To the Editor:
How blinded but your acceptance of THE BIG LIE to actually publish that there were no guns brought by the rioters of Jan 6.
In April, 72-year-old Lonnie Coffman of Falkville, Alabama, was sentenced to four years in prison for bringing loaded guns, ammunition and Molotov cocktail ingredients to Washington on Jan. 6.
The weapons were found in his truck – parked less than half a mile from the Capitol building—which he left to attend a rally at the National Mall. A statement by the Department of Justice said Coffman “also carried a loaded handgun and a loaded revolver as he walked around the area that day.”
In March 2022, 49-year-old Texan Guy Reffitt, was convicted (among other charges) for being unlawfully present on Capitol grounds while possessing a firearm and transporting firearms during civil disorder.
A Department of Justice indictment from January 2021 also states that Christopher Alberts, Maryland, was found carrying a Taurus G2C semi-automatic handgun on Capitol grounds on January 6.
Off-duty Drug Enforcement Administration agent Mark Sami Ibrahim, 32, was also indicted by a grand jury for bringing a firearm within the United States Capitol and its grounds.
In an article for Newsweek, Nick Suplina and Justin Wagner of Everytown for Gun Safety said they had identified “12 individuals allegedly tied to the events of Jan. 6 who were arrested in Washington, D.C., and charged with firearms offenses.”
A U.S. Capitol Police intelligence division report also found posts on now defunct blog thedonald.win in the lead-up to Jan. 6, which, the report said, contained “several comments [that] promote confronting members of Congress and carrying firearms during the protest.
In a nutshell — the claim is FALSE.
P.S. more trials are in process and more weaponry related charges are included.
B Howard Penix
Haciendas of Mission Hills