Message Board for NYPD Hates Capitol Police, Loves the Jan. 6 Riot

The police are notorious for supporting each other in almost all situations. While many professions tend to close themselves off and protect their own, solidarity among police officers is particularly strong.

Except apparently when it comes to the US Capitol Police.

Members of an online message board dedicated to alleged New York Police Department (NYPD) employees are not keeping up the thin blue line for their brothers who defended the US Capitol.

Ironically, they even want Capitol Police investigated for police brutality.

Things on the board got particularly heinous this week. Members were outraged that a retired NYPD officer, Sara Carpenter, was convicted for her role in the Capitol riots. Although she is accused of physically beating a police officer, they view Carpenter’s conviction as a miscarriage of justice.

Thee Rant is described as a place where “New York cops speak their minds”. It’s an anonymous message board hosted on Tapatalk. Members discuss news and other topics of interest to the group.

Thee Rant was founded in 2008. Many of its most active users have been on the board ever since. It currently has over 2,500 members and over 1 million posts.

Although all members are not confirmed to be from the former NYPD, the board discusses issues specific to that department. On Thursday, a member noted that the NYPD has been without a permanent inspector general for over a year. The Office of the Inspector General investigates police misconduct. The member who posted the story commented that the NYPD had a “job offer for [a] real big cheese eater’, along with a picture of a rat.

The Daily Dot reported on Thee Rant back in 2020. Thee Rant is the follow-up to an eponymous message board that was shut down after a senior New York Police Department (NYPD) official was found to have posted “racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and homophobic sentiments” on the forum. The officer denied this but was fired after an internal investigation.

After the closure of the previous board, members moved to Thee Rant.

The discussion there is still largely led by a handful of highly engaged users and contains posts denigrating liberals, espousing conspiracy theories and praising the far right.

It is possible that some members are not current or former police officers. A reporter submitted a request to join Thee Rant; this request is pending at the time of this writing.

The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment emailed Thursday. The administrators of Thee Rant did not respond to a message requesting comment on Thursday.

Many members of Thee Rant have police-related usernames and avatars, and they frequently discuss topics of interest to the NYPD and the police force in general.

Earlier this week, a member asked people to donate to save health care for retirees in New York City.

Also this week, a particularly active user urged members to boycott Ben & Jerry’s because its founders recently protested police brutality. The post prompted comments such as, “Where’s Paul Revere when you need a warning about the coming communists? And the Minutemen to go [them] An?” and “I’ve never had their product, they’ve always been POS and very anti-cop.”

But they don’t have the same sharpness against the Jan. 6 rioters, who inflicted concussions, fractures and other injuries on Capitol officials. Members of Thee Rant have a lot of sympathy for the rioters. One recently referred to convicted rioter Jacob Chansley, better known as the QAnon shaman, as a “political prisoner.” Another called former Vice President Mike Pence a “turncoat”.

Thee Rant is full of posts denying the seriousness of the Capitol riot, defending rioters who assaulted police, and attacking law enforcement for their behavior during and after the riot.

Tucker Carlson’s recent post, in which he described the violent assault on democracy as a peaceful protest that drew criticism even from prominent Conservatives, drew positive attention from Thee Rant, though Carlson claimed police lied about an officer dying on duty may be .

Thee Rant host LibwithaClue, who uses an avatar of a New York City police detective’s badge, shared Carlson’s claim that Capitol Officer Brian Sicknick’s death from a stroke after he collapsed later that night was not caused by the riot. “These animals who hated President Trump lied to the American people about the death of a man for political reasons,” LibwithaClue wrote.

A member known as RetPDDet shared a common conspiracy theory that the FBI orchestrated the whole thing. “Innocent Americans remain incarcerated to this day, most without a charge or indictment ever having been brought before a court,” RetPDDet said.

Those detained over the Capitol riots have either been charged or convicted.

Some members of Thee Rant blame the Capitol Police for initiating the violence that day. The police are often accused of unprovoked attacks; It is extremely rare that other officials have a problem with this.

“I knew what that was when it happened. The American people must stand up and demand justice,” user MeznoktoZ wrote of claims that Capitol Police fired on the “innocent crowd.”

Others criticized the police’s excessive use of force that day, an issue the police never seem to have shown much interest in.

“Not once in the DOJ report do they describe the brutal beatings [a protester] Received from the hands of Capitol Police officers. The fact that they ignored police brutality in their report is absolutely cheeky,” one user wrote.

“Hold everyone accountable, especially the bastard cops involved in the staging,” MeznoktoZ added.

Many police officers took part in the Capitol riots, some of whom were charged and convicted. Retired NYPD officer Carpenter was among them.

Last week, a jury convicted Carpenter of multiple felonies and misdemeanors, including entering the Capitol, refusing to exit when ordered by police, and slapping officers’ arms as they attempted to restrain them, what was caught on video in Law & Crime reports.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department released a video of Carpenter yelling, “I’m a bloody animal!” while at the Capitol.

To the members of Thee Rant, Carpenter was convicted of merely shaking a tambourine.

“Those whose lives matter can burn loot and murder, white people shake a tambourine and go to jail!!!” wrote one, likely referring to Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality.

Several suggested that Carpenter should sue the government for impeaching her. One expressed hope that Trump will be elected in 2024 and pardon all rioters.

That a police officer could be charged for his actions that day left members of New York’s finest stunned.

“So much for a peer jury,” one wrote of her indictment in DC, “she would have fared much better if she was a crackhead stabbing kids.”

“Where has my country gone?” asked the user who posted the news of Carpenter’s conviction.

“BIDEN’S AMERICA,” another replied with a puking emoji.

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