Wednesday morning brought an explosive new development in Venezuela, as U.S. forces moved to seize an oil tanker near Venezuela which was protected by a Russian submarine. U.S. officials said that the tanker was flying a false flag and was sanctioned for illegally carrying Iranian oil, per the Wall Street Journal.
The news was met with a wide range of reactions â some of them critical, but others approving.
"US now seizing Venezuela-linked oil tanker Marinera (ex-Bella 1), Russian-flagged, after 2-week Atlantic pursuit," wrote Democratic strategist and Suffolk County legislator Jon Cooper. "It evaded blockade, resisted Coast Guard boardingâwith Russian navy (incl. sub) nearby. High-seas drama escalating!"
"This is piracy under the law of nations," argued George Conway, a Never Trump attorney now running for Congress in New York as a Democrat. "And under section 1651 of title 18 of the United States Code, piracy under the law of nations is punishable by life imprisonment."
Many did not share his view, however. Indeed, a great deal of support came from pro-Ukraine internet activists, who saw it as a massive blow against the Kremlin's illicit activities.
"The US seizing a russian tanker should show Europe how to deal with Russia," wrote pro-Ukraine activist Akash Maniam. "Force, not appeasement. Strength, not weakness. Call russia's bluff and put them in their place."
Another such activist, "Kate from Kharkiv," posted chats of pro-Russian bloggers raging against the seizure, and writing, "Russian propaganda bloggers already crying about seized tanker."
A world-renowned musician was hit with stern pushback from the Trump administration after he pulled out of an upcoming gig at the Kennedy Center.
Banjoist BĂŠla Fleck said late Tuesday night, "I have withdrawn from my upcoming performance with the NSO at The Kennedy Center."
"Performing there has become charged and political, at an institution where the focus should be on the music," he then wrote next. "I look forward to playing with the NSO another time in the future when we can together share and celebrate art."
That led to a meltdown from Richard Grenell, Trump's pick to oversee the Kennedy Center. He was recently labeled the "nation's most detestable homosexual" for his behavior while working for Trump.
"You just made it political and caved to the woke mob who wants you to perform for only Lefties. This mob pressuring you will never be happy until you only play for Democrats," Grenell claimed. "The Trump Kennedy Center believes all people are welcome - Democrats and Republicans and people uninterested in politics. We want performers who arenât political - who simply love entertaining everyone regardless of who they voted for."
Ex-GOP lawmaker Justin Amash weighed in on that comment, saying, "This administration engaged in the wholly performative political act of placing Trumpâs name on the building, and now theyâre lecturing performers about 'making it political.'"
Jim Acosta also had a reply, saying, "I tried to warn you Ric. Itâs a debacle."
"Take Trumpâs name off the Kennedy Center. Itâs a national embarrassment," he added. "At this rate all youâre gonna be able to book is GOP luncheons. And the members of Congress prob donât like it because itâs clear across town. Everybody hates this."
A "wild card" Donald Trump did not account for could pose a threat to his oil executives-backed takeover of Venezuela.
The president and his administration confirmed earlier this week they had captured Venezuelan president NicolĂĄs Maduro while also striking several major cities, including Caracas. Despite Maduro's capture, Trump still faces heavy opposition within the Venezuelan government, namely a "wild card" who The Wall Street Journal reports has a major influence on militia groups in the area.
Diosdado Cabello was dubbed the "de facto leader of Venezuela's security forces and brutal militias" in a column from Kejal Vyas and Samantha Pearson. The article suggested Trump would have to contend with opposition from "wild card" Cabello when it came to the country's future.
Trump has made it clear part of the US control in Venezuela would be to "take back" oil from the region. The president said in a statement that he would work to bring in "30 to 50 million" barrels of oil from Venezuela.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday, "I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.
"This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!"
But this move could face opposition from Cabello, for as long as the de facto security forces head remains in charge. Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez of Aurora Macro Strategies said, "Cabello has a great deal to lose and is likely to recognize that among Washingtonâs demands, his removal could surface sooner rather than later."
It has been reported that Trump has secretly backed Vice President Delcy RodrĂguez to lead Venezuela, following a snub to Nobel Peace Prize winner MarĂa Corina Machado.
Classified CIA intel, reported by The Wall Street Journal, suggested that RodrĂguez, along with hardline Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino would be best suited to maintaining stability in the country.
âTrump sees the opposition as losers, as they failed to deliver,â said Juan Cruz, who served as the top White House official handling Latin American policy during Trumpâs first term. âItâs an opposition that he sees as unimpressive and having come up short, so why would you just turn it over to them?â
Internet critics sounded off Tuesday after President Donald Trump was caught in an unflattering press photograph while delivering a speech to House Republicans at the Kennedy Center.
The picture, taken in the middle of a rant about transgender women athletes, caught him pantomiming a woman weightlifter struggling to compete; he is seen flailing his arms, eyes bulging and tongue protruding, as the light unflatteringly captured his face makeup to give him a bronzish-green complexion.
The image quickly went viral on social media, with a number of commentators reacting to it with varying degrees of hilarity, disgust, and general embarrassment for the country.
"This is a real image," wrote New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser.
"He looks terrible. Yellow," wrote former Politico foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen.
"This is a real photo of Donald Trump. A national and global embarrassment," wrote liberal influencer Harry Sisson.
"Trump is a disgusting human being," wrote former CNNWhite House correspondent John Harwood.
"This is a man who cannot lift himself out of a chair without using both hands; alternately, he rarely stands and lately, when he stands, he falls asleep standing," said writer Larkin Warren. "Betting he can't lift anything heavier than a Big Mac."
"The irony being that Trump went out of his way to praise the White House photographers this morning," wrote The Bulwark's Sam Stein.
One of President Donald Trumpâs top billionaire donors, who has spent the past several months backing a push for regime change in Venezuela, is about to cash in after the presidentâs kidnapping of the nationâs president, Nicolas Maduro, this weekend.
While he declined to tell members of Congress, Trump has said he tipped offoil executives before the illegal attack. At a press conference following the attack, he said the US would have âour very large United States oil companiesâ go into Venezuela, which he said the US will ârunâ indefinitely, and âstart making moneyâ for the United States.
As Judd Legum reported on Monday for Popular Information, among the biggest beneficiaries will be the billionaire investor Paul Singer:
In 2024, Singer, an 81-year-old with a net worth of $6.7 billion, donated $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc., Trumpâs Super PAC. Singer donated tens of millions more in the 2024 cycle to support Trumpâs allies, including $37 million to support the election of Republicans to Congress. He also donated an undisclosed amount to fund Trumpâs second transition.
Singer is also a major pro-Israel donor, with his foundation having donated more than $3.3 million to groups like the Birthright Israel Foundation, the Israel America Academic Exchange, Boundless Israel, and others in 2021, according to tax filings.
In November 2025, less than two months before Trumpâs operation to take over Venezuela, Singerâs investment firm, Elliott Investment Management, inked a highly fortuitous deal.
It purchased Citgo, the US-based subsidiary of Venezuelaâs state-owned oil company, for $5.9 billionâa sale that was forced by a Delaware court after Venezuela defaulted on its bond payments.
The court-appointed special master who forced the sale, Robert Pincus, is a member of the board of directors for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Elliott Management hailed the court order requiring the sale in a press release, saying it was âbacked by a group of strategic US energy investors.â
Singer acquired the Citgoâs three massive coastal refineries, 43 oil terminals, and more than 4,000 gas stations at a âmajor discountâ because of its distressed status. Advisers to the court overseeing the sale estimated its value at $11-13 billion, while the Venezuelan government estimated it at $18 billion.
As Legum explained, the Trump administrationâs embargo on Venezuelan oil imports to the United States bore the primary responsibility for the companyâs plummeting value:
Citgoâs refiners are purpose-built to process heavy-grade Venezuelan âsourâ crude. As a result, Citgo was forced to source oil from more expensive sources in Canada and Colombia. (Oil produced in the United States is generally light-grade.) This made Citgoâs operations far less profitable.
It is the preferred modus operandifor Singer, whose hedge fund is often described as a âvultureâ capital group. As Francesca Fiorentini, a commentator at Zeteo, explained, Singer âis famous for doing things like buying the debt of struggling countries like Argentina for pennies on the dollar and then forcing that country to repay him with interest plus legal fees.â
Venezuelan Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy RodrĂguez called the sale of Citgo to Singer âfraudulentâ and âforcedâ in December.
After the US abducted Maduro this week, Trump named Rodriguez as Venezuelaâs interim presidentâand she was formally sworn in Mondayâbut he warned that sheâll pay a âvery big priceâ if she refuses to do âwhat we want.â
That is good news for Singer, who is expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of an oil industry controlled by US corporations, which will likely not be subject to crippling sanctions.
Singer has reportedly met with Trump directly at least four times since he was first elected in 2016, most recently in 2024. While it is unknown whether the two discussed Venezuela during those meetings, groups funded by Singer have pushed aggressively for Trump to take maximal action to decapitate the countryâs leadership.
Since 2011, Singer has donated over $10 million and continues to sit on the board of directors for the right-wing Manhattan Institute think tank, which in recent months has consistently advocated for Maduro to be removed from power. In October, it published an article praising Trump for his âconsistent policies against Venezuelaâs Maduro.â
He has also been a major donor to the neoconservative think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), serving as its second-largest contributor from 2008-2011, with more than $3.6 million.
In late November, shortly before Trump announced that the US had closed Venezuelan airspace and began to impound Venezuelan oil tankers, FDD published a policy brief stating that the US has âcapabilities to launch an overwhelming air and missile campaign against the Maduro regimeâ that it could use to remove him from power.
Singer himself has acted as a financial attack dog for Trump during his first year back in office. In June, he contributed $1 million to fund a super PAC aiming to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), whoâd become Trumpâs leading Republican critic over his Department of Justiceâs refusal to release its files pertaining to the billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
A super PAC tied to Miriam Adelson, another top pro-Israel donor who recently said sheâd give Trump $250 million if he ran for a third term, also reportedly helped to fund the campaign against Massie.
Massie has since gone on to be one of the most vocal opponents in Congress to Trumpâs regime change push in Venezuela, joining Democrats to co-sponsor multiple failed war powers resolutions that would have reined in the presidentâs ability to launch military strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and launch an attack on mainland Venezuela.
As the Trump administration has asserted that American corporations are entitled to the oil controlled by Venezuelaâs state firm, Massie rebutted this weekend that: âItâs not American oil. Itâs Venezuelan oil.â
âOil companies entered into risky deals to develop oil, and the deals were canceled by a prior Venezuelan government,â he said. âWhatâs happening: Lives of US soldiers are being risked to make those oil companies (not Americans) more profitable.â
Massie said that Singer, âwhoâs already spent $1,000,000 to defeat me in the next election, stands to make billions of dollars on his distressed Citgo investment, now that this administration has taken over Venezuela.â
Fiorentini added that âPaul Singerâs shady purchase of Citgo has everything to do with this coup.â
Following a tantrum thrown Monday by the Department of Homeland Security over its immigration agents being denied rooms at a Minneapolis Hilton hotel, the hotel chain announced Tuesday that it would be reprimanding the local franchise owner by removing the location from its system.
âA recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values,â reads a statement from Hilton shared on social media.
âAs such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems. Hilton is â and has always been â a welcoming place for all. We are also engaging with all of our franchisees to reinforce the standards we hold them to across our system to help ensure this does not happen again.â
DHS expressed outrage Monday after alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had their reservations cancelled at the Minneapolis Hilton hotel, declaring there to be âNO ROOM AT THE INNâ and sharing screenshots of the cancellation email in a social media post on X.
âWe are not allowing ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property,â the alleged email from the Hilton hotel read. âIf you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation.â
Some critics, like X user âAdrian,â a sports and market commentator whoâs amassed more than 1,600 followers, noted what they argued was the irony in DHSâ outrage given the traditional position of conservatives to advocate for business ownersâ right to refuse service.
âIt's funny because Republicans used to be about âRight to Refuse Service,ââ they wrote in a social media post on X. âNow they just bully their way around.â
A California Republican has died suddenly after serving more than two decades in political office.
House GOP leadership announced Tuesday that Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) died aged 65, reported NBC News.
"Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,â said Majority Whip Tom Emmer, (R-MN), the third-ranking House Republican. âOur prayers are with Dougâs wife, Jill, and their children.â
LaMalfa's death shrinks the GOP majority to a precarious 218-213 advantage, with four vacancies, and his passing came as a shock to friends and colleagues on Capitol Hill.
"Heâs probably one of the most genuine, most honest guys you would ever meet," said former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had been LaMalfa's roommate in the state legislature in Sacramento. "He was a rice farmer. He represented his district so well. He would travel anywhere to talk to anybody. He went up and down the state. We were together campaigning earlier this year, but he was my roommate in Sacramento and we have been dear friends ever since."
Five years after Donald Trumpâs supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol amidst a blizzard of lies, with the president and his associates falsely claiming the 2020 election was stolen, January 6th may be a story Americans no longer care to hear.
Homegrown, a documentary that tracks three members of the neo-fascist street gang the Proud Boys from the turbulent summer of 2020 to Jan. 6 2021 and the attack on Congress, has won accolades and enthralled streaming viewers in Europe and South America. But the filmâs producers have yet to find a U.S. distributor.
âI really think itâs telling around the narrative, around January 6th that itâs been downplayed and diminished within our national conversation,â director Michael Premo told Raw Story.
âThat implies weâre only destined to repeat it.â
âA self-coupâ
Premo, a documentary filmmaker who was previously involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement and Hurricane Sandy relief, thinks Americans have trouble coming to grips with January 6th because it runs counter to what most believe about their country.
âI think Trump is such a distillation of everything America pretends itâs not,â he said.
âThat is all wrapped up in what January 6th is.
âIf this was a country in the Middle East or South America, weâd be talking about a self-coup. Thatâs not what weâre talking about. Thatâs not the popular narrative.â
Homegrown has received positive reviews in Europe and South America, and Premo told Raw Story that for a time it was the sixth-most popular streaming movie in New Zealand.
But Americans who want to see Homegrown will have to rent it directly from the filmâs website, from Jan. 6 through Feb.16 â the Presidentâs Day holiday.
âWeâve talked to many distributors, and weâve gotten confounding rejection,â Premo said.
âTheyâve said, âWe love it, but we canât take it.â People have been âcounter-programming-the-apocalypse,â is what I call it â just light, happy fare.â
Revelatory portraits
For anyone who followed the news closely from protests for racial justice in the summer of 2020 through the presidential election that November and its chaotic fallout, the feverish pace of the storytelling in Homegrown will summon familiar feelings of excitement, dread and anxiety.
But the portraits of the three men profiled in the film, drawn in full humanity, revealing themselves with flashes of violence, self-reflection and regret, will likely come as a revelation to many.
Chris Quaglin is a father-to-be who vandalizes a Black Lives Matter mural.
Thad Cisneros is a high-ranking Latino leader of the Proud Boys who forges a cross-ideological alliance against police violence.
Randy Ireland is an Air Force veteran who takes on the unglamorous, behind-the-scenes duties of organizing the group.
All are footsoldiers of the Trump movement, destined to sink back into obscurity once theyâve outlived their usefulness.
In one scene, filmed about a week after January 6th, Quaglin is seen fixing up a room for his son, who is about to be born.
âI got him to worry about,â Quaglin says. âAnd heâs the reason why I did go to DC â because I feel like something had to be done. But I think that all hellâs going to break loose. Sooner than later. If you think DC was bad, just wait. Just wait.â
Quaglin was arrested about two months after his sonâs birth, for his involvement in the January 6th attack.
Convicted of 14 charges, including felony counts of assaulting police and obstruction of Congress, like about 1,600 other defendants, he received a pardon from President Trump shortly after Inauguration Day last year.
In another scene, filmed in Portland, Oregon following January 6th, Ireland laments that newer members of the Proud Boys are interested in âGoing to streets and hunting, and they found someone that they suspected and chasing them down.
âWe donât do that,â he says.
The next moment, the Proud Boys leader is seen riding in the back of a pickup wearing a helmet and ballistic vest as others fire Airsoft rifles at a group of antifascists in black bloc formation.
âTheyâre waitingâ
Now Trump has returned to power, rank-and-file conservative activists who hit the streets in 2020 and up to January 6th have largely faded from view.
Theyâve been rendered somewhat redundant, Premo said, as Trump has strong-armed media companies âto capitulateâ and brought âuniversities to heel,â thereby neutralizing institutions that would ordinarily check a presidentâs power.
The reason activists such as Quaglin, Ireland and Cisneros were âascendantâ in 2020, Premo said, âis they were playing this role that the state is now playing now that Trump in his authoritarian trajectory has so effectively consolidated power.â
Reflecting on the past five years, Premo said he doesnât see the flare-up of vigilante violence that culminated in January 6th as something to be consigned to the past.
His observation recalls the moment during a 2020 presidential debate when Trump was challenged to condemn white supremacists and right-wing militia groups.
âProud Boys, stand back and stand by,â Trump said.
Premo said: âThe role thatâs played by the foot-soldier activist is to be proactive.
âWhen the state is playing the role that you wanted to play, you have to take a back seat.
âTheyâre waiting for when theyâre needed again. Maybe that happens when Trump refuses to leave office after his term is up.â
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel used his first show of 2026 to rip into Donald Trump's Truth Social posts.
The president made nearly 100 posts in the middle of the night yesterday (January 5) and posted hundreds more over the holiday period. Kimmel's team highlighted Trump's more than 550 posts in the two-week break for Christmas, with two Christmas addresses singled out for coverage by the late night host.
Speaking in his first monologue of the year, Kimmel said, "Over the last two weeks, since we left for break, Trump posted on Truth Social 556 times. Behold, the ramblings of a madman. That is real."
On the screen behind Kimmel appeared screenshots of the Truth Social posts Trump had made. One post from Christmas Eve, and another address delivered on Christmas Day, were highlighted by Kimmel.
Kimmel added, "He was in an especially festive mood on Christmas Eve. Just after our show ended, around 12:30am, he threatened to terminate us." Trump had threatened Kimmel's show in the past, but at 12:36am on Christmas Eve, he posted again asking if the show should be "terminated".
Trump wrote, "If Network NEWSCASTS, and their Late Night Shows, are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump, MAGA, and the Republican Party, shouldn't their very valuable Broadcast Licenses be terminated? I say, YES!"
Kimmel responded, "And to all, a good night. This is the vision of sugar plums that are dancing in his head as he goes to sleep. Then Saint D**colas offered this salutation, 'Merry Christmas to all, including the many Sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein'. Leave it to Trump to wish Merry Christmas to himself."
"Then he closed with an ominous message, 'Enjoy what may be your last Merry Christmas!' What is he trying to tell us? He's going down and he's taking us with him? I don't know. Fortunately, he did not share that sentiment with the group of children they lined up to speak to him on the night before Christmas."
Trump had made a late night Truth Social binge only yesterday (January 5), posting a total of 89 times in the span of one hour.
Posts made by the president touched on immigration in the US, Venezuela, and one denounced the "thieving government". The post reads, "Tell me again, why do we pay tax money to a broken, lying, thieving government?"
A protest in Michigan took a dramatic turn when an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump's raid to capture Venezuelan strongman NicolĂĄs Maduro was arrested during a live TV interview.
"No war with Venezuela!" angry protesters bellowed, waving flags and signs before marching through various streets.
Organizer Jessica Plichta, who recently returned from a Venezuelan peace summit, told WZZM, âWe have to apply pressure at all points that we can, this is not just a foreign issue. It's our tax dollars that are also being used to commit these war crimes.â
Plichta doubled down on her support for Maduro, declaring: âI saw Maduro in person. People loved him. Maduro was elected by the people. He is for the people and the people want to see his return. Free Maduro.â
Things took a turn for the dramatic when police arrested Plichta on camera immediately after the interview, citing roadway obstruction and failure to obey orders. Experts warned the move mirrors the 1990 Panama invasion that nabbed dictator Manuel Noriega.
Thomas Walker, international relations professor at Grand Valley State University, sounded the alarm to the outlet.
âI'm sure the Russians have a large number of leaders that they want to kidnap and drag off,â he said. âSetting this precedent in the international system can be very, very destabilizing. The United States sets the example oftentimes for the rest of the world. I don't think this is an example we want to be followed.â
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested he was backing down from his threat to court-martial Mark Kelly and would instead seek to reduce his retirement pay.
In a video with other Democratic lawmakers, Kelly said troops had a responsibility not to obey illegal orders. The video came after the Trump administration began striking alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela.
Hegseth called the video "seditious" in a statement on Monday.
"Therefore, in response to Senator Mark Kelly's seditious statements â and his pattern of reckless misconduct â the Department of War is taking administrative action against Captain Mark E. Kelly, USN (Ret)," the Defense Secretary said. "The department has initiated retirement grade determination proceedings under 10 U.S.C. § 1370(f), with reduction in his retired grade resulting in a corresponding reduction in retired pay."
"To ensure this action, the Secretary of War has also issued a formal Letter of Censure, which outlines the totality of Captain (for now) Kelly's reckless misconduct. This Censure is a necessary process step, and will be placed in Captain Kelly's official and permanent military personnel file," he continued. "Captain Kelly has been provided notice of the basis for this action and has thirty days to submit a response. The retirement grade determination process directed by Secretary Hegseth will be completed within forty five days."
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), the former Democratic vice presidential nominee, cited President Donald Trump's attacks on his state as he announced he was dropping out of the race for another gubernatorial term.
"I can't give a political campaign my all," Walz said in a statement, noting that it was "an extraordinarily difficult year for our state."
Walz pointed to an ongoing daycare fraud investigation in the state.
"Donald Trump and his allies â in Washington, in St. Paul, and online â want to make our state a colder, meaner place," Walz observed. "They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family."
Trump recently amplified the false claim that Walz was behind the murder of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D).
On Jan. 6, 2021, author and ethnographer Noelle Cook drove to Washington, D.C. On Capitol Hill, she was shocked to come upon a scene of people smashed against the walls of Congress and emergency responders taking away the body of Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran who was shot dead by police as she attempted to crawl through a broken window and into the Speakerâs Lobby, outside the House chamber.
Cook had not shown up to take part in the âStop the Stealâ rally, which ended in the storming of the U.S. Capitol by rioters who believed Donald Trumpâs lie that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election.
As a researcher and amateur photographer, Cook thought the rally might inspire a project.
âI had never done anything MAGA before, so I thought I would just go down and take photographs of the âStop the Stealâ rally because the signs and stuff are always visually interesting,â Cook told Raw Story, of that day now five years gone.
âIt was very surreal. It was almost like this sinister carnival, where there was celebratory activity, and also I heard so much violent rhetoric everywhere â people talking about hanging people.â
After Cook returned home to Maryland, she spent three weeks processing images. Then she decided to follow the first 100 women who were arrested for their actions on January 6.
Scouring court records, news reports and social media, Cook looked for patterns.
What she discovered was that many of these women, like herself, had entered middle age.
Cook immersed herself in the stories of two such women, Yvonne St. Cyr and Tammy Butry.
To Cook, the two women embraced âconspirituality,â a term scholars use to describe a quickly growing ideology that blends New Age spirituality, anti-vaccination advocacy, anti-government extremism and conspiracy theories.
A potent mix, it ultimately brought St. Cyr and Butry to the Capitol on January 6.
âI had no intention of studying QAnon or conspiracies or anything, but I kind of followed these women where they led me, which was straight into conspiracies,â Cook said.
âThey get their community onlineâ
St. Cyr and Butry were both in the mob that forced its way into the Capitol.
St. Cyr led a crowd through the tunnels below the main corridors and chambers, coaching rioters in a collective push to open the doors.
Butry, wearing a blue Trump flag as a cape, marched around inside the Capitol, taking selfies and a swig of Jack Danielâs, Cook writes.
The riot failed to stop certification of the election. Biden became president. St. Cyr would be sentenced to 30 months in prison, Butry to 20 days.
On the page, Cook examines how a combination of personal trauma and isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic made women like St. Cyr and Butry more susceptible to conspiracy theories, as they were exposed to more and more online.
âMost of these women that I talk to, middle-aged women, don't have that much opportunity to socialize anymore, and they get their community online,â Cook said.
During the pandemic, such women found themselves with little time to leave their homes, especially while caring for children or aging parents or both. Turning to Facebook groups and other online communities, they found guidance and community.
âI think conspiracies serve as a coping mechanism for many people,â Cook said.
âValidated and vindicatedâ
In interviewing participants in the Jan. 6 riot, Cook said, she has ânot talked to anybody personally who regrets that day.â
Last January, on his first day back in office, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 January 6th defendants. That, Cook said, provided a corroboration of many conspiracistsâ beliefs.
âIt's worse because Trump pardoned all of them, and so they all feel validated and vindicated,â Cook said.
âI keep getting told, âSee, I told you, this is going to come true.ââ
The same goes for Trumpâs appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Known before entering office for campaigning against vaccines, Kennedy has used his position to roll back vaccine guidance â actions conspiracists frequently support.
âThey're going to celebrate until the kids all start dying of some preventable disease,â Cook said.
Conspiracists continue to look to the Trump administration for what they see as validation of their beliefs, Cook said, particularly adherents of QAnon, the far-right movement whose premise involves Trump waging war on Satan-worshipping cannibalistic pedophiles, among supposed Democratic elites in Hollywood and the federal government.
âIt's a wink and a nod all the time, and that keeps people energized,â Cook said.
âFor so long as people with authority continue to stoke the fire and continue to throw out the little crumbs here and there to keep people invested, I don't know how it does change, because I feel like everyone was more emboldened and felt a lot more empowered when Trump was reelected this time.â
âFacts donât really matterâ
Cook did not try to convince St. Cyr or Butry their beliefs were wrong. Rather, she observed and listened.
âThat's the problem here with conspiracists, facts don't really matter much,â Cook said. âItâs feelings.
âWhat you're asking people to do [by asking them to change] is take away their daily purpose, their sense of belonging and their sense of community, which is a really hard thing to do.â
Conspiracists donât typically change beliefs until it affects them personally, Cook said â as in the case of Erica Roach, a one-time QAnon and anti-vaccine adherent who left Trumpâs MAGA movement after January 6, as Raw Story recently reported.
âThere's nothing really anyone can do, I don't think, to extract people until they have a reason to see it themselves,â Cook said.
âWhen you're dealing with such outrageous, outlandish myths and stories and fabrications, it's really hard to convince people otherwise.â
