(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The FBI released on Tuesday a new batch of records about its investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill uprising—raising more questions about the event in the process.
Among the 107 pages of new records is a series of emails with the subject line, “Stand down. See below.” The emails are heavily redacted, and the individuals in the email thread are not identified. Only one person’s title was revealed: a supervisory intelligence analyst for the FBI’s DC office. Even the date and times of the emails are redacted, with the exception of one that was sent at 5:46 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2021.
🚨Newly released FBI records include an email thread with the subject line, "Stand down. See Below" the day before Jan. 6🚨
The vast majority of this email thread is redacted, so it's unclear what the "stand down" order was in relation to. pic.twitter.com/7cZJLiwEaw— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) May 8, 2024
The limited information in the emails suggests that law enforcement was investigating a group of people who travelled to Washington DC on Jan. 5.
“We are standing down in [REDACTED]. The predicated subjects have been [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] is being informed. The only people from the group who are continuing to DC are non-subjects, who are not carrying weapons, and appear to be solely involved in legal First Amendment protesting,” one email from the thread stated.
In response to that email, someone else said, “Thank you all for quickly stepping up today!”
Law enforcement did have to deal with some armed individuals on Jan. 5, 2021, as noted by Jan. 6 defendant William Pope.
First up is Thomas Gronek from North Carolina who was on the Hippies for Trump bus that got pulled over on January 5. Gronek brought a pink Ruger 10/22 rifle, with 275 rounds of .22 ammo, and a black 9mm Springfield handgun with 31 rounds of ammo. Gronek was detained until… pic.twitter.com/dRRVgKShVF
— 🇺🇸 (@FreeStateWill) April 23, 2024
For instance, the DC Metropolitan Police Department reportedly stopped a “Hippies for Trump” bus on Jan. 5, arresting a protestor during that stop. Officers said they found a pistol, a rifle, more than 300 rounds of ammunition and fireworks.
Another would-be protestor, Colorado man Harlan Boen, was reportedly arrested on Jan. 5 for carrying a pistol at Freedom Plaza.
The batch of FBI emails released Tuesday also includes discussions between Joint Terrorism Task Force, or JTTF, members on Jan. 5, 2021, forewarning possible violence.
“Hi all, [REDACTED] asked earlier about [REDACTED] subjects coming to the [National Capitol Region] this week who have been [REDACTED]. Per [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] (cc’d), below is information regarding [REDACTED] subjects travelling to the NCR [REDACTED].”
Yet another heavily redacted email from Jan. 4, 2021, shows that the JTTF treating the upcoming Stop the Steal rally as a “usual” event.
“Usual early [warning order] for something brewing. There are a few people posting intent to come down to DC to do harm on the 6th. [REDACTED] are working in which [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] … and there are likely to be others … That is all I have. You should at least be [REDACTED] from here on out,” the Jan. 4 email said.
The FBI has declined to comment on its Jan. 6 investigation in response to emails from Headline USA.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
