Tipsheet

FBI Had 'At Least 40' Undercover Informants Instigating Trouble on January 6th

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  April 06, 2023 5:45 PM

Law enforcement agencies had at least 40 undercover FBI informants participating in surveillance work among defendants during the January 6 Capitol Hill protests. 

Roger Roots, the lawyer for defendant American Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, filed a motion to reveal all undercover informants related to the January 6 case.

According to the filed document, several undercover law enforcement officers were at the Capitol that day, with at least 40 undercover informants or agents walking among them, which Roots claims were instigating trouble. 

“Some of these undercover Metro officers marched with the Proud Boy march, and some appear to have played roles of instigators, in that they are seen on body-worn videos chanting ‘Go! Go!,’ ‘Stop the Steal!,’ and ‘Whose house? Our house!’ on January 6. Others generally followed demonstrators toward the Capitol,” Roots said. 

On Tuesday, the government admitted that eight FBI confidential agents were embedded among the Proud Boys on January 6. Roots allege that the Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) agency had about 19 informants active at the time. In addition, at least 13 undercover plain-clothes DC Metro police agents were among the Proud Boys. 

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“When added to the 8 FBI CHSs now acknowledged by the prosecutors, this means that there were at least 40 undercover informants or agents doing surveillance among defendants on January 6,” Roots said, adding that the defense would have been “much more aggressive” in the initial trial if they would have known “the scope and scale” of January 6 undercover government scheme. 

Pezzola is currently standing trial in DC with the Proud Boy’s former national chairman Enrique Tarrio and members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl. They are accused of conspiring against President Joe Biden taking office in 2021.