Exposed: the role that Alex Jones and a Publix grocery store heiress played in the January 6th Capitol attacks
Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones facilitated a $300,000 donation to Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 rally from a Florida supermarket heiress that paid for the majority of the $500,000 rally cost.
Julie Jenkins Fancelli, a daughter of the founder of Publix Supermarkets, and a prolific donor to former president Donald Trump, was part of a small group of donors who paid for the rally, according to a new bombshell today from Wall Street Journal.
Additionally, Ali Alexander, leader of the “Stop the Steal” movement, reportedly helped coordinate the rally with Caroline Wren, a fundraiser who was paid by the Trump campaign for much of last year and who Fancelli tapped to help organize the event on her behalf.
The week of the rally and after much of the planning had taken place, Alexander tweeted a flyer for the event, boasting “DC becomes FORT TRUMP starting tomorrow on my orders!”
It was after that rally, when Trump told his followers to not be weak, but “strong,” and promising he was going to march with them – but didn’t – that thousands of Trump supporters surrounded the Capitol with authorities estimating somewhere between 800 to 1,000 actually stormed into the Capitol.
Four people died at the scene, a police officer died the day after, and two police officers who battled the rioters that day have since committed suicide. One officer is expected to lose an eye, and many are reported to be suffering PTSD.
Other organized groups known to have participated in the insurrection are the Proud Boys – a group Trump addressed in the last presidential debate by telling them to “Stand down and stand by” – and the Three Percenters. Additionally, a number of former law enforcement and members of the military have been arrested for their parts in the riot.
Publix is the same supermarket chain that earlier this month was given sole distribution rights in 12 Florida counties to administer Covid-19 vaccines after donating $100,000 to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ re-election PAC. With the exception of Palm Beach County, the other 11 are safely “red” counties, supporting both Trump and DeSantis.
Fancelli has personally been a prolific donor to Trump, including $980,000 in the 2020 election cycle to a joint fund for Trump and the Republican party.
