brace-watching

A brand new board game is being released this weekend to mark the three year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riots in Washington DC.

The right-wing podcast TrueAnon has created the game “Storm the Capitol – TrueAnon Edition” where players can “relive one of the funniest days in American history!”

Despite the day not being particularly funny for the Capitol staff and law enforcement officers who were faced with an angry mob of far-right activists and Donald Trump supporters seeking to overturn American democracy, the game celebrates the violence of the day – with players able to pretend they are “battling” their way through the Capitol building.

Players take on the role of a “Patriot” and try to “collect ballots, take hostages and fight the police” in a re-enactment of the riots.

Other players can take on the role of the Capitol police, aiming to stop the so-called “Patriots” from getting to the roof with enough ballots to “Stop the Steal”.

The game comes with cards such as Capitol police attack dogs, which leads to a “Patriot” losing points.

Players can gain points by stealing “AOC’s shoes” or “Pelosi’s laptop”.

At the end of the game, if the “Patriots” win, former president Donald Trump will be waiting to take them in his helicopter to change the results of the 2020 election, according to the game.

If the police win, President Joe Biden will be victorious.

The controversial game is being sold exclusively for $64.99 on the far-right podcast’s merchandise website and will be released on 6 January.

In a podcast episode announcing the game’s release, the host Brace Belden recalled seeing the riots covered in the news, saying it was “the best day of watching TV I’ve ever had in my life”.

He also falsely claimed about those who died that day that “most of them died from being too excited”.

Fellow podcast host, Liz Franczak, boasted about how fun the game is, calling it a “riot of a time”.

The hosts even went so far as to humbly say the board came could “heal the nation,” putting their product up with the invention of the wheel or the discovery of fire.

The podcast hosts wrote on X that they hope the game will bring back the “amazing feeling” felt on 6 January 2021.

The TrueAnon hosts claim the game is designed for everybody in America on “every single side of every single political issue” – as long, of course, that you are comfortable attacking police, taking hostages and upending democracy.

Over a thousand rioters have so far been arrested for their parts in that deadly day, with many being handed long prison sentences.

  • 420blazeit69 [he/him]
    ·
    11 months ago

    The hosts even went so far as to humbly say the board came could “heal the nation,” putting their product up with the invention of the wheel or the discovery of fire.

    How gullible do you have to be to write this and not realize this is a joke

    • machiabelly [she/her]
      ·
      11 months ago

      Well conservatives are completely beyond parody. So as soon as they decided "thinking the riots were funny = conservative" their truth radars malfunctioned.

  • Teekeeus
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    edit-2
    25 days ago

    deleted by creator

    • booty [he/him]
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      edit-2
      11 months ago

      You know, thinking about it, this person actually went above and beyond to be wrong. ChatGPT would do a better job.

      Edit: ChatGPT DID do better

    • carpoftruth [any, any]
      ·
      11 months ago

      This isn't a failure to do research, this is a useful lie that reinforces horseshoe theory bullshit. This isn't an accident

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        ·
        11 months ago

        this is a useful lie that reinforces horseshoe theory bullshit

        99.9% of the Independent's readership has never once heard of TrueAnon, has no idea who Brace Belden is, and is utterly clueless regarding his politics or the politics of the podcast. Calling this a "right wing podcast" while linking it to a funny board game can only be good publicity.

    • Shinji_Ikari [he/him]
      ·
      11 months ago

      I looked up the author earlier and she had already locked her twitter for the tremendous bad takes.

      quit hiding coward!

      • emizeko [they/them]
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        edit-2
        11 months ago

        her linkedin has this:

        A current freelance journalist who has written over 500 news articles for The Independent’s US News desk. Well-versed in feature, news and long-form writing styles and committed to delivering consistent and detailed coverage. A commitment to clear and compelling writing and staying abreast of current events and online trends. I am dedicated to accurate and trustworthy reporting, as well as clear and concise writing to ensure accessibility to all audiences. I have experience in social media management, content creation, data journalism, copywriting and interviewing.

        she's dedicated to accurate and trustworthy reporting, so maybe we're the ones who are wrong here

        • CrushKillDestroySwag
          ·
          11 months ago

          Come to think of it, Belden is associated with the Epoch Times thinking-about-it

  • Great_Leader_Is_Dead
    ·
    11 months ago

    Yah know I initially thought the whole board game thing was tacky and dumb, but seeing the Lib medias response to it has convinced me it's a grad-A troll. Kind of a expensive troll but if you're making that kind of podcast money, why not?

  • booty [he/him]
    ·
    11 months ago

    If I were Brace I think I'd get this article framed

  • privatized_sun [none/use name]
    ·
    11 months ago

    the day not being particularly funny for the Capitol staff and law enforcement officers

    fuck PMC also ACAB

  • HeavenAndEarth [she/her]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I don't understand why these outlets are giving them free publicity. Slow news week?

    • DayOfDoom [any, any]
      ·
      11 months ago

      They think they're fascists and thus want to spread it to people.

    • Nationalgoatism [any]
      ·
      11 months ago

      This framing will bring in a lot of clicks from fuming liberals

  • sovietknuckles [they/them]
    ·
    11 months ago

    Is this so bad? Libs weren't going to touch it anyway, leftists know what TrueAnon is, and The Independent's misreporting helps Brace's deep-infiltration in case any hogs buy the game unironically

    • doublepepperoni [none/use name]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      The lack of research & lib blinders are very funny, the writer even went to listen to the relevant podcast episode but still couldn't figure out it's not a right-wing pod

  • HumanBehaviorByBjork [any, undecided]
    ·
    11 months ago

    oh you think it was FUNNY that the nation's largest and most adult sons all tried to enter the door of the capitol building at the same time shoulder to shoulder like the 3 stooges and got stuck, preventing the senators from leaving? you think it's funny that someone pooped in nancy pelosi's secret candy drawer? well why don't you tell that to OUR BRAVE LAW ENFORCEMENT, many of whom died of tazed balls in that senseless attack on democracy.

  • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
    ·
    11 months ago

    You know, between the lines of smug, 'righteous' fury, I couldn't help but single this out

    Over a thousand rioters have so far been arrested for their parts in that deadly day, with many being handed long prison sentences.

    Really, 15 years is 'long' now? Plenty of people still in prison have gotten longer sentences than that for drug possession.

    About 277 defendants have been sentenced to time behind bars, and roughly 113 defendants have been sentenced to a period of home detention.

    Either this was a serious insurrection where participants should be charged with treason and punished accordingly (executions or life), or it was a farcical attempt at one and they're not being punished harshly, but you don't get it both ways you clowns

    • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]
      ·
      11 months ago

      Stop disrespecting the law and the brave police officers who drew the short straw and were one of like two guys guarding the Capitol instead of getting to teargas George Floyd rallies

      • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
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        edit-2
        11 months ago

        Whenever they actually make this point, I still direct to the videos showing officers just getting out of the way of the mob, letting them in

        And then later pics/videos showing some of the cops taking pictures with the 'insurrectionists' lmao (bonus: tagline says Nancy Pelosi demanded Capitol Police Chief resign, libs sure did an about face on that in a hurry lmao)

        I can't find it now, but there was a vid (on twitter, maybe?) showing police in front of the capital just...moving out of the way, and hogs storming past them out on the front lawn

        • krolden@lemmy.ml
          ·
          edit-2
          11 months ago

          All the liberals say "well what were they supposed to do, shoot them?"

          Uhh, yes?

          • TrudeauCastroson [he/him]
            ·
            11 months ago

            I guess they used all their teargas on George Floyd protests. Seriously, crazy there was literally 0 crowd control planned or done, climate protests and disabled protests get more cops watching.

            Suspicious how few cops were at Capitol Hill even though Q-anon people post publically and don't care about opsec (considering very few bothered to cover their faces, and most of the footage used to prosecute were taken by them and they self-doxed by doing that).

            Also one cop did actually shoot someone. Idk how libs go back and forth on getting mad that the gates were opened for the people, and some took selfies with them, but also want to fund the police more to protect them even though they support it more than avg

            • HexBroke
              ·
              edit-2
              5 months ago

              deleted by creator

          • spectre [he/him]
            ·
            11 months ago

            Secret service knew how to do their jobs lol

    • Deadend [he/him]
      ·
      11 months ago

      It’s such a perfect fumble and perfectly American.

      Quarter assed coup attempt, followed by a wet fart of an attempt to punish and prevent.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      11 months ago

      Really, 15 years is 'long' now?

      Its long when you have to live it, yes.

      Plenty of people still in prison have gotten longer sentences than that for drug possession.

      Those are also long sentences.

      Either this was a serious insurrection where participants should be charged with treason and punished accordingly (executions or life), or it was a farcical attempt at one and they're not being punished harshly, but you don't get it both ways you clowns

      It actually doesn't need to be either-or. The fact that so many people were arrested and prosecuted is wildly unusual when you consider the historical response to right-wing protests and riots in the past. Certainly, this is a far higher percentage of people facing jail time than after the Brooks Brothers' Riots used to shut down the 2000 Bush/Gore recount. Its harsher punishment than anyone at Project Veritas suffered for breaking into a Senator's home office. Hell, 15 years is far more than any of the Watergate burglars ultimately served

      Even Liddy and Hunt weren't in jail for more than 5 years, each.

      So this is a "long" time for a politically motivated crime, both in terms of years assigned and cumulative time assigned to the volume of people prosecuted. Normally, none of these assholes would have seen the inside of a court room much less a federal prison.

      • voight [he/him, any]
        ·
        11 months ago

        Brooks Brothers' Riots

        Oh wow I had no idea. I feel like I can never get all the lore on the 2000s

          • voight [he/him, any]
            ·
            11 months ago

            IIRC one of the old discords completely melted down over people not taking it seriously enough so I believe you

    • bigboopballs [he/him]
      ·
      11 months ago

      15 years is 'long' now?

      that is a pretty long time to be locked up, yes

      • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        Sure, but for treasonous insurrectionists who were trying to 'overthrow democracy' who participated in 'that deadly day'?

        Seems a bit lenient, especially for the American justice system and ESPECIALLY since only a handful of people have gotten that (I know at least one other plotter got something like 22 years after the article I noted was published)

        ed. goddamn some of these lmao

        Robert Sanford was sentenced to four years and four months in prison. He hit two police officers in the head with a fire extinguisher and threw a traffic cone at another officer

        Jeffrey Scott Brown was sentenced to four years and six months in prison. He assaulted police with pepper spray.

        Anthony Sargent, a Proud Boy from Florida, was sentenced to five years in prison. He threw a rock at the Capitol doors.

        lmao

        • Great_Leader_Is_Dead
          ·
          11 months ago

          'that deadly day'

          Deadly if you had a taser in your pocket with no safety

        • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]
          ·
          11 months ago

          15 years is an eternity, are you kidding me? Imagine going to prison when you're 29 and missing out on all of your 30s. You only get one life, that's it, and spending 15%-20% of that in prison is an insane punishment. Imagine if you went to prison in 2009 and only just got out, just how much you'd have missed and how many people will have moved on from knowing you, basically.

          If you've spent 15 years in prison, your life is effectively over and if you're lucky, you might get to start a new one. It's insanely long.

          • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            Again, I'm not saying it isn't a long time, I'm saying that it isn't a lengthy sentence in the context of media considering it a long sentence for 'committing treason' when the typical punishment is life imprisonment or death most everywhere

            It reeks of a media apparatus trying to sell that the idiot hogs they branded Very Serious Insurrectionists are being given Very Serious Sentences when that isn't exactly the case

            • CTHlurker [he/him]
              ·
              11 months ago

              Isn't 15 years the same punishment that Añez (bolivian coup lady) got for litterally overthrowing the government and almost turning bolivia back into a millitary dictatorship?

        • barrbaric [he/him]
          ·
          11 months ago

          How does assaulting three police officers get you less time than assaulting one? Is it some sort of bundle deal? If I kill 30 cops will I only serve 2 hours in prison?

    • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]
      ·
      11 months ago

      ask any liberal who buys into the PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY bulllshit the dems are pushing about this contradiction and it flips the "angry" switch in their brains.

      • VILenin [he/him]
        ·
        11 months ago

        They think that smarmy condescension is a substitute for an actual argument

        • emizeko [they/them]
          ·
          11 months ago

          all liberals know how to do is lean on bourgeois media hegemony, eat hot chip, and lie

  • Goblin [any]
    ·
    edit-2
    11 months ago

    This article just reads like an ad for the game but they throw right wing in front of a word every now and then. Missing that lib smarminess