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George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley was the first major commentator to publicly connect Cole Allen to The Wide Awakes — a contemporary leftist activist network that takes its name from the 1860 Republican militant youth movement that helped elect Lincoln. Turley wrote: 'His rhetoric in his manifesto is all too familiar among politicians and pundits who are fueling the rage.'
“George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley was the first major commentator to publicly connect Cole Allen to The Wide Awakes — a contemporary leftist activist network that takes its name from the 1860 Republican militant youth movement that helped elect Lincoln. Turley wrote: 'His rhetoric in his manifesto is all too familiar among politicians and pundits who are fueling the rage.'”
George Washington University constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley has spent the past decade as one of the most-cited centrist legal commentators in American media. Within hours of Cole Allen's identification as the WHCD shooter, Turley posted a piece on X and his Substack that locked in a piece of the narrative.
Allen's sister Avriana told the FBI her brother was a member of "The Wide Awakes." The original Wide Awakes was an 1860 Republican paramilitary youth movement — the marchers wore black capes and carried torches, and their organizing helped Abraham Lincoln win the presidency. Their symbol: an open eye on a torch staff.
The modern revival, restarted in 2020 by artist Hank Willis Thomas alongside Kehinde Wiley, Arthur Jafa, and 14 other arts organizations including Amplifier and Creative Time, calls itself "a network of like minds who create in the name of liberation."
Turley's exact framing: "Cole Allen reportedly belonged to the far-left group 'The Wide Awakes' and attended 'No Kings' protests in California. His rhetoric in his manifesto is all too familiar among politicians and pundits who are fueling the rage..."
The line "all too familiar among politicians and pundits" did not name names but was widely read as targeting Democratic congressional rhetoric, mainstream Trump-hostile media, and high-profile X commentators. Right-wing media used the Turley quote as the connective tissue between Allen's individual act and what they framed as institutional incitement.
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Turley's reach — bipartisan, frequently quoted in legal proceedings — gave the Wide Awakes connection a credibility that fringe right-wing aggregators alone could not have provided. Mainstream coverage of the Wide Awakes link followed Turley's post by 12-24 hours.
Allen's Wide Awakes membership is reported but not yet confirmed by federal filings. The modern Wide Awakes organization has not commented on his alleged membership.
Beat the odds
This had a 0.5% chance of leaking — someone talked anyway.
Conspirators
~500Large op
Secret kept
2.3 years
Time to 95% exposure
500+ years
