A man who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th had plans to continue “the revolution” by breaking his fellow rioters out of prison. He built up a supply of weapons – including an AK-47 and 50 Molotov cocktails – and formed a Bible study group that was really a front for a militia.
But Fi Duong, a 27-year-old Northern Virginia man, wasn’t the only person in his inner circle practicing deception. On the day of the riot, Duong inadvertently befriended an undercover police officer. He bragged that he was “an operator” and explained that he was wearing all-black so that he would be mistaken for a member of antifa.
The undercover cover cop stayed in touch with Duong, and weeks later, he introduced him to an undercover FBI agent. Duong provided that agent with extensive details on his movements during the riot. He didn’t realize he was helping the government build a case against him.
Duong appeared in court last week and was charged with illegally entering the Capitol, obstructing the vote count, and disorderly conduct.
According to Talking Points Memo, “the revelation that prosecutors are employing information from undercover law enforcement sources … marks a new chapter in the ongoing investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection, six months after a pro-Trump mob attacked Congress.”
Court documents reveal that Duong invited the undercover FBI agent to meetings with his secret militia, which members of the Three Percenters had already joined. Several members of the Three Percenters have been charged with planning the January 6 riot.
More from The New York Times:
By February, prosecutors say, the undercover agent had won Mr. Duong’s trust and was invited to a meeting of the militia group at Mr. Duong’s home in Alexandria — a get-together that the members referred to as “Bible study.” During the meeting, court papers say, the undercover agent saw multiple firearms and boxes of ammunition, and the militiamen discussed weapons and training classes in physical fitness, hand-to-hand combat and driving. They also discussed a plan to obtain a private internet server so that members could “subvert potential law enforcement surveillance.”
Members of Duong’s group took video surveillance footage of the Capitol, probing for weaknesses. And he discussed a potential jail-break when the undercover FBI agent pointed out that many rioters were behind bars:
“I see that as an opportunity,” Duong allegedly said. “With every great revolution, you go to the prisons and you break them out. It’s just a matter of figuring out where the prisons are and that should all be public information.”
“In theory, how many of those guards are equipped in a sense of protecting people from breaking into prison…in theory, if we needed to break people out of prison to add to our numbers, to add to the rank, or even to, hell, to sow discord…what that does is add stress to the system.”
The FBI agent eventually drove Duong to an abandoned jail, indicating that it was a good place to test the jail-break plot. Duong agreed, saying it was “perfect.”
But he said the movement wasn’t ready for more action yet. But he added, “It’s coming soon.”
Instead, he awaits his next court date.
