Ali Alexander, an organizer of the January 6 “Stop the Steal” rally who claimed to have “schemed” with elected Republican officials before the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, has been subpoenaed by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attacks.
In a now-deleted video, Alexander said that he “schemed” with Republican Representatives Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona as well as Mo Brooks of Alabama “to put maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting” to certify the election on January 6.
Gosar and Alexander both spoke at a December 19 “Stop the Steal” rally in Phoenix, Arizona. At the rally, Alexander called Biggs a “friend” and a “hero.”
Spokesmen for Biggs and Brooks denied that the congress members heard from Alexander or helped him organize the rally, The Washington Post reported. Gosar didn’t respond to the publication’s requests for comment.
Newsweek contacted Gosar’s office for comment.
In the committee’s subpoena to Alexander, it said that he had made “repeated reference during Stop-the-Steal-sponsored events [and] the possible use of violence to achieve the organization’s goals.” The subpoena also said that Alexander claimed to have coordinated with the White House and Congress members in the run-up to January 6.
In a statement released on Thursday evening, Alexander said, “I am being targeted because I am a Black patriotic man peacefully agitating an insecure government…. These accusations, absent of any evidence of wrongdoing, have now been weaponized by a partisan Congressional Committee which lacks public support.”
Ali Alexander has released a statement online in response to being subpoenaed by the House January 6 committee, falsely claiming he is “being targeted because I am a Black patriotic man peacefully agitating an insecure government.” https://t.co/sIL0NCtS20 pic.twitter.com/G3wqVyZL8K
— Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) October 7, 2021
Alexander and other allies of Republican then-President Donald Trump hoped that Republican lawmakers would vote against certifying the electoral victory of Democratic now-President Joe Biden.
In late December, Alexander said via social media that he was planning a rally for January 6. In a December 30, 2020 tweet, Alexander wrote that if Democrats blocked Republican plans to challenge Biden’s win, “Everyone can guess what me and 500,000 others will do to [the Capitol] building.”
“1776 is *always* an option,” he wrote in the tweet. “These degenerates in the deep state are going to give us what we want, or we are going to shut this country down.”
1776 is often incorrectly invoked as the year that the American Revolutionary War began. The war actually started in April 1775.
Seems like it was planned 12/30/2020. “If they do this, everyone can guess what me and 500,000 others will do to that building. 1776 is *always* an option.” pic.twitter.com/97YqO5LZRI
— Righteous Babe (@RighteousBabe4) January 7, 2021
The mailing address listed on the rally’s permit matched the address provided on the registration form for Alexander’s personal website, CNN reported.
At the rally, which occurred hours before the riots, Alexander spoke, as did Trump. Trump told his supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” after the rally to let legislators know that they opposed the “theft.”
Trump, Alexander and Trump’s supporters have baselessly claimed that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump through an unprecedented nationwide conspiracy of voter fraud.
Trump’s former attorney general and head of U.S. cybersecurity infrastructure have both said there’s no evidence that the 2020 election was stolen.
Spencer Platt/Getty
Alexander was one target of three subpoenas issued by the House committee on Thursday. The two others were Nathan Martin, a co-organizer of the rally and the Stop the Steal organization itself.
“The Select Committee needs to understand all the details about the events that came before the attack, including who was involved in planning and funding them. We expect these witnesses to cooperate fully with our probe,” Committee Chair Bennie Thompson said in a Thursday statement.
Martin and Alexander have until October 21 to respond to the committee’s demand for documents. The committee has told Alexander to submit a testimony under oath by October 29, Politico reported.
Martin’s testimony is due on October 28. The Stop the Steal organization has one week to give its documents to the committee. It unclear if the three will comply with the committee’s demands.
Five people died during the January 6 riots and roughly 140 police officers were injured. The police injuries included a broken spine, a lost eye, lost fingers, brain damage and multiple cases of PTSD. Four Capitol Police officers have died by suicide since then.
Ransacking the Capitol, the rioters shattered windows while trying to access congressional chambers, smeared feces in the hallway and stole computer equipment, potentially constituting a national security breach.
In a video posted during the riots, Alexander refused to disavow the protesters outside the Capitol. He claimed that violence at the riots was caused by outside agitators. No credible evidence exists to support his claim.
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have all banned Alexander from their platforms since the riots. Before Twitter banned him, he posted a video in which he claimed to be in hiding. He then asked supporters for funds to pay for his personal security,
By the early morning hours of January 7, 139 of the 211 House Republicans voted against certifying Biden’s election victory. The 139 votes represented nearly 66 percent of the Republican House membership.
