TRUMP PEOPLE POWER-COUP D’ETAT: WASHINGTON- Here are some of the noteworthy people identified and arrested for storming the Capitol
Jacob Anthony Chansley inside the Capitol. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Law enforcement agencies continue to make arrests related to last Wednesday’s assault on the Capitol, which resulted in five deaths and forced members of Congress into lockdown for hours.
The arrests began last week, with Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, expressing frustration that many of those who ransacked the Capitol were allowed to just leave the building, in some cases being politely escorted out by police.
“I’m not going to play Monday-morning quarterback to see when or why they didn’t do it,” Sherwin said in a conference call with the media last week. “But the scenario has made our job difficult because we now have to go through the process — cell-site orders, video — to try to identify people and charge them and then try to execute their arrest.”
“That has made things challenging,” he continued. “But I can’t answer why or why not those people weren’t zip-tied as they were leaving the building.”
Here are some of the dozens of arrests tied to the attempted insurrection carried out by militant supporters of President Trump.
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Larry R. Brock
Brock, a 53-year-old Texan, was arrested on Sunday after agreeing to meet the FBI at his local police station. The retired Air Force lieutenant colonel was photographed on the Senate floor on Wednesday wearing tactical gear, including a distinctive patch with a yellow fleur de lis, the insignia of the 706th Fighter Squadron.
According to the criminal complaint, Brock’s ex-wife of 18 years provided a tip to the FBI.
“I just know that when I saw this was happening I was afraid he would be there,” she told the FBI. “I think you already know he was there. It is such a good picture of him and I recognize his patch.”
Another witness emailed a photo of Brock to the FBI and wrote, “It looks like him and he has pilot wings on his chest in this picture. He was [an A-10 attack jet] pilot.”
Brock has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so, along with violent entry and disorderly conduct.
Last week, family members and a friend told the New Yorker that Brock’s views had grown increasingly radical. He confirmed to the outlet that he had been part of the siege, stating, “The President asked for his supporters to be there to attend, and I felt like it was important, because of how much I love this country, to actually be there.”
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Adam Johnson
Johnson, a 36-year-old man from Florida, was arrested Friday on multiple charges related to his alleged involvement in the Capitol riot. He was seen in a widely circulated photograph smiling and waving while carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern through the Capitol Rotunda.
He was wearing a knit Trump hat with the number “45” on the front. Johnson is a stay-at-home-dad, taking care of the five kids he has with his wife, a physician.
According to Johnson’s arrest warrant, the FBI used the photo as well his social media posts and a tip from a mutual friend to locate him. He was charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; one count of theft of government property; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
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Richard Barnett
Richard “Bigo” Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Ark., was arrested Friday in Bentonville, Ark., on multiple criminal charges related to his actions during Wednesday’s riot.
During the siege, Barnett was photographed sitting in Pelosi’s office with his feet on her desk. He told reporters afterward that he left her a “nasty note” and was photographed with an envelope bearing the House speaker’s name. (He insisted he didn’t steal it, telling a New York Times reporter: “I left a quarter on her desk.”)
Barnett was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and theft of public money, property or records. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday, and will ultimately be extradited to Washington, D.C.
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Jacob Anthony Chansley
More commonly known as Jake Angeli, Chansley provided perhaps the most indelible image of the attempted insurrection, standing shirtless atop the Senate dais with his face painted, multiple tattoos, a horned headdress, a bullhorn and a spear with an American flag tied to it.
Known as the “Q Shaman,” Chansley was a regular attendee at QAnon-related events. He’s a prominent member of the QAnon community, which believes in the baseless conspiracy theory that Trump is attempting to thwart a cabal of pedophiles who secretly control the government. At many events in Arizona, where he resides, Chansley carried a sign that said “Q sent me.”
The 33-year-old surrendered to authorities on Saturday after being charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. According to FBI documents, Chansley said he was there “as part of a group effort, with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021.”
“The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker, I consider that a win,” Chansley told NBC News last week, adding, “I didn’t do anything wrong. I walked through an open door, dude.”
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Derrick Evans
Evans was elected to the West Virginia state legislature last month but resigned Saturday after facing two federal charges for his role in the riot. The 35-year-old live-streamed the event on Facebook, shouting, “We’re in! We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”
While Evans deleted the video from his page, it was captured by a user on Reddit. Federal documents provide a rundown of the live stream, including Evans fist-bumping a Capitol Police officer and saying, “We still respect you, all right?”
Evans was taken into custody by the FBI on Friday.
“The past few days have certainly been a difficult time for my family, colleagues and myself, so I feel it’s best at this point to resign my seat in the House and focus on my personal situation and those I love,” Evans said in a statement released following his resignation. “I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians.”
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Aaron Mostofsky
The FBI said Tuesday that agents in New York City arrested Aaron Mostofsky, the son of a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, in connection with last week’s siege on the U.S. Capitol. Mostofsky was seen in photos and on video inside the Capitol dressed in fur pelts and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest. He was also carrying a Capitol Police shield.
In an interview with a New York Post reporter during the riot, Mostofsky said he believed “the election was stolen” and that “we were cheated.”
“I don’t think 75 million people voted for Trump — I think it was 85 million,” he said, adding that he had found the police shield on the floor.
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Doug Jensen
Jensen, a 41-year-old Iowa man, was arrested on Saturday and faces five federal charges: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disrupting the orderly conduct of government business; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building; and obstructing a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder.
Jensen, who was wearing a QAnon sweatshirt on the day of the assault, was caught on video confronting and then chasing a Black police officer who was attempting to stop the mob from storming the Senate.
Jensen’s brother, William Routh, told the Associated Press that Jensen believed that Q — an internet presence claiming to be a government official who posts cryptic messages — was Trump or someone close to Trump.
“I feel like he had a lot of influence from the internet that confused or obscured his views on certain things. When I talked to him, he thought that maybe this was Trump telling him what to do,” Routh said.
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Nicholas Ochs
The founder and leader of a Hawaii-based chapter of the far-right Proud Boys group, Ochs was arrested at the airport on Thursday on a charge of unlawful entry into a restricted building or grounds. Ochs, who mounted a failed bid for the Hawaii state legislature last year, posted a photo to Twitter of himself with a cigarette in his mouth along with the caption “Hello from the Capital lol.”
“We didn’t have to break in, I just walked in and filmed,” Ochs told CNN last week, claiming he was working as a professional journalist when he entered the building. “There were thousands of people in there — they had no control of the situation. I didn’t get stopped or questioned.”
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Eric Gavelek Munchel
Munchel, a Tennessee resident, was photographed in the Senate chamber carrying plastic restraints used by police to detain suspects. His tactical gear included patches that showed the logo of the Punisher, a comic book character, over the American flag and a “thin blue line” — indicating support of police — in the shape of Tennessee.
The 30-year-old was booked into a Nashville jail Sunday afternoon. According to an interview with the Times of London, Munchel attended the rally with his mother, stating, “We wanted to show that we’re willing to rise up, band together and fight if necessary. Same as our forefathers, who established this country in 1776. It was a kind of flexing of muscles.”
The Tennessean reported that someone named Eric Munchel worked at Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk in Nashville but was terminated 60 days ago. Munchel was charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He has not been charged with any additional crimes in relation to the plastic zip ties, which some speculated could have been used to take lawmakers hostage.
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Bradley Rukstales
Rukstales, the CEO of the suburban Chicago marketing firm Cogensia, was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; knowingly, with intent to impede government business or official functions, engaging in disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
On Friday, Cogensia announced that Rukstales had been fired, saying his “actions were inconsistent with [our] core values.”
Rukstales issued a statement last week that said he entered the building “to see what was taking place inside.”
“My decision to enter the Capitol was wrong, and I am deeply regretful to have done so. Without qualification and as a peaceful and law-abiding citizen, I condemn the violence and destruction that took place in Washington,” he continued, adding, “I offer my sincere apologies for my indiscretion, and I deeply regret that my actions have brought embarrassment to my family, colleagues, friends and fellow countrymen. … It was the single worst personal decision of my life; I have no excuse for my actions and wish that I could take them back.”
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