1776 Returns

1776 Returns is the title of a document that outlined strategic plans for the takeover of US government buildings on January 6, 2021. It was circulated among the Proud Boys organization.[1] The nine-page document was sent to Enrique Tarrio, Chairman of the Proud Boys, one week before the January 6 United States Capitol attack, by a Miami-based cryptocurrency promoter named Eryka Gemma Flores.[2][3][4]

Enrique Tarrio

The document laid out a plan for the occupation of eight key buildings in the District of Columbia on January 6, 2021.[5] This included House and Senate office buildings and the Supreme Court. The strategy included a call for the mass-mobilization of followers, invoking the sentiment and spirit of 1776 and the 1917 storming of the Winter Palace by Bolsheviks in the Russian Revolution.

A five-stage plan was formulated, that encouraged protesters to:

  1. "Infiltrate"
  2. "Execute"
  3. "Distract (if necessary)"
  4. "Occupy"
  5. "Sit-In"

1776 Returns recommended groups of 50 to occupy government buildings and conduct sit-ins, along with suggested slogans to chant. It was suggested that protesters should be able to blend in and appear "unsuspecting" and to "not look tactical".[2] A section titled the "Patriot Plan" was intended for public distribution, calling on people to gather at 1pm and wait for a signal to commence the prepared attacks.[6] The target locations were the Russell Senate Office Building, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hart Senate Office Building, US Supreme Court Building, Cannon House Office Building, Longworth House Office Building, Rayburn House Office Building, and the DC office building of CNN.

"Special mentions" included warnings to Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Mike Pence, and Bill Gates as well as praise of Rand Paul and Ron DeSantis. Though the Capitol Building is not mentioned by name, the final page of the document is a Google Maps screenshot, showing the Capitol and surrounding targeted buildings in the United States Capitol Complex.

The author of 1776 Returns is unknown. However, testimony from the January 6th Committee has shown that Samuel Armes, a cryptocurrency business owner from Florida, says he had indirectly provided inspiration for the document. He claims to have written a similar three to five page "war gaming" plan, which he then shared with Erika Flores, another member of Miami's crypto advocacy community. Both Armes and Flores had ties to Enrique Tarrio. Flores has said that Armes is the author of 1776 Returns, a claim which Armes refutes and has called "blame-shifting".[7]

See also

References
  1. Feuer, Alan (March 14, 2022). "Document in Jan. 6 Case Shows Plan to Storm Government Buildings". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  2. Feuer, Alan; Schmidt, Michael S. (November 1, 2022). "Prosecutors Look at Florida Election Protest as a Model for Jan. 6". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  3. Sarnoff, Marisa (June 15, 2022). "Proud Boy Accused of Seditious Conspiracy Reveals '1776 Returns' Plan to 'Fill' Buildings with 'Patriots'—But Denies It Was a Jan. 6 Blueprint". Law and Crime. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  4. Karam, Alec (February 16, 2023). "Miami Crypto Queen May Have Drafted Proud Boys' Plan to Storm the Capitol". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 17 February 2023. 'If you don't like my plan, let me know. I will pitch elsewhere,' Flores texted Tarrio, according to evidence shown in the trial ... Flores, who has not been charged in the case, was described by one witness as a former girlfriend of Tarrio's.
  5. Luscombe, Richard (March 15, 2022). "Proud Boys leader had plans to 'storm' government buildings on 6 January". The Guardian. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  6. "The District of Columbia (the "District") brings this action against Proud Boys International, L.L.C. ("Proud Boys" or "PBI"), the Oath Keepers ("Oath Keepers"), their leadership, certain of their members, and others, for conspiring to terrorize the District by planning, promoting, and participating in the violent January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol Building (the "Capitol")". Politico.com. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  7. Cheney, Kyle (December 27, 2022). "Jan. 6 committee interview sheds light on origins of Proud Boys '1776 returns' document". Politico. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.