We already know that many of the January 6 rioters were armed to the teeth with an array of weapons including stun guns, pepper spray, baseball bats, and even flagpoles. Some had weapons considerably more dangerous than that. The Washington Post reported in July 2022, that at least a few of the rioters were seen carrying AR-15-style guns. But one of the rioters, 36-year-old Alex Harkrider was carrying a rather unusual weapon: A tactical tomahawk axe, prosecutors said. I had never heard of these before, so maybe it’s really true that you learn something new every day.

Harkrider, of Carthage, Texas, wound up being convicted of seven felonies, Raw Story reports. He and his buddy, co-defendant Ryan Nichols made their way to Washington, D.C., because both believed that “the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Being the chums that they were, Nichols and Harkrider texted each other back and forth, and according to federal prosecutors, one of those messages included a photo of body armor, suggesting it “would protect against various bullets.” In another message, Nichols told Harkrider how he was arming his pickup.

“Dad and i are building a gun container in the truck today,” the message reads. “just know i have intel that Washington will be a warzone. big possibility that actual battle goes down.”

Swarms of people descended on the Capitol building and just think, these people were fighting to ensure that a man who couldn’t care less about them regained power. Trump has never, ever been a so-called “man of the people.” It’s mind-boggling that so many fools fought for this bellicose tyrant of a man who was only interested in having people fawn over him 24/7.

But on this terrible day, Harkrider and Nichols were busy. As the “Stop the Steal” rally proceeded, the two decked themselves in body armor, and as they left the Ellipse, they marched toward the U.S. Capitol building. Harkrider, of course, was wearing the aforementioned tomahawk.

The men carried out their plan, surrounding the entrance to the Lower West Terrace doors, which is also called the tunnel. This, authorities say is where some of the “most violent assaults on law enforcement officers on January 6th” occurred.

The tunnel would soon be filled with the jostling bodies of the crowd, and authorities say Harkrider pushed the crowd up against service members, noting his movements were “synchronized.” He snatched a “stolen police canister of O.C. spray” and “held it above his head for more than ten seconds, and then passed it to other members of the crowd.”

Harkrider and Nichols were arrested on January 18, 2021, per Raw Story.

It’s rather fitting that Harkrider is being mocked, considering his odd choice of weapon and seeming devotion to a man who baselessly and without any credible evidence, still claims to this day that the election was “rigged.”

People on X definitely had some fun with this.

“such a peaceful protest,” one user mused after news of the tomahawk-wielding protester broke.

“here’s hoping alex the tomahawk terrorist gets a nice long stay in the pokey,” another user wisecracked Tuesday.

Nichols entered his guilty plea on November 7, 2023, to obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. Both are felony offenses.

Harkrider’s defense tried to suggest he was unaware of what was transpiring at the Capitol. Really. How ridiculous.

“alex is the follower,” his attorney kira anne west said. “ryan is the leader.”

Harkrider didn’t know what was going on while he was in a huge crowd of people all fighting to gain access to the Capitol building. I would think he’d have to be a little short on brains if he didn’t observe the looming mob all struggling to cause harm.

In the aftermath of his trial, Harkrider was convicted of civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon. And yes, all of these are felonies.

He was also found responsible for theft of government property, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. He is set to be sentenced in May, reports say.

And let’s face it, a tomahawk is a rather odd choice to bring to a shindig like this, so it’s hilarious that Harkrider is being mocked. He deserves it.

Help keep the site running, consider supporting.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Rejects from Darwin’s waiting room! I wonder how tough they’ll talk when the prison sentence comes down? Someone should tell him, in the joint, you leave your weapons at the door, and the really dangerous men already have theirs made and stashed. Good luck posers! You’ll need it.

    17

  2. and it’s not like the boys just decided a week before to become traitors.
    I can picture numerous idiots like them I have been around over the years going back to late 70s all jumping on that magat bandwagon primed for blood of gubmint types.
    I can’t say that everyone knows someone like this because that would be a shit ton of murderous magats on the loose in my country.

    9

  3. A tactical tomahawk might sound kind of weird or even WTF?-is-this-some-joke-weapon to some of you. I can assure you it’s not. They get used and are effective as hell in hand-to-hand combat. And sometimes hand-to-hand it what it comes down to. Back in my day in addition to a bayonet or combat knife (I still have my trusty ole K-Bar like any old school jarhead) but in addition to formal instruction on “improvised” weapons my troop handlers during grunt school at Camp Pendleton included a lot of Vietnam vets and they were ALWAYS teaching. If you sought out more they were more than happy to take time to teach more.

    We had one grizzled Sgt. who got nicknamed “E-tool” because not only was he one of the guys who taught us how various items could be used in a pinch as weapons but he kept pointing out the deadly efficiency of an E-Tool. For those who don’t know that’s an entrenching tool, a small shovel with a quite short handle that in addition to the blade part (which folded over on the handle to make the whole thing shorter) but a “pick” sticking out at the side. Like a miniature pick that could be used to soften or break open hard ground to make digging a fighting hole or trench easier. Sgt. E-Tool showed all the ways it could be used to deadly effect in hand-to-hand fighting and I vowed never to go without having one with my gear if in a combat zone.

    It was well after my time that tactical tomahawks were developed and given to troops and when I learned of it I thought “damn- that would have been great to have.” Fashioned out of a single piece of metal they are compact, and pound-for-pound worth the weight they add to a grunt’s combat gear. Maybe this guy served and maybe he didn’t. If not yes, he SHOULD be mocked (mercilessly so) for acquiring one. Another “look at what a badass I am” toy for Rambo wannabes. However, if he did serve and as an actual grunt deployed into harm’s way his carrying one of those things that day is a brutally serious thing that should be taken into account in his sentencing. A tactical tomahawk can be used to break a riot shield, a protective helmet on a cop and even to smash open thick windows and doors. Not to mention the damage it can do to a human body. Even my broken down old ass could kill somebody with one in a few seconds IF I HAD to. As in protect my own life or someone else’s.

    Just so everyone knows. Maybe the guy should be mocked. But maybe he should have the book thrown at him because he was trained to use that weapon EXACTLY in the manner it was designed for.

    18

    • Sorry but he deserves to be mocked, especially if he served. He should also be forever stripped of any and all benefits he may have earned from that service.

      8

    • I remember some of these weapons from my ex-husband’s time in Vietnam but the axe was a new one to me. Of course, I’ve watched all of the episodes of Vikings and Vikings: Valhalla, so that brought the axe as it would have looked in those times. But my ex is also partly Filipino and he brought home a model of a shield with some Philippine daggers on it. I’ll definitely never forget those weapons. They were truly scary-looking.

      8

  4. One fact has been overlooked is that these @$$holes,weren’t just protesting Trump’s,supposedly rigged loss, but everything he stands against: diversity, LGBTQ rights, women’s equality, freedom of speech, immigrants who aren’t sufficiently white, women’s right to bodily autonomy, non-Christians, freedom to read books.

    4

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The maximum upload file size: 128 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here