John Jefferson
Michael Oliveras inside and outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 (court documents).
A Donald Trump supporter from South Jersey, right across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, who bragged on Parler in real time that he was “inside the capital” and two days later said Jan. 6 was “precisely what we want,” as the Insurrection Act was “in motion,” will spend the next five years of his life in federal prison as a result.
Michael Oliveras, now 51, was sentenced to prison Thursday for attacking cops and obstructing the congressional certification of the 2020 election by stoking civil disorder, evidently believing the invocation of the Insurrection Act — which Trump’s Oath Keeper and QAnon-inspired allies pined for — had taken place and granted him license to drag “traitors” out of the Capitol “BY THEIR F—-ING HAIR!”
According to the DOJ’s statement of facts in the case, Oliveras was open about his participation in the attack on the Capitol while it was happening and in the days that followed, posting the evidence that would be used against him on his @Craftmetal Parler account.
The feds said that one tipster who saw Oliveras’ live-streaming on Parler put together video “highlights” and sent it to authorities for review. A second tipster said Jan. 6 wasn’t Oliveras’ first rodeo.
“This man,” the tipster said, “I first encountered him when he was inciting violence against counter-protestors at a ‘Stop The Steal’ rally at the Philadelphia Convention Center on 11/07/2020…”
Two days after Jan. 6, the feds said, an “anonymous complainant” also revealed that Oliveras had been “talking about overthrowing the government for weeks in public chat rooms pushing disinformation and talking about hanging and executing people repetitively[.]”
Oliveras himself confirmed that he viewed Jan. 6 as an act of patriotism in response to the Insurrection Act.
“Patriots. Are any of you discouraged. What you saw in the senate. Was precisely what we want,” he posted online. “Insurrection acts [sic] in motion.”
According to the DOJ, the defendant also justified his actions as a hunt for traitors.
“Did we want to get our bare hands on the flesh of those who have committed treason? Yes. Would I, as one of those red blooded americans, if the opportunity presented itself, grasped and removed one of those traitors? Yes,” documents said.
Even while speaking with the feds, Oliveras declared that he “wouldn’t change a thing,” adding, “I’d do it again.”
A sentencing memorandum detailed that Oliveras’ Parler account posted the QAnon “rallying cry” WWG1WGA or “where we go one, we go all.”
The government said the defendant “subscribes to and regularly posts about QAnon conspiracy theories.”
In the end, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell decided that the defendant will go to prison for five years.
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