The Washington Post
A common misconception to emerge from the Capitol riots is that those who stormed the building were largely militia types. Other than their overwhelming whiteness, however, even the most radicalized Trump supporters defy easy characterization. Take, for example, Alan Hostetter, an Orange County, Calif., man who led a cadre of MAGA followers to the “Stop the Steal” rally, then filmed himself on the Capitol steps during the attempted insurrection.
Hostetter is a former infantryman, sheriff’s deputy, SWAT officer and police chief. That part of his background isn’t particularly surprising. President Donald Trump enjoyed broad support in the (White) law enforcement community, and the presence of former and active police officers and troops at the Stop the Steal rally and Capitol riot has been well documented. Although few if any of the other protesters who descended on Washington offered Hostetter’s combination of law enforcement and New Age-y mysticism, his presence at the rally illustrates the surprising, perhaps even unnerving width of hardcore Trump support.
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