CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) – The military is investigating a psychological operations officer who led a group of people from North Carolina to the Washington rally that sparked the deadly riot in the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.
Fort Bragg commanders review Captain Emily Rainey’s involvement in last week’s events in the country’s capital, but said she was acting within military regulations and that no one in her group was breaking the law.
“I was a private individual and did everything right and within my rights,” Rainey told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Rainey said she led 100 members of Moore County Citizens for Freedom, which describes itself online as an independent network promoting conservative values, to the Washington rally to “oppose electoral fraud” and support Trump. She said she didn’t know anyone who entered the Capitol and that they went back to their buses hours before an emergency bell took effect.
Rainey, 30, has been assigned to the 4th Psychological Operations Group in Fort Bragg, according to Maj. Daniel Lessard, a spokesman for the 1st Special Forces Command. Known as PSYOPS, the group uses information and misinformation to shape the emotions, decision-making and actions of American opponents.
This is not the first time Rainey’s actions have been scrutinized. In May, the captain made headlines after posting a video online in which she pulled down a warning tape on 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 personal injury. Police told WRAL-TV that they let her out with warnings twice before after she broke off the tape to close the playground.
The military gave Rainey “appropriate administrative measures” for the incident and she handed in her resignation in September, Lessard said. He said the dismissal process for an officer could take six months or more and Rainey will leave the military in April.
Wednesday in Washington, insurgents took over the rooms of the House and Senate, smashed windows, and waved Trump, American and Confederate flags. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died. The rel followed the rally where Trump repeated false claims that the election was rigged against him and urged his supporters to “fight like hell.”
At least 90 people have been arrested so far on charges ranging from curfews violations to crimes related to attacks on police officers, possession of illegal weapons, and making death threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Rainey said her group and most of the people who traveled to Washington are “peace-loving, law-abiding people who did nothing but demonstrate our First Amendment rights.”
Members of the United States military may participate in political organizations and events without uniform. However, there are caveats. The Ministry of Defense directive prohibits active servicemembers from sponsoring partisan organizations. It is unclear whether Rainey’s participation in her group on Wednesday violated DOD policy.
Rainey said she attended the Trump rally while on leave, did not advertise that she was an army officer, and told her bosses ahead of time that she was going. “We are convinced that justice will prevail to prove our innocence,” she told AP.
In June Rainey wrote an article for the online military publication SOFREP on navigating the regulations surrounding political activities. “The more you know about the rules, the freer you become,” she wrote.
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Bleiberg reported from Dallas and LaPorta from Delray Beach, Florida.