An FBI informant who joined the Proud Boys and helped breach the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, says there was an understanding that he could commit crimes in certain situations.
The informant, named in court as Aaron, said that he spoke with his handling agent before traveling to Washington.
“Did your conversation with the agent contemplate what might happen if you encountered some people engaging in bad activity?” Aaron was asked.
“Yes. If there’s an emergency situation, and to protect myself from physical harm or worse, I have to do something minor, like if I’m surrounded by Antifa and I have to spray paint on a wall or break a window to try and get them to leave me alone, then that could be explained and would be much better than me being severely hurt,” Aaron testified on March 29, according to transcripts reviewed by The Epoch Times.
“So when you say that that could be explained, what is your understanding of what that meant?” Aaron was asked.
“That I wouldn’t get in trouble if I did something minor like that if it was in the act of self-preservation,” he responded.
The informant, whose last name was not provided, was questioned during the trial of Proud Boys members, including Ethan Nordean.
Nordean and other Proud Boys have been charged with seditious conspiracy, among other counts.
Another lawyer, questioning Aaron later, asked: “I believe you stated on direct that you understood from your handler that when you were in these situations, if you did something minor, you would not get in trouble?”
Part of March
Aaron, who started reporting to the FBI in 2008 and joined the Proud Boys in 2019, drove to Washington from the Kansas City, Missouri area and gathered with Nordean and other Proud Boys at the Washington Monument on Jan. 6.An unknown man wearing military fatigues and holding a baseball bat asked to join the group. Aaron said yes.
“I believe your testimony was that it was you, a federal informant, who got that gentleman into the walk that day with the Proud Boys?” a defense lawyer remarked at one point.
“I believe it is off of what I said that allowed him to walk with us,” Aaron said.
The group eventually made it to the Capitol. Some of the barriers that had been in the way had been removed, while others were removed by the marchers.
Aaron initially texted his FBI handler: “PB did not do it, nor inspire. The crowd did as herd mentality, not organized. Barriers down at Capitol Building. Crowd surged forward, almost to the building now.” The text was received by the handler, who was based in the Central Time Zone, at approximately 12:02 p.m. Central.
There was no plan, as far as Aaron knew, among the Proud Boys to enter the Capitol, though he said he was not part of discussions among the organization’s leadership.
Aaron said he was asked by his handler to see if he could locate someone in Washington who “had nothing to do with the Proud Boys to figure out why they were there, if they were there, and what their motivation was.”
There was an expectation that he would report to the agent what was observed, particularly if any violence unfolded.
If people were engaged in illegal activity, that’s when Aaron said he could engage in crimes.
That authorization related only to Antifa, a far-left network of groups, Aaron said. “They were very vague about that,” he said. He said he did not receive written authorization or a specific instruction that he could act illegally in connection with the Proud Boys.
After arriving at the Capitol, Aaron helped block a metal gate so that police could not close it. He said he was following instructions from another Proud Boy.
“That podium was going to help make sure that gate didn’t close. Correct?” a government prosecutor asked during cross-examination.
“I believe that’s the reason why I was asked to grab it,” Aaron said.
Entered Capitol
Aaron later acknowledged he entered the Capitol, an action for which hundreds of others have been charged. The entrance took place about 12 minutes after the building was initially breached, according to court exhibits.“I wasn’t going to at first, but then it was under the understanding that if I could prevent someone from destroying something of historic significance, that that would be a valid reason to go in,” he testified.
“I thought that it would be acceptable if it was to prevent worse acts from happening inside, that I could justify going in there,” he said.
“You knew that going into the building was illegal and, because you knew that, you hesitated before you went in. Correct?” he was asked.
“I didn’t have those exact thoughts. I just had originally thought that this is as far as I need to go,” he said. “I didn’t like the image of paintings from the 1700s being ripped off or something. I’ve never been in the Capitol prior, so I didn’t know if that stuff was in there, but I assumed it might be.”
Aaron said he saw a police officer and a man engaged in a “tug of war” over a chair and intervened to help the officer escape. He said he spent about 20 minutes inside and left when officers told people to leave.
“I didn’t want to be in there any longer than I have to and the situation was changing—improving,” he said.
After exiting, Aaron told a police officer something to the effect of “Proud Boys were able to get people to stand down against the police.”
Aaron met up with others, went to the Metro, and went to the residence at which they were staying. They left for home the following day.
Aaron said he wasn’t thinking when he entered the Capitol about his understanding he could commit crimes in certain situations.
“I wasn’t thinking like that at the time. I was thinking about, maybe, making sure that important things were not being destroyed,” he said.
Aaron answered in the affirmative when asked whether he would have just walked away without moving toward or entering the building.
FBI Interviews
Aaron said he provided videos and photographs to the FBI, and that they copied the contents of his phone.He spoke to FBI agents three times after the breach.
One interview was within 10 days of Jan. 6. Another was in April 2021. The third was in August 2021.
Aaron said he did not hide information from the FBI, and that he was “honest with them.” He told them details of what he saw, such as seeing that there were broken windows near the area where he entered the Capitol. He was aware of photographs and video recordings capturing at least some of what unfolded on Jan. 6.
Aaron said the FBI never asked him, that he can recall, to gather information about the Proud Boys.
“Nonetheless, though, you had an understanding that you should keep your eyes open for signs of trouble, correct?” the prosecutor inquired.
“Yeah, if a fight broke out and someone got stabbed and they asked me about it, be honest about it,” Aaron said.
Most of the time, nothing was reported, until Jan. 6 came, he said. But he also knew he “had no choice but to report [something] when asked.”
