People tying Capitol rioter John Sullivan to BLM and Antifa are missing some key facts
Ever since pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, some people have tried to blame the attack on other groups—namely, Antifa and BLM.
A false Washington Times report—which spread like wildfire—claimed Antifa members had been identified at the riot by a facial recognition software company. As it turned out, the men identified by the software company were actually neo-Nazis, not Antifa, and the story was corrected. But not before Congressman Matt Gaetz cited the original, false story on the House floor. In fact, some people are still talking about the false story as fact. Despite being corrected, the damage has been done.
Now there's another story spreading like wildfire, which is also false. A man named John Sullivan was arrested for taking part in the Capitol riot, and he is being paraded as the poster boy for BLM involvement in planning and carrying out the insurrection. The New York Post, Fox News, Politico, and other outlets initially referred to him as a "left-wing activist" in their headlines.
The problem is, Sullivan was kicked out of BLM protest movements in multiple cities months ago.
In a long Twitter thread, a group called Rebellion Baby detailed the various protest groups around the country that had cut ties with Sullivan, characterizing him as a possible "agent provocateur" or "infiltrator" with ties to the right-wing. (Note that the date of this thread is November of 2020, and that the thread was put out as a warning to Seattle protest groups to keep him away.)
"John has been kicked from the #SaltLakeCity and #Portland protest scenes due to alarming behaviors including grifting/profiteering, self-promotion/clout chasing, sabotage of community actions, threats of violence, and — maybe most disturbingly — ties to the far-right," Rebellion Baby wrote. "In short — John's brother, James, is the co-founder of a pro-Trump org called 'Civilized Awakening,' and has strong ties to Proud Boys — even having spoken at a Proud Boy rally. The brothers' polarized political stances conveniently bolster the other's public personas. Activists in these cities recommend that he be barred from community actions and totally avoided."
Sullivan has multiple social media accounts under multiple names, and frequently adds new ones as he gets called out. For example, he used to be known as "Activist John" but started going by "Jayden X" as different protest groups started warning one another about him.
In addition, the website for the organization he founded, called Insurgence USA, describes itself as "started in 2020 in response to the Gorge Floyd tragedy"—the misspelling of "George" included.
It sounds like John Sullivan may be more interested in sowing chaos for funsies and making money off of activism-minded people than actually standing for anything in particular. In any protest movement, the majority of people are sincere in what they are protesting, but are some people who join in just to cause a ruckus, make a buck, or watch the world burn.
In a new and even longer thread shared since Sullivan's arrest, Rebellion Baby wrote, "While it's still unclear if John's end goal is chaos and confusion or if this is simply a side effect of shameless grifting — it's clear that he continues to be a threat to protester safety whether he's on the ground or online."
"John's top priorities are centering himself and making a buck — even if people are harmed in the process," they added.
More reports are coming out with similar information about Sullivan's involvement in protests this summer and how he was banished from various protest movements.
Sullivan's actions in the Capitol were odd at best. He told the Salt Lake Tribune that he was at the Capitol to "watch history" as a "journalist," but he doesn't have any press credentials. He entered the building through a broken window. He filmed the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, who later died. He can be heard in his own videos yelling "We accomplished this sh--. We did this together," and, "We are all a part of this history. ... Let's burn this s--- down," among other inciting language.
He claims he had to act like he fit in to avoid being attacked himself. "I have to blend into the f------ crowd because, you know, there's a lot of people who wanted to hurt me," he said.
Sullivan is from Utah but is not affiliated with Black Lives Matter Utah, and the group told the Tribune he has never been a member.
Investigations into the Black Lives Matter protests and the riots that stemmed from them found that some instances of violence, (which took place in a very small percentage of the protests overall) were instigated by white supremacists. The killer of two police officers in Oakland during the protests was found to be part of the right-wing "Boogaloo Bois" movement. So the idea of opposing groups infiltrating a protest movement is not uncommon and totally possible.
However, both the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice have said that they have seen no evidence in their investigations so far that there was Antifa involvement in the Capitol riot. And there have been no credible reports of BLM involvement, either.
Besides, it takes a pretty pretzel-like stretch of the imagination to think that people who are well-known in the QAnon and pro-Trump world, who posted on social media before the riot talking about doing storming the Capitol, who are on video shouting about how they were storming the Capitol as they were doing it, and then also on video bragging about storming the Capitol after they did it, were not actually the ones doing it.
If John Sullivan's participation is the only piece of evidence that BLM or Antifa caused the destruction and violence at the U.S. Capitol—and not insurrectionists trying to keep Trump in power—that's proof in and of itself that the idea is total fantasy.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.