Bullhorn Lady and the Baloney
'Bullhorn Lady' was given her own Wanted poster by the FBI. A new article says she's not important. It's wrong - and she's on the run
‘Bullhorn Lady’, one of the rioters at the Capitol, was given her own wanted poster by the FBI and online researchers spent days to weeks looking for her. It was inevitable that she should be found. An article out yesterday that included a two hour interview before the FBI was able to apprehend her included a number of erroneous statements and conclusions about her importance to the overall plot. It accepted Rachel Powell’s explanations without demur, and one researcher involved in talking to the press put up an entire thread about her lack of importance. The story had a lengthy section about the “shock” of the man who took Powell to the Capitol, and was seen filming with her at rallies the day before, Kevin Lynn. There were some mind-popping quotes apparently taking the assurances of Lynn and Powell at face value, and a bit of mockery for online researchers for whom Powell was “an obsesssive focus”. All of this was completely wrong. Powell was very important, as was Kevin Lynn, and the two may offer clues as to the overall conspiracy and Donald Trump’s personal role in it.
In fact, however, the FBI didn’t ‘get it wrong’ in giving Powell her own poster nor in placing such emphasis on her. And the article highlights the problems inherent in talking to the press while the FBI has not yet apprehended a suspect. It ought to be obvious that letting a woman know that she is found before the FBI have taken custody of her gives her ample time to warn everybody in her wider network, to delete evidence and other bad effects that negatively effect law enforcement prosecutions of the Capitol riots. What happened here is that two groups of online researchers, and their journalist contact - whether this was the intent or not - literally tipped off a suspect on the run.
Bullhorn Lady’s Partner Connects to Trump, Gosar and Russia
Kevin Lynn, who took Bullhorn Lady to the Capitol, is admitted in the article to have met Trump at the White House:
Kevin Lynn, the founder of a group that advocates for the hiring of American workers in the U.S. technology industry. Last August, after Lynn’s group placed ads pressing Trump to restrict the outsourcing of jobs overseas, Lynn met with Trump at the White House.
In fact, Lynn is much more significant than that, and his links to Powell show strong links to the political cheerleaders of the insurrection, a point the article and two of its sources were keen to deny. A review of the Twitter account @USTechworkers, one of Lynn’s groups, shows it following numerous persons and organizations involved in the attempt to subvert democracy by Trump, including Paul Gosar, one of the key Congressional voices in the insurrection. In fact, in May of last year, Kevin Lynn and Paul Gosar wrote an article together. Furthermore, Kevin Lynn is involved with several groups and accounts that address “unmatched doctors” and “unemployed citizen doctors”. This should be of great concern as Lynn’s twitter feed shows he is a conspiracy theorist and ardent believer in astrology. More than that, he is involved in Covid-19 denialism - like multiple key figures the FBI have arrested so far in relation to the riots.
“Reopen” and the Rioters
Both Kevin Lynn, notwithstanding his link to doctors organizations, and Rachel Powell, “Bullhorn Lady”, pump out COVID-19 denialism. All of them directly connect, therefore, exactly and precisely to the organizing network that the quoted researchers and the article deny they are part of.
In the accompanying text, Powell wrote, “I’m sitting here thinking about how everyone has been so complacent during COVID.” She went on, “The government knows exactly how far you can be pushed because the population has been successfully tested.”
This conspiracy theory was shared by Kevin Lynn on his Twitter feed as he linked the pandemic to “civil war”. (There are many other Covid-19 denialism fictions on his feed, but in the interests of time I am not listing them all).
Are we shocked to see this reference to Russian-American Dmitri Orlov who writes about “the collapse of the United States”? Perhaps we shouldn’t be. On the “progressive” organization listed on his Twitter feed, Lynn pumps out Russian-approved propaganda at an alarming rate:
The intention was to talk specifically about Syria and the sabers being rattled there but our conversation ..included:
The Deep State; the raid on Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney which brought into question the value of attorney-client privilege; White House and DOJ staff shake-ups; Comey’s book tour and can his reputation be salvaged; the poisoning of Sergei Skripal; The Steele Dossier;
Previous reporting also identified Gina Bisignano as the woman who not only handed Rachel Powell, ‘Bullhorn Lady’, her famous bullhorn, but took it back from her, as a COVID-19 Denialism freak. The FBI is taking Bisignano incredibly seriously. As patch reported, Bisignano got much higher bond and charges than two other COVID denialers who entered the Capitol, strongly suggesting the FBI sees her as having played an organizing role.
Bisignano received a much higher bond - $170,000 as opposed to $15,000 for Dr. Simone Gold and $20,000 for communications director and model John Strand - and more charges than the other two Beverly Hillers charged Monday
Now we turn our attention to another early arrestee by the FBI, Army Captain Emily Rainey, who worked in psychological operations at Fort Bragg.
Officials at Fort Bragg are now working to determine what other soldiers went to Washington and whether they were part of the mob that stormed the Capitol…Rainey made headlines back in May after she posted a video online of her pulling down caution tape at a playground that was closed under North Carolina's COVID-19 restrictions
In fact, I determined that Emily Rainey was involved in the “Reopen North Carolina” group. Gina Bisignano was involved in “Reopen LA”:
She experienced a new form of notoriety in December after a “reopen L.A.” protest at the home of County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer…. Before the headline speaker, the President himself, she got separated from her group, who told her they planned to “storm the Capitol.”
Because the article tipping off alleged fugitive Rachel Powell does not link to any of her social media from which quotes were taken, we can’t determine whether or not she formally joined a “reopen” group. But the beliefs of “reopen” were clearly shared by PinkHatLady - Bullhorn Lady, by the guy who drove her to the Capitol and who links to Trump, to Gosar and to Russian propagandists, and by early arrestee Captain Emily Rainey.
Enter the Russians - Again
Last year the cybersecurity researcher Brian Krebs linked the “Reopen” group network to both Donald Trump and the Dorr Brothers, to gun rights groups and to individual GOP networks in Orange County. It is an important piece that should be read in its entirety. This anti-Dorr website shows proof that various Dorr Brothers are administrators of pro-Trump Facebook pages and groups, some of which are private.
On Dec 23rd, 2020, Donald Trump pardoned two men close to the Dorr Brothers and to pro-Russia shills Ron Paul and Rand Paul. John Tate and Jesse Benson were involved in a pay-to-play scandal over a state senator called Ken Sorensen who switched his support to Ron Paul after being given a bribe. According to the Iowa Informer, one of the Dorr brothers and their father were heavily involved:
At the time, one of Dorr’s brothers, Chris Dorr, was a field staffer for the Bachmann campaign and a legislative clerk for Sorenson. Robinson described him as a “key Sorenson accomplice” who made a copy of a Bachmann campaign list of homeschooling voters that was offered to the Paul campaign. The brothers’ father, Paul Dorr — who worked as an adviser for Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign — was also included in emails discussing the proposed deal.
Conclusions on Pink Lady / Bullhorn Lady
Perhaps the biggest conclusion we can draw is that it is not up to Twitter researchers like Mr. Railton to determine who is and who is not involved in the organization of insurrection.
Mr. Scott-Railton highlights a passage in the article with his own quote “This created a perception that she was one of the conspirators with an extensive network”. That “perception” was, of course, not created by the footage of bullhorn lady and her bullhorn but by the fact that the FBI singled her out. Researchers were relying on the importance the FBI placed on this suspect, and they were doing so correctly. Her admitted chauffeur, with whom she was involved in recording media, links directly to Donald Trump and to Paul Gosar. Her bullhorn-lady fame came from a “Reopen LA” activist who has been held in prison after her release was objected to by DOJ on some of the toughest charges and with the very highest monetary bond. Her “Reopen” views are shared by her chauffeur who has pumped out Russian propaganda on both the right and the left. And her “Reopen” views on COVID-19 are also shared with Army Psyops Captain Emily Rainey, a member of “Reopen NC”, groups that link to notorious gun-rights activists, to Rand and to Ron Paul, and, again, to Russian propaganda.
These groups have - again, possibly with the best of intentions - created spreadsheet groups to take in the work of citizen researchers, (none of which they acknowledge by name) and this shared research has now been used to notify a key suspect at the riots at the US capitol before she is arrested or even indicted, giving her both opportunity and incentive to deprive the FBI of evidence. I would strongly urge that any of you with real tips or information give it directly to the FBI first, and not to private groups that use the press to tip off suspects on the run.
Researchers Should Go Directly to the FBI
I checked the FBI’s website. It does not encourage citizen researchers to submit their information to Bellingcat or to any of the groups identified in the story, but to go to the FBI itself:
If you witnessed unlawful violent actions or have any information about the cases below, we urge you to submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
If you have photo or video images to share depicting rioting and violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, please note that in the electronic tip form. Please include in your tips as much information as possible, such as the name of the person, contact information—including where that person may live—the number associated with the individual if seen on one of the Seeking Information posters, and any other identifying information. Our goal is to preserve the public’s constitutional right to protest by protecting everyone from violence and other criminal activity.
You may also call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) to verbally report tips and/or information related to this investigation.
Please remember that while journalists and researchers may absolutely be good guys on the side of the angels, the Capitol Riot suspects are not. It was absolutely wrong to go to the press before Bullhorn Lady was caught, and it was factually erroneous to minimize her involvement and deny, with literally zero evidence to support it, that she is part of an organizing group.
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Thank you Louise. Your work is appreciated!!
Great article and great info provided by @toppan_jane