The House Select Committee, investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the US Capitol riot, held its first primetime session on Thursday. Led by US Rep Bennie Thompson, the panel discussed the movement of extremist groups, heard testimonies and played an unreleased footage at the hearing. 

The footage, Thompson said ‘is hard to watch’, showed extremist groups – Proud Boys and Oathkeepers – attack the US Capitol building, damage it and injure police officers. 

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A  video by investigative counsel of the January 6 committee Marcus Childress shows that the leaders of the two groups met in a Washington, DC, parking garage on January 5 2021 – a dat before the insurrection took place. 

Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers, were caught on video, discussing the riot. 

“There’s mutual respect there. We’re fighting the same fight and that’s what’s important,” Tarrio said in the video. 

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As per the committee, Trump’s December 19 tweet about a rally on January 6 was a message to the extremist groups. 

 “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!” the former President had tweeted. 

That tweet “energized individuals from the Proud Boys and other extremist groups,” Chairman Bennie Thompson said. Childress added that the Proud Boys  “viewed this tweet as a call to arms.”

The Proud Boys had created a group chat called “the Ministry of Self Defense leadership chat” to establish a command structure for the in insurrection, the Department of Justice had said. 

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“The goal of these quick reaction forces was to be on standby just in case President Trump ever invoked the Insurrection Act,” Childress said in the video.

“Individuals associated with two violent extremist groups have been charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6th attack,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman, said following the video presenting the evidence.