An army psychological warfare officer is being investigated for transporting people more than 300 miles to attend the Trump rally that turned into deadly riots in the Capitol, army officials have confirmed.
Captain Emily Rainey, 30, confirmed to the Associated Press that she was leading more than 100 people to Washington, DC on Wednesday as part of a North Carolina protest group she leads called Moore County Citizens for Freedom.
While her Fort Bragg commanders reviewed her involvement in the rally, Rainey said she was completely outspoken about her plans to go – and insisted that her group was not involved in the storming of the Capitol.
“I was a private individual and did everything right and within my rights,” the enthusiastic anti-masker told the AP on Sunday, saying she was on leave at the time.
“I told my bosses before I went I was going, and I told them when I got back.”
Her group – as well as most at Wednesday’s rally – were “peace-loving, law-abiding people who did nothing but demonstrate our First Amendment rights,” she said.
She even shared a video on Facebook emphasizing that the rioters were all Antifa, saying, “I don’t know of any violent patriots. I don’t know of any patriots who open the windows of a national jewel like the [Capitol]. “
According to Major Daniel Lessard, a spokesman for the 1st Special Forces Command, Rainey has been assigned to the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg.
Known as PSYOPS, the group uses information and misinformation to shape the emotions, decision-making and actions of American opponents.
Members of the United States military are allowed to participate in political organizations and events without uniforms, but are prohibited from sponsoring partisan organizations.
It is unclear whether Rainey’s participation in her group on Wednesday violated DOD policy.
Rainey previously made headlines last May after posting a video online in which she repeatedly pulled down warning tape at a playground closed under North Carolina’s COVID-19 restrictions.
Police in Southern Pines, a community about 30 miles west of Fort Bragg, charged her with injury to personal property because of the incident, after she released her twice with warnings.
In Facebook posts, Rainey called her Moore County Citizens for Freedom a “movement.” In a post in November, the group bragged about having a “peaceful protest”, warning at the time, “They should pray that we stay that way.”
With pole wires