Infiltrator, Cop, Provocateur? A Closer Look At Newly Released FBI Suspect John Sullivan’s Time Before The D.C Capitol Riot
John Sullivan proclaimed he was merely “recording” as a journalist at the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. His own footage however, depicts him cheering and urging the mob further into the building.
Fiorella Isabel January 19, 2021
Nearly two weeks after the memes and now infamous pictures of the horned, furry, shirtless man distracted America, John Earle Sullivan, the man who had the most extensive footage of the take over, subsequent shooting and pandemonium of the U.S Capitol remains an enigma. Sullivan was arrested on January 14th, 2021 and charged by the FBI for civil disorders, violent entry, disorderly conduct and violation of restricted buildings or grounds. A day later Sullivan was released without bail. The affidavit and arrest warrant shown, specifically charges Sullivan with an attempt to knowingly “commit, any act to obstruct, impede, or interfere with any fireman or law enforcement officer lawfully engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties incident to and during the commission of a civil disorder which in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or adversely affects the performance of any federally protected function.”
The report used Sullivan’s own video footage showing him participating in the riot to charge him. You can view the entire video here but click yes to proceed as it is “age restricted”.
The report also notes that Sullivan was born on July 18, 1994 and is a resident of Utah where he’s the leader of an organization called, “"Insurgence USA" known for “organizing protests.” Sullivan was also charged with “Rioting and Criminal Mischief by the local law enforcement authorities in Provo, Utah,” where during a protest he led on June 30, 2020, a female civilian was shot and injured inside an SUV. As of the writing of this article the case is still pending.
According to the Department of Justice Sullivan appeared in a Utah court before a judge on Friday, January 15, 2021. The prosecution demanded he stay in jail until his trial because he “thrives in chaos” and often “incites violent riots” through social media. Ultimately officials released him with no bail but under strict restrictions. Sullivan cannot leave the country, must hand in his passport, must not go outside Utah, must wear a GPS monitor, his internet use will be monitored closely, he’s to undergo mental health evaluation, and must remain home unless working, church, or a “court-approved” activity.
So what was Sullivan, who recently claimed that he was “by no means there on the Trump side or MAGA side” on Anderson Cooper 360, doing at the “Stop the Steal Rally”? Further why did he pressure others to climb up the wall, push their way through doors, even saying, “hey guys I have a knife, let me up I have a knife”? As word of Sullivan’s video got out and due to the lack of Antifa or counter protest presence at the specific D.C Rally, the right-wing media and political contingent already blaming Antifa undercovers for the capitol storm, jumped on to use him as proof that the riot was led not by Trump supporters but leftist anti-fascists. The centrist and liberal mainstream media largely describe Sullivan as a “liberal” or ‘left-wing” activist without doing any further investigation to his past conflicts with Black Lives Matter organizers in several cities, including, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and D.C, or noting that both John and James Sullivan’s adoptive father is a retired Army Lieutenant colonel and the family background is conservative. It’s also worth knowing that John Sullivan was training for the Olympics and was once in an Uber commercial, which the company made private since then.
John’s brother, James Sullivan a self-described Patriot, Father, and Black Conservative, is the founder of "Civilized awakening," a right-wing political organization of “civilians against the current narrative of hysteria and fear”.
On this account, James brazenly admits he alerted the FBI about his brother’s video, making several posts applauding his arrest and even posting a meme with Joe Biden sniffing his brother’s hair saying, “Felt appropriate to post. Have fun in prison John.” Recent screenshots released by Rudy W. Giuliani shows text from James Sullivan admitting to working with the FBI to “expose and place total blame on John and the 226 members of Antifa that instigated the Capitol ‘riot’”. James Sullivan also put out a call for Black or minority republicans going to the D.C Rally on January 6th, specifying for those “who aren’t afraid of Antifa at BLM Plaza”.
In Giuliani’s since deleted tweet, Sullivan also references Kash Patel, described by liberal media as a “Trump loyalist” and acting Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Defense. His resume includes working as a federal prosecutor for national security cases and a legal liaison to the U.S armed forces. Patel recently wrote an Op-Ed for Fox News, proclaiming that the Department of Defense was in full cooperation to transition to the Biden administration. Patel stated, “Though President Trump’s is the first administration in 40 years not to entangle our country in a new war, there is no honeymoon period granted by our enemies for a new administration’s learning curve. That is why, as the department’s chief of staff and head of the transition (as designated by regulation), I ordered the DOD to fully cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden. That process began Nov. 23, the day the General Services Administration announced transition activities could occur”.
The Grayzone journalist, Max Blumenthal, spoke to both James and John Sullivan, as well as members of BLM in D.C, and the L.A based documentary filmmaker Jade Sacker, who was with John when he filmed the chaos. Sacker told Blumenthal that John seemed to have “intelligence” in the days leading to the event, that there would be a “storming of the Capitol‘’. John’s own brother admitted to Blumenthal that John creates hysteria and instigates violence leading to people getting arrested and that’s why “he got kicked out of the movement in Utah,” adding he did this for attention and views on Youtube and Facebook. In even more of a plot twist, a source sent Blumenthal a picture of John Sullivan conversing. with the head of “Utah’s For Trump,” Thad Chief Cisneros, who had requested to speak with him on January 7th at the Hamilton, John’s D.C Hotel, shown below.
The previous deductions seem to carry on in the breakdown of his videos where Sullivan gleefully cheers “we did it,” and “dude that was awesome, let’s burn this shit down.” As the mob proceeds even further inside the building, he goes from telling police, “I’m just recording the situation” to “oh my god we did this shit. We took this shit!” Later as he sees the crowd from above, Sullivan seems to exhale in utter ecstasy, “What is this, what is life?’’
In my experience covering the movement against police brutality, for Black Lives, and the civil unrest that resulted after the killing of George Floyd last year, I’ve traveled to Portland, Seattle, Denver, and all around California. My team and I encountered undercover police, agent provocateurs, and agitators trying to stir chaos with no direction or true ploy other than destructive conflict. We also learned that no group is a monolith. Those who do support BLM the movement may or may not be associated with BLM the organization and conflict over tactical differences is extremely common. In one instance while covering the Seattle/CHAZ/CHOP protest at the Police Station, protestors caught a woman who was a “photographer” taking pictures of protestors for the police. She would point her camera at protestors then go talk to the police constantly and her social media backed up those claims. We also caught people who not all protestors knew or agreed with, come into the fold with umbrellas and spray painted a wall of the department. None of them were Black, watch here at 1:43:00-end. Shortly after that happened the police moved in on the protestors and arrested several, effectively ending a large portion of the protest.
In Portland, Oregon, the Feds opened our media van and pointed guns at us as they smashed every window. With hands up, we yelled “press!” quickly exiting the van. The police tactics we encountered were reminiscent of military warfare, from the type of pepper spray to the toxic tear gas and dangerously close to lethal rubber bullets. It seemed to us as journalists often talking about the threat of U.S imperialism, that the U.S had begun bringing home their “war on terror,” foreshadowing what we are seeing now.
While protests are often a confusing disarray of people some are more organized than others. Generally the protest by BLM always had permits, ended early and ensured little to no arrests. Quite regularly we’d see lead organizers at odds when it came to how to confront the police, as some wanted to yell and occupy police stations in a take over, while BLM organizers were mostly against those actions and because of tactical differences were often looked on as being political and not radical enough. This is vital to understand as we see the MSM frame John Sullivan as a “BLM” activist and the right-wing media use that to mean some kind of Antifa radical, while evidence seems to support he was neither.
According to a warning from November put out by account RebellionBaby on Twitter, several activists believe that John Sullivan, who also goes by “Activist X,” “Activist John,” & “Jaden X,” is suspected of being an infiltrator or agent provocateur. The post warned that he was trying to insert himself in Seattle protests, asserting he was kicked out from Portland and Salt Lake City circles for grifting, profiteering, sabotage of community actions, threats of violence and ties to the far-right, among other issues. Shortly after the incident in Provo, John Sullivan organized a rally in that same city under the banner of his Insurgence USA, where they were met with counter protestors, armed militia and even some proud Boys. Sullilvan then actually gave the megaphone to several of them. This backs up the claim that he seemed friendly with the other side. Several protestors claim that though he’s been arrested he’s usually one of the first to be released.
On another anonymous tip from PDX, protestors audited his social media post and discovered a “weird web of accounts” tagging and exchanging information but never actually acknowledging each other. The protestor noted a high follower count to low interaction, an indicator of purchased followers. Sullivan reportedly began bringing in his own “documentary crews” and took to organizing his own events and flyers. Multiple protestors asserted the flyers often fell right into right-wing propaganda and extremist talking points. His flyer for the D.C counter protest to “Stop the Steal” was eerily similar.
At one point as he was “exposed,” Sullivan rebranded multiple social media accounts. One example is the changing of his twitter account, @/anarchybloc to @/watchriotporn, where the motive changed from social justice for Black Lives to referencing “Antifa terrorists,” gloating about informants providing information on the “radical” group’s upcoming events.
During the summer and well into the fall, Los Angeles BLM groups and other groups began forming and joining in on the movement to “defund the police”. Los Angeles has a dark history involving police gangs and most recently one called “the Executioners,” described as a “violent, deputy gang,” came into focus again. Groups gathered almost daily to protest in various locations across Los Angeles County but especially Downtown, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. This more than other cities had various groups and organizations, as well as solo individuals rather than one universal group, including BLM, Party for Socialism & Liberation, RevCom, Black Future Project, among others.
At one protest in Beverly Hills on September 19, 2020, livestreamer Corinne Forever interviewed John Sullivan, a seemingly innocent yet intriguing man, paranoid of the police and heavily promoting his website. She told us that John was “wonderful and a nice person,” who she “learned a lot from about the racial justice movement”. Corinne is a livestreamer from Beverly Hills who has covered both the right and left and according to her, “listens to both sides” and was “intrigued” that he was in a Militia.
Sullivan identified himself to Corinne as the leader of Insurgence USA and was dressed in a militant way. He immediately told Corinne he was used to being “armed” and facing Proud Boys. He confirmed his social media handles as “Activist John”. He recounted he had just been in Portland and was there to “make connections and unite the region on more of a national front.” He also showed his Discord organizing under Insurgence USA, where they were “organizing” by state. Sullivan went on to claim that his “Facebook was shut down by the FBI” and that he had been arrested in his hometown. In the video, Sullivan admits he worked in cyber security and explains that it had to do with big corporations needing to protect their data.
It’s an interesting admission that neither he nor the media have mentioned and one he contradicts later when he says it’s hard for him to find a job. When Corinne asks him to spell his handle “ActivistJohn” he is unable to spell his handle saying he’s “bad” at spelling. Corinne makes the joke of suggesting he’s “CIA” and says “I’m not trying to expose you.” Sullivan rolls his eyes and looks visibly uncomfortable, shifting his gaze away. She once again asks why he decided to come to L.A and he responds again with, “I want to unite people.” Later on in the conversation, Sullivan clarifies he’s NOT a member of Black Lives Matter organization and that he just wants “equality” but it’s not about BLM emphatically saying “The Black Lives Matter as far as the organization, I’m not with that. I believe that Black lives matter but I’m with my own organization. I believe in racial equality and to eliminate the injustice we see due to police brutality”.
Also on that day, engineer and journalist for The Convo Couch and True Rebel Network, Jonathan Mayorca, interviewed Sullivan for a few minutes, and you can watch his and a condensed version of both Corinne’s livestreams below.
The event was actually called, “Dance for Black Lives,” and it was an event in defiance of the tense relationship between the Sheriffs and the protestors, as many felt the L.A Sheriff’s department was one of the worst, especially when it came to arresting and physically reprimanding them seemingly for no reason with batons, tear gas, pepper spray and even rubber bullets. Sullivan actually went up to Jonathan and asked him what he was streaming on. Jonathan invited him to talk on camera but Sullivan said he was “chilling” and did not want to really be on camera. He then introduced himself as John Sullivan, as Jonathan asked him why he was here. Once again, Sullivan said he came out here for Insurgence USA and wanted to unite people. When Sullivan said that the goal of his organization was to “create a rainbow coalition of people,” Jonathan asked if he knew Fred Hampton, to which Sullivan answered, “yes.” But when Jonathan asked him if he was taking any “cues” from Hampton, Sullivan said, “I do like to shape and form my own way about going about things. As an example, he hinted that if he was going to mimic people he would just join Black Lives Matter the org, but that he did not agree with everything so that is why he started his own organization. Jonathan then asked, “What does victory look like to you sir?” Sullivan answered the question with victory being when they “abolish the police.” Interestingly when Jonthan aptly pressed, “what about like abolishing the private prison system?” Sullivan hesitated then answered, “I think there’s a way to go about it.” Sullivan foreshadowed his own fate when he later spoke about the high cost of bail charges and how people often sit in prison because they can’t afford it. Jonathan instinctively asks Sullivan if he had heard about Attorney General William Barr's attempt to charge protestors with sedition, to which he replied he had not. Jonathan and Sullivan go on a discussion on what defines a riot and how often the media portrays protestors as violent without being convicted, a creepy reminder that whatever happened at the Capitol is set to have even more dire consequences for dissidents on the right, left, and every paradigm in between.
A few days ago, the Guardian, revealed that the Army is investigating a “psyop” or psychological operations officer for her role in D.C on January 6, 2021. Captain Emily Rainey led a group of people from North Carolina to Washington and then to the rally turned riot at the Capitol. According to Rainey she led a group of o 100 plus conservative, non-partisan members of, “Moore County Citizens For Freedom,” in their attempt to, “stand against election fraud” and support President Trump. The group left before the curfew took place and Rainey claims she was within her bounds as she was a civilian and not on duty. But Rainey’s job in hindsight appears suspect, especially since her job description includes “using information and misinformation to shape view and emotions,” as well as to influence decisions and change ideas.
As the inauguration nears tomorrow, thousands of troops including National Guard surround the White House. John Sullivan is clearly not '“Antifa” nor is he exactly a “right-wing Nazi”. What he appears to be is a disrupter who’s simply mimicking what our government is doing.
It takes so much work and nuance to find the truth in the pandemonium that is the lame duck Trump to Biden after Covid, transition. The truth is almost unrecognizable to many who’ve been endlessly bombarded by public relations statements for the deep state aristocracy. It is rather lazy to let liberal or right-wing media manipulate us into focusing on each other as they undermine solving any economic and health concerns amid a pandemic. It’s time for Americans to wake up and not just question what happened but how the country got there.