More Capitol rioters in viral posts arrested, senator urges social media providers to keep data

By Rich McKay

 

FILE PHOTO: Jacob Anthony Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, of Arizona, stands with other supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump as they demonstrate on the second floor of the U.S. Capitol near the entrance to the Senate after breaching security defenses, in Washington, U.S., January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Theiler

 

(Reuters) - Federal agents arrested two more Capitol Hill rioters whose images had gone viral, of one carrying off the House speaker's lectern and another who wore horns and a fur pelt, while a top Democratic lawmaker called on mobile carriers to preserve social media content related to the carnage.

 

Dozens of people have been charged following the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday, with the FBI asking the public to help identify participants, given the proliferation of images of the riots on the internet. Five people have died, including a police officer.

 

Jacob Anthony Chansley, who featured prominently on social media wearing horns, a fur pelt, face paint and brandishing a spear adorned with the U.S. flag, turned himself in to police, the Department of Justice said.

 

Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, called the FBI's Washington office on Thursday and later told agents "he came 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 Jan. 6," the DOJ said in a release.

 

 

Federal agents arrested two more Capitol Hill rioters whose images had gone viral, one who carried off the House Speaker's lectern and another who wore horns and a fur pelt. Colette Luke has more.

 

Federal agents also arrested Adam Christian Johnson, whose photo as he smiled and waved as he carried off House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern also went viral. Johnson, of Parrish, Florida, also streamed live video on Facebook of himself as he walked the halls of the Capitol, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

 

The video has been removed from online platforms and all of Johnson's pages have been taken down.

 

On Saturday Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat who is the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote to the chief executives of 11 mobile carriers and social media companies, urging them to preserve content and associated meta-data connected to the riot, which erupted as lawmakers gathered to certify the election of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

 

In his letters, Warner emphasized how the rioters took time to document the event and share it through social media and text messages "to celebrate their disdain for our democratic process."

 

Before his arrest, NBC network reported, Chansley gloated about how the crowd infiltrated the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to flee.

 

"The fact that we had a bunch of traitors in office, hunkered down, put on gas masks and retreat to their underground bunker, I consider that a win," he said to NBC News.

 

Chansley faces several federal charges including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

 

Media reports said Chansley had often been seen at rallies supporting Trump. Efforts by Reuters on Saturday to reach his relatives were unsuccessful, as were attempts to contact Johnson's family.

 

It was unclear where Chansley was being held Saturday, or whether he or Johnson had legal representation.

 

Johnson, who has a first appearance in federal court on Monday, is being charged out of Washington.

 

THREATS TO SPEAKER

One man who was arrested in connection with the events at the Capitol and threats to lawmakers told FBI agents he arrived in Washington on Thursday, a day late for the rally, after being delayed en route in Ohio, federal court documents showed.

 

Cleveland Meredith was found with a Tavor X95 assault rifle, a Glock pistol, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and was detained in connection with making threats to Pelosi after an FBI agent read Jan. 7 text messages in which Meredith talked about "putting a bullet in her noggin on Live TV" and running her over with his truck, according to a criminal complaint.

 

At least a dozen other people were facing criminal charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in connection to the riot, and at least another 40 people faced lesser charges in the District of Columbia Superior Court, a local venue.

 

Many of them were arraigned on Thursday and released, with an order from the judge not to return to Washington unless for court appearances or meetings with their attorneys.

 

They included Richard Barnett, the Gravette, Arkansas, man who was photographed sitting at a desk in Pelosi's office, his feet up on the furniture.

 

Nicholas Ochs, self-professed leader of the Hawaii chapter of the far-right Proud Boys group and who made a failed bid for a seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives in November, was arrested on his return to Honolulu and charged with unlawful entry into restricted buildings or grounds, federal prosecutors said in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.

 

Among those arrested Friday for participating in the riot was West Virginia House of Delegates member Derrick Evans, who announced his resignation on Saturday in a one-line statement.

 

Evans, who had just been elected in November and on his campaign website had promoted himself as "a Pro Trump conservative who will always stand up, speak out, and Fight For Christian Values," live-streamed himself entering the Capitol on Wednesday, and was recorded saying, "We're in, we're in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol," the Justice Department said in a release.

 

The FBI and the Washington police department's homicide unit are jointly investigating the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured while defending the Capitol. Sicknick had just been sworn in with the U.S. Capitol Police Department, fulfilling a lifelong dream.

 

Steven D'Antuono, the FBI Washington Field Office's assistant director in charge, said on Friday that rioters who had since returned home were not safe from arrest.

 

"Just because you've left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol," D'Antuono said.

 

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-11

 

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They need to find those guys who were caught on video beating that cop to death.  Fairly clear views of some of their faces.  Lock them up and throw away the key.

26 minutes ago, webfact said:

Evans, who had just been elected in November and on his campaign website had promoted himself as "a Pro Trump conservative who will always stand up, speak out, and Fight For Christian Values," live-streamed himself entering the Capitol on Wednesday, and was recorded saying, "We're in, we're in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol," the Justice Department said in a release.

Will he be facing charges as well? Trespass surely is the least charge in his case.

Great community representative.NOT

I was unaware that breaking into  spaces, causing mayhem and attempting to usurp the legal democratic process were "christian values"

After taking selfies and vids of their criminality within the building and plastering it all over the internet you might conclude that alot of them are not the brightest kids on the block .. 

42 minutes ago, shdmn said:

They need to find those guys who were caught on video beating that cop to death.  Fairly clear views of some of their faces.  Lock them up and throw away the key.

 IMHO whatever agency is appropriate should carefully separately interview say 50 of the protestors/conspiritory theorists and ask them to share detailed reasons for their thinking, and carefully push them to be totally specific /facts (not repeated slogans).  And of course respecting that some of their claims (e.g. bias re race, promises not kept and more) do have a basis in reality.

 

Then compare the answers to see if there is any common thread and whether it can stand any test to prove it's correct/fact.

 

Seems to me their 'facts' would fall apart in 2 minutes. 

 

Sure, it ain't gunna happen.

When will all those GOP politicians who supported Trump's lies for years be prosecuted?

Without those spineless enablers that coup attempt would not have happend.

Arrest those who are responsible and not just the gullible foot soldiers!

 

19 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

After taking selfies and vids of their criminality within the building and plastering it all over the internet you might conclude that alot of them are not the brightest kids on the block .. 

They have a lot of those in America.

Education would help but I guess the military industrial complex pays better for all those election campaigns. 

46 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 IMHO whatever agency is appropriate should carefully separately interview say 50 of the protestors/conspiritory theorists and ask them to share detailed reasons for their thinking, and carefully push them to be totally specific /facts (not repeated slogans).  And of course respecting that some of their claims (e.g. bias re race, promises not kept and more) do have a basis in reality.

 

Then compare the answers to see if there is any common thread and whether it can stand any test to prove it's correct/fact.

 

Seems to me their 'facts' would fall apart in 2 minutes. 

 

Sure, it ain't gunna happen.

Unfortunately, certainly in the case of the conspiracy theorists, and indeed of those who believe Trump's baseless claims of having  "sacred landslide victories stolen" there are no facts - only fantasies spawned by the lies of a narcissistic sociopath, who, desperate to retain the Presidency, attempted to stop the certification of the electoral college results by staging a coup.

 

That is the fact. 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Before his arrest, NBC network reported, Chansley gloated about how the crowd infiltrated the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to flee.

 

The Deplorables.

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-coronavirus-pandemic-elections-1806ea8dc15a2c04f2a68acd6b55cace

 

Records show fervent Trump fans fueled US Capitol takeover

I’ve never been one for re education camps, but if these bozos were to be thrown in one for about ten years and came out with the mentality of a four year old it would have to be a plus for society, sorry four year olds.

 

Tennessee man accused of being 'zip tie guy' pictured at Capitol riot arrested in Nashville

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A Tennessee man who had expressed pro-Trump views and was accused by online researchers of carrying plastic hand restraints in the U.S. Senate during the Capitol riot Wednesday, has been arrested.

 

The Nashville man, Eric Munchel, 30, was being held in a Nashville jail Sunday on a federal warrant, online records show. An FBI spokesperson, Samantha Shero, confirmed the arrest. 

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/10/eric-munchel-arrested-reportedly-zip-tie-guy-senate-during-riots/6618314002/

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, harada said:

I’ve never been one for re education camps, but if these bozos were to be thrown in one for about ten years and came out with the mentality of a four year old it would have to be a plus for society, sorry four year olds.

 

 

Why not simply employ Alice's Queen's admonition of "Off with their heads"?     ????

3 hours ago, shdmn said:

They need to find those guys who were caught on video beating that cop to death.  Fairly clear views of some of their faces.  Lock them up and throw away the key.

I should imagine that they are already identified. They will be being watched closely, probably not too subtly. Evidence will be being collected, then they will be arrested. There will be nowhere to run or hide.

 

There will be conflicting priorities at the moment. The first priority will be ensuring the security of the coming inauguration. That means that a lot of people will be being watched very closely indeed.

Troll post reported and removed.

 

17 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Tennessee man accused of being 'zip tie guy' pictured at Capitol riot arrested in Nashville

 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A Tennessee man who had expressed pro-Trump views and was accused by online researchers of carrying plastic hand restraints in the U.S. Senate during the Capitol riot Wednesday, has been arrested.

 

The Nashville man, Eric Munchel, 30, was being held in a Nashville jail Sunday on a federal warrant, online records show. An FBI spokesperson, Samantha Shero, confirmed the arrest. 

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/10/eric-munchel-arrested-reportedly-zip-tie-guy-senate-during-riots/6618314002/

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

While the extreme right has included people with military experience, historically, Weil said, it also includes those who play at being soldiers.  

“They don’t have that actual real-life experience, but they like trying to be like a soldier in this way,” said Weil, who studies terrorist organizations, extremist propaganda and online behavior.

Another internet tough guy video game cosplay soldier behind bars. 

Beer Hall Putsch

 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Evans, who had just been elected in November and on his campaign website had promoted himself as "a Pro Trump conservative who will always stand up, speak out, and Fight For Christian Values," live-streamed himself entering the Capitol on Wednesday, and was recorded saying, "We're in, we're in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol," the Justice Department said in a release.

I can now picture him with streaming tears saying, "I'm out, I'm out! Derrick Evans is in big trouble!"

41 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Beer Hall Putsch

 

Let's be thankful it failed.

3 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Unfortunately, certainly in the case of the conspiracy theorists, and indeed of those who believe Trump's baseless claims of having  "sacred landslide victories stolen" there are no facts - only fantasies spawned by the lies of a narcissistic sociopath, who, desperate to retain the Presidency, attempted to stop the certification of the electoral college results by staging a coup.

 

That is the fact. 

Sure, point taken.

My ultimate aim would be to seriously/politely push them to show real & solid evidence to support their claims.

 

Or get them to realize there is no evidence because they have been told repeated lies and bullshxx.

 

Perhaps that could include pushing them to explain with real facts how the dems are communist.

 

And provide real evidence of how / when / where the dems drink childrens' blood, 

 

And many more items from dear leaders regular play book.

So many of these terrorists are being shown to be society's losers. Sadly, there are captured enough to think 45 actually cares they exist, other than to use them for his own self-centered purposes.

 

The guy with the horns on his head is a 34 year old guy who lives with Mom after failing to pay rent on his man cave, because he's unemployed. Somehow, however, he goes to 45 rallies as a groupie, perhaps using his unemployment compensation, SSDI or Mom's credit card.

 

The guy with the zip ties was caught because he brought Mom to a coup and she was identified. Yea, everybody brings Mom to their putsch!

 

There's a video of one of these guys at Reagan Int'l Airport who was told, upon check-in, he's on a No Fly list now because he's is viewed as a terrorist. He started crying at the airport. It's a long walk back home for that loser.

 

The danger, however, comes from the fact that some of these cult members are former military and have both weapons and training.  The cult has infiltrated both the military and law enforcement. That gives them access to weapons.

 

The US is in trouble. Even some retired generals are worried. The cult has bought 45's lies and is convinced they are patriots, when in fact they are at best idiots, and at worst, traitors.

 

Gen Barry McCaffrey says, Biden should do his Inauguration indoors in a secure facility, fearing trained snipers. That is how far the US has fallen under its cult leader.

8 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Sure, point taken.

My ultimate aim would be to seriously/politely push them to show real & solid evidence to support their claims.

 

Or get them to realize there is no evidence because they have been told repeated lies and bullshxx.

 

Perhaps that could include pushing them to explain with real facts how the dems are communist.

 

And provide real evidence of how / when / where the dems drink childrens' blood, 

 

And many more items from dear leaders regular play book.

 

People that caught up in the cult cannot be brought back. Facts mean nothing. They would call it 'photoshopped' or a 'false flag', or 'a Deep State lie'.

 

They are addicted to madness and fantasy. It is likely the first thing in their entire miserable existence that gave their life meaning.

Good hope they get lots more make them felons so they can’t own guns that will get their attention !patriots no not in my opinion they are insurrectionists

2 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

 

People that caught up in the cult cannot be brought back. Facts mean nothing. They would call it 'photoshopped' or a 'false flag', or 'a Deep State lie'.

 

They are addicted to madness and fantasy. It is likely the first thing in their entire miserable existence that gave their life meaning.

 I have no doubt you are correct, but I believe it would have some value to try to get some to see the facts / realities of the whole situation. Convert some back to logic and fact and it may well start a trend...

1 hour ago, bendejo said:

Beer Hall Putsch

 

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose father was a Nazi soldier, compared it to Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, in his heartfelt video released on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

But ... but ... I was answering the documented call of the President of the United States to come to Washington, DC and stop the election from being stolen!!! Ah, yes Buttercup and now you get to experience the result of your being so ignorant ...

3 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

 

People that caught up in the cult cannot be brought back. Facts mean nothing. They would call it 'photoshopped' or a 'false flag', or 'a Deep State lie'.

 

They are addicted to madness and fantasy. It is likely the first thing in their entire miserable existence that gave their life meaning.

Those white supremacists, neo Nazis and conspiracy theorists are hard core but kept behind the scene and marginalized for past years till Trump gave them an unequivoval boost and inspired by his messaging. Richard Spencer, a white nationalistic once famously chanted to his followers, raised his stiff-armed salute and proclaimed loudly "Hail Trump". Reminiscent of those evil years under a crazed lunatic who had a hold on his followers. 

54 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose father was a Nazi soldier, compared it to Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass, in his heartfelt video released on Sunday.

 

Can't help but looking at history and connecting the dots when you know people of a certain stripe have access to [Trump]

 

Italy revokes Steve Bannon’s right to use a monastery for his political “gladiator” school

 

I suspect part of keeping Bannon arrested is an attempt to keep him from making trouble abroad, he's been in contact with Europe's worst.

 

It started with the brownshirts (aka SA) beating people up in the streets, and when they had no more use for the crude bullies they were supplanted by trained troops (SS), who did away with the SA in a most disdainful manner (ahem!).  For a dramatisation of the succession see the film The Damned

 

And then things got even worse, but  we know all that.

 

 

Every person who entered the Capital building were trespassers and should all be charged

with trespassing. With all the cameras in that building, there should be enough evidence

to seek out and arrest the lot of them. These people should be publicly identified and have

their faces put in American newspapers and TV to show the country who they all are, as they 

are responsible for all the people who died on the 6th, except for the woman who was shot.

  My thoughts of how the future should be for these rioters.

Geezer

8 hours ago, scorecard said:

 IMHO whatever agency is appropriate should carefully separately interview say 50 of the protestors/conspiritory theorists and ask them to share detailed reasons for their thinking, and carefully push them to be totally specific /facts (not repeated slogans).  And of course respecting that some of their claims (e.g. bias re race, promises not kept and more) do have a basis in reality.

 

Then compare the answers to see if there is any common thread and whether it can stand any test to prove it's correct/fact.

 

Seems to me their 'facts' would fall apart in 2 minutes. 

 

Sure, it ain't gunna happen.

"Seems to me their 'facts' would fall apart in 2 minutes. " Which is why i mentioned interview them all separately and see how fractured it is or how consistent it is, plus with a big number of interviews all sorts of additional (and possible important information is revealed: who is giving instructions, what's the transport and other resources planning, who is financing the whole action?