In a fundraising email for a group devoted to bringing “help, hope, and healing” to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, right-wing propagandist Dinesh D’Souza begins by claiming, “In my film 2000 Mules, I exposed one of the greatest scandals in American history - the hijacking of the 2020 presidential election.”
Where to begin? As Right Wing Watch has previously noted, “the movie’s election-fraud claims have been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked—so thoroughly in fact that [in 2024] the right-wing Salem Media Group apologized for the movie’s promotion of false claims and announced it would stop distributing both the book and movie versions.”
In 2024 the right-wing group True the Vote, whose analysis was at the core of the movie’s claims, “told a Georgia judge that it doesn’t have evidence to support its claims of illegal ballot stuffing during the 2020 general election and a runoff two months later,” as AP reported. That same year D’Souza apologized to a man falsely labeled a criminal in the movie and acknowledged that the movie’s findings “were based on a faulty analysis,” the New York Times reported, even though D’Souza continued to claim without evidence that somehow “the underlying premise of the film holds true.”
Although widely discredited, “2000 Mules” helped convince many in the MAGA movement that Trump’s lies about the 2020 election were true. And D’Souza continues to cite the film as evidence for those claims, as he did last year when raising campaign funds for his son-in-law, Rep. Brandon Gill.
The organization D’Souza is promoting with his recent email, Stand in the Gap, was founded by Shane Jenkins, who was convicted in 2023 of seven felonies and two misdemeanors for his violent role in the attack on the Capitol. He was sentenced to 84 months in prison before being pardoned by President Donald Trump along with other Jan. 6 rioters; he says his group is helping people dealing with continuing practical and emotional challenges arising from their convictions and incarceration.
Stand in the Gap’s logo features a shield-and-spear-wielding crusader. D’Souza’s email raising money for the group says “the ‘crime’ these patriots committed was fighting for their country,” and he claims “they were hunted down in a political persecution that denied them their constitutional rights.”
“All they did was stand up for their beliefs,” writes D’Souza. Well, not exactly. Here’s some detail from the Justice Department’s announcement about Jenkins’ sentencing:
According to court documents and video evidence presented at sentencing, Jenkins traveled from his home in Houston to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, in order to attempt to hinder Congress' certification of the electoral college vote. Before traveling, Jenkins posted on social media about his plans for violence and specifically contemplated bringing deadly weapons. In one social media post, Jenkins wrote, "I honestly wish we could drag ole Chuck Nancy and killary out and give em what for" and "I sent him the pic, and I have some sog tomahawks and tactical blades can I take those?"
As stated in his social media posts, Jenkins brought a "Sog" brand metal tomahawk axe to Washington D.C., which he carried in his backpack the next day and took to the Capitol.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Jenkins attended a rally at the Ellipse and then went to the Capitol building. He arrived at the West side around 2:40 p.m. and joined the rioters on the West Plaza. At around 3:00 p.m., he climbed to the Lower West Terrace and moved towards the composite window to the left of the LWT tunnel. Here, members of the United States Capitol Police (USCP), assisted by officers from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), were arrayed inside the Tunnel entrance, prohibiting rioters from advancing further into the building.
Jenkins climbed up to stand on the windowsill, recording the scene with his cellphone. Having watched other rioters fail to enter the Capitol through the Tunnel, Jenkins took matters into his own hands. At approximately 3:45 p.m., Jenkins retrieved the tomahawk from his backpack and put on protective gloves. Jenkins then struck the windowpane nearest him six times with the spike end of the tomahawk, causing the pulverized glass to spray with every strike. While he was striking the window, another rioter interrupted him by pulling at his pant leg. Jenkins shouted angrily to the crowd, "Are we going in or not?" Jenkins then continued to rile up the crowd, telling other rioters, "Bro, we're going in that f— building one way or another" and "We paid for it; it's our f— building."
Following Jenkins' lead, other rioters eventually succeeded in destroying the window, clearing the way for access into the building. Other rioters entered this room and, among other things, disassembled the wooden furniture inside so that parts and pieces could be used as weapons. Jenkins and other rioters used these items to attack the officers attempting to block the entrance to the Lower West Terrace Tunnel.
At around 3:55 p.m., Jenkins moved from the window towards the mouth of the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. Once he arrived, he waved other rioters forward as the crowd attempted to push a large flag into the Tunnel. When this effort failed, Jenkins pressed forward, shouting "Push," as the rioters around him used pepper spray on the officers. Jenkins continued to press against officers and force his way into the Tunnel for over ten minutes, leaving only after being pepper-sprayed directly in the face and head multiple times.
At approximately 4:27 p.m., Jenkins grabbed one of the riot shields the other rioters had stolen from officers and carried it with him as he climbed the steps leading to the Tunnel. Jenkins joined other rioters in a concerted assault on the officers defending the Tunnel entrance. As other rioters also attacked, Jenkins hurled nine different objects at the officers, including a solid wooden desk drawer. In addition to the desk drawer, Jenkins threw a flagpole, a metal walking stick, and a broken wooden pole with a spear-like point at police in the Tunnel. After his ninth attack, Jenkins returned to the window ledge where he had been standing earlier, retrieved his backpack, and left the area.
In the days and weeks after the riot, Jenkins took to social media to brag about his conduct at the Capitol, calling the police "trash" and confirming that his motive had been to interfere with the certification of the election. In a message sent to an associate following the events of January 6th, Jenkins wrote, "I have murder in my heart and head. I love you, I'm not over this election, as our president so eloquently stated yesterday bull—, I am sorry man, I wanna scream and cry at all the same time." He was arrested on March 5, 2021, in Houston, Texas.
Jenkins was convicted of the following: corruptly obstructing an official proceeding of Congress; interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon; destruction of government property; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon, all felonies. In addition to the felonies, Jenkins was convicted of misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings.