence about what the FBI informants and undercover agents, and special agents did in this case. And when was it announced these alleged kidnappers were arrested for attempting to buy explosives from an undercover agent? October of 2020—this is as early voting is going on in the crucial swing state of Michigan. The FBI announces these arrests! Gretchen Whitmer did this tearful speech, even though she knew the whole time what was going on, that she was in no danger whatsoever [and] how she was threatened and it was Donald Trump's fault."
"But for the FBI's involvement, none of this would have ever happened. These guys didn't even have any money. The FBI had to pay for all of their alleged little surveillance trips. This is all going to come out in the spring, and the parallels between that and Jan. 6 are going to blow some minds."
Incidentally, Kelly says that the head of the Detroit FBI field office was subsequently moved from the Detroit office to the D.C. Field office. Kelly's story tracks closely with reporting by Darren Beattie with Revolver News. Beattie has written extensively about alleged "unindicted co-conspirators" involved in the Jan. 6 "Capitol siege," whereby FBI agents allegedly infiltrated alleged militia groups whom Pelosi and others claim orchestrated and planned the events of that day.
Kelly also speaks of 14,000 hours of video footage that, for some reason, has yet to be released. Kelly believes they are withholding it.
Some footage documents alleged beatings of people in the lower West terrace tunnel. Roseanne Boyland was killed, and there are conflicting reports as to what really happened to her. Kelly says the video footage will allegedly prove she did not die of a fentanyl overdose as reported but, rather, she may have been assaulted by police. She says that video evidence and court documents show:
"Accounts of protesters, including women being—one woman said almost beaten to death repeatedly in the face and head with a metal stick that's not supposed to be used against humans. It's [a stick] used to break windows in cases of emergency, so there's plenty of evidence going to come out about police brutality that day. Boyland died because of what police were doing inside that tunnel using this chemical gas that causes people to pass out—probably beating her and then leaving her to die outside of the tunnel—which we see. And then one Sergeant dragging her through that tunnel to hide her body until paramedics arrived."
Kelly says that some defendants are using self-defense because of "excessive force" in their cases. One of the cases she has been following is that of Thomas Webster, who is a retired NYPD officer and decorated Marine. She confirms Greene's assertions that Biden's DOJ has made it exceedingly difficult for the J6 defendants and has been a "non-stop cover-up."
According to Kelly, a group of 16 major news organizations—"all the big ones— New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Wall Street Journal, etc." who are "are petitioning the court as well to unseal a lot of this surveillance video." It has been designated as "sensitive government material."
She hopes that the video will be released so that Americans can "see what police actually did in that tunnel." Several of the men "who are charged and sitting in pretrial detention were in that tunnel or outside that tunnel, trying to defend protesters who were being assaulted by police. I believe there's five or six of them who are in the D.C. jail right now."
Kelly is disturbed that the Jan. 6 defendants are being portrayed by the U.S. government as "violent extremists," alluding to Director Wray's statement before the House Oversight and Reform Committee in June. While both she and Greene agree that some did engage in unlawful acts, the majority allegedly did little to deserve the kind of pretrial detention conditions they have suffered. She said many of the families are now "bankrupted and desperate." Kelly recommends those interested in their plight visit the Patriot Freedom Project website to make a donation or adopt a Jan. 6 family.
In her Tuesday press conference, Greene begged reporters to "share the truth" about what is happening to the Jan. 6 prisoners. The entire press conference with the transcript can be viewed here.
