A Jan. 6 raider got a state regulator job from Ron DeSantis. Here's what has happened since
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who launched his presidential bid this week, was the subject of a USA TODAY investigation this week revealing he appointed a woman who raided the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to a state oversight board. Meanwhile, a man with a Nazi flag rammed into barriers outside the White House, while the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the Allen, Texas, shooter's neo-Nazi ideology, warning he is part of a growing trend. And what Target pulling Pride merchandise from its shelves after threats says about extremist far-right's fixation with the LGBTQ community.
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Sandra Atkinson, a county Republican chair in Florida, can be seen in videos breaking into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a USA TODAY investigation of footage outside and inside the building, and an interview with a Republican Party colleague. Two months after the insurrection, Gov. De Santis appointed her to the Florida Board of Massage Therapy, where she would spend more than a year overseeing the profession in the state, and granting or taking away practitioners' licenses, often based on their own criminal backgrounds.
Atkinson was identified in social media posts and security footage from the Capitol riot first identified by a member of the Sedition Hunters community, a group of volunteer sleuths. A colleague of Atkinson's confirmed the woman in the videos is the GOP county chairwoman, and said Atkinson also later bragged about going into then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.
Atkinson's tenure on the board was short-lived. She left at some point in 2022 after her appointment was never confirmed by the state Senate. In her last meeting, Atkinson made an outburst about an applicant's ability to speak English, which was later disavowed by her board colleagues, who called her words "discriminatory."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/jan-6-raider-got-state-091934927.html
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