Chad LoderDec 23, 2022

BREAKING: Unconfirmed reports that Eric Christie, former candidate for Los Angeles City Council’s 4th District, has been arrested by the FBI at his Sherman Oaks home for his participation in the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol.

I first broke the news in Feb 2021 that Christie, a fixture at the Beverly Hills Trump rallies, had been filmed at the Capitol behind police lines, standing on top of government vehicles and urging the crowd forward.

The indictment is apparently still sealed. I am looking to find additional confirmation on what charges have been filed.

My original reporting is archived here on my now-suspended Twitter account. http://web.archive.org/web/20210829140704/https://twitter.com/chadloder/status/1364423122984857602

Chad Loder on Twitter

“NEW: Eric Christie, a former candidate for Los Angeles City Council’s 4th District, participated in the Jan 6th Capitol attack. Christie is known for attending the Beverly Hills Trump rallies and anti-mask protests, where he harasses people. He carried a hammer at the Capitol.”

Twitter
FY14WDec 24, 2022
Show threadChad Loder

The DOJ charging documents for Jan 6 rioter Eric Christie have been unsealed after his arrest yesterday following an hours-long standoff at his Sherman Oaks home. The FBI's affidavit cites my reporting and includes two screenshots of tweets from my now-suspended Twitter account.

Affidavit here (pdf): https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.250311/gov.uscourts.dcd.250311.1.1.pdf

Dec 23, 2022 at 5:14pmWeb
Show threadThe SerfsDec 23, 2022
@chadloder how have you found the switch to mast?
Show threadChad LoderDec 23, 2022
@theserfstv There are some things I like about Masto. The lack of a global search feature makes Mastodon nearly useless for antifascist research, however.
Show threadRobert DenbyDec 23, 2022
@chadloder
Thank you for your part in getting this Aunt Thomassina off the streets where it can stop collaborating with the people who hate lgbt people. I hope it has a productive time in prison.
Show threadTed GarrisonDec 23, 2022
@chadloder Nice work!
Show threadJohn RobinsonDec 23, 2022
@chadloder Let due process begin!
Show thread🤖 The Droid EngineerDec 23, 2022
@chadloder When the #FBI uses your investigative product in federal court to indict a domestic terrorist, you know your work is really making a difference.
Show threadBJC860Dec 23, 2022

@chadloder Good work, man.

Keep doing what you're doing, it's important.

Show threadCoCotheGreaTDec 24, 2022
@chadloder just another example of how important antifascist research is and why they try so hard to silence it.
Show threadNLAWScametovisitDec 25, 2022
@chadloder nice work chad!
Show threadLukefromDCDec 31, 2022

@chadloder It's funny: all these far-right fascists stockpile weapons and bluster big talk of civil war and lesser violence, but not ONE of these raids on their houses has gone bad. No bullets fly-let them stew a bit and it's over. Do turds jump out of the toilet when you flush it?

This standoff is the spiciest I've heard of-nothing like Ruby Ridge or Waco has occurred with warrant after warrant, raid after raid, and arrest after peaceful arrest.

By comparison, when cops raid the homes of Black and Brown people accused of trifles they often don't even wait for resistance but instead go in shooting first. Michael Reinoehl is another example of how cops often shoot those they consider their true enemies without even saying a word.

Let's get real: when an attempt at a coup or a revolution is launched, it's winner take all, and the losers are royally screwed. If Biden had decided to forgo formal arrests and simply drone strike all these fascists, it would not have been in any way unusual for a response by a goverment to a coup attempt. Drone strikes on J6 plotters or just J6 leaders would have made it more clear then ever that democracy in the US is on the way out, but that would not have been unusual or anything new either. US citizens have been killed in drone strikes before, notably Anwar al-Awlaki.

Failure to finish this coup plot off (which requires locking up Trump) is an invitation to another go-around. If Trump does beat DeSantis, not only will the J6 prisoners be pardoned, but Trump will launch an all-out witch-hunt. We will NOT get the forbearance the J6 coup plotters got. Not only will those who protest a Jan 20, 2025 Trump Inauguration be attacked, but so will who protested him on Jan 20, 2017. Trump and his minions will come back screaming for revenge, and the broader GOP will do the same if it is DeSantis taking power. In the latter case, LGBTQ protesters will surely be singled out. Also if Trump goes after Biden, that would be the 3ed US election in a row carrying the possibility of the winner jailing the loser.

For these strategic reasons, I have long feared that legal precedents set in the J6 cases can and will come back to bite us after a disputed Trump or DeSantis election in Nov 2024 and the Inauguration protests that will surely follow. Many in the Left have with good reasons cheered at seeing violent Proud Boys and other Nazis wimpering as the cuffs went on and steel cages became their new lives, but I fear we are next. Never trust the FBI, never trust prosecutors. I would rather face Proud Boys in the streets than face the same Proud Boys in a prison.