"When Cleveland Grover Meredith, Jr., arrived at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was divorced, unemployed, and the father of two young men who, like their father, share their names with Republican Presidents. Two years earlier, north of Atlanta, he had sold a car-wash business, called Car Nutz, after stirring up bad press with a billboard that read # QANON. A previous business of his, an auto spa, had gone bankrupt."
"he had conveyed his intentions for that day in Facebook posts and text messages, which had been troubling enough to compel his mother-an interior designer whose work has appeared in Southern Living -to call the F.B.I. On January 1st, Meredith posted to Facebook, "Allow your enemy to be boastful, to think he has won. Present yourself as weak, disorganized. Then eradicate." Three days later, he sent a text that read, "We're gonna surround DC and slowly constrict.""
Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. traveled to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, arriving late after car trouble. He was divorced, unemployed, and father to two sons who share names with Republican presidents. He previously sold a car-wash business after controversy over a #QANON billboard, and an earlier auto-spa business had failed. He posted alarming Facebook messages and texts before and during January 6, including calls to "eradicate," plans to "surround DC," and violent threats toward public officials. His mother reported concerns to the FBI. Prosecutors allege he assaulted a person on January 7. He was arrested near the Capitol and is now campaigning for reparations from the "deep state" and his parents.
Read at The New Yorker
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]