Tim has been acting strange lately.

I reserve judgment until I learn what this "major Federal crime" is that he committed. From what I've been able to glean so far, he was confirmed to be in attendance, which in and of itself, is not a crime. If he did more than that, I'd like to know what.

As for the alleged threat, the reality is that we don't know what was actually said. Given that the son is using this narrative to profit himself via GoFundMe, I think it's reasonable to call into question the boy's motives or even whether this whole thing is a "work" on the part of the family to make money.

Having said all that, if my parent had committed a major crime - Federal or otherwise - it would greatly depend on their reasons as to whether I would report them. Murder? Yes, I would. But something like counterfeiting? No, I don't think I would or could. But I would definitely walk away and refuse to support it or them.

@Alysandir

From what I've been able to glean so far, he was confirmed to be in attendance, which in and of itself, is not a crime.

Attending the rally, correct. Being inside the Capitol, yes, that was most certainly a crime.

@JacksonNought

Is it? I was under the impression that the Capitol was a public building.

Now, if he smashed his way in, assaulted police, broke into offices and stole material, then I'm inclined to agree that a crime was committed, although I still wouldn't go so far as to call it a major crime, unless he just happened to steal classified material or some other felony-level act. To call the asshattery that was committed on 1/6 sedition or an attempted coup is - IMHO - people pushing a narrative.

Do we know what this guy actually did?

@Alysandir the Capitol was not a private building that day. It was locked and guarded by police. The only reason people got in was because they broke windows and doors and pushed past the police line. So by entering the building, they were all guilty of criminal trespass. The White House is also a public building, but you can be sure anyone trying to charge it and break in will be met with extreme force and thrown in jail.

I don't see what 1/6 can be labeled other than an attempted coup. These people were there because Congress was certifying the electoral votes, officially confirming Biden as the president-elect. They were storming the Capitol to try and stop this certification, because they wanted to overturn the election and have Trump installed for a second term. What else would you call this?

@JacksonNought

Well, for starters, I'm not certain I would categorize criminal trespass as a "major Federal crime," so let's move on to your other assertion, that this was sedition and/or an attempted coup.

If we agree for the sake of discussion that this was an actual coup, then I would like to start by saying this is quite possibly the worst coup in the history of mankind. No organization to speak of. No goal to speak of, other than doing something asinine to mug for the cameras and post it on social media. By every account, the only shots fired in the Capitol building were from the Capitol police themselves. If I'm being fair, I'd say this was at WORST, a disruption of proceedings that frankly, only happened out of an abundance of caution, as the rioters never even got close to the Senate Chamber.

In plain and simple language, this was an unruly mob doing what unruly mobs do. To label it a coup implies intelligence that was clearly in short supply that day. To even label it sedition is well overblown, and is - IMHO - an attempt by the political establishment to make examples of people who I believe had legitimate grievances, but went about it voicing it the wrong way.

Now, please don't misunderstand me, I do NOT condone what they did that day, any more than I condone Antifa's repeated attempts to set fire to the Federal courthouse in Portland (an act - I might observe - which has received curiously little condemnation from the same people who characterize the Capitol riot as offense worth of the death penalty). Frankly, I begged with conservatives who were talking big talk about what they were going to do to just show up, make their voices heard, and go home.

But in spite of my condemning what they did, I also condemn those who seek to use this as pretext for vilifying everyone in opposition to their ideological narrative, which is most certainly underway. We can only survive as a people if we can find the courage to call things what they are, unilaterally.

And, you don’t need to hear the father’s version of events because...
The sweet, innocent, boy did not discuss the situation with anyone else in the family because...
He did manage to score $100,000 USD from crowdfunding, so far!

Incidentally, the "coup" attempt must be the first in modern history where the revolutionaries did not bother to bring guns! I thought all of those far right red necks were gun happy murderers?
I must be thinking of BLM/Antifa.