Washington, Sep 26 (FN Agency) An FBI informant was among the ranks of the far-right Proud Boys who stormed the US Congress on January 6, texting a real-time account of the march to his handler in the intelligence service, The New York Times reports. According to the records of conversations and correspondence, the informant met with other radicals at the Washington Monument on the day of the riot and then followed them to the building, saw the barriers being demolished, and the crowd rushed into the Capitol.
The informant denied that the radicals would resort to violence and that they had planned the storming of the Capitol in advance. He also stated that the leaders had ordered the members of the movement to keep a defensive position. During the riot, the informant entered the building, did not hurt anyone, did not break anything and left the Capitol through a window, the newspaper reported on Saturday. The informant began working with the FBI in July 2020 and was close to several Proud Boys members, including those who were indicted following the assault. It is unclear how well the informant knew the group’s leadership or whether he might have known about their plans. The evidence obtained is consistent with claims by lawyers that the Proud Boys did not plan the storm in advance.
It was also reported that the FBI had another informant who was associated with another branch of the Proud Boys movement that attacked the Congress building. On January 6, Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, disrupting the work of Congress for several hours. As a result of the riots, a protester and a policeman were killed, and three more died from causes unrelated to the violence. After law enforcement removed the mob from the building, congressmen confirmed Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.