Black Lives Matter Activist John Sullivan admitted to bringing a megaphone inside the Capitol building on January 6 to “instigate” Trump supporters and incite violence, documents show.
“Sullivan allegedly posted on Twitter support for armed revolution and has also said he attended a number of Black Lives Matter protests last year, posted numerous anti-police and anti-Trump statements. Sullivan says he portrayed himself as a journalist who was just documenting the incident but he was also actively participating… even broke a window,” reported Red Voice Media.
“I brought my megaphone to instigate shit. I was like, guys we’re going inside, we’re fucking shit up…. I’m gonna make these Trump supporters f—all this shit up…. But I mean you’ll see,” Sullivan said on speakerphone, according to newly released documents. “I have it all, I have everything, everything on camera, everything I just told you, and I mean everything. Trust me when I say my footage is worth like a million of dollars, millions of dollars. I’m holding on to that shit.”
According to the court documents, Sullivan admitted to law enforcement that he had no press credentials despite his previous claims of being a journalist, and that the investigation “has not revealed any connection between the defendant and any journalistic organizations prior to the events of January 6, 2021.”
“I mean, didn’t I kind of make up a background though, on the fly a little bit. I think I made up, uh—what did I say I was? Oh, yeah, I was just a journalist, but I use that all the time. ‘Yeah, I’m just a journalist. I’m here recording. I got my camera on my shoulder.’ Literally, I have my big-ass camera on my shoulder right here and I have my gimbal, so it kind of looks like it. ‘Yeah, I’m just here recording the situation. Yeah. Livestreaming. Look, I have—I have people on my live stream.’ That’s why I pulled it back out,” said Sullivan in a video posted on January 6.
In a livestream posted in December, Sullivan admitted that he doesn’t “consider” himself a journalist. “But as far as like reporting stuff like I am now, I’m an activist too, so like it kinda plays hand in hand. But as far as like being a journalist, it would be cool to be one, I don’t have anything against it,” said Sullivan.
This comes after National File reported that Sullivan, who stormed the Capitol on January 6 disguised in pro-Trump gear and captured video of the Capitol Police shooting of Ashli Babbitt, had $90,000 seized by the federal government.
At the time of Sullivan’s arrest, National File reported, “Despite claiming he only entered the building in a journalistic capacity, the indictment against Sullivan declares otherwise. The 18-page affidavit claims Sullivan allegedly incited violence by exclaiming ‘we gotta get this shit burned’ and ‘it’s our house motherfuckers.’”
Sullivan was previously recorded during an anti-Trump riot in Washington, D.C. In the video, Sullivan pointed at the White House, and said,“We… about to burn this s— down… We gotta rip Trump right out of that office right there.” Sullivan added, “We ain’t about…waiting until the next election. It’s time for revolution.”