John Earle Sullivan (born July 18, 1994), also known as Activist John, is an American political activist and self-identified photojournalist who participated in the 2021 United States Capitol attack.
Before the January 6 attack, Sullivan organized and participated in protests relating to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, though a few other BLM organizers explicitly disavowed him, even expelling Sullivan from rallies and warning fellow activists to avoid associating with Sullivan.
On January 6, Sullivan entered the Capitol and accidentally broke a window. He repeatedly shouted encouragement to fellow rioters. Sullivan captured footage of the attack, his own interactions with law enforcement, and the shooting of Ashli Babbitt.
After Sullivan participated in the Capitol attack, Rudy Giuliani accused Sullivan of being affiliated with antifa, despite having no evidence of any association. Federal authorities also did not identify him as such, and he has stated that he has no relationship to the antifa movement. By May 2021, Sullivan faced eight charges for his involvement in the January 6 events.
Early life and family
Sullivan was adopted into a conservative Latter-Day Saint family. His father, John Sullivan Sr., was a lieutenant colonel in the US Army. Sullivan has three younger brothers. Sullivan grew up in Stafford, Virginia. Around 2013, the family moved to Utah.
After graduating from high school, Sullivan applied to be a police officer. Sullivan got involved in speed skating and in 2016, Sullivan was featured in a commercial blog post on Uber's site, describing him as "searching for a way to earn money that fit with his busy training schedule". Sullivan participated in the 2018 Olympic trials but failed to qualify; Despite this, he has claimed to have "competed in the 2018 Olympic Games".
Activism prior to the 2021 Capitol attack
In June 2020, Sullivan began to attend Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests. According to Lex Scott, the founder of Black Lives Matter-Utah, none of the activists knew him before this time.
Civilized Awakening and Insurgence USA
Conservative activist James Sullivan, John's brother, reports that John was conservative "until recently". James Sullivan founded "Civilized Awakening", part of the greater far-right Patriot movement.
In June 2020, John Sullivan founded "Insurgence USA", a group participating in protests against police violence. Sullivan was accused of exploiting the racial justice movement for self-gain. The Salt Lake Tribune observed that Sullivan had been selling merchandise and indulging in self-promotion on many websites; his Insurgence USA website sells protest-related gear, such as black clothing, gloves, and gas masks, branded "bloc gear collective".
Car protest, shooting and arrest
On June 29, 2020, Sullivan led his first protest event, in Provo, Utah. BLM leader Lex Scott recalled: "His very first protest he held was the one someone got shot". The event was a counter-protest against a pro-police event where a Back the Blue group drove vehicles driving around the Provo police station. Meanwhile, Sullivan and others organized a counter-protest blocking vehicles and interfering with traffic on a busy street. One man affiliated with Sullivan, Jesse Taggart, was charged with attempted murder for shooting and injuring a driver who had slowly moved through the crowd of protestors. The shooting victim was not affiliated with either protest group.
Sullivan was arrested and charged with rioting, making a threat of violence and criminal mischief. According to a police affidavit, Sullivan damaged vehicles and cooperated with Insurgence USA to recruit protesters for a protest. Sullivan indicated that he thought the driver Taggart shot was trying to run over protesters, a claim police disputed based on video evidence of the event.
Ties to Proud Boys
Sullivan organized events in Provo, Utah, that were controversial with BLM. Sullivan experienced greater skepticism after a July 1, 2020, event where he invited speeches from the Proud Boys, an American far-right, neo-fascist organization that promotes and engages in political violence. Sullivan's close relationship with the Proud Boys led to BLM activists refusing to work with him. Sullivan later got his group firearms training. On September 26, Sullivan's brother James had addressed a Proud Boys rally in Portland on behalf of James's far-right group Civilized Awakening.