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This piece contains editorial comments that belong to the U.S. veteran who wrote this story.
In what appears to be another attempt to weaponize federal law enforcement against those who tell the truth and push back against the progressive narrative, Chris Burgard recently received a visit from the FBI at his Texas ranch.
Here is what led to that encounter.
In November of 2021, Burgard released a documentary called Capitol Punishment. His film featured what he saw at the US Capitol on January 6th, He combined the footage of what he captured outside with cell phone video shot by individuals who went into the building, showing numerous perspectives that were not shown by the mainstream media.
The poster for the film is headlined:
EVERYTHING THEY TOLD YOU IS A LIE
Ironically, the very agency that is now looking into Burgard has seemingly ignored his movie from an evidentiary point of view.
“Capitol Punishment” director Chris Burgard described the chilling visit he allegedly got from the FBI after making his movie about January 6 and said “if this can happen to me, it can happen to anybody.”https://t.co/vVSdtPytaX
— OregonTeaParty (@OregonTeaParty) October 22, 2022
As stated in an interview with Burgard and his wife by PJ Media:
“Despite never having entered the Capitol building himself, the FBI has now come to Burgard’s ranch in Texas to interrogate him. As one might imagine, after filming extensive interviews with victims of the FBI witch hunt, this left Burgard, and his family shaken.”
They described the encounter.
On August 4th, an FBI agent went to their home, leaving his card on the door.
It was not clear from the interview if the agent simply left it on the door and drove away, or if he attempted to speak to someone but found no one at the home.
Lisa Burgard said that the entire process left her “unsettled.”
“There was no note attached, so I wasn’t sure, like, was it for Chris, was it for me, was it for the whole family? Were we supposed to call them back? I really didn’t know what to make of it, but it was a warning. I mean, I’ve never had anything like that happen before.”
Chris Burgard continued discussing the impact that this was having on his entire family.
“We had to have a family meeting afterwards because, you know, from doing the movie, my daughter knows those other girls that had their house raided and pulled out into the street. One of them was handcuffed. They were flash-banged.
And my daughter’s like, ‘Dad, you think they’ll raid us tomorrow? Should I keep the dogs in my room? Cause I don’t want them to shoot my dogs.’ I can’t tell you the stress this caused my family.”
Keep in mind, Burgard was privy to watching video after video of the FBI’s pre-dawn raids of the homes of individuals they believed to be associated with January 6th. He included those aspects in his documentary.
Agents shut down streets. They used “flash bang” grenades to stun and disorient the residents of those homes as they made entry.
Given his knowledge of FBI tactics surrounding, it stands to reason that he and his family might be scared of what might be coming their way.
During their family meeting, their 18-year-old daughter moved her father to tears.
“[She] says, ‘Dad, you can’t stop. Because people have to know that, even if you do stop, they’re still going to come after you.’ That was our decision to move forward.”
That is when Burgard lawyered up. His attorney assisted him in responded to the Bureau.
When the agent that left his card told them he only had three questions, the attorney told him to request to be able to respond in writing, which the FBI acquiesced to. Turns out, those three questions wound up being a total of nine.
He answered them and the FBI accepted is response. He has not received any indication that the inquiry into him has been closed.
For now, Burgard and his family still live with the uncertainty of what might happen next. Given the number of American citizens that are still being held without bond in prisons for what some believe amounts to nothing more than trespassing, it is easy to understand the trepidation they face each day with.
“It was very intimidating,” Lisa said. “We are law-abiding citizens and of course, we would cooperate. But it was with so many in our film, they just took it to an extreme. You never know who’s going to be next. It’s still unsettling and I don’t know how I feel about it. I hope that it’s going to be resolved soon and it doesn’t escalate into anything more.”
To the FBI’s credit, Burgard and his attorney both praised the field agents for how they conducted themselves.
Pointing out that the average rank-and-file agents are not aware of how deep the scope of this thing goes at the highest levels of FBI and DOJ administration, attorney Brian Chavez Ochoa also said:
“I think your on-the-street agents are dedicated and are loyal to the oath they took when they were sworn in.”
It remains to be seen of Burgard and his family are awakened early one morning to the sound of clash shattering and a grenade exploding as the FBI makes entry into their home, or if his written statement truly sufficed.
Law Enforcement today will continue to follow this story and will provide updates when available.
Former NYPD intelligence officer: You’re being lied to about what really happened on January 6th, 2021. Here’s the truth.
Like most Americans, I watched the events that unfolded on January 6th, 2020 and was truly disgusted. What started out as a peaceful rally, quickly devolved into chaos with protesters unlawfully entering the Capitol building, some damaging property, others assaulting Capitol police officers.
Once inside, some of the protesters entered the Well of Congress, others their office space, posing for pictures of themselves and posting on various forms of social media. At one point, a group of protesters attempted to break down a barricaded door that was flanked by several uniformed Capitol Police officer.
For some unknown reason, the Capitol Police officer’s left the barricaded door position and moved to another location. The same group of protesters then became more aggressive, pushing and striking the glass window of the door with what looked like flagpoles or clubs.
A man stationed on the interior side of the door, later identified as Lieutenant Michael Byrd of the Capitol police fired one shot from his service weapon, striking Ashli Babbit in the neck, an injury that proved to be fatal.
Much has been said about Lt. Byrd, his use of deadly physical force and the justification to shoot Ashli Babbit who was unarmed at the time of the incident. Videos collected from the scene before the fatal shooting appeared to show Ashli’s attempts to stop some of the other protesters from causing further damage and entering the barricaded door.
On Thursday, June 9th, 2022, hearings regarding the January 6th, 2021 Committee, were broadcast live from Capitol Hill, with members of congress making their oral arguments and displaying edited videos from the rally.
A Capitol Police Officer by the name of Caroline Edwards gave testimony on what she experienced and witnessed from the events from January 6th, including how she was knocked unconscious by a bicycle rack thrown by protesters.
Officer Edwards states that after she regained consciousness, she and her partner Officer Sicknick were sprayed with a chemical irritant, adding “It was carnage…It was chaos”.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund acknowledged that a warning from the FBI field office in Virginia that read in part “Forecast in detail, the chances extremists could commit “War” was issued but that it wasn’t received until the following day (01-06-21).
The FBI disputed that claim by Chief Sund and was able to verify that the warning was in fact passed on to a Capitol Police officer assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) prior to January 6th. Chief Sund states never read the report and wasn’t aware of the warning until after the rally had occurred.
In a separate Senate hearing held on January 11th, 2022, Senator Cruz questioned FBI Executive Assistant Director of National Security Branch Agent Jill Sanborn on whether the FBI agents or confidential informants actively participated in the January 6th riots, Agent Sanborn refused to answer the question stating “I can’t answer that”.
Senator Cruz asked Agent Sanborn “Who is “Ray Epps?” Agent Sanborn replied “I’m aware of who he (Ray Epps) is but I don’t have the specific background to him”.
Senator Cruz then displayed several still enlarged pictures on posters of Ray Epps captured from video recorded on the night before (January 5th ) the January 6th rally with the captions from Mr. Epps that read “Tomorrow, we need to get into the Capitol, into the Capitol!”. In response to Mr. Epps, the crowd shouted “Fed, Fed, Fed, Fed, Fed, Fed” the assertion that Mr. Epps was an FBI Agent.
Senator Cruz asked Agent Sanborn “Is Ray Epps a Fed?” her response was “Sir, I cannot answer that question”. Senator Cruz then presented a 2nd poster with pictures taken from video that depicted Mr. Epps whispering into the ear of another protester.
Within 5 seconds, both Mr. Epps and two other protesters began tearing down a barricade stationed in front of the Capitol. Senator Cruz asked Agent Sanborn “Did Mr. Epps urge them to tear down the barricade?” Agent Sanborn replied “Sir, similar to the other answers, I cannot answer that”.
Finally, Senator Cruz that displayed an FBI Wanted poster published on January 8th that depicted Mr. Epps picture on it along with several other protesters that offered cash rewards for information leading to their arrests and asked: “Did federal agents or those in service of federal agents actively encourage violent and criminal conduct on January 6th?
Agent Sanborn’s response: “Not to my knowledge Sir”. In the following poster presented by Senator Cruz, Mr. Epps picture was removed from the wanted poster on July 1st, 2021 without explanation.
As of this writing, the FBI has arrested 862 protesters from the January 6th rally with the most recent occurring on the morning of June 9th of Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Ryan Kelly, hours before the January 6th Select Committee was to begin their first hearing.
In anticipation of the large crowd, the Trump administration is on record in having offered National Guard Troops to DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, days in advance of the rally voicing security concerns. Both Mayor Bowser and Speaker Pelosi declined the assistance.
Having served 20 years in the NYPD, I’ve lost count of how many protests I have worked throughout NYC. From the riots in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to Washington Heights in upper Manhattan to the Iraq War that began in front of the United Nations with well over 100,000 people in attendance. In all of these protests, the appropriate planning and resources were allocated and adjusted as necessary.
As a former member of the NYPD Intelligence division, I frequently conducted plain clothes operations at these very same events as well as the use of confidential informants, to collect intelligence and address potential hotspots in order to maintain crowd control.
If the January 6th Select Committee is truly serious about finding the truth, about meeting out justice, there needs to be full transparency not deflection and obfuscation…we owe that to the American people…Especially for Ashli Babbit.
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Christopher Strom is a US Marine, NYPD Intelligence Officer and author of “Brooklyn to Baghdad: An NYPD Cop Fights Terror in Iraq”. Mr. Strom is also a frequent guest on major news media outlets, giving context on Counter Terrorism and Policing in America.
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