OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — “The Capitol building is sacred ground, there is no reason to vandalize it.”
Jurell Snyder says the march on the Capitol building was supposed to be peaceful instead of devolving into a siege.
He said he was there for a specific purpose.
“To let Congress know that we were there to protest an election that was stolen from us,” he said. “A lot of people say we interrupted the Democratic process, but if it’s all based on a fraudulent election, to us we were interrupting and protesting what appeared to be treason and tyranny.”
Snyder voiced a claim popular with some conservative media outlets that members of Antifa were involved in the break in, although Friday the FBI said there is no indication of Antifa involvement.
But Jurell acknowledges that Trump supporters did go inside, although he says he didn’t follow them.
“Some of the people who did go in there were Trump supporters like Ashley Babbitt who was shot,” he said. “I think she just felt her service was betrayed.”
But he also suspects the Capitol police of making it too easy for them to get in.
“We believe it was a set up,” Snyder said. “They wanted us to get in and be disruptive so they could label us as domestic terrorists and impeach the president.”
In addition to the one protester who was shot and killed, a Capitol police officer died of injuries sustained in the chaos. Three other deaths were due to medical emergencies.
Snyder says he doesn’t regret taking part in the protest, but does wish he did more to stop the vandalism.
An Iraq War veteran, Snyder also worked as an Oakland police officer for nine years until 2015.
OPD has issued a statement disavowing their former employee’s remarks and condemning the violence actions that took back in D.C.