After Action Report - I Was There, Were You?

https://freerepublic.com ^ | 1/7/21 | philman_36

[philman_36]

I want to get this down while it is still fresh in my mind so no responses tonight. I'll answer any questions, as I can, tomorrow. People need to hear what happened to keep abreast of the media narrative that is being formulated.

Drove into D. C. and got into town around 4:30 PM. Since I have never been to DC I did the usual tourist thing of walking around and taking pictures of various historical monuments. I even scouted out the are around the National Christmas Tree where the main event was supposed to take place. I waved at the potential White House snipers (I did actually wave), since the roof of the White House is all you can see from where the Tree is.

One of the places I didn't go to during my jaunt was Capitol Hill. I was simply too tired from the drive to walk there. (I parked down by the Washington Monument picture. (a had to get picture for me) The next morning I made my trek there. I took my pictures and started towards the Tree. I stopped at General Grant's statue and took pictures of all of the statues there as well while I was there. (the lyrics "As the caissons go rolling along." ran through my mind)

While there, an elderly gentleman was sitting in a chair. I commented that this was where we should all be meeting because of the day's events and I talked about my One Man Muster idea I formulated years ago. (it's on FR but I'm too tired to look it up right now) He smiled an odd smile and handed me two sheets of paper. We exchanged a few other pleasantries I walked away. (I had to piss like a Russian racehorse and at my age a full bladder is pressing concern) I wish now that I had spent two minutes to read those two pieces of paper then and there because it would have made the events of the day more understandable, but you will have to bear with me to the end on why that is so.

I walked down to the Tree. I saw the crowd was moving away from there. I thought, okay, let's follow the crowd. Maybe they know something I don't. I walk right back to Capital Hill. I get there and people were already starting to gather on the grass. The simple plastic barricades were already down and men were urging people to come up and occupy the grassy area. Most of the area around the scaffolding already had people there. Events had outpaced my walk back to Capitol Hill. It was raucous, but it seemed innocent. This is a protest I thought. I expected to see something like this. I was way behind on what went down as I'm finding out.

As to the eruption of "violence" as the MSM called things when I caught the news on the radio driving home I CAN say that it all really started after the DC Police fired the first canisters of tear gas/pepper spray into the crowd. (the launcher makes a very loud report) There was an audible groan from the crowd. That's when things went South. You can go find videos to see what happened after that. Whoever made the decision to fire on the crowd made a strategic error because he didn't know who he was dealing with. (again, more on that in a minute)

The building was breached, I started going around the whole building taking pictures and observing. I get to the SE corner and suddenly this group of police come rushing out with somebody on a gurney. I was two feet from the AF woman who got shot and I didn't even know it washer until later. I did get pictures of the trail of blood left in her passing.

One of the things I observed about a large number of the men there was the military type garb they had on. It struck me as strange. Were these vets who were simply wearing their old gear? Some had desert camo and some had forest/jungle green. One particular guy did something strange as well. As word came out that people had breached the building one guy took out two smoke grenades and stood waving them. To me he was signaling that event to someone.

I also saw people dressed in Antifa black. One young black man even had a skateboard in hand. Others had collapsible batons. I saw, at one point when I got there and was working my way through the crowd, some of the desert camo guys were dragging two people away from the front of the crowd and I heard them saying they were Antifa. Black block, helmets, goggles...the whole get up we've all seen. Antifa was definitely there cannibalizing the situation IMO.

I thought about all of the things I saw on the long drive home. Something was coming to fruition in my twisted mind. About two hours from home I took out the two papers the old man had given me and everything fell into place. I'm going to share with you what was on those two pages. The old man never said not to share it but I will. I hope it doesn't get me hunted down and killed but FReepers need to know this to put things in perspective.

The first page is part of his comments made in The Memoirs of General Ulysses S. Grant. (I had to look it up for context...7th paragraph)

Seditious Pamphlet Now, the right of revolution is an inherent one. When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of the oppression, if they are strong enough, either by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable. But any people or part of a people who resort to this remedy, stake their lives, their property, and every claim for protection given by citizenship—on the issue. Victory, or the conditions imposed by the conqueror—must be the result. Now this is where things get interesting! The second page says this... NOTICE OF LEVEE EN MASSE
A national militia is being organized on Capitol Hill to defend the Constitution and the Republic. Mustering will occur throughout the morning at General Grant's Statue west of the Capitol Dome. Members of the national militia must wear silver armbands at all times, signifying that they are lawful combatants.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Thomas Jefferson

So were all of theses guys in camo part of this national militia the old man's papers were talking about?
Is the militia movement bigger than we know?
THREE HOURS! That's all it took to occupy that building once that canister was fired. That's planning and strategy.
Was the firing of the canisters upon those in the crowd taken to be violence taken against them first? A "crossing the Rubicon" moment, as it were?

Just letting you folks know some of what I saw. Much is left out but people need to see this early before the narrative's legs get any longer. I'm hungry and tired so I'm grabbing a bit to eat, hitting the shower and then I'm off to bed.

[philman_36]

Did you see silver arm bands?

See reply 36.

[Envisioning]

You know me!

It has been a while. I'm glad you still remember that day.

Hard to forget that Ma Duece and all the great Freepers I met that day!

[PGalt]

phil

FReepmail me your phone. I’ll send you some pics from my phone. I don’t know how to describe or do it any other way. I’m not a smart man.

phil

😎

[David Chase]

Did you drive there?

I can’t believe you went without inviting me to tag along!

It’s probably for the better.......by the time we began leaving Ohio you would have left me at a rest stop........

[PGalt]

: ) Yes, by my lonesome. The 5 individuals I thought who might want to go. One answered but never committed. 2 never answered. My cuz “couldn’t”. My other cuz “bad back” can’t go. I booked the room on the 18th and didn’t tell my family I was going until the day before. M-T-W Sometimes it’s best to go it alone. I came in alone. I’ll prolly go out alone. It was quite the experience. I’ll post more about it. Thanks for your support at state. Forever appreciated.

[PGalt]

“It’s probably for the better.......by the time we began leaving Ohio you would have left me at a rest stop........”

brain bounce...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkDKT0ngkFs

[FamiliarFace]

Thanks for letting us know about your first hand experiences. I’m sure you both could write a book about the day, and maybe you could use this to get started. People want to know the TRUTH, not the BS that the media forces down our throats every day.

[PGalt]

99% of ALL media is BS. I quit 8+ years ago.

FRee Republic is a pencil sharpener for your mind. Sharpen that #2 to a #1.

A FRee Republic is also a Fun Republic. Thanks JimRob. Thanks to every poster.

[Wuli]

An old lesson I learned in my youth is that the larger the crowd is the less you know about who is in it or why THEY are there. You cannot think your motives will be what moves others in the crowd, and how few instigators it takes to manipulate the crowd. Mobs are not ever democratic forces. It is why they are so seldom formed by Conservatives.

[FamiliarFace]

I quit many years ago, too, roughly the same time as you is my guess. Haven’t regretted it for one second.

[philman_36]

Sorry for the lateness of this next post. Work comes first.

First, a correction. What I thought was tear gas canisters were actually flash bang grenades. My apologies. Never been around one so I didn't know. I read some accounts of the day on break and did the V-8 forehead smack. LOL
Nevertheless, that was the turning point, IMO.

I want to first say that the VAST majority of the people I saw and spoke with were just common people. The guys in camo were a very small number in comparison to the rest of the crowd. They and their attire seemed out of place to me. I just wanted to comment on it as it was the...weirdest???...thing I saw. But hey, I'm weird in some ways so who knows.

The thing that amazed me most were the waves of people fighting their way up the steps under the left scaffolding. A group of people would surge up the stairs while others who had been sprayed with pepper spray would come down. There was constant pressure to "take the hill" as it were.
There was one particular man on the banister (?) of the steps. The banister is only about 16" wide and this guy (and a group behind him) kept working their way up the banister. The sheer determination of this guy was amazing to see. I know he took about a dozen shots from the air gun the police were shooting at him with and that man held his ground and kept advancing.

Another observation. The largest flag I saw there was a huge one with a black background and white lettering with "F**K ANTIFA" on it. Very comical to me.

Historical comparison. I passed the Manassas exit on the highway on the drive in. When I saw people sitting in their lawn chairs calmly watching everything transpire it brought me back to the battle there and accounts of people following the army to watch the battle. They had a front row seat and didn't even have to pay to watch the show. Luckily they also didn't have to beat a fast retreat like the onlookers did that historical day.

An irony in all of this was some of the police were literally just standing around after the building had been breached. I saw at least three dozen of them simply standing around at different areas. Nobody was fighting them, nobody was throwing things at them and they just stood there!

In summation, I witnessed Citizens who were already pissed off about the state of affairs in the nation become completely enraged when they were attacked with flash bang grenades. Very poor judgement by the police in analyzing the crowd and the situation.

And if anybody wants to complain about the miniscule damage done to the building I want you to stop and think if you know of someone who has ever punched the wall of their own house and put a hole in the drywall in a fit of anger? Get the gist? It's the People's House, isn't it?
Gran Torino - girl gets raped, returns home to family. Walt goes home and punches out the glass face of the cabinet in the kitchen. HIS house, HIS anger at his lack of ability at the moment to change things and then his release of that anger and frustration...a broken pane of glass.
I pray to God we don't have to resort to what Walt did next, but he had a purpose and followed through on it.

Thanks for your patience.

[Irenic]

Thank you, you’re really very good at painting a picture.

[markman46]

thank you for your report.

[PGalt]

I was there on the road between his speech and Washington’s Monument. I did not go to the capitol but later that night had a dream that I was in the building beating up an Antifa guy. Strange dream. It woke me out of a sound sleep. Weird.

On the way out of Foggy Bottom heading home, I passed Ft Marcy Park. I said a prayer for Vince.

[Chewbarkah]

I really appreciate your first hand reportage and thoughts on the events.

From anything you witnessed, did the camo-wearers seem to be participating in the mob action? I live in the sticks, literally in a forested rural area. Camo pants are often worn here (including by me) for hiking, hunting, chores, and casual knocking about. The wearers aren’t making any sort of statement (other than that we don’t follow fashion).

The “madness of crowds” is nothing new. A few agitators and a spark (hmm...like throwing flash-bang grenades) to make the herd lose their inhibitions and become a frenzies mob. Any law enforcement group whose job is crowd control knows this. To control a crowd, you id and remove agitators quietly, and keep things from starting through overwhelming force and obstacles that spread people out. Throwing grenades, opening barricades, understaffing (the DC police sent officers home before the riot), etc., are what you would do to create a riot deliberately. But incompetence and self-interest are “can’t miss” explanations for most events in DC. Stay safe.

[philman_36]

From anything you witnessed, did the camo-wearers seem to be participating in the mob action?

Yes, but I only saw a couple of them in the action.
There were hundreds of people around me so picking particular people out was pretty difficult beyond a foot or two away.

People down here wear camo a lot too and we aren't in the boonies, just small town attitude I guess. Lots of hunting and fishing here.

[philman_36]

...you’re really very good at painting a picture.

Thank you.

[Paul R.]

Interesting vid. VERY interesting vid, esp. the portion leading up to the young lady being shot. :-(

[bankwalker]

it looks like the video has been removed ....

[piasa]

Speaking of arm bands:

Campaign Trail Trolls Dupe Fox Reporter and Others Into Thinking Trump Supporters Wear Armbands
3/14/2016, 5:20:29 PM · by markomalley · 32 replies
Mediaite ^ | 3/14/16 | Sam Reisman
They have struck again!It appears that the same heckler who interrupted a Marco Rubio rally on Sunday, pretending to be a jilted boyfriend, has now convinced a Fox News reporter that Donald Trump supporters in Florida are boasting armbands.Fox’s Carl Cameron (pictured above) produced a segment on the Trump armbanders, which Shepard Smith aired during his show Monday:(video at link)But take a look at the screengrab of the troll/comedian from the Rubio rally:Here is the video from that event:(video at link)Compare with the photo below from Cameron’s producer Nick Kalman posted Monday afternoon:The armband boasters appear also to be the...