OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
John Earle Sullivan sold footage of the Capitol Hill riot to CNN has been arrested and $90,000 has been seized after finding footage of Sullivan encouraging and leading protesters, according to The Western Journal.
“The United States obtained a video of Sullivan, posted on YouTube, in which, while attending a protest in Washington, D.C., Sullivan can be seen telling a crowd, over a microphone, ‘we about to burn this s**t down,’ ‘we got to rip Trump out of office … f***ing pull him out of that s**t … we ain’t waiting until the next election … we about to go get that motherf***er.’”
“Sullivan then can be seen leading the crowd in a chant of, ‘it’s time for a revolution.’”
One of the men who was part of the siege of the Capitol building is John Earle Sullivan, an extreme BLM activist from Utah. He was arrested & charged in July 2020 over a BLM-antifa riot where drivers in Provo were threatened & one was shot. https://t.co/C0WQsEfcIG pic.twitter.com/Kxm5du2Ozs
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 7, 2021
U.S. seizes funds of Capitol riot suspect who sold Jan. 6 footage to media outlets https://t.co/njqQjJnwWq #JohnEarleSullivan #January6th
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) May 22, 2021
NEW: John Sullivan, charged for his participation in the Jan. 6 riots, was paid $35,000 apiece from CNN and NBC for his footage inside the Capitol. More on his detention hearing from @joshgerstein https://t.co/m46NgKVzKA
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) February 17, 2021
“It is Mr. Sullivan’s reason for being there and for his criminal participation in the riot,” U.S. Attorney Candice Wong stated.
“Under the guise of journalism … he is engaged in and incited violent activity, including the kind of destructive society we saw on Jan. 6,” Wong stated.
From The Western Journal:
John Earle Sullivan claimed to have entered the Capitol with the intention of recording the rioters, yet quickly gained notoriety in the days that followed for his history of far-left, anti-police activism that included charges of rioting, threats of violence, and criminal mischief in his home state of Utah.
According to the original criminal affidavit when he was first arrested in January on charges of unlawful entry, disorderly conduct, and attempted obstruction of law enforcement, Sullivan began the day on Jan. 6 with the apparent intention of burning down the Capitol Building and ripping then-President Donald Trump out of office (or something to that effect).
He was also sporting a ballistics vest and a gas mask when he entered the Capitol.
