In the aftermath of last week's insurrection in Washington D.C. where President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol building, 30 Democrat lawmakers are calling for an investigation into suspicious tours at the Capitol complex the day prior to the attack.
“The visitors encountered by some of the members of Congress ... appeared to be associated with the rally at the White House the following day,” a statement signed by 30 members of Congress reads. “That group left the White House and marched to the Capitol with the objective of preventing Congress from certifying our election. Members of the group that attacked the Capitol seemed to have an unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol complex.”
These “suspicious” visits included at least one Special Forces veteran who met with Republican Reps. Ronny Jackson and August Pfluger of Texas and Reps. Mike Garcia and Tom McClintock of California, according to one veteran who was present. Connecting Vets reached out to the offices of all four representatives for their comment about the nature of those visits but only heard back from the offices of Jackson and Garcia.
In two videos posted on social media, Special Forces veteran and former CIA contractor Casey Gray described his visit to the Capitol, and his interaction with congressional representatives the day prior to the insurrection. One of those videos has since been removed from his social media accounts.
Connecting Vets first reported allegations of reconnaissance the day prior to the riots after a Special Forces meme appeared as a sticker posted on the offices of Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 5.
“I was in D.C. for the march, I watched Trump's speech and then I went on further to march with all the Trump supporters to march from the White House down to the Capitol,” Gray said in a video posted to his social media. Gray ran for Congress in Texas' 11th Congressional District last year, losing to Pfluger. According to Gray's website, he served with Naval Special Boat Teams before transferring to the Army and serving with 19th Special Forces Group while also contracting with the CIA.
Gray did not respond to multiple attempts to contact him ahead of publication.
“I spent the day before actually with congressmen in the Capitol, so I spent time with Congressman Pfluger, Congressman Jackson, Congressman Garcia, McClintock, several people, and all of the congressmen I spoke to were super pro-Trump. They were objecting to the electors they were doing their legal precedence of what they could step forward and do," Gray said in a video.
A spokesperson for Rep. Jackson told Connecting Vets, "Dr. Jackson did not schedule a meeting with this individual. No one on Dr. Jackson’s staff, nor Dr. Jackson himself, invited this individual into the House office buildings. He showed up to Dr. Jackson’s office uninvited. When he was told by a member of Dr. Jackson’s staff that Dr. Jackson was in between meetings, this individual, in an uninvited manner, followed Dr. Jackson and his staff member down the hallway. There has been no subsequent contact between this individual and Dr. Jackson nor with any of Dr. Jackson’s staff."
The spokesperson also explained that visitors have to be escorted into the building by a member of Congress or their staff, but that it was not anyone from Jackson's office. The spokesperson also said that Gray's uninvited visit has been reported to the Capitol police.
A spokesperson for Rep. Garcia told Connecting Vets, "The individual that claims he met with the Congressman showed up to our office unannounced and uninvited. Neither the Congressman nor anyone on his staff had ever heard of the man prior. Individuals need an escort into the House office building and neither the Congressman nor anyone from our office let him in the building. The man said that he had a meeting with another member of Congress down the hall and passed by our office and wanted to thank the Congressman for his service in the military. There has been no additional contact between the man and the Congressman or anyone on the Congressman’s staff."
Pfluger recorded a video where he directly addressed his visitors that day from Odessa, Texas saying, “We are absolutely disgusted with the fraud that went on, we're fighting it, we're going after it tomorrow.” Gray posted the video to his Twitter account.
The following day, Gray said he was at Trump's speech near the White House. As the speech concluded, the crowd began to head toward the Capitol. Gray stopped in front of the Department of Justice building where Trump supporters were chanting “Do your job.” Gray then moved with the crowd to Capitol Hill, according to the statements he made in videos he posted.
Gray said he was with a group of people during this time, but did not identify who they were. Connecting Vets has identified at least one other Special Forces veteran who was at the rally-turned-riot.
According to Gray's website, while serving with Special Forces he was involved in a CH-47 helicopter crash in Korea during the Foal Eagle training exercise in 2011. The crash left him severely injured, taking years and multiple surgeries to recover. An interview he gave while running for Congress states that he is married and the father of five children.
His service with the CIA was likely with Global Response Staff (GRS) who do security for operations officers and forward operating bases. In another interview, he described the men lost in Benghazi, GRS employees Ty Woods and Glenn Doherty as his teammates. In the same interview, Gray said, "Fun Fact: I have no emotions or empathy from my skull being crushed in my helicopter crash. This makes me very direct and no BS."
At 1:20 p.m. EST the day of the riot, according to Gray's account, he was walking with the crowd to the Capitol building. He disputed reports that the Capitol police let the “patriots” inside the perimeter or the building itself, saying that the police were simply overwhelmed by the large number of people.
As violence broke out, Gray said he believed that there were Antifa members present in the crowd.
Closer to 1:50 p.m. Gray said he was standing within a hundred feet or so watching rioters attempt to breach the Capitol building.
“The crowd is cheering for both sides as they get each other, it had a very energetic attitude. It wasn't anti-police," he said.
“It's unfortunate this stuff happens but they got into a mob mentality,” Gray said. Capitol Police did not overstep their bounds but the rioters did in this instance, he argued. Gray then described how the Capitol rotunda was breached, based on dinner conversation he said he had with someone he said was present.
Gray defended the honor of the freshman Republican congressmen from Texas who were barricaded indoors against the rioters that Gray was with.
As far as the rioters presenting that threat, Gray said people have a constitutional right to, “let them know that they are displeasured with their duties that they are executing and I feel that is what happened.”
Gray said he felt the rioters went too far in expressing their displeasure and did not think that they should have breached the Capitol.
But at the same time, he also defended the insurrectionists, pointing out how several were recorded picking up trash in the rotunda.
Several of the insurrectionists have been tied to QAnon and other conspiracy theories. Gray said in one video that QAnon and similar beliefs are madness and said he did not agree with those viewpoints, instead arguing there are legal methods to address political grievances.
Whether or not the suspicious visits to the Capitol complex were reconnaissance remains to be determined, but Connecting Vets previously reported on Jan. 5 that pictures were posted to social media showing a sticker placed on the offices of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff. The sticker was from "GoldCorp" a meme started and shared by Special Forces veterans.
Reach Jack Murphy: jack@connectingvets.com or @JackMurphyRGR.
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