Joe Flood

What kind of America do you want? Dueling events in Washington offered competing visions of the future for this country.

The Rescue the Republic Rally featured an appearance by RFK Jr and a libertarian program of anti-vax, pro-Putin, bitcoin-friendly speakers while Fiesta DC brought a joyous celebration of Latino culture to the streets of DC.

I went to both; here’s what it was like.

Rescue the Republic was, above all, boring, with an exhausted, stale quality to the presentation, ideas and attendees. They constructed a massive stage with towering speakers that could be heard from blocks away. Blue port-o-potties lined the sidewalks in every direction.

Rescue the Republic promised that 100k people would attend this rally to take back this country and “Make America Healthy Again.” Instead, maybe 3k showed up in DC on a Sunday for a free rally.

There was so much time to fill in the seven-hour (!) program that many of the speakers, like Canadian “man expert” Jordan Peterson spoke multiple times. Joining him on this “America First” platform were other foreign imports like Russell Brand, who became a covid-denying conspiracy theorist in 2020. Robb Schneider added his comedy and late in the day, when the audience dwindled to the hundreds, there was a musical performance from “Plandemic: The Musical.”

I missed most of this because I was at Fiesta DC, which was far more fun. This was a parade on Constitution Avenue with bands, floats and dancers which went on for hours; there were more people parading than had attended Rescue the Republic.

Nation after nation was represented – Chile, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela – each proudly celebrating their unique contributions to global culture. Kids on horseback, couples doing the tango, Mad Max-style cars with massive speakers, hamster and condor costumes, a float with a volcano on it – Fiesta DC had it all.

And what other country could put on this kind of celebration but America? We’re a nation bound by an idea, not a race, that welcomes all that are willing to work hard for democracy.

Caught up in the pageantry, I nearly missed RFK, Jr.

There was no written schedule but I assumed RFK Jr., the headliner, would speak at the end.

Nope. Why are chud events so poorly planned? He spoke in the middle of the afternoon at Rescue the Republic, leaving me scrambling to bike back to catch the last few minutes of his gravelly-voiced lecture on making America healthy again.

RFK Jr., with a worm in his skull and a taste for roadkill, is the health expert, online chuds lectured me after I questioned their laughable crowd estimates.

Without the Kennedy name, he’d be considered a nut. The wacky uncle who posts conspiracy theories to Facebook. Your high school classmate who followed a rabbit hole from macrobiotics to MAGA. The guy outside the White House ranting about vital fluids.

If Trump is elected, this man, who once strapped a dead whale to the roof of his car, will be in charge of CDC and NIH.

Once Kennedy finished his stump speech on female puberty, people began to leave- that’s why you don’t put the headliner on in the middle of the show.

Various and sundry aggrieved white males then got up to lecture us about the importance of the First Amendment, claiming that they had been cancelled for their views. They all have YouTube or Rumble channels, get paid for speeches and make $$ in merchandise. I’d like to be cancelled, too.

In fact, the only person cancelled at Rescue the Republic was a protester: Patricia Eguino aka “The Commish.” She’s an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in DC.

She was in the crowd for the RFK speech with a Simpsons-themed sign reading, “Mess with our democracy? That’s a paddling.”

Eguino was representing the people of DC, like me, who had been victimized by the Trump mob who attacked our city on January 6th. We will never forget and will always oppose you.

The organizers of Rescue the Republic, who talked about how their free speech rights had been violated, kicked out this little lady with a sign because this reminder of insurrection made them mad.

And, despite their supposed hatred of the Deep State, they used the Park Police, a federal agency, to remove her from the venue.

Fucking hypocrites.

Kicking her out wasn’t enough. Standing with her outside the fence, I saw a parade of “speak to your manager” types come up to the Park Police to demand that she be silenced. These were red-hatted MAGA chuds who wanted the Park Police to use violence against Eguino.

Included among them were a shirtless bro in a mohawk who came to the fence all full of aggro. The Park Police talked to him for several minutes as we shouted, “Put on a shirt!”

The day ended as a farce. After Kennedy left, it was b-list and below celebrities, including another foreigner, Lara Logan, to angrily shout at the Make America Great Again crowd. Immigrants are needed even in the chud rallies; another job Americans won’t do.

Nobody seemed very interested. Lots of people came over the to the fence to watch Eguino and listen to hear death metal screams of, “Traitors!”

Including some of the veterans of Freedom Corner, the nightly pro-January 6th vigil outside the DC Jail. Two years ago, there might have been some shouting back and forth; now everyone just kind of looked over and nodded, like you would when seeing a work colleague.

Anarchy Princess appeared on the other side of the fence, having infiltrated the rally. She interviewed one of the leading lawyers for January 6th defendants. He’s failed his clients 100% of the time in court, a feat that he blamed on DC juries rather than the fact that J6ers are guilty as fuck.

We pretended not to know AP so as not to blow her cover. Biketifa rolled up and yelled through the fence at her, “No filming! It’s a violation of my HIPAA rights!”

He also held up a sign revealing that one of the Freedom Corner livestreamers, GloryBeef, is in fact an antifa agent.

Not that much of our nonsense could be heard over the punishing sound system.

The audience trailed away, trekking through the muddy grass of the Mall.

At last, this got boring even for us. We left as Canadian weirdo Jordan Peterson got on stage for the third or fourth time of the day, replaying his chauvinistic schtick again, like a rerun from hell.

This is the end. Or very close to it.

 

Modern journalism is access journalism, in which reporters surrender their objectivity to get “scoops.” We’ve seen it with Trump-whisperer Maggie Haberman, RFK-enraptured Olivia Nuzzi and now with Lauren Ober and Hannah Rosin of The Atlantic with their podcast, “The Insurrectionists Next Door.”

I won’t link to it, because it’s fash-simp trash in which these two women sat down with Micki Witthoeft, leader of the Freedom Corner cult, to gently sob with her across the kitchen table and uncritically broadcast her perspective that the 2020 election was stolen, January 6th was justified, her daughter Ashli Babbitt was innocent and that Nancy Pelosi should hang from the neck until dead.

The podcast deliberately omits, well, everything, to paint Witthoeft and her cult as worthy of our sympathy.

A simple Google search or a glance at #freedomcorner on Twitter would reveal the truth. And I know that they looked – Ober and Rosin used video clips (unattributed) that are only available on Twitter.

Which means that they deliberately omitted:

1. The Nazi Problem. Micki named her house “The Eagle’s Nest” like Hitler’s Alpine retreat, she supports violent J6er Brian Jackson (a white supremacist covered in swastikas) and receives funding from a Chinese-MAGA woman who thinks Hitler was right about the Jews.
2. The Funding. How do three jobless women rent a house in pricey DC? Ober accepted Micki’s lie that it was thanks to small-donor donations. Which is absurd – how do you go to a landlord without a verified income? The truth, which easily findable online, is that Micki received $50k from Patrick Byrne, the Overstock guy who was part of “Team Crazy” that tried to stop the certification of the 2020 vote with Trump and Giuliani. And Micki has received much, much more, with the donations raised on behalf of J6 prisoners going straight into her pocket. Something that is very controversial among the insurrectionists. Follow the money is a basic tenet of journalism yet Ober was curiously incurious about this subject.
3. The Violence. In the first episode, Ober included a brief snippet from when Micki attacked local activist Anarchy Princess. “I’ve watched a lot of bad clips about my neighbor.” Ober doesn’t bother to interview the victim or even mention her name. The DC residents who oppose Freedom Corner are treated as background figures, “harassing” Micki and her cultists. They don’t get names and we don’t hear how Micki has organized her cult to stalk, dox and attack opponents. Numerous members of her cult have been arrested for assault and even sexual violence. Do we hear their stories? No, instead we get a crycast with poor abused Micki.

This is just a short list of the problems with the first episode.

There’s a whole community of people who have been following, monitoring, reporting on and disrupting the fascists of Freedom Corner. We’ve interacted with the cultists online and in real life. We know their names, backstories – everything about them. You can find us all on #freedomcorner on Twitter.

It’s a fascinating story that touches every hot-button issue in America these days: social media fame, dangerous conspiracy theories, political violence, loneliness and a search for meaning.

It’s personal, too. I live in DC; I saw January 6th. When you see a red-clad mob march down your street, it changes you.

That’s why I’ve written so much about Freedom Corner. It’s a big part of my book, HOW I BECAME RED BIKE GUY. I never would’ve become the person who mocked the Patriot Front without the experience of seeing how protest and counterprotest worked at Freedom Corner.

And being doxxed by Micki’s cult made me angry and fearless.

For the podcast, I wasn’t interviewed; none of us were.

Ober called our work a “hobby.”

She, the professional journalist, who spent 20 hours with “Mama Micki,” knows best.

But the truth is that the “hobbyists” are clear-eyed and honest about the threat of fascism in the Nation’s Capital. Not seeking a podcast deal, we reported the truth about Freedom Corner – the Nazis, the money and the violence.

We didn’t trade our objectivity for an Oprah-style weepathon with a cult leader. We’re not sane-washing terrorists.

Freedom Corner is a pathetic, squalid little nest of traitors. The Atlantic should be embarrassed that they’ve uncritically given them a platform to spread lies and conspiracy theories.

What if I told you a real cult adopted a song by a fictional cult as their anthem – and didn’t know it?

That’s where we’re at with Freedom Corner, the pro-January 6th meetup that is slowly wasting away outside the DC Jail. Every night, they chant the name of Ashli Babbitt and other insurrectionist “heroes” while they await the second coming of Donald Trump.

And every night, at the end of a dead end street next to a cemetery, they sing:

They’ll look high and they’ll look low
They’ll look everywhere we go
But when the sinners find us, we won’t hide
They’ll come loud and they’ll come fast
We shoot first and we can last
Keep your rifle by your side

The song is “Keep Your Rifle by Your Side” from Far Cry 5, a video game in which players battle a doomsday cult. The song is the theme song of the bad guys; the people you’re supposed to kill.

Somehow, this got into the Freedom Corner playlist and, unaware of its origins, “Keep Your Rifle by Your Side” has become of their favs.

Rebecca, the mysterious Chinese-MAGA funder of Freedom Corner, even translated it for the benefit of her audience.

For anyone who doesn’t know this is fictional doomsday cult music from Far Cry 5 to make fun of people just like the #FreedomCorner. They play the song all time now. pic.twitter.com/MM5Gh2xlNM

— Justalazygamer (@justalazygaming) September 17, 2024

Yes, this is the same Rebecca who filmed the assault on Anarchy Princess and is a fan of Der Fuhrer.

And I thought Thomas Pynchon wrote some wacky stuff. But he’s got nothing on the mind-twisting absurdities, contradictions and far out weirdness of Freedom Corner.

I couldn’t make this shit up in a hundred years. It’s beyond life imitating art or life is stranger than fiction. It’s nothing that a rational mind can comprehend.

A whole new genre is needed, one that is nonlinear and nonsensical, an entirely new art form that can describe what is happening with Trump supporters as they leave reality behind to descend into their own conspiracy-laden multiverse of madness.

Trumpism is more than just a racist, xenophobic movement that seeks to roll the clock back to 1859. It’s also about ensuring that the peasants shut the hell up and respect their betters.

Former Trump advisor Peter Navarro gave away the game in a recent encounter with a woman on an airplane.

As we’ve seen previously, he’s a self-important blowhard with poor impulse control and an inability to deal with powerful women.

He couldn’t keep his hands to himself when activist Anarchy Princess stood behind him with a sign reading, “Trump Lost.”

After a judge ruled against him in his criminal contempt case, former Trump advisor Peter Navarro attempts to snatch a “Trump lost” sign from a protester at his press conference.

This girl is AWESOME 🔥🔥
pic.twitter.com/8pbCnzPs75

— Skyleigh Heinen-Uhrich (@Sky_Lee_1) August 30, 2023

This backfired on him tremendously, leading to viral fame for AP and social media humiliation for Navarro, as his flailing impotency was broadcast around the world.

Despite this and his recent stint in prison for Contempt of Congress, Navarro has learned nothing.

A woman on a Southwest flight recently told Navarro to go back to prison. The indignity of encountering a member of the public with an opinion set him off, leading to an epic and revealing rant on his poorly-watched web show:

You can see his Trump-addled brain processing the encounter. A housewife! Talking to me in public! How dare she!

He reveals what Trumpism is all about: ensuring that the peasant class respects their betters and shuts the hell up.

His view is that a “housewife” should not be allowed to speak to great men like Peter Navarro.

When chuds say that they want to “make America great again” this is what they mean. They want an America where the police would arrest people for speaking truth to power.

“Anybody in this country now thinks they can say anything the hell they want to anybody anywhere” gives the game away completely. Trumpism is an elite-driven movement that would end our freedom of speech. Navarro and his like seek to rule us as feudal lords, immune from prosecution.

Trump said that he would be a dictator on day one. The chuds love this for it would mean squashing dissent so that Trump (and his supporters) would have unlimited power to jail and murder their enemies.

So, America, which country do you want to live in? A country where we’re all equal and anyone can say anything the hell they want? Or an oligarch-ruled state that imprisons people who criticize Peter Navarro?

Vote for democracy and free speech on November 5th.

You don’t need a podcast. You don’t need a YouTube channel. You don’t need, god forbid, Twitter.

All you need is a piece of chalk to make your voice heard during this pivotal election year.

Chalk the Vote is simple. Sign-up to get prompts from Chalk Riot, write your chalk messages on a sidewalk somewhere, share online and end Trump forever.

Chalk is cheap, accessible and fun for all ages. It’s a radically simple tool for activism that has been used for centuries.

I’ve seen the power of chalk in Washington, DC. Here’s some examples of what chalk can do.

Last summer, there were weeks of high-profile trials of January 6th insurrectionists, including members of the Proud Boys.

And throughout the trials, there was chalk commentary from local activists Biketifa and Anarchy Princess.

These messages irritated the chuds of Freedom Corner, a small group of January 6th supporters who came to the Court House to wave flags and try to appear to be menacing.

Blaming the chalk on antifa (or chalktifa, as online commenters called it), they’d demand that the police do something about these rogue chalk artists.  Then they’d film the chalk “for evidence,” calling the scrawls, “Our daily humiliation.”

In DC, chalk art is protected speech.

 

Sometimes, they’d even try to wash the chalk away. But it would always reappear the next morning.

The chalk heard their complaints and responded with personalized insults for the chuds:

But what really upset them was the Satanism, the demonic spells apparently created by Biketifa and Anarchy Princess:

What does the curse say? “Never going to give you up, never going to let you down.” It was a Rickroll in Latin.

I liked photographing the chalk. Every day was something new. It was a dynamic, interactive, open-air art exhibit with a political edge.

One time, I ran into one of the Freedom Corner chuds. I tried to tell him: chalk can’t hurt you. It’s just chalk, man. But he didn’t listen to me.

#FreedomCorner alum Jericho Steve didn’t even realize he had been stream-sniped by @joeflood in front of the DC federal courthouse this afternoon until it was over.

Bravo, sir. 🤘 pic.twitter.com/Z4UBfTy2l1

— Baldy Banks (@BaldyBanks) September 1, 2023

And the chalk continues to this day! There was a special Pride Month message for Freedom Corner that got them big mad:

Anddddd shenanigans 🌈🏳️‍🌈#FreedomCorner @DamnationDriveN pic.twitter.com/7mUuLo64QV

— Anarchy princess (@SatireAP) June 1, 2024

Chalk is a cheap tool that anyone can use. And a powerful one that can upset and distract your enemies. With chalk, the whole world is your canvas.

Use your First Amendment rights and Chalk the Vote!

The Vigil Keepers of January 6th is the latest puff piece on Freedom Corner, the nightly pro-insurrectionist meetup outside the DC Jail.

It’s not the first, nor the last, article seeking to “both sides” January 6th terrorists and find some sort of common humanity in their struggle to escape criminal accountability.

As Americans, we suffer from the naive belief that “it can’t happen here.” Many can’t face the truth that American citizens attacked their own government to install a dictator. That happens in other countries, not here – except that it did.

Since we find the truth so difficult to accept, you get desperate acts of apologia such as The Vigil Keepers of January 6th, which seeks to portray terrorist supporters as worthy of our sympathy.

The New Yorker takes their claims without any investigation, printing them as if they’re fact. The magazine didn’t talk to the people of DC who have been victimized by Freedom Corner.

Let’s learn the truth about this so-called vigil.

Freedom Corner Celebrates Violence

Every night outside the DC Jail, cult leaders Micki Witthoeft and Nicole Reffitt lead a small group to read out the names of the men and women who attacked the Capitol on January 6th. After each name, they chant, “Hero.”

Their heroes include:

• Brian Jackson, a Neo-Nazi from Texas with a lengthy criminal record, who pled guilty to felony assault on police officers.
• David Dempsey, recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for attacking the police with pepper spray, a crutch and pieces of furniture.
• John Banuelos, described as “mind-numbingly dangerous,” who fired a gun on January 6th and, later in the year, stabbed a teen to death in Utah.

These are men that the Freedom Corner activists would set free to commit more crimes.

Freedom Corner Indulges in Violence

But the vigil keepers do more than just applaud the violent insurrectionists of January 6th; they also engage in violence.

Micki Witthoeft, mother of Ashli Babbitt, has called for the lynching of Michael Byrd, the black Capitol Police officer who shot her daughter to death as she attempted to break into the Capitol.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Last night Ashli Babbit’s mother, Micki Witthoeft @michellewittho1, said the following: “Michael Byrd needs to swing from the end of the rope along with Nancy Pelosi”

She called for the LYNCHING of a black man. #FreedomCorner pic.twitter.com/cXmFhnKCWi

— Kate Ross (@kate_ross_) September 3, 2023

The vigil keepers and their followers do more than just make violent threats; they have assaulted DC residents on multiple occasions.

Witthoeft was arrested for assault and destruction of property after attacking a counterprotester. She was “no papered” i.e., not charged, which has encouraged Freedom Corner followers to engage in more attacks on the people of Washington.

Steven Girard, a regular at the vigil, was recently found guilty of Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse for shoving a flag pole between a woman’s legs. The assault occurred outside the United States Court House in Washington, DC, during the trial of Trump aide Peter Navarro.

This is part of their extreme disrespect for the law. Tami Perryman, wife of Brian Jackson, dismissed her husband’s admission of guilt in court as so much “wordsmithing.”

Freedom Corner is counting the days until November 5, believing that Trump will free the January 6th prisoners once elected. And then they promise revenge against the legal system and others that have wronged them.

The vigil keepers should be judged by their actions, not the sweet words they whisper to a reporter. They have used violence before and will use it again, if given the opportunity.

Steven Girard was found guilty of Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse on August 7, 2024, for his assault on Brianne Chapman aka Anarchy Princess during a Peter Navarro press conference outside the US Court House.

Questions remain from that day.

Did Peter Navarro Instigate the Attack?

Peter Navarro, former chief economist for Donald Trump, had reason to hate Anarchy Princess (AP). She humiliated him in a viral moment seen around the world, when he attempted to grab her sign and AP coolly responded, “Bro, you’re already facing charges.”

Trump advisor Peter Navarro just got brilliantly trolled with a sign outside of his criminal proceeding.

“Bro, you’re already facing charges. Go ahead and commit another crime.” pic.twitter.com/SiFXOGuMCp

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) September 1, 2023

This classic clip, seen first on C-SPAN and then around the world, catapulted Anarchy Princess to fame and overshadowed Navarro’s courtroom fight against Contempt of Congress charges.

When he spoke to the press on September 7, 2023, things were different. This time, he brought along a couple of bodyguards and a former aide: Joanna Miller Wischer.

Seen above in the orange dress, she was caught on video before the assault thanking Steven Girard for coming to the press conference. He said, ominously, that he knew all about Anarchy Princess.

Here’s Navarros staff speaking to those protestors with the signs. I’m gonna try to keep this all in order. pic.twitter.com/s9oUCM7urD

— Anarchy princess (@SatireAP) October 11, 2023

This was the only time Girard ever showed up for a Peter Navarro press conference. During his trial, he had to be reminded that he was a Peter Navarro supporter.

Girard was also caught on tape threatening another protester, “Whistle Guy.”

Jericho Steve threatens to assault Whistle Guy with his flag pole if he shows up. Looks like this is before his assaulting AP with said flag pole. #Evidence #EvictFreedomCorner pic.twitter.com/PpAELOyocy

— Weda People (@GlitterBisquit) September 8, 2023

How close was Miller to Navarro? He thanked her for helping him with his chapter in Project 2025.

The Girard Motive

While not being familiar with Peter Navarro or his trial, Girard had motive to attack Chapman. She regularly protested Freedom Corner, the pro-January 6th vigil, that he was a part of. He regarded her as a nuisance and didn’t believe that she had the right to free speech. He’s stated repeatedly that AP is a demon and antifa.

Freedom Corner vigilgoers refer to themselves as “patriots” and everyone who disagrees with them is either paid by George Soros or demonically possessed. There’s no room for disagreement in their universe.

Freedom Corner Uses and Celebrates Violence

This wasn’t the first time a Freedom Corner vigilgoer had employed violence to “solve a problem.” They use and celebrate violence.

The leader of the pro-January 6th vigil, Micki Witthoeft (mother to Ashli Babbitt), was arrested on May 29, 2023 for assaulting Anarchy Princess. Despite pushing her and smashing her megaphone, the case was “no-papered” meaning that no charges were filed.

Other members of the vigil have been arrested and no-papered including Tommy Tatum, who crumpled a woman’s glasses like a schoolyard bully and walked free after a night in jail. This January 6er, who also doxxed me, was recently charged for his role in the riot.

Every night, in their cult-like vigil outside the DC Jail, they read out the names of arrested January 6th rioters and chant, “Hero.” This includes celebrating men who sent Capitol Police Officers to the hospital and nearly killed Officer Michael Fanone. Those are their heroes.

The chuds also regularly call for the hanging of Nancy Pelosi and others:

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Last night Ashli Babbit’s mother, Micki Witthoeft @michellewittho1, said the following: “Michael Byrd needs to swing from the end of the rope along with Nancy Pelosi”

She called for the LYNCHING of a black man. #FreedomCorner pic.twitter.com/cXmFhnKCWi

— Kate Ross (@kate_ross_) September 3, 2023

The Meatwad Factor

After watching people get “no-papered” after assaults, Girard must’ve been surprised when he was arrested. He was arrested live on Freedom Corner by the US Park Police, the assault having occurred in John Marshall Park.

And they also seized his flag pole in a comedic moment reminiscent of Reno 911.

“I want my flag back,” Girard demanded.

“I know what you want and I’m telling you: no,” the officer replied.

America can sleep easier now that the flagpole that Jericho Steve Girard used to assault @SatireAP is is custody of the U.S. Park Police.

Tick tock, Jericho.

You’re next. pic.twitter.com/l3323K9qPN

— Baldy Banks (@BaldyBanks) September 14, 2023

And it was all filmed by the chud we call Meatwad, who, ironically, inspired Chapman to her moment of viral fame as Anarchy Princess when he performed a similar stunt.

Disrespect for the American Legal System

One theme of the Freedom Corner vigils is that DC juries are not legitimate. Over and over, Witthoeft and others claim that Washington, DC, is not America and that the legal system is skewed against them.

The “machine,” as they call it, has no right to prosecute January 6th rioters who attacked the police. They offer a variety of excuses for the events of that day, from “the police started it” to blaming Nancy Pelosi for setting them up to some kind of antifa conspiracy.

The January 6th prisoners who call into Freedom Corner believe (with good reason) that Donald Trump will set them free if elected.

During the trial of Steven Girard on August 7th, the chuds of Freedom Corner displayed their typical disrespect for the rule of law. In the courtroom, they stared down Brianne Chapman on the stand, made faces at her friends in the gallery and stormed out during the victim statement.

They have said in their livestreams that Chapman was “crying wolf” and that she’s made it harder for women who have been assaulted. And that someone being “in your space” allows you to hit them, especially if they are an antifa demon.

Because he wasn’t put in jail, they have acted like he was found innocent.

If any of them are reading this, here’s the proof of his guilt. Steven Girard is a convicted criminal.

 

Imagine being in court, facing the man who assaulted you, while his friends snicker and make faces.

That was what Brianne Chapman aka Anarchy Princess had to endure in her pursuit of justice.

She was assaulted live on national TV. On September 7, 2023, Chapman went to protest Peter Navarro, who was on trial at the US Court House for Contempt of Congress.

As Navarro began to speak to the assembled media, she slipped through the crowd to get behind him with a homemade sign that read: Bro, should’ve plead the Fifth. Peter 4 Prison.

When she did so, Chapman was assaulted by Steve Girard aka Jericho Steve (his YouTube streaming name), who was there to support Navarro. After she passed in front of him, he lifted his flag pole, with the American flag on it, and rammed it between her legs from behind.

For this, he was charged with one count of Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse.

Justice grinds slowly. After being arrested in November 2023, the trial was delayed as Girard strung things out by contemplating and rejecting a plea deal. A pro bono attorney was appointed for him but his lawyer had another case which added months to schedule.

The People vs Steven Girard

On August 7th the case finally came to trial. It was a bench trial, meaning that a judge would hear the evidence and make a verdict.

In the courtroom watching were close to a dozen Girard supporters from Freedom Corner, the weird pro-Trump J6 cult that waves flags outside the DC Jail.

Why were so many of them there? It’s an intimidation tactic. They do the same thing for the J6 trials, filling the courtroom to “keep the judges honest” as they say, while they scowl at witnesses and try to appear threatening.

Also present were several of Chapman’s friends.

I was watching on WebEx – you can do that in DC.

After their opening statements, the People began by showing two videos, which showed the incident.

The first, and most definitive, was filmed by one of the Freedom Corner chuds: Rebecca. She was there on September 7 to harass Chapman at the news conference and was following her around, cursing her in Chinese.

Ironically, this friend of Girard’s captured the best view of the assault. In it, you can see Girard look down at Chapman’s rear and then deliberately lift his flag pole between her legs.

Jericho Steve assaults @SatireAP twice, tries to gaslight her then mouths off to Marshall who, instead of arresting him, only asked him to move away from her. Nice people you got there #J6Vigil #FreedomCorner. pic.twitter.com/xm3lS85A0J

— Rosemary (@Rosemary_426) September 8, 2023

Rebecca watched from the gallery as her video was run again and again, frozen and analyzed, the evidence that would convict Girard.

The next video was from CNN. It showed a head-on view. Navarro starts to speak and there’s a commotion in the background as Girard assaults Chapman and she yells, “That’s assault!”

Chapman then took the stand, recounting the shock and horror of being violated on national TV. This assault has made her reluctant to exercise her First Amendment rights, concerned for her physical safety and feeling that the courts and the police will not protect her.

The defense then put on their case. Unable to argue the evidence, Girard’s attorney tried to impeach Chapman’s credibility.

At first, he questioned her about her YouTube views by trying to say that she made money from being provocative. Chapman corrected him: she’s not monetized, meaning she doesn’t make money from YouTube.

She does make money, however, from supporters who Cash app and Venmo her, inspired by her stand against Trump tyranny.

After a break, this line of inquiry was abandoned. Instead, he showed YouTube videos of her protesting the chuds. Girard’s lawyer played a scene from outside the Supreme Court, where she was arguing with Freedom Corner supporters, one of whom elbowed her. In the video, she’s holding up a sign documenting the violent, Nazi past of Brian Jackson, a J6 rioter who was recently sentenced to three years in prison.

Girard and his supporters call Jackson a hero. They chant his name and the names of other J6ers every night at Freedom Corner. It’s a cult.

Bringing up a video from a Trump event in Philly, at which Anarchy Princess protested, the defense lawyer asked:

“Did you chant ‘Small penises for Trump?'”

“Yes, I have referred to the small penises of Trump supporters.”

Again and again he asked about this. Thank god I was on WebEx and not in court because I was howling.

His argument seemed to be that she’s obnoxious and deserved it – something Girard and the chuds have said many times.

Jericho Takes the Stand

And then, to my surprise, Steve Girard aka “Jericho Steve” took the stand.

He’s 61, but looks older, like many of the chuds do. He put on an act in court. No longer was he the spry, active man who waves a flag for hours at Freedom Corner. Instead, he pretended to be old and deaf, requiring court-provided headphones, though he seemed to hear just fine.

On the stand, he gave his version of events. That he was trying to get out of the way and accidentally shoved the flag between her legs. And that she was in “his” space.

This claim was rapidly demolished by the prosecution during cross as they played Rebecca’s video again (she had left the gallery by this point) showing that he made no attempt to get out of the way and deliberately assaulted her with a flag pole.

“You claim it was an accident,” one of the prosecutors asked. “If it was one, why didn’t you apologize?”

There was a long pause. He had no answer to this question.

We Have the Video

 And then the judge made her decision. But first she talked about John Marshall Park, where the assault occurred, and what a special place it is to her. The park is a block from the DC Court House.

“No one deserves to be assaulted for using their First Amendment rights,” she said, dismissing the defense lawyer’s arguments. Then she took apart Girard’s excuse, saying if you go to a protest, you should expect people to be in your space.

“This isn’t a he said/she said,” the judge said. “Because we have the video.” 

GUILTY

Steven Girard was found guilty of Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse on August 7, 2024.

Chapman then gave a victim impact statement which was heartbreaking to watch. It hurts to see a friend of yours in fear and forced to curtail her life due to threats. Many of the Freedom Corner chuds, who are responsible for those threats, flounced out of the court at this point.

The Sentence

Girard has no criminal history, so incarceration would not be appropriate at this point, the judge said. So she sentenced him to:

• 180 days suspended
• 18 months supervised probation; non-supervised after 6 months if community service is satisfactory and good behavior
• 60 hrs community service in his home of Lancaster, PA
• Protective Order so that he has to stay away from Chapman

As the victim, Chapman was asked if these terms were agreeable to her.

If he violates the terms of his probation, he’ll be sentenced to the DC Jail.

Girard is still the same smirking asshole, unaffected by the humiliation of a court trial and nearly losing his liberty. On the way out of the court, the WebEx was still on and I heard him say to the prosecution, “Touche.” He thinks this is some kind of a game.

And that night, he joined his buddies on Freedom Corner, outside the DC Jail in which he narrowly avoided being confined. Hearing aids gone, he was suddenly young again, waving a flag in support of violent January 6th insurrectionists. Cake was served. His friends called him a hero.

#flagperv makes his entrance back at #freedomcorner after being found guilty earlier today #notahero #maga #cult hi LA-4 pic.twitter.com/qa3f618q3j

— B$$$ (@Bossmoney8444) August 7, 2024

While the chuds may think it is a joke, being convicted of Misdemeanor Sexual Abuse is a serious matter, as Girard’s own lawyer said during court.

Justice was served, even if it took a long time to arrive.

One Final Note

Girard and the other chuds used to wave flags and hold “Free J6ers” signs outside the US Court House during the trials of J6 insurrectionists.

Counterprotesters drew chalk messages for them on the sidewalk. Chalktifa, they called it. Things like Trump 4 Prison, all J6ers are going to jail and pentagrams, just to screw with the chuds, who complained to the police that they had been libeled by chalk.

One day, I happened to be taking photos of the chalk when Girard approached me. This video demonstrates the kind of entitlement, arrogance and stupidity common to the chuds. An attitude that will most certainly lead him into more trouble in the near future.

#FreedomCorner alum Jericho Steve didn’t even realize he had been stream-sniped by @joeflood in front of the DC federal courthouse this afternoon until it was over.

Bravo, sir. 🤘 pic.twitter.com/Z4UBfTy2l1

— Baldy Banks (@BaldyBanks) September 1, 2023

By mid-July, I had reached the acceptance phase of grief.

After the disastrous Biden debate on June 27 in Atlanta, I cycled through the phases: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

Acceptance. You are here. Trump was going to win this thing and impose fascism on the country.

When friends asked for my opinion, I would simply say, “We’re fucked.”

The noise of the political debate slipped away. My task now was to figure out how to survive the upcoming tyranny.

No way could I be chronically online. I could scarcely bare to watch the news, especially after the attempt on Trump’s life on July 13 and the iconic images that resulted from it. His cult now thought him immortal. Instead, I would have to go offline, to blind myself to the terrible summer of 2024.

To pull myself away from the online world, I decided to read more. Big fat history books full of horror. The more awful, the better, for they provided a much needed sense of perspective. No matter how bad things got in this timeline, at least I wasn’t enslaved in the silver mines of Potosi for the Spanish King.

As Democratic elites clung to Biden, insisting that everything was fine (don’t believe the polls!), I was engrossed by 1493 by Charles C. Mann, the panoramic account of the world Columbus made when he sailed across the ocean blue. In his wake, empires fell, plagues claimed millions and the climate itself was changed.

Hopelessly, I went to the Pass the Torch demonstration on July 20th, snapping photos in the rain, as people begged for Biden to quit the race. He wasn’t in DC and had barely appeared in public, spending most of his time at his Delaware beach house.

As a Gen Xer, I knew one thing for sure: Baby Boomers don’t give up power. Doom overwhelmed me.

The next day, I retreated into the calamitous world of 1493, finding comfort in the horrors of history.

And then I got a text: Biden was dropping out.

July 21, 2024. Less than a month after his disastrous debate, a Boomer had done the unthinkable: pass the torch.

Kamala Harris came out swinging. Gone was the gloom of the doddering Biden campaign, replaced with an unmistakeable energy and a new message: FREEDOM! Belted out by Beyonce in a glorious moment of joy.

We are the freedom party. Republicans are the ones who want to control women’s bodies, ban books and take away your right to vote. Democrats want you to be happy, prosperous and free.

It’s such a delightful inversion of tropes. For years, I’ve listened to chud groups in DC shout “Freedom!” as they conspire to end democracy.

But, wait, there’s more. Mockery. In my viral moment as Red Bike Guy, when I roasted the Patriot Front for being sloppy, I had seen how powerful mockery can be, for it communicates that we’re not afraid of you, we think you’re a joke.

The Harris campaign embraced this tactic, pointing out the essential weirdness of Trump and his movement, something I had seen with the bucket-pooping 1776 Restoration Movement and Ashli Babbitt death cult outside the DC Jail known as Freedom Corner. These people with their strange costumes, ritualized chanting and Qanon beliefs, were just plain weird. And Democrats were gleefully pointing it out.

I was energized – as were millions of other Americans – my acceptance phase vaporized by a new-found hope on a warm Sunday in Washington, DC.

Trump is a weak man. Facing the prospect of defeat, he’s lashing out with overt racism, like saying that Kamala Harris just recently became black. He will drag the entire Republican Party into the abyss and leave his followers behind, broken and abandoned.

Posters have appeared on the streets of DC, like the one pictured above. “For the People,” it reads, referencing Kamala Harris’s days as a prosecutor.

But it’s more than that. Kamala Harris gave us what we needed: a champion. Someone to lead the fight. A happy warrior fighting for the people.

We can win this thing.