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US or USSR? Family, friends turn in loved ones who attended Capitol protest

“The FBI has been leaning on spouses, siblings, children and former romantic partners who spotted their loved ones assaulting the Capitol,” NBC reports.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Loved ones ratting out their family members is something most would associate with dictatorships like the Soviet Union, not the United States. But in a new ripple to the Capitol riots story, people are turning in family and friends involved in the Jan. 6 siege, NBC reports on Wednesday – and the state, that is to say, the FBI, is encouraging them to do it.

“The FBI has been leaning on spouses, siblings, children and former romantic partners who spotted their loved ones assaulting the Capitol,” NBC reports.

Jackson Reffitt, who turned in his father Guy Reffitt, an accused rioter and alleged member of a Texas militia group, said, “It was my moral compass, kind of, to do what I thought would protect not only my family, but my dad himself.”

The turning in of family members involved in the Capitol riots is being likened by right-wing pundits to the story of the world’s most famous family denouncer, Pavlik Morozov. Pavlik became a Soviet hero when in 1932, at age 13, he sold out his father to the authorities. Family members killed Pavlik in revenge.

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It remains to be seen if families turning on their own becomes a larger phenomenon. The Department of Homeland Security recently released its first alert warning of a wholly domestic terror threat, “fueled by false narratives,” especially regarding the election, that could cause some to turn to violence.

The DHS’ National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) has focused its bulletins since its inception in 2015 on terrorists inspired by foreign states and terror groups.

The DHS alert was released shortly after former CIA head John Brennan said in an MSNBC interview, “Members of the Biden team, who have been nominated or have been appointed, are now moving in laser-like fashion to try to uncover as much as they can about what looks very similar to insurgency movements that we’ve seen overseas. Where they germinate in different parts of the country, and they gain strength, and it brings together an unholy alliance, frequently, of religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, nativists — even libertarians.”

In mid-January, Therese Duke was identified by her daughter, Helena, who exposed her on Twitter. “Hi mom remember the time you told me I shouldn’t go to BLM protests bc they could get violent…this you?” she tweeted on Jan. 7, a day after the riots.

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The attached video shows her mother punched in the face by a security guard outside the Capitol.

Therese Duke lost her job at UMass Memorial as a result.  The hospital said in a Jan. 8 statement: “Over the past 24 hours we have received numerous expressions of concern through social media regarding a UMass Memorial caregiver who may have been involved in this week’s violent events at the nation’s capitol. The employee in question is no longer a part of our organization.”

Therese Duke worries she won’t be able to find work again. “Anybody can Google me. Nobody will hire me,” she said. She had worked at the medical center for 15 years.

Her daughter, who describes herself as the “liberal lesbian” of the family, has no regrets and says she’s shocked her mom doesn’t think she did anything wrong.