Capitol rioters included at least 21 ex-military and cops who were caught using combat-style tactics like walking 'ranger file' - as Pentagon claims white supremacists are recruiting inside US forces
The MAGA mob rioters who stormed the US Capitol last week included at least 21 current or former members of the US military or law enforcement, with many of them caught on camera using military-style tactics like the 'ranger file'.
One particular photo of Trump supporters on the steps of the Capitol showed a line of men wearing combat helmets and body armor as they walked in a single-file line, each man holding the jacket collar of the one ahead.
The formation, known as 'ranger file,' is standard operating procedure for a combat team that is 'stacking up' to breach a building - instantly recognizable to any US soldier or Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It was a chilling sign that many at the vanguard of the mob that stormed the seat of American democracy either had military training or were trained by those who did.
A review of public records, social media posts and videos carried out by the Associated Press has since identified nearly two dozen military or law enforcement personnel as being at or near the Capitol riot. More than a dozen others are currently under investigation and have not yet been publicly identified.
In many cases, those who stormed the Capitol appeared to employ tactics, body armor and technology such as two-way radio headsets that were similar to those of the very police they were confronting.
This photo taken on the steps of the US Capitol shows a line of men wearing combat helmets and body armor in a formation known as 'ranger file'. It is standard operating procedure for a combat team that is 'stacking up' to breach a building and is instantly recognizable to any US soldier or Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan
Among the most prominent to emerge so far include multiple Air Force veterans, a retired Navy SEAL, an active duty Army psychological warfare captain and Virginia police officers.
Larry Rendall Brock Jr, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and decorated combat veteran from Texas, was arrested after he was photographed wearing a helmet and body armor on the floor of the Senate, holding a pair of zip-tie handcuffs.
Brock, 53, was released to home confinement on Thursday after a prosecutor alleged the former fighter pilot had zip-tie handcuffs on the Senate floor because he planned to take hostages.
'He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said. 'His prior experience and training make him all the more dangerous.'
Ashli Babbitt, another Air Force veteran from San Diego, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to leap through a barricade near the House chamber.
Adam Newbold, a retired Navy SEAL, which is among the most elite special warfare operators in the military, had posted a Facebook video about traveling from his Ohio home to the rally and seemingly approving of the invasion of 'our building, our house.'
Newbold, whose more than two-decade military career includes multiple combat awards for valor, said in a January 5 Facebook video: 'We are just very prepared, very capable and very skilled patriots ready for a fight.'
He later posted a since-deleted follow-up video after the riot saying he was 'proud' of the assault.
In an interview with the Task & Purpose website, Newbold denied ever going inside the Capitol. He added that because of the fallout from the videos he has resigned from a program that helps prepare potential SEAL applicants.
RETIRED AIR FORCE: Larry Rendall Brock Jr, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and decorated combat veteran from Texas, was arrested after he was photographed wearing a helmet and body armor on the floor of the Senate, holding a pair of zip-tie handcuffs
Brock was photographed on the Senate floor during the deadly riot wearing a helmet and heavy vest and carrying plastic zip-tie handcuffs
Two police officers from a small Virginia town, both of them former infantrymen, were arrested by the FBI this week after posting a selfie of themselves inside the Capitol and then allegedly boasting about their actions on Facebook.
Thomas Robertson and Jacob Fracker, of the Rocky Mount Police Department, were charged on Wednesday with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
They had already been placed on leave after going to the deadly riot and posing in front of a statue of John Stark, a general during the American Revolution.
AIR FORCE VETERAN: Ashli Babbitt, a Air Force veteran from San Diego, was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to leap through a barricade near the House chamber
Also under scrutiny is an active-duty psychological warfare captain from North Carolina who organized three busloads of people who headed to Washington for the 'Save America' rally.
Army commanders at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are investigating the possible involvement of Capt. Emily Rainey, a 30-year-old psychological operations officer and Afghanistan war veteran.
She said she traveled with 100 others to Washington to 'stand against election fraud.' She insisted she acted within Army regulations and that no one in her group entered the Capitol or broke the law.
'I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,' Rainey said.
The review of hundreds of videos and photos from the insurrectionist riot shows scores of people mixed in the crowd who were wearing military-style gear, including helmets, body armor, rucksacks and two-way radios.
Dozens carried canisters of bear spray, baseball bats, hockey sticks and pro-Trump flags attached to stout poles later used to bash police officers.
A DC police officer told CBS News that he witnessed rioters using military hand signals inside the Capitol.
A close examination of the group marching up the steps to help breach the Capitol shows they wore military-style patches that read 'MILITIA' and 'OATHKEEPER'.
Others were wearing patches and insignias representing far-right militant groups, including the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and various self-styled state militias.
The Oath Keepers, which claims to count thousands of current and former law enforcement officials and military veterans as members, have become fixtures at protests and counter-protests across the country, often heavily armed with semi-automatic carbines and tactical shotguns.
Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 as a reaction to the presidency of Barack Obama, had been saying for weeks before the Capitol riot that his group was preparing for a civil war and was 'armed, prepared to go in if the president calls us up'.
RETIRED NAVY SEAL: Adam Newbold, a retired Navy SEAL, which is among the most elite special warfare operators in the military, had posted a Facebook video about traveling from his Ohio home to the rally and seemingly approving of the invasion of 'our building, our house.'
VIRGINIA POLICE: Thomas Robertson and Jacob Fracker, of the Rocky Mount Police Department, were charged on Wednesday with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds
MILITARY AND POLICE AT CAPITOL RIOTS:
Larry Rendall Brock Jr: Retired Air Force lieutenant colonel
Ashli Babbitt: Air Force veteran
Adam Newbold: Retired Navy SEAL
Thomas Robertson: Rocky Mount Police
Jacob Fracker: Rocky Mount Police
Emily Rainey: Army psychological warfare captain
Roxanne Mathai: Bexar County Sheriff Lt.
Tam Dinh Pham: Houston Police Officer
Experts in homegrown extremism have warned for years about efforts by far-right militants and white-supremacist groups to radicalize and recruit people with military and law enforcement training, and they say the Capitol siege saw some of their worst fears realized.
'ISIS and al-Qaida would drool over having someone with the training and experience of a U.S. military officer,' said Michael German, a former FBI agent and fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
'These people have training and capabilities that far exceed what any foreign terrorist group can do. Foreign terrorist groups don't have any members who have badges.'
Brian Harrell, who served as the assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the Department of Homeland Security until last year, said it is 'obviously problematic' when 'extremist bad actors' have military and law enforcement backgrounds.
'Many have specialized training, some have seen combat, and nearly all have been fed disinformation and propaganda from illegitimate sources,' Harrell said. 'They are fueled by conspiracy theories, feel as if something is being stolen from them, and they are not interested in debate. This is a powder keg cocktail waiting to blow.'
It comes as the Defense Department said on Thursday that far-right and white supremacist extremists are actively recruiting in the US military and have gained more support over the past year.
In the aftermath of the siege, the Pentagon said it will launch an investigation into the extent of extremism in US military ranks.
A senior defense official who declined to be named told reporters that there was an increase in far-right activity among the military over the past year, though he noted that it paralleled similar growth in society at large.
PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE CAPTAIN: Army commanders at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are investigating the possible involvement of Capt. Emily Rainey, a 30-year-old psychological operations officer and Afghanistan war veteran
'We know that some groups actively attempt to recruit our personnel into their cause, or actually encourage their members to join the military for the purpose of acquiring skills and experience our military force,' the official told reporters.
'We recognize that those skills are prized by some of these groups, not only for the capability it offers them, but it also brings legitimacy in their mind to their cause.'
The military has been aware of the problem for some time.
But it was underscored by the involvement of serving and retired force members, as well as police officers, among the pro-Trump protesters who violently forced their way into the Capitol building last week.
More than 110 people have been arrested so far on charges related to the Capitol riot so far, ranging from curfew violations to serious federal felonies related to theft and weapons possession.
While the Pentagon declined to provide an estimate for how many active-duty military personnel are under investigation, the military's top leaders were concerned enough ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration that they issued a highly unusual warning to all service members this week that the right to free speech gives no one the right to commit violence.
The chief of the Capitol Police was forced to resign following the breach and several officers have been suspended pending the outcome of investigations into their conduct, including one who posed for a selfie with a rioter and another who was seen wearing one of the Trump´s red 'Make America Great Again' caps.
Police departments in such major cities as New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston and Philadelphia announced they were investigating whether members of their agencies participated in the Capitol riot.
The Philadelphia area's transit authority is also investigating whether seven of its police officers who attended Trump's rally in Washington broke any laws.
A Texas sheriff announced last week that he had reported one of his lieutenants to the FBI after she posted photos of herself on social media with a crowd outside the Capitol. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Lt. Roxanne Mathai, a 46-year-old jailer, had the right to attend the rally but he´s investigating whether she may have broken the law.
One of the posts Mathai shared was a photo that appeared to be taken Jan. 6 from among the mass of Trump supporters outside the Capitol, captioned: 'Not gonna lie.... aside from my kids, this was, indeed, the best day of my life. And it's not over yet.'
A lawyer for Mathai, a mother and longtime San Antonio resident, said she attended the Trump rally but never entered the Capitol.
In Houston, Police Chief Art Acevedo said an 18-year veteran of the department suspected of joining the mob that breached the Capitol was placed on leave and will face a disciplinary hearing.
'There is no excuse for criminal activity, especially from a police officer,' Acevedo said. 'I can´t tell you the anger I feel at the thought of a police officer, and other police officers, thinking they get to storm the Capitol.'
The FBI is warning of the potential for more bloodshed. In an internal bulletin issued Sunday, the bureau warned of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks.