Wife of Jan. 6 Prisoner: ‘We’re Being Targeted,’ It’s All About ‘Revenge’

'I know my husband is innocent'

People protest at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

The events of Jan. 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol have been described by some as an attempted “coup,“ ”domestic terrorism,“ and a ”deadly capitol insurrection." Angel Harrelson of Titusville, Florida, is convinced the Democrats in power are targeting Jan. 6 participants just because they are Trump supporters. She believes it’s all about “revenge.”

“I know they are definitely being targeted, especially in the jail, and us as a family,” Harrelson told The Epoch Times, whose husband, Kenneth Harrelson, is in jail on charges of sedition and conspiracy related to his presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Harrelson said her husband has received death threats in jail and that she and her family have been targeted and harassed by the media. She said her husband also received a postcard in jail that included the family’s home address.

“They’ve threatened his whole family and they’re allowing those cards to get through over there,” she said.

According to its website, the purpose of The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is “to investigate circumstances, and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex (hereafter referred to as the “domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol”) and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies in the National Capital Region and other instrumentalities of government, as well as the influencing factors that fomented such an attack on American representative democracy while engaged in a constitutional process.”

The words, “domestic terrorist attack” are reiterated seven more times describing the committee and its function.

In July 2021, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) formed the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, but only two Republicans—Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois—agreed to participate after Pelosi rejected candidates recommended by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Republicans have criticized the committee, stating the investigation is politically driven.

Despite claims to the contrary by several politicians and media figures, the FBI found no evidence that the breach of the Capitol was a coordinated attack, Reuters reported.

Angel and Kenneth Harrelson in the parking lot of SpaceX in Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida just before a rocket launch in July 2019. Courtesy of Angel Harrelson

Kenneth Harrelson, 41, is a U.S. Army veteran. His wife said he traveled to Washington on Jan. 6 to protect Trump supporters from Antifa, a violent left-wing activist group that often disrupts conservative events.

Kenneth and Angel Harrelson have four children, including an 18-year-old son who will be graduating this year. He enlisted in the Army and will leave for boot camp a month after graduation. They also have a 15-year-old daughter who is mildly autistic and suffering terribly in her father’s absence, Harrelson said.

“She’s a daddy’s girl,” she said.

Angel Harrison said her husband and other Jan. 6 defendants are served rotten food, and that it’s up to family members to raise money for the defendants’ commissary accounts.

"Political Prisoner of War" T-Shirt from an online store created by Angel Harrelson to raise money to buy her husband's food at the jail commissary. Courtesy of Angel Harrelson

“We spend about $125 at the commissary per week, and care packages cost about $125 per month,” she said. She has set up a GiveSendGo account to help cover the continued costs, as well as an online store, selling products in support of those being persecuted as “Political Prisoners of War (PPOWs).”

Angel Harrelson said she hasn’t seen her husband since he went to jail a year ago, and that he’s become depressed. She said prosecutors are angry that he rejected a plea deal.

Kenneth Harrelson was first charged with obstruction, then conspiracy and sedition, his wife said.

Angel Harrelson also said her husband is accused of obstructing police officers by surrounding Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, but Harrelson said the protestors were protecting Dunn from rioters who had become violent.

Dunn is the officer who made unsubstantiated claims that the Jan. 6 protesters used a racial slur against him.

Prosecutors argue Harrelson was a leader for the Oath Keepers, with access to high-powered firearms. They allege Harrelson is present in photos captured at a Comfort Inn outside Washington, and that he’s seen in photos rolling a cart down the hallway after a riot. Authorities insist there is at least one rifle case on the cart.

Brad Geyer, attorney for January 6 defendant, Kenneth Harrelson. Courtesy of Brad Geyer

Brad Geyer, attorney for Kenneth Harrelson, told The Epoch Times there were no unlawful firearms involved in the Jan. 6 events.

According to Geyer, the Oath Keepers were there in an official capacity to protect “VIPs” who were speaking during different events during the rally, and “it was standard operating procedure for the Oath Keepers” to “provide a strong defense” in that environment, he said.

Geyer insists the Oath Keepers were never in an altercation with Capitol Police, and that the group’s members kept their legal weapons in Virginia because firearms are not allowed in Washington.

Harrelson is also accused of searching for Pelosi during the breach and engaging in text messages threatening the House speaker’s life. Geyer said Harrelson did not participate in those messages, which were part of a group chat, and that his phone wasn’t working while he was inside the Capitol Building.

“There was some kind of jamming going on, which makes it difficult for people to communicate with each other,” Geyer said. “If there was something bad going on, people couldn’t warn others to stay away. I don’t think that was a mistake.”

Geyer also noted video showing Capitol Police moving barricades and waving people toward the Capitol Building. Another video shows police holding doors open while protesters file peacefully inside. A third video shows police standing back to allow an orderly group of protesters to pass by peacefully while one officer is seen waving the protesters along, contradicting reports that the crowd forced their way into the building.

Protesters are seen taking pictures inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

“There was no breach,” Geyer said, noting that prosecutors are fond of using that word. “No breach. Opening the door from the inside and inviting them in makes them invitees.”

Geyer said he will try to identify the police who ushered Harrelson up the steps and held the doors open to invite him inside.

If Kenneth Harrelson is convicted, his wife said the family will lose the veteran’s benefits they rely on for their house payment, car payment, and daily needs.

She said she’s always looked up to the police and trusted the government to find the truth about the situation, but now, she said she feels betrayed.

“I’ve known police officers all my life and a few are my best friends,” she said. “But how am I supposed to trust any of them now when they lie? I know my husband is innocent.”

Geyer agreed and said Kenneth Harrelson is “totally innocent.”

“I assumed that on some level, there would be some level of guilt, that you would be able to find something that he did,” Geyer said. “But his level of innocence is so overwhelming, it was a wake-up call for me.”

Geyer said the fallout from Jan. 6 has led to “a strange, mass psychosis event” surrounding defendants, and that the federal government maintains the façade of the Jan. 6 investigation by demonizing Harrelson and other defendants so they appear dangerous.

“He poses no threat of flight, and any suggestion to the contrary is concocted or made up, but they’re never going to let him out,” Geyer said.