Now We Know A Third Media Company Paid Radical Antifa Agitator Sullivan Thousands for Capitol Riots Footage
It wasn't just CNN and NBC who gave radical activist John Earle Sullivan thousands of dollars...
John Earl Sullivan was paid thousands of dollars for his explosive footage of the January 6th Capitol riots by three major media companies, despite evidence of him having participated in a criminal act.
Sullivan, a self-style 'revolutionary' who had taken public positions supporting Antifa and Black Lives Matter, had captured footage of the Capitol riots deadly shooting of Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt. The unique footage was criminal evidence of public importance and a trove of it was made publicly available by John Earle Sullivan himself. A judge recently ruled that Sullivan was allowed to use social media during trial, an opportunity that he took advantage of recently.
As reported earlier at Becker News in an article that produced "receipts" of his media business transactions, based on a story broken by Politico:
The defendant, John Sullivan of Utah, has maintained that he attends raucous demonstrations as a journalist, sharing videos through his Insurgence USA website and social media platforms. Sullivan’s defense attorney even filed invoices with the court showing that CNN and NBC each paid Sullivan’s firm $35,000 last month for rights to video he filmed of chaotic scenes outside and inside the Capitol, including the deadly shooting of protester Ashli Babbitt by a U.S. Capitol Police officer.
Another invoice that was submitted by the defense attorney was one for ABC: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The February 12, 2021 invoice submitted shows the amount: $2,500.
Nonetheless, CNN had both Sullivan and a freelance documentary photojournalist who was with him named Jade Sacker on the network during the heat of the capitol riots fallout and gave an uncritical interview.
The <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2101/06/acd.01.html">CNN transcript</a> from January 6th, the day of the Capitol riot, shows no serious questioning of Sullivan by Anderson Cooper about his participation in the riots, despite his footage saying he had a "knife" and that had a number of times shouted phrases inciting the riot like "burn it down." This was the conclusion of the CNN interview:
<blockquote>OK. Obviously, it's very chaotic. I appreciate talking to you. We're obviously trying to -- I know there's some other angles on this and we're trying to learn more information about exactly what happened. I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.</blockquote>
Sullivan would be <a href="https://ksltv.com/453134/utah-activist-who-participated-at-deadly-u-s-capitol-protest-arrested/?">arrested</a> on <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/page/file/1354781/download">federal charges</a> on January 14th, as <a href="https://ksltv.com/453134/utah-activist-who-participated-at-deadly-u-s-capitol-protest-arrested/?">reported</a> by KSL TV, and "booked into the Tooele County Jail Wednesday afternoon." The charges included "violent entry in a restricted building and disorderly conduct."
The Rolling Stone effectively confessed the ethical problems arising from getting Sullivan's account of the capitol riots without noting that he had no journalistic credentials, as he had previously claimed. It admitted this in an "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210213051435if_/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ashli-babbitt-shooting-video-jayden-x-maga-riot-interview-1112949/">update</a>" to a January 13th piece:
<em>UPDATE: John Sullivan was arrested and charged on January 14th, according to the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210213051435/https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/utah-man-charged-federal-court-following-events-united-states-capitol" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Department of Justice,</a> with “one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on <a id="auto-tag_capitol" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210213051435/https://www.rollingstone.com/t/capitol/" data-tag="capitol">Capitol</a> grounds, and one count of interfering with law enforcement engaged in the lawful performance of their official duties incident to and during the commission of civil disorder.” An FBI <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210213051435/https://www.scribd.com/document/490763513/Sullivan-Affidavit" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">affidavit</a> discounts Sullivan’s claim to be a journalist: “He has admitted,” the agent writes of Sullivan, “that he has no press credentials and the investigation has not revealed any connection between SULLIVAN and any journalistic organizations.”</em>
It is important to note that John Earle Sullivan had a controversial history beyond merely advocating for revolution and insurgency. In July, Sullivan had been arrested in Utah after an earlier investigation of "rioting, making a threat of violence and criminal mischief." As Deseret News <a href="https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/7/10/21320220/organizer-of-provo-protest-arrested-accused-of-rioting-making-threats">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Sullivan was also captured on video threatening to beat a woman in an SUV, according to the affidavit, and then kicking her door, leaving a dent.
Sullivan was seen with Jesse Taggart — the man charged with shooting the motorist — throughout the protest, the affidavit states.</blockquote>
He had also been at the scene of other capitol break-ins, such as the one at the Oregon state capitol in Portland in mid-December.
Sullivan's verified social media accounts for Insurgence USA, as well as Jaydenx, also posted messages that strongly suggest that he wanted to participate in the capitol riots as far back as December 28th. Sullivan even used hashtag #Antifa.
One of Sullivan's Instagram followers also shared a post calling for a Black Lives Matter counter-protest at the capitol.
"Must have Tactical gear/ bullet proof vest, bring first aid kids and water. No firearms unless you are licensed to carry in D.C."
[READ MORE.]
Don't forget House Impeachment Mismanagers bought his footage too. Quite a bit of it actually, woven into their movie. I guess this means WE bought it.