A consultant whose companies were paid almost $10 million by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign and associated political action committee appeared to be part of the mob that moved into restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021.
The consultancy firm, operated by Trent Pool and his brother, worked to get Kennedy on the ballot in several states.
In photos and videos from January 6, a man resembling Pool can be repeatedly seen wearing a knit beanie from Pool’s alma mater, Southern Methodist University. In one video, he responds to the name “Trent.”
The man in the SMU hat spent hours on what the FBI later called restricted ground during the melee and was involved in carrying a barricade away from a police line after others had seized it. The man can be seen asking another demonstrator to take a photo of him, telling an associate to join him near a standoff with police, and waving a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.
The man spent hours on what the FBI later called restricted ground and was involved in carrying a barricade away from a police line after others had seized it.
“My client was in Washington, D.C., with a documentary film crew to record portions of the rally that day,” said Pool’s lawyer, Jacques Catafago, in response to an inquiry from The Intercept.
“My client condemns the actions of the January 6 rioters, and any insinuation that he participated in that violence would be false and defamatory,” Catafago said. “In fact, while rioters were storming the Capitol, my client was outside helping a disabled friend get to safety and helping protect a police officer who was being attacked.”
Catafago did not respond to specific questions about the photos and videos of the man waving a flag and holding a police barricade aloft, but made a general statement that Pool disputed the accuracy of the materials reviewed by The Intercept. There is no evidence Pool entered the Capitol building, and he has not been charged with any crimes related to the January 6 riots.
When Kennedy was still actively campaigning for the presidency — a 10-month effort to get on all 50 ballots — Kennedy’s campaign and an affiliated super PAC paid companies associated with Pool’s firm $9,367,343, according to federal filings.
Though Kennedy suspended his campaign, Pool’s effort may still be felt in the presidential race. Kennedy has sued to be removed from ballots in order to benefit Donald Trump, including critical Midwestern swing states.
Photo illustration: Ali Gharib
The man wearing the SMU beanie in the January 6 photos and videos reviewed by The Intercept can be seen in restricted areas right outside the Capitol building, around the southwest staircase and the western terrace.
One photograph of the man in the SMU beanie was posted on a far-right blog in January 2021. A former Kennedy campaign staffer and two of Pool’s former political associates, all of whom requested anonymity to for employment reasons, said the man in the beanie was Pool.
In the videos and photographs, the man with the SMU beanie can also be seen observing as rioters scaled scaffolds and fought their way into entrance tunnels to the Capitol.
Pool is among a group of Kennedy campaign consultants and staffers who have ties to right-wing figures. Zach Henry, a social media influencer hired in March by Kennedy, appeared to be on restricted Capitol grounds on January 6, according to NBC News.
With sometime Trump supporters in his orbit, Kennedy struck a deal to drop out of the race and throw his weight to the former Republican president. In exchange, Kennedy would, as the Trump campaign put it, be part of a transition team “to help pick the people who will be running the government.”
“We Got Trent”
In a video viewed by The Intercept, the man with the SMU beanie who resembled Pool can be seen on the southwest staircase heading to the upper west terrace of the Capitol waving a “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flag.
A person holding the camera calls to him: “We got Trent.” The man in the SMU beanie then waves back. A third man, who is also in the frame and whose relationship to Pool, if any, is unknown, says, “We are taking the Capitol back!”
Like other photos and videos, the flag-waving takes place on what authorities have said in court was restricted ground. Much of the Capitol grounds were closed on January 6 in preparation for the upcoming inauguration, with officers, barriers, and signage around the perimeter. The initial police cordon was quickly broken when Trump supporters arrived.
In a series of photographs taken just before 3 p.m., the man in the SMU beanie is visible at the back of a crowd. At the front of the group, rioters were attempting to break through the police lines guarding the Capitol’s upper terrace.
The rioters seized a bike rack barricade being used by Metropolitan Police Department officers. After others passed the barricade back, the man in the SMU hat, along with another man, is seen in the photographs carrying a bike rack toward the staircase wall.
In a subsequent image, the men are observed peering over the edge of the staircase wall after the barrier has been removed.
A live-feed video shared online depicts the man in the SMU beanie positioned at the back of the crowd that removed and passed a barricade. The video concludes about two minutes before the barricade is handed to the area where the man in the SMU beanie is located.
The photo featured on a far-right blog shows the man in the SMU beanie leaning against a concrete wall. Additionally, a separate video captures him standing in the same spot, next to a wall near one of the Capitol entrance tunnels where violence occurred.
The man in the SMU hat can be spotted in other publicly available archived videos from that day. In security footage timestamped around 4:45 p.m., over two hours after initially being seen on the Capitol grounds, he is seen passing by a group of police officers in riot gear.
Several staffers of Kennedy have expressed doubts about the violent nature of the January 6 Capitol attack and whether it was an attempt to overturn the election. Kennedy himself has questioned the motivations behind the January 6 prosecutions.
In a fundraising email, the Kennedy campaign referred to January 6 rioters as “activists” who had their constitutional liberties stripped away, but later disassociated from the email, attributing it to a contractor who was no longer working with the campaign.
Recently, Kennedy downplayed the severity of the January 6 riot in an interview with Tucker Carlson. He questioned whether the republic was truly threatened on that day and emphasized that even if a building was burned down, it wouldn’t signify the end of the republic.
Trent Pool, who has been arrested for violating a restraining order related to an alleged assault in New York City, comes from a political family background. He has been involved in ballot access work for various candidates, including Rand Paul, Tulsi Gabbard, and Nikki Haley.
Kennedy aims to remove his name from ballots in swing states to support Trump’s campaign. However, he will remain on the ballot in states like Wisconsin and Michigan, where legal rulings differ on his candidacy status.
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