Man Who Shot Video of Ashli Babbitt’s Death Gets Arrested After Telling Officers to Abandon Their Posts

[Auburn85 432]

https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-siege/man-who-shot-video-of-ashli-babbitts-death-gets-arrested-after-telling-officers-to-abandon-their-posts/

 

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The man who recorded the shooting of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, 35, is in legal trouble himself. John Earle Sullivan, 26, of Utah, is now charged for his participation in the D.C. insurrection.

Sullivan is basically described as a cheerleader for — and active participant among — supporters of President Donald Trump as they raided the Capitol Building as Congress was certifying electoral college results for President-Elect Joe Biden.

“There are so many people,” he said in video cited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Let’s go. This s*** is ours! **** yeah. We accomplished this s***. We did this together. **** yeah! We are all a part of this history.”

He also is alleged to have said, “Let’s burn this s*** down.”

Sullivan recorded people climbing up a wall to the Capitol. He then entered through a broken window, authorities said, “wearing a ballistics vest and gas mask.” Investigators noted that there were at least two moments where Sullivan told officers to stand down so they would not get hurt.

“There are too many people,” he said in the affidavit. “You gotta stand down. The people out there that tried to do that s***, they got hurt, I saw it, I’m caring about you.”

One of those instances was right before the shooting death of Babbitt,an ardent Trump supporter and conspiracy theorist.

“We want you to go home,” he told an officer. “I’m recording and there’s so many people and they’re going to push their way up here. Bro, I’ve seen people out there get hurt. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Sullivan captured the fatal aftermath. Babbitt climbed through a broken window, and a law enforcement officer shot her.

[Warning: Video is disturbing.]

Authorities said that at one point before the shooting, Sullivan joined people attempting to open doors in another part of the Capitol. He offered to help.

“Hey guys, I have a knife,” he said. “I have a knife. Let me up.”

Investigators said that he did not make it to the doors, but they noted that when they interviewed him later, he denied having a knife.

Sullivan is charged with obstructing law enforcement, knowingly entering a restricted building (in this case, the Capitol Building), and engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct.

Read the affidavit below.

John Earle Sullivan Complaint Affidavit by Law&Crime on Scribd

[Screengrab via John Sullivan]

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

Here he is being interviewed on CNN by Anderson Cooper

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/1/15/22234004/capitol-violence-john-sullivan-criminal-charges-utah-chaos-donald-trump-released-jail-riot

 

 

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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man who faces federal criminal charges accusing him of storming the U.S. Capitol with a violent mob of pro-Trump demonstrators last week will be released from jail over the objections of government prosecutors.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Daphne Oberg placed strict conditions on John Earle Sullivan, 26, including barring him from social media and from attending protests and subjecting his electronic devices to monitoring and searches.

Sullivan also must wear a location monitor, remain at his Sandy residence and find a job outside of Insurgence USA, a social justice group he founded that calls itself anti-fascist and protests police brutality. He also cannot possess firearms.

Oberg said in a hearing in Salt Lake City on Friday that any violation of those conditions would “not be taken lightly.”

Sullivan was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with being on restricted property, civil disorder and violent entry or disorderly conduct. The case will be tried in Washington.

Assistant U.S. attorney Bryan Reeves argued that Sullivan should remain behind bars pending the resolution of his case, saying he “thrives in chaos. He thrives at inciting chaos.” Sullivan, he said, also poses as a member of other organizations for “self-aggrandizing attention.”

Defense attorney Mary Corporon said Sullivan is willing to find a more “traditional” job, but said it’s almost impossible to work without the internet. She argued that he should not be stripped of all his First Amendment rights.

Sullivan, who also faces criminal charges in connection with a Provo protest he organized in June, told the Deseret News last week that he attended the rally in Washington in order to see “the truth” about the protests for himself and the organization he represents.

Reeves also cited reports of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitols and in Washington ahead of the presidential inauguration among the reasons for keeping Sullivan in custody. He said Sullivan intended to return to Washington for Inauguration Day next week.

Sullivan told authorities that he works for an organization that “incites violent acts,” the prosecutor said.

Reeves also said Sullivan recently traveled to Portland, Oregon, where he urged people to resist the police. Sullivan also appeared virtually at a hearing in his Provo case from Washington, D.C., the day before the riot at the Capitol, he said.

Sullivan has a “reckless disregard” for the court and for the health and welfare of innocent people, Reeves added.

Sullivan was detained by Washington police the day after the Capitol was seized after giving interviews to local and national media about what he witnessed. He claimed he was only there to document the event.

But even though he “claimed to be an activist and journalist that filmed protests and riots,” he also admitted “that he has no press credentials and the investigation has not revealed any connection between Sullivan and any journalistic organizations,” according to charging documents.

Federal investigators say that Sullivan could be frequently heard encouraging the crowd inside the Capitol.

The charges say Sullivan can be seen in a video posted on YouTube “telling a crowd, over a microphone, ‘We about to burn this (expletive) down,’ and ‘We ain’t waiting until the next election ... we about to go get that (expletive).’ Sullivan then can be seen leading the crowd in a chant of, ‘It’s time for a revolution.’”

Sullivan also wore a ballistic vest and gas mask when he entered the Capitol, according to the charges.

“He further stated that he entered the U.S. Capitol with others through a window that had been broken out. Sullivan stated he followed the crowd as the crowd pushed past U.S. Capitol Police and followed the crowd into the U.S. Capitol,” the charges state.

Sullivan was recording on his phone when Ashli E. Babbitt, 35, of San Diego, was shot and killed by Capitol Police. The shooting occurred in an area Sullivan was not allowed to be in, prosecutors say. Babbitt was among five people who died in the riot.

Federal investigators reviewed the videos Sullivan recorded. In one video, he is filming as the crowd breaks past the last police barricade.

“Sullivan can be heard in the video saying at various points: ‘There are so many people. Let’s go. This (expletive) is ours!’ ... ‘We accomplished this (expletive). We did this together. ... We are all a part of this history,’” according to the charges.

Sullivan is also currently facing charges in Utah of organizing a protest in Utah County last summer that resulted in one motorist being shot.

Charging documents say Sullivan recorded several hours of that June protest and is seen in the recordings “kicking vehicles and threatening drivers.” He later admitted to police that he knew who the gunman was who shot a 60-year-old Provo man in the elbow after protesters blocked his vehicle, but Sullivan failed to report it to authorities, according to the charges.

 

 

[TexasTiger 12,847]

On 1/14/2021 at 9:22 PM, Auburn85 said:

Here he is being interviewed on CNN by Anderson Cooper

 

 

So many folks just wanna be “famous” now— not too picky how they do it.

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/utah-activist-charged-for-involvement-in-u-s-capitol-riots-allegedly-violates-release-conditions

 

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SALT LAKE CITY — A probation officer has filed a petition claiming Utah activist John Sullivan violated his release conditions while awaiting trial in Washington D.C.

 

If it is found that Sullivan did, in fact violate the terms of his release, he could face serious consequences.

Sullivan was arrested earlier in January after it was discovered he was part of the violence that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol before the inauguration of President Biden.

At his first appearance in court, a judge ordered Sullivan be detained in his home while awaiting trial in Washington D.C.

 

Sullivan was given strict rules to follow while being detained at his home including limited access to the internet, and a ban from using social media and working for his company.

Now, a probation officer has filed a petition that claims Sullivan violated these terms on four separate occasions.

The dates given all have to do with failing to comply with internet restrictions.

Computer activity and internet use of Sullivan is being closely monitored by officials.

 

 

[Auburn85 432]

he was actually interviewed by Rolling Stone too:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ashli-babbitt-shooting-video-jayden-x-maga-riot-interview-1112949/

[Auburn85 432]

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/2/17/22287763/activist-capitol-riot-video-sold-nbc-cnn-35k-each-john-sullivan-federal-charges

 

 

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Utah activist in Capitol riot sold his video to CNN, NBC for $35K each, court docs say

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man who faces federal criminal charges for his alleged actions during the U.S. Capitol riot sold video of the incursion to major news outlets for thousands of dollars.

CNN and NBC each paid John Sullivan $35,000 for footage he captured outside and inside the building on Jan. 6, including the deadly shooting of protester Ashli Babbitt by a U.S. Capitol Police officer, according to a recent filing in U.S. District Court in Washington.

The nonexclusive agreement with CNN was specifically for “eyewitness video of the shooting at Capitol Hill on 01/06/2021 for use from Jan. 6 to Jan. 13.

In addition, Australian Broadcasting Corp. paid Sullivan $2,375 for his video.

The court filing also includes the copy of an unsigned agreement with Left/Right LLC, a New York-based production company, for $5,000 to use footage of the siege at the Capitol in a program tentatively titled, “The Circus: The Greatest Political Show on Earth.”

Defense attorney Steven Kiersh filed invoices for the agreements Tuesday as part of a memorandum concerning conditions for Sullivan’s release from jail pending trial.

“On Jan. 6, CNN was contacted by a reputable agent regarding an eyewitness video from the Capitol Hill riots. The company entered into a one-week agreement for use of 44-seconds of key content, which was attributed to the witness on air. When his role in the event was later called into question, the company informed staff to cease all use of the video,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement to the New York Post.

NBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Also Tuesday, a federal magistrate judge in Washington eased some of the restrictions initially placed on Sullivan after he was released from jail in Utah.

 

John Sullivan, 26, of Sandy, was charged Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with being on restricted property, civil disorder and violent entry or disorderly conduct in connection with riots at the U.S. Capitol. New court documents say both CNN and NBC paid him $35,000 for footage he captured inside the Capitol.  Tooele County Jail

Sullivan, 26, was arrested in Tooele County on Jan. 14. He is charged in a six-count federal indictment with obstruction of an official proceeding; civil disorder; entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

A federal magistrate judge in Utah restricted his internet and social media use and barred him from working for Insurgence USA, a social justice group he founded that calls itself anti-fascist and protests police brutality.

Prosecutors in Washington, where the case is being tried, sought to send him back to jail pending trial, contending he is a threat to the community.

Sullivan, who entered the Capitol wearing a gas mask and wielding an iPhone on a stabilizing stick, told the Deseret News and KSL last month that he was only there to document the event.

After making his way inside the Capitol during the riot, Sullivan said he witnessed the shooting of Babbitt, and the Twitter account for Insurgence USA retweeted video from someone with Sullivan that shows the shooting and the aftermath.

“I have video of it,” he said on the night of the incursion, describing in detail seeing the flash of the gun, the bullet strike Babbitt, and Babbitt’s reaction as she died on the floor. “I am hesitant to post it. ... It’s something I have to take in. I hope that people get a grasp of that situation. Whoever shot her, maybe should be held accountable. I guess that’s up to the law to decide.”

Prosecutors contend Sullivan was not a bystander but a “brazen, vocal” participant in the riot.

“The defendant, according to his own video footage, apparently exhorted others to ‘burn this (expletive) down,’ ‘break that (expletive),’ and — amid the smashing of the speaker’s lobby doors — ‘Go! Go! Get this (expletive)!’ He celebrated the breach of the Capitol as ‘revolutionary history.’ He boasted of how ‘it’s only a little jail time ... I do this all the time,’ assistant U.S. attorney Candice Wong wrote in court documents.

Kiersh described Sullivan as a “decent, honest young man” who has been “utterly” mischaracterized by the government and that comments attributed to him have been taken out of context.

He argued Sullivan should not be kept from earning income through Insurgence USA, saying the company is not deemed to have been involved in criminal activity.

“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,” he wrote in court documents.

Kiersh also contended that restricting his use of Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms would effectively ban him from communicating with friends, interacting with his family, writing his thoughts, keeping up with the news, checking on the weather or reading a newspaper.

He argued that the government’s effort to limit Sullivan’s ability to communicate the way the vast majority of Americans communicate is oppressive and unconstitutional.