OAN recycles Trump “tribute” video from an Infowars contributor who cheered on the insurrection

Written by Bobby Lewis

Research contributions from Ryan Masri

Published

On February 11, One America News, an unflappable ally to former President Donald Trump, aired a “tribute to his accomplishments” set to somber piano music and the poem If— by Rudyard Kipling. The video was credited to Harrison Hill Smith, an Infowars contributor who cheered on the “patriots” storming the Capitol on January 6th.

OAN anchor Lilia Fifield dutifully announced that “despite endless lies and attacks from Democrats and the media, President Trump and the administration fought for the country over the past four years,” leading into the video using a poem about stoicism to honor the emotionally unstable ex-president. The top right of the video has a credit for the Infowars contributor, who also previously promoted his video on Infowars.

From the February 11, 2021, edition of One America News

Smith’s Twitter account is full of the anti-Semitism, homophobia, and other bigotries one would expect of an Infowars figure, according to The Austin Chronicle. Smith also pinned a November 2020 upload of the video to his account, and used OAN’s airing of the video this morning to promote the Infowars store.

On the day of the insurrection, Infowars founder Alex Jones was in Washington, D.C., but Smith hosted part of the regular Infowars broadcast from a studio. He excitedly said, “This is not a drill. … This is incredible. … Attempts to prevent the onrush of patriots [have] failed.” Smith praised the insurrection with revolutionary fervor, declaring, “The American people have shrugged and taken the blows on the back without so much of a whimper in protest. But finally, they have pushed too far, after stealing our last resort. … Now the rage of the American people overflows as patriots storm into the United States Capitol.”

From the January 6, 2021, edition of Infowars' The Alex Jones Show

HARISON SMITH (GUEST HOST): This is not a drill. “Trump supporters breaching all security barriers are now actively destroying and occupying the Capitol Building.” This is incredible. Two buildings of the U.S. Capitol complex evacuated as Trump supporters clash with the police. Flashbangs being fired over the front lines into the crowd of Trump supporters. But it seems like those attempts to prevent the onrush of patriots has failed.

…

Alex Jones is right now at the scene. They are sort of on the edge. We are receiving intermittent streams from them as the cell phone networks are overloaded and information becomes harder to come by. What we know is that Alex Jones and [Infowars host] Owen Shroyer are not at the head of this. They are not the ones breaking into the capitol. But they are there on the periphery watching this, receiving this information in real time. 

…

This is what happens when Americans rise up. This is what happens when patriots do what the communists have been trying to do for so long. Again, this is not an impotent pointless nonsense protest based off misinformation like the death of George Floyd, who killed himself with fentanyl, or Jacob Blake, who just yesterday was proven he was armed and dangerous when police rightfully took him down, or the lies of Brett Kavanaugh.

For four years, we’ve seen the outrageous and yet impotent lashing out of leftists throughout America. And for the first time, it seems, after having shown patience, that of angels, the Americans, the Trump supporters who have seen their lives destroyed, they’ve seen their businesses shut down, they’ve seen the lockdown perpetuated all across America, destroying our economy, surrendering to China over and over and over again, stories that expose the corruption and the underselling of America to communist China and other foreign powers have gone ignored, have been suppressed, have been shut down, time and time again. And the American people have shrugged and taken the blows on the back without so much of a whimper in protest. But finally, they have pushed too far, after stealing our last resort. 

We always knew in the back of our minds, in the back of our heads, we had the numbers, we had the will. We could through the electoral process maintain some semblance of control over what is supposed to be our representative democracy, our republic. Well, they stole that from us. They took away the final lifeline. They destroyed the final pressure valve, and now the rage of the American people overflows as patriots storm into the United States Capitol, waving Trump flags, waving American flags, waving the Gadsen flag, taking over the steps, pushing through the doors and forcing an evacuation of our representatives as they halt the vote counting process.