The Department of Justice has charged Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. for threatening to kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the Capitol Building insurgence last Wednesday, according to The New York Times and Associated Press.
Meredith Jr. was driving from Colorado to Washington, D.C., with a trailer that had a Glock handgun, a pistol, a Tavor X95 assault rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and much more. In text messages obtained by Washington, D.C. police, Meredith Jr. made clear what his plans were, the Associated Press reported.
“Headed to DC with a (s**t) ton of 5.56 armor-piercing ammo,” court filings show he told many of his friends and relatives on January 6.
“Thinking about heading over to Pelosi (C**t’s) speech and putting a bullet in her noggin on Live TV. I’m gonna run that (C**t) Pelosi over while she chews on her gums. … Dead (B***h) Walking. I predict that within 12 days, many in our country will die,” he added, before sending a picture of himself wearing blackface.
“I’m gonna walk around DC FKG with people by yelling ‘Allahu ak Bar’ randomly,” he added.
According to the Associated Press, Meredith Jr. has been charged with felony possession of firearms and ammunition as well as transmitting a threat.
Since the world watched in horror as President Donald Trump urged a mob of domestic terrorists to attack the Capitol Building and the members of Congress inside it, more and more information about what happened has emerged.
Multiple videos showed the rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence." Capitol Police say the crowd was not just protesters.
NEW FOOTAGE: a long, disciplined line of men in body armor moves as a unit up the #CapitolBuilding steps.
We need to identify this group.
Grateful to @lehudgins for the find.
Source: https://t.co/1CQlT5Sqa7
pic.twitter.com/Omdva2SiUS— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) January 10, 2021
Many were heavily armed with guns, pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. A number were either current or former members of the armed forces or police departments and were communicating with each other over radio throughout the attack.
While much of the media coverage has focused on the more cartoonish members of the mob, multiple members of Congress have said that was simply cover for the other terrorists who had very specific goals, like Meredith Jr.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn said an investigation needs to be done into the Capitol Police itself because of how easy it was for many of the insurgents to navigate the winding halls of Congress, as Blavity previously reported.
"Something else was going on here, Joe. My office, if you don't know where it is, you ain't going to find it by accident. And the one place where my name is on the door, that office is right on Statuary Hall. They didn't touch that door, but they went into that other place where I do most of my work, they showed up there harassing my staff," he said.
"How did they know to go there? How come they didn't go where my name was? They went where you won't find my name, but they found where I was supposed to be. So something else was going on untoward here."
House Majority Whip Clyburn on @SIRIUSXM: “They went where you won't find my name, but they found where I was supposed to be. So something else was going on untoward here.”https://t.co/LuJzBSK6sv
pic.twitter.com/9aMbYXe1Ut— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) January 8, 2021
Over the weekend, multiple members of Congress heaped praise on Black Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who used himself as bait to lure the Trump terrorists away from the Senate floor.
Video shows a mob of white Trump supporters chasing Goodman up the stairs of the Capitol Building, and you can see that he intentionally pushes the leader of the pack so that they continue to follow him away from the Senate floor, which was just feet away.
The Secret Service had not yet evacuated the Senate yet — they would do so just two minutes later — meaning Goodman's actions may have saved a number of lives.
Thank you, Officer Eugene Goodman.
(????: @nytimes) pic.twitter.com/PKd1jhueSz
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) January 10, 2021
The word hero does not appropriately describe officer Eugene Goodman. His judgment & heroism may have saved our Republic. I hope @SpeakerPelosi
@SenSchumer
@WhipClyburn consider him for the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is the least we can do. https://t.co/22qvikwCqh— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) January 10, 2021
Federal authorities have still not held a hearing to explain why there were not more officers present to protect the Capitol Building and the members of Congress inside it.
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter banned the president from their sites because they believe he and the people around him are planning another attack on Congress or on President-elect Joe Biden, according to The Washington Post.