She’s about to be famous . . . for all the wrong reasons. On one side of the January 6 political divide, she’ll likely soon be elevated as the next “Ray Epps.” On the other side, they’ll say she should spend the rest of her life being daily waterboarded in Guantanamo Bay, because — unlike Epps — she has actually now been charged with four misdemeanor offenses related to her activities on January 6.
(The Epps story turns the typical J6 political paradigm on its head, as the left has circled wagons around him — anointing him with victim status — and the right wants to see him on the gallows as a government conspirator who directed thousands into the Capitol Building.)
On its face, the #PinkBeret case looks like another example of the FBI’s frequent habit of abruptly, (and curiously), focusing its attention on certain January 6 participants only — and immediately — after court filings or defense witness subpoenas are put forth. Like, in the first Oath Keepers trial, where at least five subpoenaed defense witnesses were then promptly contacted by the FBI, in what could be construed as an attempt by the DOJ to frighten or prevent their testimonies from taking place. (More than one mainstream media journalist has privately conceded to me that there is “some shadiness there.” )
This saga unfolds even more curious and convoluted.
Jennifer Inzunza Vargas Geller — until recently known to the January 6 community of online sleuths as “#PinkBeret” — was raised in a fundamentalist religious community she called a “cult” in a Reddit post. At five years of age, a California court took her away from her sexually abusive father. She ran away from what remained of family and the cult, to get married, at 18. From there, specific timelines related to her life and two marriages — and her exact age — evade specificity. Piecing together the puzzle, she seems to be 25-ish years old, though even the FBI withholds that information in her charging document.
Working backward from her assumed age of 25, Vargas Geller has had a rather interesting series of overlapping relationships with the key men in her J6 journey. A source reveals she is currently married to another Californian, Spencer Geller, who accompanied her to DC on January 6. (He has not yet been charged with any crimes.) Vargas Geller revealed in a Reddit forum that she is an active gamer, and the FBI document shows she is also into anime. I was able to find, on both Facebook and Instagram, a Spencer Geller who identifies himself as “iruleatgames,” and uses an anime photo in both of his profile photos. (I’ve not been able to locate a marriage certificate, and cannot confirm with certainty this particular “Spencer Geller,” of Davis, California, is her current husband. But, their similar interests and Davis being a suburb of her previously known residence in Sacramento, lends one to suspect this might be the guy.)
Vargas Geller would have been 22 or 23 years old when she traveled to the nation’s capital on January 6, 2021, with her then-boyfriend/now-second-husband, Spencer. This would have occurred while she was still married to Ivan Rodriquez Vargas. It wasn’t until June 15, 2022, that “Jennifer Inzunza Vargas” filed a lawsuit for divorce in the Los Angeles County Superior Courts against “Ivan Rodriquez Vargas.”
Interestingly, there was a March 1, 2019 divorce petition filed by “Ivan Rodrigo Vargas,” (a slightly different middle name), against “Jennifer Inzunza Vargas,” without apparent follow through. This took place in the Sacramento County Superior Courts, which was the place of residence of Vargas Geller at that time — according to another ex-boyfriend of Vargas Geller — whom the FBI says dropped a dime on her just three days after their April 27, 2023 addition of #PinkBeret to their Capitol Most Wanted web page and social media accounts. Only identified in charging documents as “CW-2,” this tipster “indicated that they previously dated VARGAS GELLER approximately four years earlier.” (Also during the time of her marriage to Ivan Vargas.)
Confused, yet? In brief review:
-Vargas Geller was first married to Ivan Vargas, circa 2016-ish
-Vargas Geller was “dating” tipster CW-2, circa 2019-ish
-Ivan Vargas filed for divorce from Vargas Geller in March 2019, but apparently abandoned the petition
-Vargas Geller traveled to DC with then-boyfriend Spencer Geller in January 2021
-Vargas Geller filed for divorce from then-husband Ivan Vargas in June 2022
-Sometime between June 2022 and May 2023 Jennifer Vargas took on the last name of Spencer Geller and they are assumed to be now married
Now, finally, the story really begins . . .
Vargas Geller claims to have traveled to DC on January 6 to support President Trump, but, like Ray Epps, she didn’t attend Trump’s speech at The Ellipse, and was instead with the earliest group of protestors, (including Epps), who breached the first westside barricade and Capitol Police line at 12:52 pm. Trump didn’t leave The Ellipse stage until 1:16 pm. Wearing high heels and designer clothing, along with her distinctive pink beret, it’s unlikely she heard any part of Trump’s speech before racing a mile and a half to join Epps & Co. in that barricade breach.
As with Epps, it’s a fair question to ask, (as he also claimed to be in DC in support of Trump), why Vargas Geller was standing on that clearly marked “CLOSED AREA” line at the time of its breach, and not listening to the president’s speech at The Ellipse? Also, who was she with? Just her then-boyfriend, or were they consorting with a larger group? And, for what purpose?
other protestors at the location of the first barricade
breach on January 6, 2021 (Source: Capitol Terrorist
Attack web page on #PinkBeret)
After that first breach, then the second breach on the lower west terrace, and the final collapse of the police line on the west side, Vargas Geller was seemingly everywhere. Videoed and photographed in more places than just about any of the other curiously unidentified January 6th provocateurs, the strikingly attired #PinkBeret continued popping into camera frame at several of the more infamous incidents and locations of the day. She was also seen near or interacting with several other of the day’s better-known actors — some identified, charged, convicted, and many . . . none of the above.
Video also captured her on the frontline during the destruction of a large amount of press camera gear. She was filmed while seemingly directing traffic toward the open Capitol doors on the upper west terrace, with what looked like a baton in hand. At one particular westside doorway, she stood and held it open for both the purposeful trespassers and the accidental tourists who were going in and out of the building. She even took the hand of one man — apparently unknown to her — and led him inside the Capitol.
To the J6 investigators looking for the identities of suspicious characters, her overt display of provocative actions would seem to have made her a more prominently featured person of interest. Except, #PinkBeret wasn’t added to the FBI’s Capitol Most Wanted list — and their social media accounts — until April 27, 2023 — over 27 months after the event. By contrast, Ray Epps — who also directed people to “go inside” the Capitol — was among the first to be posted to that FBI Most Wanted list . . . only to be removed shortly thereafter . . . with no explanation . . . until many months later . . . after much public scrutiny and conspiratorial speculation.
Other such online sleuths — those assisting the FBI in identifying the hundreds who did violence against law enforcement officers, and the thousands who simply traipsed through the Capitol Building — believe she’s just another run-of-the-mill January 6 “insurrectionist,” or “Capitol Insider.” Either way, the character who’d long been hashtagged by J6 Sedition Hunters as #PinkBeret, has now been positively identified.
Both the timing and circumstances of her identification — more than two years after being on so many online sleuths’ radar screens, (and ostensibly, also that of the FBI) — are what first raised my curiosity. Why did someone captured in so many videos, engaging in openly provocative activities, seemingly only come to the FBI’s attention in the last couple of weeks? And, coincidentally, shortly after she had become the focus of a motion filed in court on behalf of another J6 defendant, whose attorney was seeking from the DOJ the identity of that woman in the pink beret who took her client’s hand and led him into the Capitol Building?
Here’s the case background:
On one political side of the J6 media divide, Joe Hanneman of The Epoch Times called the then-unknown Vargas Geller “a potential femme fatale.” In his article dated March 1, 2023, Hanneman was covering a motion filed with U.S. District Judge John Bates — by Defense attorney Kira Anne West — in which she requested the identity of #PinkBeret, claiming she was central to the defense of her client, Darrell Neely.
From the text of that motion, Hanneman pointed out that West insinuated that #PinkBeret might have been “a government cooperator who lured” defendant Neely inside the Capitol Building. In West’s court filing, she states, “As seen on open source videos and photographs, Pink Beret was an aggressive actor and was photographed and videotaped all over the grounds. She was easily identifiable.”
(It should be noted that Hanneman was only reporting West’s insinuation, not making such a claim, himself, as he was oft-derided in the Twitterverse.)
In response to that motion, DOJ prosecuting attorney Joseph McFarlane wrote, “With respect to the girl in the beret, we decline to provide information about ongoing investigations.”
On the other side of the J6 political media divide, Ryan J. Reilly of NBC News reported — on May 6, 2023 — that #PinkBeret had now been identified by a tip submitted to the FBI from Vargas Geller’s former boyfriend — a Los Angeles clothing designer. (The aforementioned tipster, “CW-2.”)
Reilly has done the best work at presenting the facts of the Vargas Geller case, as he is enviably unrivaled in his sourcing, (from the DOJ, Sedition Hunters, and legal teams on both sides), among the reporters dedicated to covering January 6 legal affairs. In his first #PinkBeret piece, he recounts the details of his interview with the ex-boyfriend, who asked not to be identified, “to avoid harassment and threats.”
In that interview, the ex-boyfriend, (CW-2), said a buddy showed him “something funny” on his phone, to which he recounted, “I stopped dead in my tracks . . . I’m like, ‘That’s Jenny.’” He then called in the tip to the FBI. (That FBI tweet has received more than 7.7 million views.)
The ex-boyfriend claims to have dated Vargas Geller four years ago, after they met online. He said they hit it off “really well,” and that she flew to Los Angeles to Sacramento to meet up for the first time. “We weren’t, like, trying to get married or anything,” he said. “We were hooking up for a few months.”
The ex-boyfriend went on to say that the relationship came to a somewhat abrupt end because of her “far-right politics.”
“I was just instantly turned off, like, ‘Yo, I don’t think this is going to work out,’” he said. “You’re, like, reading ‘Mein Kampf,’ you think immigrants don’t deserve X, Y, Z.”
As for the Sedition Hunters, they describe themselves as “a global community of open-source intelligence investigators (OSINT) working together to assist the U.S. FBI and Washington D.C. Capitol Police in finding people who allegedly committed crimes in the January 6 Capitol riots.”)
These OSINT investigators claim they had already done extensive research into the activities of #PinkBeret on January 6, even mapping out her location throughout the day. Despite their early failures in identifying the woman, they claim it was only after the ex-boyfriend tweeted about his having seen the FBI’s April 27, 2023 tweet about Vargas that they suddenly had success. Reilly reported:
“That all changed last weekend when the sleuths saw the clothing designer’s tweet. They said they ran a facial recognition check, got a match, found more photos and found plenty of material to confirm the ID . . .”
It was in Reilly’s follow-up story — on May 8. 2023 — that he revealed Vargas Geller has been formally charged with four misdemeanor offenses. (As of the posting of this article, Vargas Geller has not yet been arrested, though we can be certain Reilly will be the first to let us know when and where that occurs.)
There is as yet no evidence that Vargas Geller has any connections to certain of the groups for which the government claims to have “spearheaded the insurrection.” (Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, et al.) But, there’s plenty of grist for the rumor mill . . . or, for what conspiracy theorists already insinuate . . . that she might have been working as an agent provocateur for some government agency.
Again, in brief review:
-Vargas Geller had long been a target of the Sedition Hunters and other OSINT groups
-High-definition videos and photography of Vargas Geller’s uncovered face had been widely disseminated through the internet for over two years, but allegedly, (by both the FBI and the Sedition Hunters), without any tips as to her identity by friends, family, classmates, or work associates, before May 1, 2023
-Vargas Geller was photographed using her iPhone while at the Capitol (Geo-fencing, anyone? We’ve heard testimony about the successful use of that technology, from the FBI, in other J6 trials.)
-As they have done in other cases, the DOJ/FBI didn’t seem interested in Vargas Geller until shortly after a court filing seeking her identity, and presumably an intention by a J6 defendant’s attorney to call her as a witness (Was this to block #PinkBeret as a potential witness in that case?)
-The Sedition Hunters claim they were unsuccessful in identifying Vargas Geller from her many January 6 photos until after the ex-boyfriend’s tweet with a different accompanying photo. According to Reilly’s report, “They had attacked it from all angles, but no luck.” And, only after having that particular tweet photo, “They said they ran a facial recognition check, got a match, found more photos and found plenty of material to confirm the ID.”
-While claiming to be in DC on January 6 to support Trump, Vargas Geller did not attend his speech but was instead on the frontline of the first violent barricade breach of the day, then proceeded to play an active role in directing and helping others toward and inside the Capitol Building
-Hundreds of other Capitol Insiders have been identified and are yet to be charged, but Vargas Geller was rushed to the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list — despite her being a non-violent offender — and then immediately identified and charged
-As a non-violent offender, and one who did not flaunt or brag on social media about “storming the Capitol,” she will likely plea down to the single glorified trespassing charge, and the typical slap on the wrist: two years probation, a small fine, and maybe some hours of community service
Perhaps Jennifer Inzunza Vargas Geller — aka #PinkBeret — was feeling particularly pretty on January 6, and of her own accord decided to preen about in front of all the photogs, assisting both insurrectionists and accidental tourists in finding their way to their own criminal charges.
I’m certain one side of the J6 political equation will see her as another Ray Epps — given the timing and circumstances of her sudden infamy. The other side will want blood, especially if it is revealed she wasn’t just reading Mein Kampf out of historical interest. (As I did, all the back in junior high school.)
If it is discovered Vargas Geller does have a fondness for Adolf Hitler and Nazism, those on the left will claim those affections predominate with all conservatives, the GOP, those loyal to MAGA, as well as all the J6 “insurrectionists.” The other side will counter that “Nazi” is derived from “national socialist,” and is, therefore, an ideology of the far-left, having nothing to do with modern conservativism or MAGA. (She’s also a cigar smoker, so the anti-tobacco . . . uh . . . nazis . . . may also want in on the game.)
All that remains — apart from her ultimate arrest — is to see who lands the exclusive interview with #PinkBeret — as Alan Feuer of The New York Times did, with Ray Epps — which will then reignite the “Fed, or not Fed” debate many months after she similarly claims to have been “deceived” by Trump and his election-denying minions, takes her slap on the wrist, is awarded “victim” status, and goes into hiding with her next boyfriend.
Am I missing anything else?
