Insurrection fueled by conspiracy groups, extremists and fringe movements
"(CNN)The mob of Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday included conspiracy theorists linked to QAnon and the Proud Boys -- two right-wing extremist factions that President Donald Trump repeatedly refused to condemn during his election campaign last year.
The insurrection at the heart of America's democracy, egged on by Trump's rhetoric, represented a stunning show of force for the fringe movements and their adherents.
One of the most recognizable figures in the videos and photos of the chaos on Capitol Hill was a man in his 30s with a painted face, fur hat and a helmet with horns. The protester, Jake Angeli -- known by followers as the QAnon Shaman -- quickly became a symbol of the bizarre and frightening spectacle as photos circulated of him roaming the Capitol halls holding an American flag affixed to a spear in one hand and a bullhorn in the other, and even standing shirtless atop the Senate dais."
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Other rioters photographed at the Capitol wore clothing with QAnon icons and held signs with slogans associated with the bizarre movement.
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"The rioters who filled the Capitol also included Nick Ochs, the founder of Proud Boys Hawaii, a chapter of the far-right group. "Hello from the Capital lol," Ochs tweeted Wednesday, with a selfie of himself smoking a cigarette in the building.
"We didn't have to break in, I just walked in and filmed," Ochs told CNN in an interview Wednesday night. "There were thousands of people in there -- they had no control of the situation. I didn't get stopped or questioned."
Ochs ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state legislature last year, winning an endorsement from Trump confidant Roger Stone, who recorded a video with him. He claimed in the interview with CNN that he was working as a professional journalist when he entered the Capitol, and that he didn't go into any congressional offices or the chambers.
A far-right activist who was at the Capitol Wednesday was Tim Gionet, who livestreamed video of himself inside the building for more than 25 minutes, according to multiple screenshots of the recording shared on Twitter.
Gionet, a prominent extremist voice who goes by the pseudonym "Baked Alaska" online, attended the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, said Hannah Gais, a senior researcher with the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center. Gais said she monitored the livestream as it was airing."
