WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.919 What happened is not okay, and it can't happen 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:05.780 again. It shouldn't happen again. It doesn't 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:08.000 need to happen again. I don't need his pardon. 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:10.599 I don't need his approval, nor do I want it. 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:13.320 Hey, everybody. Rich Comadie here at LeavingMAGA 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:16.039 .org for the Midas Touch Network. We got a brand 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:19.820 new testimonial for you today of someone who 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:23.719 left MAGA. Now, this is someone you may have 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:26.000 already seen, actually, in the news. His name 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.739 is Jason Riddle. from the great state of New 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:30.780 Hampshire. For those of you who might be recognizing 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:36.299 him, Jason is someone who rejected a January 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:40.840 6th pardon. Jason, I want to thank you for being 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:44.240 here. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.079 it. I know that there are many out there in the 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.039 Midas Mighty community who have read a little 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:51.899 bit about your story. So we're going to get into 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:54.479 why you rejected the pardon, but I want to start 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.630 with something that's not been reported. in the 00:00:57.630 --> 00:01:01.789 press coverage, which is talk a little bit about 00:01:01.789 --> 00:01:07.489 your upbringing and how you feel like how you 00:01:07.489 --> 00:01:09.870 were raised and some of your experiences and 00:01:09.870 --> 00:01:13.469 influences, how it led you to join the MAGA community. 00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:18.049 Well, my parents got divorced when I was pretty 00:01:18.049 --> 00:01:25.209 young. And I think maybe that along with my father's 00:01:25.469 --> 00:01:29.010 parenting techniques which some he had two forms 00:01:29.010 --> 00:01:32.510 of parenting is either he was mad or he was absent 00:01:32.510 --> 00:01:36.670 and um everyone on his side of the family that 00:01:36.670 --> 00:01:39.969 side of the family um not everyone's an alcoholic 00:01:39.969 --> 00:01:41.969 on that side of family but um there was a lot 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:45.390 of heavy drinking and there still is and um by 00:01:45.390 --> 00:01:48.030 the time i left high school i was a pretty heavy 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:57.180 drinker um and It only got worse as time went 00:01:57.180 --> 00:02:02.840 on and I definitely involved politics with it 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:06.019 too. I was very prone to just going on binges 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:13.039 and going on social media and kind of procrastinating, 00:02:13.180 --> 00:02:17.460 not procrastinating, instigating people and was 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:29.819 very, what's the word? Sorry, I'm having a hard 00:02:29.819 --> 00:02:39.120 time with this. Controversial, so to speak. Thank 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.840 you for sharing that. So what kind of media did 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:48.000 you consume? What were some of the figures or 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:55.020 media that you felt like maybe brought you to? 00:02:56.329 --> 00:02:59.189 gravitate to the MAGA community? Because I feel 00:02:59.189 --> 00:03:01.430 like a lot of those influences, it definitely 00:03:01.430 --> 00:03:05.669 leads people. It can help steer them toward MAGA. 00:03:06.430 --> 00:03:12.129 I was mostly on Facebook. After getting out of 00:03:12.129 --> 00:03:16.129 the military, I was going, I was in college, 00:03:16.210 --> 00:03:20.949 majoring in political science. And while in class, 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:25.370 it was me and another veteran, this veteran I'd 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:28.159 end up. heading down to the Capitol for January 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:32.139 6th with four years later. But I met him in college 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:37.400 and we would, most people in the classrooms were 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:39.699 Bernie Sanders supporter and this one veteran 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:41.780 and I, we were Trump supporters and we would 00:03:41.780 --> 00:03:47.400 argue with everyone in class. 28 people in the 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:49.919 class would all say one thing and then Paul and 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:51.699 I would say the other and we'd be the only two 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:56.289 holdouts. I took those politics and this debate 00:03:56.289 --> 00:04:00.689 style to social media, and I didn't go on social 00:04:00.689 --> 00:04:04.530 media. I thought I was being politically active, 00:04:04.770 --> 00:04:08.150 majoring in political science, being in school 00:04:08.150 --> 00:04:11.250 for it gave an air of authenticity to what I 00:04:11.250 --> 00:04:14.330 was doing, but I never learned anything. I only 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:16.129 went there to argue. I didn't go there to... 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:20.209 find out what is right, but I like to prove people 00:04:20.209 --> 00:04:22.189 wrong. And that's all I seem to care about. And 00:04:22.189 --> 00:04:27.689 I had 10 years on most of the students that were 00:04:27.689 --> 00:04:30.910 in my classes. So it was sometimes easy to pick 00:04:30.910 --> 00:04:33.529 apart the arguments that these students would 00:04:33.529 --> 00:04:38.089 bring up in support of Bernie Sanders and in 00:04:38.089 --> 00:04:40.730 comparative actually just coming up with why 00:04:40.730 --> 00:04:42.709 it would be right to support Trump. I never did 00:04:42.709 --> 00:04:46.889 that. It was proving you wrong. And somehow that 00:04:46.889 --> 00:04:53.149 gave me the feeling that I was right. I think 00:04:53.149 --> 00:04:56.730 that I can relate to what you're saying because 00:04:56.730 --> 00:05:01.129 the feelings of wanting to be proven that we're 00:05:01.129 --> 00:05:06.509 on the right side, it definitely informed my 00:05:06.509 --> 00:05:09.810 thinking before I decided to become a MAGA community 00:05:09.810 --> 00:05:13.209 member and become a volunteer. What was it, though, 00:05:13.209 --> 00:05:19.329 about... the community itself that really appealed 00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:23.930 to you. Now, you're a veteran. Yes, I was in 00:05:23.930 --> 00:05:26.689 the Navy, and I joined the Army Reserves after. 00:05:27.290 --> 00:05:33.870 And I spent a lot of time after college. I worked 00:05:33.870 --> 00:05:36.889 as a correctional officer, and then I worked 00:05:36.889 --> 00:05:39.189 at the post office, and I kept trying to make 00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:43.660 government work. and it but it wasn't working 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:47.019 um because of all these problems i was because 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:50.040 of my drinking um and i didn't want to admit 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:53.899 that though and the more useless i became as 00:05:53.899 --> 00:05:55.980 a person you know i got fired from corrections 00:05:55.980 --> 00:05:58.319 i i if i didn't get fired from the post office 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:01.639 i would have been i quit um the more useless 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:06.040 i became the more louder i became of a maga supporter 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:10.980 it filled my time with with just noise instead 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:14.980 of action and then going to these rallies in 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:19.959 my mind was action it was um it was patriotism 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:24.259 it was um love of one's country and um you know 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:26.300 it didn't really phase me that i'm driving around 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:30.019 going to right -wing nationalist rallies to me 00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:33.759 it was i was going around and spreading the word 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.240 and you know it turned turned into more or less 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:41.279 of a routine And by the time January 6th, it 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:48.220 was a routine I was very used to. What I hear 00:06:48.220 --> 00:06:52.199 and what you're saying is what I call MAGA to 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:56.540 everyone, which is a community. You found a like 00:06:56.540 --> 00:07:00.180 -minded group. You were going to rallies. You 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:05.759 had a shared enemy. And there's something that 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:09.079 I think the public. we'll want to hear from you 00:07:09.079 --> 00:07:10.860 because there's this question that comes up a 00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:14.639 lot in the public discourse about January 6th, 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:16.980 and we'll get to that in a moment, that part 00:07:16.980 --> 00:07:21.379 of your story. But what is it about some of the 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:27.379 veterans who appeared and rioted at January 6th? 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:31.519 Do you think that there is something in the training 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.920 or upbringing of a veteran that makes them... 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:40.040 more susceptible to some of the MAGA -wise. I'm 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:43.639 curious about your take as a vet and how that 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:47.060 applies as you see it to other veterans. Well, 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:50.720 at the Trump rallies and on January 6th, there 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:53.639 was this, even before January 6th, just at the 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:56.220 rallies themselves, there was this mob mentality, 00:07:56.519 --> 00:08:00.000 especially if, like, say, someone's getting kicked 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.149 out of the rally. You know, a protester gets 00:08:02.149 --> 00:08:04.649 kicked out of the rally. In unison, everyone 00:08:04.649 --> 00:08:07.110 will look together and will band together and 00:08:07.110 --> 00:08:09.790 look at this person and embarrass that person 00:08:09.790 --> 00:08:13.069 or maybe even physically remove that person without 00:08:13.069 --> 00:08:16.509 even questioning the authority. And that's something 00:08:16.509 --> 00:08:19.069 a lot of us were trained when we're, you know, 00:08:19.069 --> 00:08:23.889 whether former policemen or veterans. There was 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:27.389 just like this instant bond you felt. I distinctly 00:08:27.389 --> 00:08:29.689 remember on January 6th with complete strangers. 00:08:30.750 --> 00:08:35.350 and that something that is clearly being taken 00:08:35.350 --> 00:08:38.730 advantage of by the you know starter of this 00:08:38.730 --> 00:08:45.409 movement so let's talk about january 6 because 00:08:45.409 --> 00:08:49.950 i want to spend some time on this okay take us 00:08:49.950 --> 00:08:55.289 through your thought process after the election 00:08:55.289 --> 00:09:01.840 between november and January 6th. Take us into, 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:06.779 in as real time as you can, your world and what 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:08.860 it was like for you in those two months in between. 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:14.399 After Trump lost the election, I was working, 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.000 before and after I was working at the post office, 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:22.250 and my friend Paul, who I had... been have gone 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:24.470 to all these rallies with and had all those classes 00:09:24.470 --> 00:09:27.049 with back in college would uh talk while i was 00:09:27.049 --> 00:09:29.750 delivering mail i had a bluetooth in my my ear 00:09:29.750 --> 00:09:32.450 and and uh he would be on the he was unemployed 00:09:32.450 --> 00:09:35.330 because he too was having problems after he graduated 00:09:35.330 --> 00:09:40.169 he'd gotten fired at least twice and um we we 00:09:40.169 --> 00:09:43.029 were enablers we would just um we would complain 00:09:43.029 --> 00:09:45.210 to each other after we got fired and blame the 00:09:45.210 --> 00:09:48.929 liberals for our getting fired and um one of 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:51.379 the one of the people trump pointed the finger 00:09:51.379 --> 00:09:53.720 at after losing the election was the post office 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:56.179 so i'm working at the post office and i have 00:09:56.179 --> 00:09:58.179 a bluetooth in my ear and i'm talking to another 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:00.919 lunatic who thinks just as crazy thoughts as 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:03.139 i am and i spent my entire day complaining about 00:10:03.139 --> 00:10:05.620 the election complaining about the liberals going 00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:08.360 through the mail and if i'd be at someone's house 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:10.419 who had a biden sign in their lawn i'd be like 00:10:10.419 --> 00:10:12.759 oh this freaking liberal that and this and that 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:15.139 and he'd be in the bluetooth and we were just 00:10:15.139 --> 00:10:20.179 riling each other up and um By the time I quit 00:10:20.179 --> 00:10:22.940 the post office, I think it was December 31st. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:24.860 I don't know. I think I left before that. But 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:27.759 when I go back and look up the exact date, according 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:29.379 to the post office, I left on New Year's Eve. 00:10:29.899 --> 00:10:33.600 But by the time Trump had asked people to come 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.480 down to protest, between Paul and I, it wasn't 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.320 even a question. We knew we were going down. 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:45.919 Now, you say, Jason, about you had these crazy 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:50.929 thoughts. But at the time, it's what you believed, 00:10:51.090 --> 00:10:57.129 right? I knew he lost the election. I honestly 00:10:57.129 --> 00:11:03.129 didn't care. By the time of the post office, 00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:05.690 I was drinking every single day. I was drinking 00:11:05.690 --> 00:11:07.529 while working. I was drinking when I woke up 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:11.250 in the morning. I was just kind of surviving 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:17.279 from day to day. at this point i knew i had a 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.399 problem and i didn't know i was going to get 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:21.879 past it just like i didn't know how we're going 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:25.259 to get past trump losing the election and i some 00:11:25.259 --> 00:11:28.100 you know one one thing about maga is associating 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:30.539 politics and parts of your life where it shouldn't 00:11:30.539 --> 00:11:34.759 be associating and my my drinking problem my 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:37.379 problem with work politics shouldn't have been 00:11:37.379 --> 00:11:39.519 a factor that i shouldn't be worrying i shouldn't 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:41.120 have been worrying about who's the next president 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.220 i shouldn't worry about getting myself sober 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:46.669 and getting a job and But because Trump lost 00:11:46.669 --> 00:11:48.950 the election and needed his supporters to come 00:11:48.950 --> 00:11:51.129 down to DC, that was something I had to do in 00:11:51.129 --> 00:11:54.909 my mind. And I somehow associated that with getting 00:11:54.909 --> 00:11:57.450 through to the next step of whether it's getting 00:11:57.450 --> 00:11:59.250 sober or getting another job. I'm like, oh, first 00:11:59.250 --> 00:12:01.389 I got to go down to this rally and see how that 00:12:01.389 --> 00:12:06.350 goes. It gives you a, you know, I was a non -functioning 00:12:06.350 --> 00:12:08.570 alcoholic at this point now where I can't even 00:12:08.570 --> 00:12:10.750 hold a job. So, you know, social events weren't 00:12:10.750 --> 00:12:21.129 normal anymore. So, you know. I'm losing the 00:12:21.129 --> 00:12:24.350 words to describe it. The feelings I had at the 00:12:24.350 --> 00:12:27.450 time, they were just so empty and despairing 00:12:27.450 --> 00:12:32.429 that I guess just showing up was a sense of duty 00:12:32.429 --> 00:12:37.110 at that point. I think you're really highlighting 00:12:37.110 --> 00:12:43.490 just the pressures to conform and the peer pressures 00:12:43.490 --> 00:12:47.509 are real. And I think that for a lot in the public, 00:12:47.549 --> 00:12:51.929 I don't ask them to defend your actions or my 00:12:51.929 --> 00:12:55.490 actions or rhetoric in the past, but some of 00:12:55.490 --> 00:12:59.370 the challenges faced when someone is very deep 00:12:59.370 --> 00:13:02.769 in a community is that it is really difficult 00:13:02.769 --> 00:13:05.210 to walk away in part because of the community 00:13:05.210 --> 00:13:07.529 of it. And that's a very candid admission you're 00:13:07.529 --> 00:13:10.429 making, which was, you just said, yeah, I didn't, 00:13:10.429 --> 00:13:14.450 I knew that he lost. i knew that he lost also 00:13:14.450 --> 00:13:18.789 i didn't go to the ellipse i knew people who 00:13:18.789 --> 00:13:22.669 went i would not have gone even if invited what 00:13:22.669 --> 00:13:27.149 upset me about january 6 was not that law enforcement 00:13:27.149 --> 00:13:29.549 was attacked and there was a there was a riot 00:13:29.549 --> 00:13:32.830 at the capitol what upset me about january 6 00:13:32.830 --> 00:13:36.750 at the time was i was looking at everyone who 00:13:36.750 --> 00:13:41.149 insurrected and i thought They're ruining our 00:13:41.149 --> 00:13:44.809 chances of a 2024 comeback. So my concern was 00:13:44.809 --> 00:13:47.409 damage control. My concern was political future. 00:13:47.570 --> 00:13:51.110 It wasn't, wow, people are getting hurt and possibly 00:13:51.110 --> 00:13:54.929 might die today. So that's an admission that 00:13:54.929 --> 00:13:57.289 you're making. I appreciate you being honest 00:13:57.289 --> 00:14:02.049 about that, that it was that you felt a sense 00:14:02.049 --> 00:14:04.269 of duty to the leader and the community to go. 00:14:04.470 --> 00:14:09.559 So after, now take us through. after the ellipse 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:13.860 you're there for the speech you hear the president 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:21.139 then what well um we well at first we had confused 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:24.519 where the uh speech was gonna be um and i had 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:28.059 ubered to the white house uh i paid for the uber 00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:30.320 my friend paul was with me we'd invited another 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.919 friend along his name is matt and he was also 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:36.330 a fired firefighter with a drinking problem so 00:14:36.330 --> 00:14:38.529 he had three veterans with drinking problems 00:14:38.529 --> 00:14:40.570 who've all been fired within the past few years 00:14:40.570 --> 00:14:43.370 heading down to dc wouldn't go wrong but we stayed 00:14:43.370 --> 00:14:47.309 at a hotel outside of dc and ubered to the white 00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:51.669 house and um there is a apartment complex in 00:14:51.669 --> 00:14:54.210 washington dc called the white house and that's 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:56.250 where the uber had brought us and we discovered 00:14:56.250 --> 00:14:57.929 this obviously wasn't where we wanted to go so 00:14:57.929 --> 00:15:00.509 i changed the uber to 1600 pennsylvania avenue 00:15:01.500 --> 00:15:03.759 And then we're heading towards the right White 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.559 House when the Uber driver pointed out as we're 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:08.519 passing the Washington Monument, I think you 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:11.500 guys want to go here. And so he pulled over and 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:14.320 let us out. So thanks to the Uber driver, we 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.740 even got to the right spot. And we heard Trump 00:15:17.740 --> 00:15:19.440 speaking on the other side of the hill of the 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:22.639 Washington Monument. We didn't actually see him 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:26.299 there. We saw the crowds of people walking towards. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.320 the capitol building and we came to the conclusion 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:32.519 that trump is probably over at the capitol building 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:35.960 speaking there so we walked over to the capitol 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.059 building and uh my friends had stopped following 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:43.039 following me excuse me um when we had to step 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:45.500 over a barrier um they were smart enough to know 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:47.500 that's probably not a good idea to keep following 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:53.460 the crowd i i kept going um and uh when violence 00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:55.399 started erupting and when people started storming 00:15:55.399 --> 00:15:58.500 you know into the building my initial reaction 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:01.299 was confusion because you know i'm thinking i'm 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:04.700 going to watch trump speak instead now i'm with 00:16:04.700 --> 00:16:06.639 a group of people storming into the capitol building 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:09.799 is it because trump's in there and they're holding 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:11.480 hostage what's happening that was my initial 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:13.980 um thought and i was also confused by the chance 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:18.419 to hang mike pence um i don't have strong feelings 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:21.100 for or against mike pence so when people were 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:23.919 doing that i was a little confused and uh but 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.769 then when the capitol building started getting 00:16:26.769 --> 00:16:32.090 broken into. It was just basically a mass immaturity 00:16:32.090 --> 00:16:35.409 movement on the part of the riot where I was 00:16:35.409 --> 00:16:37.669 at. I was not down, like, you know, I see the 00:16:37.669 --> 00:16:39.870 videos of what was happening down in the tunnels 00:16:39.870 --> 00:16:44.090 with the extreme, you know, violence and cops, 00:16:44.330 --> 00:16:48.230 one cop, one police officer being tasered. And 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:52.950 I didn't see that. I just, I saw property destruction. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:55.799 and people throwing papers around like more or 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.840 less like as if our we had just won our our team 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.320 had just won a game and we're riding after the 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.240 game that was more of the the feeling i i was 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:07.500 experiencing i felt with the people around me 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:10.099 when we first went into the building and it was 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:14.400 euphoric and jubilant and um even after a cop 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:17.380 had come in and yelled at me to leave in my mind 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:19.359 too i was also within the confines of the law 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:22.269 by by doing what a cop told me to do as soon 00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:23.869 as he told me to. I'm like, I'm good. The cop 00:17:23.869 --> 00:17:25.549 told me to leave, so I left. But even though 00:17:25.549 --> 00:17:28.690 I'd already seen violence against police officers 00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:30.650 and entered the building, I obviously had already 00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:34.829 broken the law at that point. And after I had 00:17:34.829 --> 00:17:38.049 left the building, the gentleman who I'd hawked 00:17:38.049 --> 00:17:39.970 the book I'd picked up, I'd picked up a book 00:17:39.970 --> 00:17:42.269 on my way out of the building, and I'd hawked 00:17:42.269 --> 00:17:43.890 it to someone right outside the building. I'd 00:17:43.890 --> 00:17:48.039 start talking to someone. he'd offered me 40 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.579 bucks for it and i gave he gave me 40 bucks i 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:53.079 gave him the book and he he asked me he said 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:54.920 he said people were getting into the building 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:56.759 he heard and i was like oh people are in there 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:59.200 they're there and he's like he's like you know 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:01.299 people got shot right and i was like no one got 00:18:01.299 --> 00:18:03.119 shot it's a party in there and he's like no someone 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:05.259 got shot i saw a woman who got shot in the neck 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:08.480 get brought out of the building and uh it was 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.759 like from that moment that's where All that jubilance 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.099 and all the excitement and all those immature 00:18:15.099 --> 00:18:18.740 feelings I was having, it turned into fear really 00:18:18.740 --> 00:18:22.019 quick. And I remember I was looking at the police 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:25.019 a lot differently at that point. They were starting 00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:27.920 to barricade us into the building. And I remember 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:29.700 thinking, you know, these police, they can shoot 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:33.319 us right now legally. And I remember being really 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:38.740 afraid. And I had to walk along the building. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:41.819 to find an opening there was no walking away 00:18:41.819 --> 00:18:43.579 from the building where i was because there were 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:46.299 so many people still pouring in and the police 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:48.599 there's police when i'm looking away from the 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.640 building there's police to my left starting to 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:55.920 make a wall barricading us in and there was rioters 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:58.559 coming in from the right and i'd walked along 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.160 the building until it started to open up and 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:06.079 then i i walked out and i started to run and 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.359 i ran for um It felt like eternity. I think it 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:12.400 was a good hour or two I was running. My phone 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:14.940 had died during the ride, so I couldn't get in 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:18.079 contact with the people I'd come down with. And 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:21.960 I ended up running back and then turning around 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:24.460 and heading back to where I'd come from until 00:19:24.460 --> 00:19:28.380 I found a T -Mobile. And all the businesses were 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:30.279 shutting down, too. All the businesses were kicking 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:31.900 everyone out and shutting their doors, but T 00:19:31.900 --> 00:19:34.359 -Mobile was still open, and they let me plug 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:37.599 my cell phone in. and call my friends, and they 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:43.619 came and got me. Wow. Thank you for the detail 00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:50.779 on that. And is it fair to say that after you 00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:55.180 were arrested for your role on that day that 00:19:55.180 --> 00:20:02.619 you were defiant at first? Oh, absolutely. i 00:20:02.619 --> 00:20:05.319 mean i i loved negative attention so much and 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:07.759 you know i really got it there and i i wanted 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:11.759 i wanted to piss everyone off as much as i could 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:14.960 it almost became a mission for me um i put it 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.579 i put on facebook at one point my only regret 00:20:17.579 --> 00:20:21.180 is we gave the capitol building back and that 00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:24.440 actually showed up in the boston globe and um 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:28.680 you know i a lot of my family had stopped talking 00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:30.819 to me everyone my father's side of the family 00:20:30.819 --> 00:20:34.279 stopped talking to me. And so the negative attention 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.740 also comes with the sprinkling of compliments 00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:39.740 from the other fringe groups and the fringe people 00:20:39.740 --> 00:20:42.940 and the people who support Trump. And so I would 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:50.140 sort of gesture to those people and basically 00:20:50.140 --> 00:20:53.180 be a mascot. I was volunteering for free for 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:58.500 Trump at that point. So take us through when 00:20:58.500 --> 00:21:03.279 you're doubts started to commence around what 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.920 time uh what what year the time period of the 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:11.559 year what triggered it what you were thinking 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:15.519 as you went through what i would consider an 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.220 epiphany of eventually leaving maga take us again 00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:22.039 as real time as you can into your life at that 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:24.500 moment when you're starting to have these doubts 00:21:24.500 --> 00:21:29.220 i i um the government ended up forcing sobriety 00:21:29.220 --> 00:21:33.579 on me i um not long after the riot um around 00:21:33.579 --> 00:21:35.940 the time i got arrested i did as shortly after 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:39.059 i got arrested i did an interview with catherine 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:42.079 underwood i told her i'm going to run for office 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.200 and she wanted to do an interview for that and 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:47.240 i did an interview while drinking and confused 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:50.660 um my congressman and my senators and i said 00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:52.519 i'm going to run for congress against the senator 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:59.420 and i went viral um And it came to the attention 00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:02.200 of not, you know, it wasn't, I got the public 00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:03.799 attention, but I also got the government's attention. 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:08.019 And I had a probation officer. Her name is Corinne 00:22:08.019 --> 00:22:12.240 Hess. And she ended up, she violated my probation 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.559 that I was under for being out on bail for the 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:18.339 riot. And so then they added a stipulation into 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:20.920 my bail conditions of needing to breathe into 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:25.430 a breathalyzer twice a day. that's when i this 00:22:25.430 --> 00:22:28.369 is the first long -term sobriety i ever experienced 00:22:28.369 --> 00:22:32.950 since i started drinking and uh it was before 00:22:32.950 --> 00:22:36.109 i i let i had to go to prison that you know after 00:22:36.109 --> 00:22:39.690 my brain things started to connect and i started 00:22:39.690 --> 00:22:42.650 thinking rationally the things trump was saying 00:22:42.650 --> 00:22:46.609 didn't seem so rational and i didn't really agree 00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:51.880 with them um but i kept that to myself And I 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:54.220 reported to prison where I became more or less 00:22:54.220 --> 00:22:59.200 a little Robin Hood folk hero in the prison for 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:00.940 having stormed the Capitol building, not even 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:03.339 with the inmates, with the correctional officer 00:23:03.339 --> 00:23:05.720 staff were cheering me on for having stormed 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:09.500 the Capitol building. So I became this mascot 00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:13.400 for douchebags that was helping me in prison. 00:23:13.859 --> 00:23:18.559 And so I kept that image and I kept my opinion 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:22.390 of my... my my emerging disagreeing greens with 00:23:22.390 --> 00:23:27.509 trump i kept that to myself and uh afterwards 00:23:27.509 --> 00:23:29.910 after i got a prison where i no longer needed 00:23:29.910 --> 00:23:33.809 it um it didn't take long for me to just be completely 00:23:33.809 --> 00:23:35.950 disgusted by the things trump was saying and 00:23:35.950 --> 00:23:40.930 doing and um my epiphany was when he um he got 00:23:40.930 --> 00:23:43.650 indicted and he asked people to come out and 00:23:43.650 --> 00:23:47.700 protest for him and i remember My first reaction 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:50.079 in my head to that was, Trump, how can you do 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:53.920 that? If people come out and protest, there might 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:55.579 be another riot. There might be another Ashley 00:23:55.579 --> 00:23:57.460 Babbitt. Someone else might get killed. How can 00:23:57.460 --> 00:23:59.339 you do this, Trump? I remember thinking to myself, 00:23:59.660 --> 00:24:02.140 it's because Trump doesn't know you, for starters. 00:24:02.259 --> 00:24:04.559 The fact you think you're even thinking about 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.180 his feelings proves you have an unhealthy obsession. 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:09.880 And I'm an idiot for even believing he possibly 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:13.400 cares. And from that moment, that's when I just 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:17.049 slowly but surely... came to understand who I 00:24:17.049 --> 00:24:22.390 really was in all this. And here we are, not 00:24:22.390 --> 00:24:26.029 long after, I'm now voting for Harris. Yeah, 00:24:26.069 --> 00:24:28.650 I think that's an important point because I want 00:24:28.650 --> 00:24:33.490 viewers to know that you were not a supporter 00:24:33.490 --> 00:24:39.230 of the president this past November. And, you 00:24:39.230 --> 00:24:44.119 know, I recognize... that there's the the human 00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:47.640 aspect of this i i recognize that maybe some 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:50.460 of your alcoholism made being in mag a little 00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:55.740 bit easier and you know and there's but then 00:24:55.740 --> 00:25:01.240 as you work to get sober you start to see everything 00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:06.859 clearer yes and you know this this patriot hero 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:09.660 title that's being attached to capital riders 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:12.539 It sounds good and it feels a hell of a lot better 00:25:12.539 --> 00:25:15.740 than convict or domestic terrorist. And part 00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:20.819 of me wanted to just keep saying that, you know, 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:25.140 that way I'm not not accept the reality that 00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:29.140 I did commit an act of domestic terrorism. But 00:25:29.140 --> 00:25:33.140 that would be lying. And lying is a big trigger. 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:37.089 It's it's. I was lying to myself about my drinking. 00:25:37.170 --> 00:25:40.250 It's what kept me drunk. So, I mean, if I'm OK 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:43.130 with lying about my politics, then where does 00:25:43.130 --> 00:25:45.289 the line end? What else will I become OK with? 00:25:45.430 --> 00:25:49.109 You know, I've already actively participated 00:25:49.109 --> 00:25:52.390 in the dismantling of our democracy, what Trump 00:25:52.390 --> 00:25:57.259 is doing. And, you know, so for me, if I. did 00:25:57.259 --> 00:25:59.759 nothing. I think a lot of rioters at this point 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:01.779 are just like, I'm done with politics. They probably 00:26:01.779 --> 00:26:03.960 didn't. I guarantee you the majority of the Capitol 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:06.119 rioters didn't even vote. A lot of them were 00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:07.819 traumatized by it and they're just staying away 00:26:07.819 --> 00:26:11.420 from politics. But having already actively participated 00:26:11.420 --> 00:26:14.200 in this fascist movement to not do anything, 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:17.660 then that means to condone. I mean, I've already 00:26:17.660 --> 00:26:21.500 participated. So I felt the need to do more. 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:24.000 And that's why I voted for Harris. I donated 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:27.950 to her campaign. I signed up. to volunteer but 00:26:27.950 --> 00:26:30.910 that was i think going to be a hard sell knocking 00:26:30.910 --> 00:26:33.250 on people's door and saying hi i'm a capital 00:26:33.250 --> 00:26:36.430 rider vote for harris so i did i am on a volunteer 00:26:36.430 --> 00:26:38.549 list somewhere here in keene but there was no 00:26:38.549 --> 00:26:40.650 i did not actually ever take the time to go knock 00:26:40.650 --> 00:26:45.730 on doors well i again i want to reiterate the 00:26:45.730 --> 00:26:47.930 point that you didn't support him in november 00:26:47.930 --> 00:26:50.470 because i think for for many you know they might 00:26:50.470 --> 00:26:54.920 think oh you supported him and then it but it's 00:26:54.920 --> 00:26:57.059 too late now but that's not the case for you 00:26:57.059 --> 00:26:59.539 that you didn't you supported vice president 00:26:59.539 --> 00:27:05.299 harris so why why reject the pardon you know 00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:07.619 you you've got a chance to get a queen's you 00:27:07.619 --> 00:27:10.319 know i know that it doesn't expunge the record 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:15.140 but it restores all of your rights so why why 00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:18.640 turn it away why reject it why shun it it's coming 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.950 from the man who started the riot and It's the 00:27:22.950 --> 00:27:25.750 man who started the riot saying, this is okay. 00:27:25.869 --> 00:27:28.269 What you did is okay. It doesn't get rid of it. 00:27:28.329 --> 00:27:31.109 It just says, he says, it's okay. And I disagree. 00:27:31.369 --> 00:27:35.650 I do not think it's okay. I don't agree with 00:27:35.650 --> 00:27:39.029 his narrative of January 6th. I find his narrative 00:27:39.029 --> 00:27:42.509 extremely insulting. I find his narrative of 00:27:42.509 --> 00:27:45.089 what happened insulting, not just to the Capitol 00:27:45.089 --> 00:27:48.130 police officers that died, but also to the rioters 00:27:48.130 --> 00:27:51.349 that have died. Ashley Babbitt was a veteran. 00:27:51.769 --> 00:27:55.009 someone who loved her country and uh you know 00:27:55.009 --> 00:28:00.930 and i think that's you know her her family has 00:28:00.930 --> 00:28:03.589 done a little campaigning for trump and i think 00:28:03.589 --> 00:28:06.369 it's part of that you know refusal to accept 00:28:06.369 --> 00:28:09.109 reality you know i and i know ashley babbitt's 00:28:09.109 --> 00:28:10.890 mom is one of those people who's gone out there 00:28:10.890 --> 00:28:16.480 and is politicking this this fake narrative And 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:18.099 I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to say that 00:28:18.099 --> 00:28:20.180 my daughter did these things. But by pushing 00:28:20.180 --> 00:28:23.400 that lie, I think there's a very good chance. 00:28:23.779 --> 00:28:26.220 If you do something, people go to prison for 00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:30.059 a reason. If you don't learn your lesson, you 00:28:30.059 --> 00:28:33.559 keep acting out the same behavior, there's a 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:36.480 good chance it's going to happen again. And it's 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.319 going to be even worse next time. So I think 00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:43.039 Ashley Babbitt's family should take that into 00:28:43.039 --> 00:28:48.930 consideration. What's worse, that your daughter 00:28:48.930 --> 00:28:52.329 and wife and mother died for something stupid 00:28:52.329 --> 00:28:56.869 and wrong? Or would you rather try to pretend 00:28:56.869 --> 00:28:58.289 she died for something else and then get more 00:28:58.289 --> 00:29:00.809 people killed in the process? And that's what's 00:29:00.809 --> 00:29:05.690 going to end up happening. Jason, I just want 00:29:05.690 --> 00:29:09.970 to say in closing, I really appreciate you sharing 00:29:09.970 --> 00:29:13.609 this. I think you have a redemption story. in 00:29:13.609 --> 00:29:18.769 more ways than one congratulations also on your 00:29:18.769 --> 00:29:22.630 sobriety oh thank you i've known friends i've 00:29:22.630 --> 00:29:26.210 had you know i've known people who really struggled 00:29:26.210 --> 00:29:31.470 with alcohol and and and it and it's hard it 00:29:31.470 --> 00:29:35.369 was hard for them to stay clean and so i want 00:29:35.369 --> 00:29:37.670 to credit you for that and offer you some praise 00:29:37.670 --> 00:29:40.380 even though i know you're not seeking it And 00:29:40.380 --> 00:29:43.000 I want to welcome you to our Leaving MAGA community. 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:45.940 And I want to welcome you to the Midas Touch 00:29:45.940 --> 00:29:50.180 Network, Midas Mighty community. I always like 00:29:50.180 --> 00:29:53.720 to close our shows with a positive affirmation. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:30:00.259 I'm Rich, and I left MAGA. I'm Jason, and I'm 00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:02.859 Leaving MAGA. Hey guys, if you like this video, 00:30:02.940 --> 00:30:05.140 make sure you leave a comment down below and 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:08.319 subscribe. Also, feel free to visit us at leavingmaga 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:11.039 .org. You can connect with us there and also 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:13.240 help us grow our YouTube channel. Thank you so 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:15.759 much for watching. We appreciate everyone's support 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.400 out there. Can't get enough Midas? Check out 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:20.519 the Midas Plus sub stack for ad -free articles, 00:30:20.779 --> 00:30:23.779 reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, 00:30:23.859 --> 00:30:27.400 and more. Sign up for free now at MidasPlus .com.