Who is Emily Rainey? Army Psychological Warfare Officer being probed for role in Capitol riots
Army officials confirmed on Monday that Emily Rainey who is a psychological warfare officer is currently being investigated for taking part in the Trump rally that turned into deadly riots at the Capitol, and in addition to this, also helping many people arrive at the venue by arranging for buses. 30-year-old Captain Emily Rainey also confirmed to Associated Press that she had arranged transport for more than 100 people to arrive at Washington DC as a part of a protest.
Rainey, who is reportedly also an anti-masker, heads a group called the Moore County Citizens for Freedom, which had organized a North Carolina protest group. Rainey also stated that she had always been upfront about her plans to take part in the rally but also claimed that she was not part of the group of people who had stormed the US Capitol.
Rainey had told AP on Sunday, "I was a private citizen and doing everything right and within my rights. I told my bosses before I went that I was going, and I told them when I got back.” She also explained that she was on leave when she was in Washington DC for the rally. On the other hand, there are also media reports that suggest that Rainey had at this point in time already handed in her resignation because of a conflict that had risen due to her taking part in another rally in the Fort Bragg area.
However, more details about this particular rally or why a conflict arose in the first place is unclear at the moment. However, the reason that Rainey had decided to hand in her resignation was that she had received a Letter of Reprimand that would be considered as career-ending, however, the reason why she is still as being on duty is because of the time that it takes to process a resignation such as the one tendered by Rainey.
In addition to claiming that she was not a part of the violent storming, Rainey also said that the majority of the people at the rally were, "peace-loving, law-abiding people who were doing nothing but demonstrating our First Amendment rights.” This also included the people that she had organized transport for. She further added in a video according to reports, that she had posted on Facebook that the rioters were Antifa and claimed, "I don’t know any violent Patriots. I don’t know any Patriots who would smash the windows of a National jewel-like the [Capitol].”
Speaking about the attempt to identify everyone who was a part of Trump's rally, Rainey claimed that it was a witch hunt. She said, "There were 2 million people at the rally!” She also incited those who followed her on Facebook to fight and put everything on the line as well. She said, "You need to start fighting,” and added, “put everything on the line. It’s darkest before the dawn, OK, and it always looks bleak, but … I’m not worried. You just have to be ready to give it all you’ve got. It’s worth it — our country’s worth it.”
According to Major Daniel Lessard, a spokesman for 1st Special Forces Command, Rainey was assigned to the 4th Psychological Operations Group at Fort Bragg.