C.I.A. Special Activities Center
U.S. Special Operations Command
Psychological operations (PSYOP) are planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. The purpose of United States psychological operations is to induce or reinforce behavior favorable to U.S. objectives. They are an important part of the range of diplomatic, informational, military, and economic activities available to the U.S. They can be utilized during both peacetime and conflict. There are three main types of psychological operations: strategic, operational, and tactical. Strategic PSYOP include informational activities conducted by the U.S. government agencies outside of the military arena, though many utilize Department of Defense (DOD) assets. Operational PSYOP are conducted across the range of military operations, including during peacetime, in a defined operational area to promote the effectiveness of the joint force commander’s (JFC) campaigns and strategies. Tactical PSYOP are conducted in the area assigned to a tactical commander across the range of military operations to support the tactical mission against opposing forces. United States PSYOP units and soldiers of all branches of the military are prohibited by law from targeting U.S. citizens with PSYOP within the borders of the United States (Executive Order S-1233, DOD Directive S-3321.1, and National Security Decision Directive 130).
The George Floyd protests are an ongoing series of protests against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020.[6] The civil unrest and protests began as part of international responses to the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who was killed during an arrest after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis Police Department officer, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds[7] as three other officers looked on and prevented passers-by from intervening.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Chauvin and the other three officers involved were later arrested.[14] On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.[15]
The George Floyd protest movement began hours after his murder as bystander video and word of mouth began to spread.[16] Protests first emerged at the East 38th and Chicago Avenue street intersection in Minneapolis, the location of Floyd’s arrest and death, and other locations in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota.[17] Protests quickly spread nationwide and to over 2,000 cities and towns in over 60 countries in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.[18][19][20] Polls in summer 2020 estimated that between 15 million and 26 million people had participated at some point in the demonstrations in the United States, making the protests the largest in U.S. history.[21][22][23]
While the majority of protests have been peaceful,[24] demonstrations in some cities escalated into riots, looting,[25] and street skirmishes with police and counter-protesters. Some police responded to protests with instances of notable violence, including against reporters.[26][27][28] At least 200 cities in the U.S. had imposed curfews by early June 2020, while more than 30 states and Washington, D.C. activated over 96,000 National Guard, State Guard, 82nd Airborne, and 3rd Infantry Regiment service members.[29][30][31][32] The deployment, when combined with preexisting deployments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other natural disasters, constituted the largest military operation other than war in U.S. history.[33] By the end of June, at least 14,000 people had been arrested.[3][34][35] It was later estimated that between May 26 and August 22, 93% of individual protests were “peaceful and nondestructive”[36] and The Washington Post estimated that by the end of June, 96.3% of 7,305 demonstrations involved no injuries and no property damage.[37] Nevertheless, arson, vandalism, and looting between May 26 and June 8 were tabulated to have caused $1–2 billion in insured damages nationally—the highest recorded damage from civil disorder in U.S. history, “eclipsing the record set in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the police officers who brutalized Rodney King.”[5][38]
The protests precipitated a worldwide debate on racial injustice that has led to numerous legislative proposals on federal, state, and municipal levels intended to combat police misconduct, systemic racism, qualified immunity and police brutality,[39][40] while the Trump administration drew widespread criticism for what critics called its hard line rhetoric and aggressive, militarized response.[41] The protests led to a wave of monument removals and name changes throughout the world, uprooting existing racist imagery.[42] The protests occurred during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and amid the 2020 U.S. presidential election season.[43][44] Protests continued through 2020 and into 2021,[45] most notably in Minneapolis at the 38th and Chicago Avenue street intersection where Floyd was murdered that activists have referred to as George Floyd Square.[46][47] Several protests events coincided with the criminal trial of Chauvin in March and April of 2020 and the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death.
U.S. Military Using ‘Role Players’ For Training Exercises
The village of Eugen looks like it’s somewhere in the Middle East, complete with homes, marketplaces, and mosques. But looks can be deceiving. “Eugen” is actually inside California’s Fort Irwin, home to the military’s largest, artificially-constructed town used to train U.S. troops. January 17, 2019
U.S. Military Role Players Bring The Battlefield (JRTC) To Life
Part 2 of a 3 part series on the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The series aired on KALB TV 5 (NBC). February, 2017
Role Players Help U.S. Military Practice For Nuclear Bomb Attack
The U.S. Army recently held a series of training exercises in (the U.S. Midwest state of) Indiana, to teach troops how to react if a small nuclear bomb, set off by terrorists, were to hit an American city. The exercises included crowd control, medical care and rubble removal. Helping to make the mock scenarios especially realistic were the people hired to play the roles of survivors. VOA’s Deborah Block has more.
U.S. Military Role Players Cultural Awareness Training At 29 Palms
Glacier Technical Solutions (GTS) provided Iraqi Role Players to teach Cultural Awareness Training to US Marines during an Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 2-16 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), Twentynine Palms, CA. This video was taken by TSgt Wendy Day of the 3d Combat Camera Squadron. February, 2016
Soldiers At Play: Guardian Response U.S. Military Role Players
U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers with 209 Quartermaster Company, based in Lafayette, Indiana are role players during Guardian Response 19 at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Indiana. As of May 03, 2019 more than 9,000 Soldiers from across the country are participating in Guardian Response 19, a multi-component training exercise that validates the ability of U.S. Army units to support the Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) mission in the event of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) catastrophes. May 20, 2020
U.S. Military Role Players Help National Guard Train
Role players participate in Vigilant Guard 2013-FL and help the National Guard and Active Duty Soldier and Airmen and civilian first responders train for real world disasters at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center. May 22, 2013
2021 United States Capitol attack
On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was stormed during a riot and violent attack against the U.S. Congress. A mob of supporters of President Donald Trump attempted to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election by disrupting the joint session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes to formalize President-elect Joe Biden‘s victory.[2] The Capitol Complex was locked down and lawmakers and staff were evacuated while rioters occupied and vandalized the building for several hours.[27] Five people died either shortly before, during, or after the event: one was shot by Capitol Police, one died of a drug overdose, and three succumbed to natural causes.[28][16] More than 140 people were injured.
Called to action by Trump,[29] thousands of his supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., on January 5 and 6 in support of his false claim that the 2020 election had been “stolen” from him,[30][31][32] and to demand that Vice President Mike Pence and Congress reject Biden’s victory.[33] Starting at noon on January 6,[34] at a “Save America” rally on the Ellipse, Trump repeated false claims of election irregularities[35] and said, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”[36][37][38] During his speech,[34] thousands of attendees walked to the Capitol, and hundreds breached police perimeters,[39][40] as Congress was beginning the electoral vote count. Many in the crowd broke into the building,[41][42] occupying, vandalizing, and looting it[27] for several hours.[43] They assaulted Capitol Police officers and reporters, erected a mock gallows on the Capitol grounds, and attempted to locate lawmakers to capture and harm.[44] Some rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence”, after Pence’s rejection of false claims by Trump and others that the vice president could overturn the election results.[45] Some vandalized and looted the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA),[46][47] as well as those of other members of Congress.[48]
With building security breached, Capitol Police evacuated the Senate and House of Representatives chambers. Several buildings in the Capitol complex were evacuated, and all were locked down.[49] Rioters occupied and ransacked the empty Senate chamber while federal law enforcement officers drew handguns to defend the evacuated House floor.[50][51] Pipe bombs were found at the offices of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee, and Molotov cocktails were discovered in a vehicle near the Capitol.[52][53] Trump resisted sending the D.C. National Guard to quell the mob.[54]
Numerous public figures called for Trump to intervene without success until shortly after President-elect Joe Biden at 4:06 p.m. implored Trump to call off his supporters,[55] at 4:17 p.m. in a Twitter video, Trump reasserted that the election was “fraudulent”, but told his supporters to “go home in peace”.[56][57] The Capitol was cleared of rioters by mid-evening,[58] and the counting of the electoral votes resumed and was completed in the early morning hours of January 7. Pence declared President-elect Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris victors, and affirmed that they would assume office on January 20. Pressured by his administration, the threat of removal, and numerous resignations, Trump later committed to an orderly transition of power in a televised statement.[59][60]
Mitch McConnell (R–KY), then the Senate Majority Leader, called it a “failed insurrection”[61] and said the Senate “will not bow to lawlessness or intimidation”.[62] Several social media and technology companies suspended or banned Trump’s accounts from their platforms.[63][64]
A week after the riot, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection, making him the only U.S. president to have been impeached twice.[65] Pelosi announced an independent commission modeled after the 9/11 Commission to investigate the attack,[66] although it was ultimately blocked by Republicans in the Senate.[44] Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), later characterized the incident as domestic terrorism.[67][68] Opinion polls showed that a large majority of Americans disapproved of the storming of the Capitol and of Trump’s actions leading up to and following it, although many Republicans supported the attack or at least did not blame Trump for it.[69]
As part of investigations into the attack, the FBI opened more than 400 case files, and more than 500 subpoenas and search warrants have been issued.[70] More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes.[24][25][26] Dozens of people present in Washington, D.C., on the day, including some who took part in the riot, were later found to be listed in the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database, most as suspected white supremacists.[71] Members of the anti-government groups, including paramilitary Oath Keepers, neo-fascist Proud Boys, and far-right militia Three Percenters, were charged with conspiracy for allegedly staging planned missions at the Capitol,[9][72][73][74][75] although prosecutors subsequently acknowledged they do not have clear-cut evidence that the groups had any such plans prior to January 6.[76]
U.S. Veterans Arrested for Role in Capitol Insurrection
Sara Sidner takes a closer look at the people arrested in the Capitol riot, which includes US veterans.
U.S. Air Force Veteran Identified as Capitol Rioter Carrying Zip Ties on Senate Floor
Larry R. Brock Jr., whose address is listed in Grapevine, confirmed to the New Yorker that he was the man pictured wearing a helmet and military gear on the Senate floor.
Capitol Rioters Included Trained Police and U.S. Military Veterans
An AP review of public records and social media shows at least 21 current or former members of U.S. military or law enforcement have been identified as being at or near the Capitol riot. More than a dozen others are now under investigation. (Jan. 15)
U.S. Army Probing Psychological Operations Officer Who Led Group to Deadly D.C. Riots
An Army psychological warfare officer is being investigated for busing people more than 300 miles to attend the Trump rally that turned into deadly riots at the Capitol, Army officials have confirmed. Capt. Emily Rainey, 30, confirmed to the Associated Press that she led more than 100 people to Washington, DC, on Wednesday as part of a North Carolina protest group she heads called Moore County Citizens for Freedom.
Extremism in the Ranks: Some at January 6 Capitol Riot were Police, Active Duty U.S. Military
Right-wing extremists have infiltrated the ranks of the military and law enforcement, as watchdogs and counter-terrorism experts have been warning for years — and some were present at, and later arrested for participating in, the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. NewsHour Special Correspondent Simon Ostrovsky reports on the ongoing effort to root extremists out, as part of our ongoing initiative, “Exploring Hate: Antisemitism, Racism, and Extremism.”
Federal Investigators Suspect some Capitol Attackers had U.S. Military Training
A Washington, D.C., police officer witnessed rioters using military-style hand signals to communicate inside the U.S. Capitol building during the attack on January 6, a law enforcement official told CBS News. The identification of individuals using military, small unit tactics is among the “highest priorities” for a sedition task force being run by the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office. CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge joined Anne-Marie Green on “CBSN AM” to discuss.
21 U.S. Military Veterans Identified in Capitol Assault
The storming of the Capitol bears all the signs of a skilled military operation, experts now say. Finding out where the insurrectionists got their training is “a tier one priority” of investigators, who have identified at least twenty-one US Military veterans as having participated in the riot and siege of the Capitol. Men in combat gear were captured on camera using a tactic known as ranger file to push through the crowd and make their way into the Capitol. Many rioters wore flak jackets and helmets.
With Little Oversight, the Pentagon uses Role Players for Military Training Exercises
The program has fueled a cottage industry of companies paid handsomely to funnel a steady stream of mostly immigrants to American military trainers.
Indeed – Military Role Players
Jooble – Military Role Players
Glassdoor – Military Role Players
SimplyHired – Military Role Players
Language Directions – Military Role Players
Strategic Operations – Military Role Players
Arrow Security & Training, LLC – Military Role Playing
CALNET, Inc. – Foreign Language Speakers (FLS) Role Players
Vertex Solutions – Special Skilled Role Player; Operational Environment Training
The United States Army | JFK Special Warfare Center and School – SWTG Introduces the Comprehensive Training Environment