Gov. Hutchinson on State Police Troopers who attended last week’s Trump rally in DC:
“Col. Bill Bryant conducted an internal review and based upon the review findings, the two troopers in question took personal time off and only attended the Trump rally.” 1/2
— Chris May (@KATVChrisMay) January 15, 2021
“They did not go to the Capitol or see any illegal behavior. If any state employee participated in the riot at the nation’s Capitol then that would be considered a criminal act and dealt with accordingly.” 2/2
— Chris May (@KATVChrisMay) January 15, 2021
Chris May of KATV gets a comment from Governor Hutchinson, which he has refused to give me, on the two state troopers who went to Washington for the pro-Trump rally that turned into an invasion of the Capitol last week and posted Facebook and Twitter comments about being there.
The State Police also have refused to talk to me about the troopers, saying initially that they would NOT investigate actions by tropers on their personal leave time since no one had alleged they’d done anything wrong.
The account given Hutchinson by Bryant is at direct variance with both written and video Facebook posts by Corporal Karen Clark, who is stationed in Little Rock. She says she marched from the rally to the Capitol; was in a restricted area, and saw a group of armed paramilitary types walking through the crowd. Investigators are trying to find those people.
Example from Clark’s written account:
After the speech ended, we walked with a large crowd to the capitol. There at the capitol, we saw some Trump supporters breach the capitol area up the stairs to the balcony areas waving flags etc. We heard loud booms. We saw a couple of police officers run away and off the balconies. We saw a group of police officers march in bright green safety uniforms from the left sidewalk and into the front of the capitol. My cell phone battery went from 27 percent to zero immediately. Others around us commented that thier cell batteries had died very quickly as well. Very strange. Then a group of Trump supporting ‘ posers’ approached us from the rear as they pushed and shoved in formation past us in a line of 20 plus young, clean cut guys and gals, dressed in mostly black, wearing black and dark colored backpacks, ear buds in thier left ears, mics under thier throat area and walking with thier left hands on the left shoulder of the person ahead of them. They were very quietly chanting or talking but we could not understand what they were saying. I told my sister, Felecia, ” this ain’t right. Those folks ain’t with us. Shit about to get real.”
Troper Alan Aiken, who is stationed in Lowell, has said on Twitter he “was there” and is certain Antifa was there “wearing Trump attire.” He also commented on camera placement in the Senate. All these could be ambiguous and drawn from media observations, unlike Clark’s comments.
One sample:
I have again asked the State Police and the governor’s office for comment. I have also asked them to square Bryant’s account with the social media remarks.
Links to the video, Clark’s written text and Aiken’s posts all can be found in my item about this earlier today.
UPDATE: the governor’s spokesperson sent me the same statement given KATV. She did not respond to my question about evidence that what he and colonel said is correct since it is contradicted by statements from the troopers
As for the troopers’ notion that the Trump supporters were peaceful, I invite you to peruse this Sedition Tracker website and tell me if those charged look like Antifa to you.