USA: Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis, QAnon followers and racist supporters of white supremacy attacked Congress to support Trump

Media reporting is gradually beginning to identify the people who attacked Congress in Washington, D.C. yesterday at the instigation of outgoing US President Donald Trump. Those participating in the unrest included different members of various neo-Nazi groups and adherents of the conspiracy theories promoted by QAnon.

The attack on the American “temple of democracy” was unprecedented in US history. Terrorists broke into the buildings of the Capitol complex and disrupted the joint session of Congress certifying the electoral college results from November’s presidential election.

Disorder, journalists’ equipment destroyed, material damage to the building, several injured and four dead. That is the toll of yesterday’s terrorist attack by the supporters of Trump.

The media have been describing the events after these shocking scenes from the perspective of those who remained inside the building after the rioters broke in. Journalists and legislative advisors hid wherever they could and barricades were erected in various rooms.

Some of the Congresspeople who were not evacuated have told the media that they even prepared to engage in combat themselves. Who are these supporters of Trump who attacked Congress?

While extremists, the ultra-right, and some Republicans are beginning to repeat absurd notions that the attack was committed by members of Antifa dressed as Trump supporters, the media has unequivocally identified the terrorists as Holocaust deniers, QAnon followers, and racist supporters of white supremacy. Several photographs and video footage of the events feature a man wearing a sweatshirt inscribed with “Camp Auschwitz”, a skull and the caption “Work Brings Freedom”, i.e., an English translation of the sign over the gate to Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Members of the neo-Nazi group Proud Boys broke into the Capitol building who had announced ahead of the demonstration that they would not be wearing their traditional black and yellow uniforms but that they would be blending in with the crowd and wearing all black to make it seem as if they were sympathizers of the Antifa movement. Other famous faces from America’s neo-Nazi scene were also involved.

A person named Tim “Baked Alaska” Gionet, known to be a Holocaust denier and neo-Nazi, has been identified as involved on Twitter. He is shown in a photograph next to Nick Fuentes, the author of the “America First” podcast.

American neo-Nazi Jason Tankersley was also present at the Capitol building yesterday. He is shown in a photo next to a man in a fur hat with several Nordic symbols in his tattoos that American advocates of white supremacy have taken as their own who is also an adherent of the QAnon conspiracy movement.

Jake Angeli, because of his costume featuring Viking horns, has begun to be called the “QAnon Shaman” by the media. Several other adherents of that movement were seen directly inside the building of Congress and many others were identified standing outside it.

The attack on the Capitol building was also attended by Matthew Heimbach, who is connected to White Power organizations and the Ku-Klux-Klan. He is the founder of the fascist Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP). In 2016 he attended a demonstration in Prague, Czech Republic convened by the Workers Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti – DSSS) and in 2014 he came to Brno, Czech Repulic for a demonstration at the invitation of the DSSS. Heimbach is an active neo-Nazi with strongly racist opinions and also a Christian extremist. During his studies at Towson University in Maryland he established and led a racist group, the “White Student Union”.