We begin with a look into the role of key instigators and police in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol protests. Authorities haven’t provided answers about the role of undercover agents and informants in the crowd that day. A Rasmussen Reports survey found 65% of likely voters say they think undercover government agents likely helped provoke the riots. We review keys moments on video with law enforcement experts who ask, why did police inexplicably stand by and allow some demonstrators to drive the crowd to violence? Today, the results of our yearlong investigation.

The following is a transcript of a report from “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.

Untold thousands attended the massive pro-Trump rally on January 6, 2021, questioning the overnight, come-from-behind victory for Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump (January 6, 2021): I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.

The vast majority were peaceful. But some became violent. More than 1,000 have been arrested in the largest mass prosecution of our time. A persistent unanswered question: did the same government agencies whose officials conspired against Trump, including an FBI attorney convicted after falsifying evidence, use January 6th to try to do more political damage?

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) (July 12 Congressional hearing): How many individuals were either FBI employees or people that the FBI had made contact with were in the January 6th entry of the Capitol and surrounding area?

Christoper Wray/ FBI Director: So I really need to be careful here, talking about where we have or have not used confidential human sources.

Our Full Measure investigation examined video taken inside the U.S. Capitol by Black Lives Matter supporter and activist John Sullivan, who admits he was there impersonating a Trump supporter. In an earlier video — now removed from the Internet — Sullivan urges a crowd of supporters to attempt a violent coup against then-President Trump.

John Sullivan (August 2020/Washington DC) : We gotta f—in’ rip Trump outta that office right over there, f—in’ pull him out that s—. Naw naw we ain’t about f—in’ waitin’ ’til that next election, we ’bout to go get that mother f—er. I ain’t about that s—.

Five months later, on January 6, 2021, Sullivan recording this video at the Capitol pretending to be a Trump supporter…

Sullivan: We took this s—.

…heard from behind the camera instigating others.

Sullivan: Let me through, I got a knife. I got a knife.

Sullivan’s video inadvertently shed light on key moments and key players in action. More than a dozen FBI agents and other authorities analyzed the video for our investigation. Two agreed to appear on camera.

John Dodson, the federal agent who blew the whistle on the government’s Fast and Furious scandal in 2011, a secret operation under the Justice Department that put thousands of weapons into the hands of Mexico’s drug cartels.

Stephen Friend made news last year as an FBI Special Agent who refused to take part in SWAT raids of non-violent January 6 suspects and blew the whistle on what he sees as the FBI’s political slant.

Both have extensive experience working undercover with informants.

Sharyl: We would expect there to be federal law enforcement and maybe local law enforcement undercover in this crowd. What would cross a line? What are you not supposed to do?

Dodson: Well, you can’t incite violence or incite a riot. You can’t smash a door down and then have everyone come in and then charge everyone with trespassing. You’re not supposed to, you know, hype people up to a frenzy, to the point where they’re — where otherwise law-abiding citizen is going to violate the law. And, so there are rules on all these things. But primarily your job there, whether you’re an undercover law enforcement officer or you’re an informant or confidential human source, you’re supposed to observe and report real-time intelligence back to your handler so that they can make the decisions and get the assets in place that are needed to control the situation, not to incite it and let it go out of control.

On the video, authorities didn’t follow routine procedures to defuse the situation by quickly separating leaders and instigators from the crowd. That was a pattern identified by our analysts.

Two instigators surprisingly appear from behind police lines. Other demonstrators are seen briefly joining police on or behind the line, conferring in a familiar way, before leading the crowd in pushing past police. We’ll review three pivotal moments.

In the first scenario the man in a knit cap and blue jacket with his back to us appears and engages an officer.

Dodson: I think it’s odd the way that either he feels comfortable enough or the officer feels comfortable enough to allow him to come in so close and almost whisper to him or talk quietly. You’re holding a line. Like, that’s your job while you’re there. So you maintain a distance of safety and a reactionary distance where, in case things get bad instantly, you can do that. But it looks like that’s vacated here.

A supervisor tells police and the knit-cap man to “hold.”

Police supervisor: Just hold everybody. Hold. Hold.

Seconds later, a man dressed as a Trump supporter with a beard and flag — we’ll call him “Santa Claus” — appears from behind the police line with an apparent escort. The escort goes on to join the police line.

Dodson: Wondering where the individual came from that came from behind their line, and to just, for him to have free rein standing along behind them? And the other individual that escorted him there just kind of disappeared forward of the line. So, it’s strange why, if you’re holding off a section of a building or any area for a protest or anything like that, that you allow people to mingle around behind you. Even if they somehow manage to get there, once you notice that they’re there, you should immediately place them on the other side of the line.

“Santa Claus” blends into the scene by joining “knit-cap man” engaging the officer. Within seconds, the two men push past police and lead the crowd through.

Friend: The “knit-cap man” is still very angry and very determined. He’s very resolute in the way that he walks down this hallway. When he comes to this juncture here, there’s no looking either way, left or right, trying to figure out where you’re gonna go. He is beeline straight for his destination, which to me seems like he knows where he’s going, which is very unusual for a regular person.

The second scene we focus on happens a few minutes later. This man with thinning hair works his way to the front of the crowd and, along with the man in the red cap, they aggressively beckon authorities and confer with them.

“Thin-hair man” is allowed behind the police line where he has extensive discussions with the Capitol sergeant at arms law enforcement official in the dark suit. That official leaves the conversation and appears to give instructions to two people who scurry down the hall.

Two minutes later, another instigator is about to appear — again from behind police lines. You can’t see him yet, but you’ll see him in a moment. He appears to be escorted by that sergeant at arms official here, and also by police who — instead of arresting him — guide him toward the crowd. He’s wearing an earmuff hat.

Dodson: Let’s see, he’s almost like, overacting. It’s embarrassing. Yeah, where does he come from? And why does he walk through? And if he’s already, you know, breached one significant area or a control area that you have control over, why isn’t he arrested and immediately removed from the scene then?

“Earmuff man” — you’re seeing the back of his head here — calmly confers multiple times with an officer who points directionally. There’s more chatting with the officer. And then, “Earmuff Man” suddenly changes demeanor, starts acting out again, and is allowed to join the protesters in a lead position.

Friend: There just was some basic safety protocols that were not being followed. And that is escorting individuals who you perceive to be potentially violent agitators and allowing them to go through your ranks and stand behind you when you’re not able to keep eyes on them, unsecured. It’s allowing those individuals to, those agitators to lead the group, almost like a Pied Piper style, through the Capitol. Those are all problems that could be easily rectified by taking that person out of the equation, removing them, arresting them. It’s just very unusual that he’s sort of allowed back from behind the lines. And then, when he is pushed to the group, and they’ve sort of put him in the lead position, which is unusual.

A man with gray hair, dressed as a Trump supporter, is allowed behind the police line, where he talks to police and even joins them facing protesters. In a matter of just a couple of minutes, these key figures, who’d all once been allowed on the police side of the line are about to break through the police line together and lead the crowd further toward the Speaker’s Lobby where Congress is meeting to certify the 2020 election results. There’s the gray-haired man, he’s first. That’s “thin-hair man” and “earmuff man”.

Dodson: The first thing you gotta do is you gotta get rid of the troublemakers.

Sharyl: I didn’t see key provocateurs removed from the crowd. In fact, the key provocateurs in this case seem to be sort of tolerated, if not encouraged, by some of the police officers on the front line.

Dodson: They were definitely tolerated.

Sharyl (on-camera): In a moment, our exclusive investigation continues as we track the behavior of key instigators and police at the scene where an unarmed protestor was shot and killed.

Watch story here.

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