Family, friends of Jan. 6 suspects turn info over to FBI

WASHINGTON — When a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Leslie hoped it would be her President Donald Trump-supporting parents’ wake-up call. She hoped they were watching, maybe feeling ashamed.

Then, a friend called. “Do you know already?” the friend said, and Leslie wondered briefly if someone had died.

The politically liberal 35-yearold cried about the screenshots from her mother’s Facebook page, posts defending the proTrump crowds and suggesting that Leslie’s mom made it at least to the Capitol’s steps. Then she reported her mom to the FBI — because “actions,” she said, “should have consequences.”

“I think before I realized she was this far gone ... there was a sense that perhaps there was some way to reconcile,” said Leslie. “It felt like a death, honestly.”

Leslie spoke on the condition that her full name not be revealed, citing concerns about retaliation or further heightening familial tension.

In relationships already strained or severed, the recent violent spectacle of democracy under siege has pushed some people to take a drastic new step: warning law enforcement. Anguished Americans are turning in friends and family for their alleged involvement in the Capitol riots, contributing to more than 100,000 tips submitted to the FBI and playing a role in at least one high-profile arrest.

For months — sometimes years — the informants say they have watched helplessly as loved ones embraced far-right ideology and latched onto conspiracy theories, from QAnon to viral video claims of a coronavirus “Plandemic.” Extremism has thrived in the Trump era and under pandemic lockdowns, experts say, with more people isolated at home and misinformation rampant online.

“Far-right extremism is not a small, fringe worldview, it’s not an insular cult that only reaches a few dozen or a few hundred people — it’s a wide-ranging worldview embedded in American society,” said Peter Simi, an associate professor of sociology at Chapman University who has studied far-right extremist groups and violence for more than 20 years.

Increasingly estranged friends and relatives told the Washington Post they were driven to law enforcement by their own politics, a sense of moral obligation and a fear of what their loved ones could do next.

“They left me no choice because they are on such a destructive path and I do worry about other people’s safety as well as theirs,” said a Texas woman who recounted learning through social media that family members were on the Capitol lawn, apparently beyond the barriers that rioters toppled. Authorities say they have just started making arrests in the wake of the four-hour insurrection attempt at the Capitol, which sent lawmakers into hiding, halted certification of the presidential vote and left five people dead, including a police officer. Hundreds could eventually face charges, and people around the country are volunteering information.