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Far-right streamer stormed Capitol while Covid positive

Gionet used the blockchain service DLive to stream live from inside the US Capitol

Namita Singh
Friday 08 January 2021 10:14 GMT
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Biden condemns ‘domestic terrorists’ who stormed Capitol building

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One of the rioters who forced his way into the Capitol building on Wednesday along with a sea of President Donald Trump loyalists has been identified as Tim Gionet, a far-right supporter who had recently tested positive for the coronavirus.   

Gionet, popularly known as “Baked Alaska,” had live-streamed himself from inside the Capitol after breaching the building. 

During the stream on blockchain service DLive, Gionet told his 16,000 viewers that he might sleep inside the office and use the landline to call President Trump. 

Recorded maskless during the breach, Gionet on Monday had posted a video about him testing positive for the Covid-19 infection, reported The Daily Dot.  

According to the video, Gionet believes that he contracted the virus after a bouncer “spit” on his face.  

The Trump supporter, known for his neo-Nazi views, has been identified as a “white nationalist’” by the Southern Poverty Law Centre,  a label he contested while responding to The Insider. 

While Twitter suspended his account in November, 2017, YouTube banned his channel in October last year, after he posted videos of himself harassing shop workers and refusing to wear a face-mask during the coronavirus pandemic.

Others who are suspected to have participated in the riots include Holocaust deniers, White supremacists and conspiracy theorists. Shirtless, wearing horns and fur, a Trump-supporting QAnon conspiracy theorist is seen in numerous images from the Capitol on Wednesday and has been identified as Jake Angeli.

In fact, at least six Republican state legislators allegedly took part in events surrounding the storming of the US Capitol with West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans posting a video of himself entering the building, that he later deleted.  

We're in! Keep it moving, baby!" he can be heard saying in a packed doorway surrounded by Trump followers. 

He has since been asked to resign, having been among the rioters who broke into the US Capitol Building, and videoed the events, CBS News reported.

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