A radical activist who helped incite violence at the US Capitol—and filmed the murder of protestor Ashli Babbitt before allegedly joking about it—reportedly cashed in for his participation to the tune of at least $70,000.
John Sullivan, the most prominent Antifa-linked subversive to have participated in the Jan. 6 uprising, disclosed the payments he received from CNN and NBC for $35,000 while arguing in his federal case that he was, in fact, a “journalist” and not a participant, according to the Daily Caller.
Although initially released by authorities in the melee’s aftermath, Sullivan was later indicted by a grand jury on seven counts, among them: obstructing an official, civil disorder, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, and aiding and abetting.
That proved to be one of many inconvenient facts undermining the false reporting of leftist outlets like the New York Times.
There is no evidence that the antifa movement — a loosely organized collective of antifascist activists — stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. https://t.co/YD3PlqDlGI pic.twitter.com/Gru5XbBtP5
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 7, 2021
Despite his alleged involvement, Sullivan’s footage—watermarked with his alias, Jayden X—was among the “harrowing” content included in the House impeachment managers’ doctored video clips last week that left many mainstream news anchors “visibly shaken.”
His filming of Babbitt as she was shot while attempting to enter into the Speaker’s Lobby was among the most widely shared clips following the Capitol siege.
However, the eyewitness report of a conservative journalist present at the scene indicated that Sullivan may even have had a role in breaking the glass before retreating to a stairwell after Babbitt was shot.
I am starting with John Sullivan, why? Because I know him. He is a Utah based Activist who leads insurgency groups. He claims to be a “Journalist” and is joking about Ashli’s death.
John’s “Insurgency USA” was one of the first groups I was able to successfully infiltrate. pic.twitter.com/Nt8JHNqDU7
— Tayler Hansen (@TaylerUSA) January 7, 2021
It is not immediately clear whether Sullivan’s intent from the beginning was to foment right-wing violence as part of an anarchist/communist effort to undermine then-President Donald Trump.
But he was exposed for having egged on the early instigators who broke into the Capitol while the joint session of Congress was convened to count—and contest—the votes of the Electoral College.
“We accomplished this s**t,” Sullivan was recorded saying in one video introduced as evidence by prosecutors.
“We did this together. F**k yeah! We are all a part of this history,” he continued. “… Let’s burn this s**t down.”
Even after the damning evidence against Sullivan emerged, he and his mainstream media allies doubled down on the claims that he was an innocent bystander.
“Defendant is legitimately self-employed as a documentarian and it is oppressive to require that he not be allowed to continue his primary area of employment for an extended period of time,” claimed his lawyer, Steven R. Kiersh, in a pre-trial memorandum.
Accordingly, Kiersh argued that Sullivan should be allowed to continue to post content on Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media, as well as receiving paychecks from a group called Insurgence USA.
The Utah-based organization seems to be run by Sullivan with a stated mission of “[r]evealing the truth about Antifa and BLM’s communist plans to overthrow democracy.”
But that “truth” appears to be largely sympathetic to the radical leftist effort, as well as actively involved in many of the events it has posted “raw unedited footage” of in the past.
A PayPal fund established by Sullivan to help pay his legal fees thus far had received $0.02 of its goal of $100,000.
“F**k you, you piece of s**t. I hope you rot in jail, get sentenced to prison, and rot further. Don’t drop the soap, dips**t,” wrote one of the two contributors.
At press time, Sullivan had 16 days left to collect the remaining $99,999.98.
