{"id":23464,"date":"2026-06-01T00:20:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-rioters-clamor-for-payouts-from-anti-weaponization-fund-despite-backlash\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T00:20:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T00:20:30","slug":"capitol-rioters-clamor-for-payouts-from-anti-weaponization-fund-despite-backlash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-rioters-clamor-for-payouts-from-anti-weaponization-fund-despite-backlash\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol rioters clamor for payouts from ‘anti-weaponization’ fund despite backlash…"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON (AP) — David Johnston was a licensed attorney when he illegally entered the Capitol with a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021<\/a><\/span>. More than five years later, the South Carolina man is offering to help fellow “J6ers” apply for payouts from the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion new fund<\/a><\/span> for people claiming to be victims of a weaponized government.<\/p>\n

He’ll do it for a 10% cut of any award, capped at $5,000 apiece.<\/p>\n

“I think the narrative is changing” about how the history of that day is being told, Johnston said in a video he posted to social media. “I think good things are happening for us.”<\/p>\n

Hundreds of Trump loyalists pleaded guilty to storming the Capitol, admitting under oath that they broke the law. Now pardoned by Trump<\/a><\/span>many hope to capitalize on their crimes by tapping into the $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate the Republican president’s allies who believe they were politically prosecuted.<\/p>\n

A bipartisan backlash<\/a><\/span> to the fund and a legal roadblock<\/a><\/span> have not dimmed the celebratory response from Jan. 6 rioters clamoring for a share of the taxpayer money. Some are staking claims even though the government has not established an application process and a judge has frozen the fund’s formation, at least temporarily.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> \"Support<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n
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Support of President Donald Trump climb the West Wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana, File)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/bsp-read-more><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n