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The heir to the Publix Super Market chain contributed “the lion’s share” to fund the Jan.6 pro-Trump rally in Washington DC that preceded the murderous storming of the U.S. Capitol, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. .
Julie Jenkins Fancelli, a major donor to former President Donald Trump, donated about $ 300,000 to the “Save America” rally – more than half the cost of funding the event, according to the Journal.
Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist and talk show host, had Fancelli contribute money through a Trump presidential campaign official in 2020, the newspaper said. Jones himself contributed around $ 50,000 in seed money for the Jan.6 rally, the Journal said.
At the event, Trump repeated baseless claims that he was defeated in the presidential election due to fraud, and he told his supporters to “fight like hell.”
The group then descended on the U.S. Capitol, pushing back police and scaling walls in an attempt to stop President Joe Biden’s electoral college certification. Five people died during the siege.
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The “Save America” rally was marked by inflammatory rhetoric, but as the Journal notes, it was otherwise peaceful. However, Trump has been blamed for using the rally to stoke the assault on Capitol Hill.
Fancelli, the daughter of the founder of Publix Super Markets, donated more than $ 980,000 to a joint account for Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican Party, the Journal notes.
Neither Fancelli nor Jones responded to requests for comment from the Wall Street Journal.
In an emailed statement to Insider, a Publix spokesperson said: “Ms. Fancelli is not an employee of Publix Super Markets and is neither involved in our business operations nor does she represent the company. ‘no way. Fancelli’s actions. “
“The violence on Capitol Hill on January 6 was a national tragedy. The deplorable actions that took place that day do not represent the values, work or opinions of Publix Super Markets,” the statement said.
The popular Southern grocery chain has over 1,200 locations, most of them in Florida. Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, the company has grown into the largest employee-owned company in the United States.
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