January 6 Rally funded by Top Trump Donor, assisted by Alex Jones, Organizers Say

The demonstration in the Washington Ellips that preceded the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol was organized and funded by a small group, including a top Trump campaign fundraiser and donor facilitated by far-right presenter Alex Jones.

Jones has personally pledged more than $ 50,000 in seed money for a scheduled rally on Jan. 6 in exchange for a guaranteed “top-notch slot of his choice,” according to a funding document that included an agreement between his company and an early organizer for opportunity. .

Mr. Jones also helped arrange Julie Jenkins Fancelli, a prominent donor for the Trump campaign and heir to the Publix Super Markets Inc. chain, to commit about $ 300,000 through a top fundraiser for the former president Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, according to organizers. Her money was paid for most of the $ 500,000 rally at the Ellipse where Mr. Trump spoke.

Another far-right activist and leader of the “Stop the Steal” movement, Ali Alexander, helped organize the planning with Caroline Wren, a fundraising officer who was paid for much of 2020 by the Trump campaign and who by me. Fancelli was utilized to organize. and fund an event on her behalf, organizers said. On social media, Alexander targeted January 6 as an important date for supporters to gather in Washington to contest the certification results for the 2020 election. The week of the protest, he tweeted a pamphlet for the occasion, saying, “DC will be FORT TRUMP from tomorrow on my orders!”

Alex Jones addressed protesters at the Capitol site on January 6.


Photo:

Jon Cherry / Getty Images

The Ellipse protest, in which President Trump encouraged supporters to march to the American Capitol, was legal and non-violent. But it was a starting point for many fans to go to the Capitol. Mr. Trump has been indicted by the Democratic-led House of Representatives, accusing him of inciting a crowd to storm the Capitol with remarks urging supporters to fight like hell.

Few details about the financing and organization of the Ellipse event have been announced before. Mr. Jones claims in a video that he paid for part of the event but did not provide details.

Messrs. Jones and Alexander were active during the weeks leading up to the event and called on supporters to oppose the election results and go to the US Capitol on January 6. Mr. Alexander, for example, tweeted on December 30 about the scheduled January 6 reckon that lawmakers would ratify the Electoral College at the Capitol, writing, “If they do, everyone can guess what I and 500,000 others will do to the building.”

Screened in 2019, Julie Jenkins Fancelli donated more than $ 980,000 in the 2020 election cycle to a joint account for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party.


Photo:

Barry Friedman / LKLND NOW

A body of different pro-Trump groups planned different events on January 6th. Several of them, led by the pro-Trump Women for America First, helped coordinate the Ellips event; another group boasted the previous evening of leading a rally, after which Jones finally spoke, and the group arranged by Alexander planned a demonstration outside the Capitol building.

Mr. Jones, who has made discredited conspiracy theories, featured leaders of the Proud Boys and the Eath Keepers, two extremist groups that were prominent in the riots, in his popular radio and Internet video programs.

Mr. Jones declined to comment for comment. In a statement, Alexander said the motto of Stop the Steal was “peaceful but loud”, that the violence at the Capitol was not planned by his group and that none of his rhetoric provoked violence. Messrs. Alexander and Jones on the show of mr. Jones said they were trying to stop protesters from entering the Capitol and trying to weaken the riot. None of them were accused of wrongdoing.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign said it played no role in funding or organizing the Ellipse event and did not instruct former staff members to do so. A spokesman for Mr. Trump declined to comment. At least five former Trump campaign staff, except me. Wren, helped with the logistics of the January 6 protest, according to the permit and the Federal Electoral Commission.

Ali Alexander, activist and leader of the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement, helped coordinate the planning of the Ellips rally.


Photo:

carlos barria / Reuters

From mid-December, Mr. Alexander begins announcing plans “to pull up DC with #StopTheSteal and occupy it peacefully,” according to organizers and a message from Devin Burghart, who leads an organization that follows extremist groups. Mr. On December 19, Trump encouraged supporters via Twitter to hold demonstrations on January 6 that he said would be “wild.”

Mr. Alexander created a website called WildProtest.com and wrote: “We the people need to go to the American Capitol lawn and tell Congress #DoNotCertify on # JAN6!” He plans and publishes a rally on the Capitol site that day. The site was taken offline after the riot.

A representative of Women for America First applied for a separate event just after the inauguration in January, but the group resumed for January 6 after the December 19 tweet on Trump, organizers said.

Women for America First’s permit for the Ellipse rally listed several names and positions, including Ms. Wren as ‘VIP Coordinator’. In the 2020 election cycle, the Trump campaign and a joint GOP committee paid Wren and her fundraising advisory firm $ 730,000, according to FEC records.

The Ellips demonstration, during which Donald Trump spoke, was legal and nonviolent, but it served as a starting point for his supporters to go to the Capitol.


Photo:

Shawn Thew / Bloomberg News

According to organizers, Mrs. Wren was appointed to handle financing, said Ms. Fancelli, the biggest donor for the Ellipse event. Me. Fancelli, who did not respond to several requests for comment, donated more than $ 980,000 in the 2020 election cycle to a joint account for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party.

Me. Fancelli, daughter of the founder of Publix Super Markets, told Mr. Jones contacted and offered to contribute to an event on Jan. 6, organizers said. Mr. Jones connected her to an organizer through me. Wren, who handled the money when she helped coordinate the logistics of a rally with Women for America First. A spokesman for Publix said Fancelli was not involved in the business operations of the company and that it did not represent the company in any way.

The Ellipse lineup cost about $ 500,000, with a concert stage, a $ 100,000 grass cover and thousands of feet of safety structures.

Me. Wren played a central role in bringing together the diverse group of activists planned for January 6th. She suggested to Alexander that he reschedule his Capitol meeting until 1 p.m. and a list of about 30 potential speakers, including According to organizers, Messrs. Alexander and Jones, who are listed on sites with the day’s events, listed.

In a statement, Mrs. Wren said her role for the event “was to help many others provide and arrange a professionally produced event at the Ellips.”

The involvement of Messrs. Jones and Alexander caused debate among the organizers. Amy Kremer, chairwoman of Women for America First, said in a statement: “We were concerned because there was an aggressive pressure to take part in the event.”

Wren said Mr. Wren in text messages sent to another organizer and checked by the Magazine. ‘I promise he’s actually prettier than he’s coming down … I hope you will. [sic] can be bestied, ”said me. Wren wrote.

Wren’s spokesman said the message was proof of Ms. Wren who help carry out an event, while also getting people with different agendas on the same page diplomatic. ‘

None of the groups received a march permit, although Women for America First called the event ‘March to Save America Rally’, and Mr. Alexander’s Stop the Steal promoted a march to the Capitol online.

According to the First Ellipse permit from Women for America, the group would not hold a march, but noted: ‘Some participants may leave to attend rallies at the American Capitol to hear the results of the Electoral College certification. ‘

Kylie Kremer, co-founder of Women for America First, said the group did not submit a march permit because it was in violation of the Covid-19 guidelines and that a march was not planned.

When Mr. Trump met on January 4 with former campaign adviser Katrina Pierson, who started with organizers, saying he wants to be helped primarily by lawmakers to stop his votes from being counted and members of his own family. , employees said.

Messrs. Alexander and Jones spoke instead at a January 5 meeting organized by the Eighty Percent Coalition, a group founded by Cindy Chafian, an early organizer of the January 6 event marking the initial agreement with mr.

She said she was willing to work with Mr. Jones to work with, because ‘it’s unreasonable to expect to agree with everything a group or person does.’

Jones’ seed money was eventually used for the Jan. 5 rally, for which he eventually paid about $ 96,000, an organizer said. In his speech at the event, Mr. Jones said: “I do not know how it will all end, but if they want to fight, they better believe they have one.”

The next day, Ms. Wren mnr. Jones and Alexander personally escorted from the Ellipse site before the two men marched to the U.S. capital, according to organizers. She gave them and many other VIP passes for Trump’s speech that morning.

Mr. Alexander and Jones were at the Capitol site together on January 6, and Mr. Jones supported protesters with a bullhorn, video recordings. He urged them to be peaceful and to go to the area on the Capitol site, where Mr. Alexander obtained a demonstration permit, according to Mr. Alexander and the footage.

Write to Shalini Ramachandran at [email protected], Alexandra Berzon at [email protected] and Rebecca Ballhaus at [email protected]

Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

.Source