Army psych ops officer eyed for role in mayhem at Capitol
The Army is investigating a military psychological warfare specialist over her role in last week’s domestic assault on the U.S. Capitol after she led more than 100 people to the deadly riot, according to a report.
Officials said Emily Rainey had already resigned her commission at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where investigators were reviewing the Army captain’s involvement in the melee that left five people including an officer from the Capitol Police dead.
According to CBS News, Rainey, 30, admitted that she led more than 100 people to Washington on Wednesday as part of a North Carolina protest group she heads called Moore County Citizens for Freedom.
Although Rainey (inset) said she did not violate any laws, the Pentagon is investigating how many soldiers from Fort Bragg accompanied her to Washington.
Rainey had resigned her commission after receiving a career-ending letter of reprimand for her actions at an earlier protest in the Fort Bragg area, the CBS report said.
“I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights,” Rainey told Associated Press on Sunday. “I told my bosses before I went that I was going, and I told them when I got back.”
But Rainey was still on active duty because the resignation process takes time, officials said. Rainey, who is assigned to the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg, is scheduled to leave the Army next month.
The operation, known as PSYOPS, uses information and misinformation to shape the emotions, decision-making and actions of American adversaries.
Rainey made headlines in May after she posted a video online of her pulling down caution tape at a playground that was closed to comply with North Carolina’s COVID-19 restrictions.
She was charged with injury to personal property over the incident.
At least 90 people have been arrested on charges ranging from misdemeanor curfew violations to felonies related to assaults on police officers in connection with the Capitol Hill assault.