Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Self-Proclaimed 'Liberal Lesbian' Becomes Internet Hero After Naming Her Mom, Aunt, And Uncle For Rioting At Capitol

Self-Proclaimed 'Liberal Lesbian' Becomes Internet Hero After Naming Her Mom, Aunt, And Uncle For Rioting At Capitol
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The riot at the Capitol made international news twenty times over.

On Wednesday, January 6, in response to the President, his family and others at a morning rally egging them on as well as statements made by Republican members of Congress, rioters breached the Capitol building.


They caused a full lockdown to go into effect as Congress was convening to certify the electoral votes declaring President-elect Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 election in the House and Senate. Five people—including a Capitol police officer—died as a result.

Since then, the FBI asked via social media for help determining who participated in the violence in the Capitol building.

And social media has been more than happy to oblige this request.

One woman pulled zero punches and has begun identifying members of her family.

@duke_helena/Twitter

Citing she was kicked out and disavowed by her own family multiple times as a liberal lesbian, Helena Duke (@duke_helena) immediately identified her family members in various photos and videos across the internet.

Her mother appeared in a video taken January 5, 2021 in downtown Washington DC getting punched after repeatedly harassing and assaulting a Black woman in uniform—identified as Ashanti Smith—who was filming the pro-Trump protest on her cellphone. Smith was misidentified as a member of law enforcement, but is not a police officer.

Annie Lorenz—identified by Duke as her aunt—then punched Smith leading to both women being arrested.

@duke_helena/Twitter


@duke_helena/Twitter


@duke_helena/Twitter


The video shared by right-wing Freedom News shows a brief moment of Duke's mother trying to grab the phone of the uniformed Black woman, Ashanti Smith.

The woman in uniform reported being fired over the incident, stating Duke's relatives kept surrounding her, touching her and trying to take her keys and her phone.

Griselda Blanco (Ashanti Smith)/Facebook

A GoFundMe was created to cover legal fees and living expenses for the woman.

According to the GoFundMe post:

"My name is Ashanti. I am a 28-year-old Black woman who lives in the DMV AREA [metropolitan Washington DC]."
"I recently was assaulted, attacked and harassed by a group of Trump supporters on Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC on January 5th, 2021. A video has surfaced where I was surrounded by a group of Trump extremists, and I honestly feared for my life."
"The video makes me look like I am the aggressor, but it does not show what happened prior to my defending myself."
"People shoved me, tried to take my phone and keys, yelled racial epithets at me, and tried to remove my mask. I asked them to social distance and stay out of my personal space due to COVID."
"They refused, and I was afraid of being hurt and harmed. After being assaulted, I defended myself."
"I am now facing criminal charges. I have also been relieved from my employment pending an investigation, which places me in a hardship."

People applauded Duke for naming names.





The situation at the Capitol was so volatile and unsafe Congress is now considering methods to remove Trump from office in the final two weeks of his term, as they fear the incitement of further insurrection.





In addition, former Trump supporters have begun to break ranks with the President.

Of the over a dozen Senators who were going to object to the election results, only 7 followed through after the siege.

Two members of the President's cabinet and other administration members have also resigned in protest.





University of Massachusetts Memorial Hospital—where Duke's mother worked—reported she had been fired.

After her tweet ID of her mother, aunt and uncle, Helena said she received threats from her mother and aunt.

In a statement to Insider, Duke said:

"Last night around 1 a.m. to 2 a.m., both of them had contacted me, tried to repeatedly call me, and texted me that they are going to press charges against me and to say goodbye to my college, say goodbye to my career, and say goodbye to my life."

Duke's parents are divorced. She normally stays with her mother Therese Duke, but is now living with her father.

Aside from a few anonymous threats, the 18-year-old said response was mostly positive.

"A bunch of people I obviously didn't know have opened up their doors up to me—have told me that what I did inspired them because they've been through similar situations."

The insurrection in Washington forced many to expose where their true loyalties lie.

And if your own children aren't looking kindly at you now, think of how history will look back on you later.

More from News

Cartoon Network headquarters; Pride flags
AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Noam Galai/Getty Images

Cartoon Network Trolls Homophobes Hard For Melting Down Over Pride Month Fan Art

The cable TV channel Cartoon Network, like most normal people, is celebrating Pride Month this month, and it did so with a post on Instagram that, predictably, has conservatives crying in their Cheerios like a bunch of triggered babies.

The post featured fan art depicting characters from the network's roster of shows over the years waving various LGBTQ+ Pride flags and the like.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of AI generated video of Donald Trump
@WhiteHouse/X

White House Dragged After Sharing Doctored Video Of Bar Erupting In Cheers Over Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill'

On Tuesday, the official social media account for the White House tried to drum up support for MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, but only on right-wing platforms.

The legislation to further Project 2025 through more tax breaks for the wealthy and cuts to programs that serve the poor and working class has struggled since the start.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump speaking to military members at Fort Bragg
Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

Trump Gets U.S. Military Troops To Boo Democrats And 'Fake News' During Alarming Speech

Members of the military stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, erupted in boos when President Donald Trump goaded them during a speech in which he attacked former President Joe Biden, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and the "fake news" covering the ongoing protests in L.A. in response to the Trump administration's immigration raids.

The military has a longstanding tradition of remaining nonpartisan so it was striking that those in attendance, many of whom wore military fatigues, booed in the first place.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shot of a neon shop sign saying "body piercing." The word body is blue, and piercing is red.
Photo by Kaylee Eden on Unsplash

Regrettable Things People Did To Their Body They Wish They Could Reverse

When we're young and impulsive we rarely think about impact, consequences, and the future.

That's the downfall of youth.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stephen King; Donald Trump
Rick Kern/WireImage; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Stephen King Just Trolled Trump With A 'TACO Tuesday' Image That's Total Nightmare Fuel

Famed horror author Stephen King had fans recoiling after he trolled President Donald Trump by sharing an image of Trump as a taco that was generated using artificial intelligence.

For those who missed it, Trump recently criticized Wall Street analysts over their new "TACO" acronym insult, which stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out."

Keep ReadingShow less