According to federal allegations, Kelly and Connie Meggs are members of the Oath Keepers militia that used the chaos surrounding the U.S. Capitol riot to enter the building within an organized ‘stack’. Dressed in camouflage, the Florida couple can be seen on safety material illegally entering the Capitol and walking around the building with fellow guardians.
According to prosecutors, Kelly Meggs is a leader of the Oath Keepers with the alias “OK Gator.” Both the Meggs are facing charges of conspiracy for their alleged role in the riot.
For sympathetic readers of the right-wing blog The Gateway Pundit, however, the Meggs are humble farmers who are unfairly kidnapped by the federal government and forced to handle some loose donkeys. In a Tuesday post on Gateway Pundit, blogger Jim Hoft claims that the Meggs are on the verge of losing their farm after an FBI raid in which the FBI accidentally freed their donkeys.
“During the arrest, the FBI lost all their donkeys in the area,” Hoft wrote.
The donkeys were later returned to the farm. The solution to this injustice for Hoft’s far-right audience, according to his blog: to donate tens of thousands of dollars to the Meggs.
The stories of the rioters made a lot of money on GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site that became a great option for right-wing figures who would probably be banned from more common sites like GoFundMe. The Meggs family raised more than $ 80,000 as of Tuesday, while Eedwagter Kenneth Harrelson’s family raised more than $ 160,000.
Members of the proud boys and oath-takers charged after the January 6 riot were engaging in a blitz on public relations in the right-wing media, trying to recreate themselves as victims of government supremacy and a bosom FBI. They also raise a lot of money.
The PR push extended to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran, who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer as she tried to break into the Speaker’s lobby during the riot. Terrell Roberts, a lawyer for Babbitt’s family, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show on March 12, claiming that police only had to arrest Babbitt.
“We need a statement explaining why they had to shoot this lady,” Roberts said.
Roberts declined to comment.
Much of the glowing coverage of the riot suspects comes from The Gateway Pundit, a popular far-right blog that regularly promotes fake news. Gateway Pundit founder Hoft, who occupies a prominent place in the right-wing media to be invited to the Trump White House in 2019, has presented several stories to promote fundraising for the riot suspects.
The proud boy, Christopher Worrell, allegedly shot pepper spray at law enforcement officers at the start of the riot after he rode from a van with a crew of other Proud Boys from Florida. According to prosecutors, Worrell wore a tactical vest and earpiece for the riot. When law enforcement officers raided his home in East Naples, Florida, they found it was filled with Proud Boys equipment, including challenge coins representing various chapters of the far-right male group.
The Gateway Pundit recording of Worrell’s arrest, however, makes no mention of Proud Boys. The blog post claims that Worrell was ‘arrested by heavily armed tankers’, an unusual way to describe armored trucks.
While Kelly and Connie Meggs were embraced by right-wing blog readers, Harrelson, another Florida swearer who allegedly entered the Capitol with them, had the best reception.
Harrelson, who is facing one conspiracy and three other charges, allegedly conspired with other swordsmen in meetings with aliases such as “Gator 6” or sometimes just by using his own name. According to his indictment, Harrelson was caught on video entering the Capitol illegally next to the Meggses.
Like other supporters of arrested suspects, Harrelson’s wife, Angel Harrelson, appeared on The Gateway Pundit to allege that her husband was being treated unfairly and that FBI agents had raided her home while conducting a search warrant. performed.
“They escorted me outside my house,” she said. ‘I was upset because my stuff would be thrown around everywhere and that it would make a big mess. ‘
In a message posted on The Gateway Pundit, Angel Harrelson claims that the Oath Guards “are made up of a diverse group of people”.
“One of the worst lies spread about it is that they are somehow ‘white supremacists,'” Harrelson’s wife wrote. ‘It’s insulting and ridiculous. I am Cajun, which is why my ancestors and family members are black as well as American Indians. ”