Arrested Capitol rioters had guns and bombs, everyday careers and Olympic medals

[webfact]

Arrested Capitol rioters had guns and bombs, everyday careers and Olympic medals

By Brad Heath and Sarah N. Lynch

 

FILE PHOTO: Police speak to supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump, including Jake Angeli in the horn and fur costume, 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/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - United by political grievances, they came in costumes, snapping selfies, calling themselves patriots. Some came armed for battle and planning for "war."

 

As authorities begin to charge the rioters in the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, court documents paint a picture of a diverse mob that included both citizens with mainstream careers - police officers, a flower shop owner, a state lawmaker, military veterans, even an Olympic medalist - as well as Americans on the fringe.

 

One was a member of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group. Another had a caveman costume beneath a police bulletproof vest. One served time in prison for attempted murder.

 

They traveled from as far as Hawaii to join the protest of Congress certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s election win, which Republican President Donald Trump has falsely claimed resulted from widespread election fraud.

 

Some brought all manner of weapons or explosives, underscoring the grave threat from an insurrection that resulted in five deaths, including a police officer, and dozens of injuries.

 

Federal prosecutors have said they expect to bring charges against hundreds of people involving the riot and related threats and violence. They had charged about 80 as of Thursday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said.

 

Their task was made much harder by that fact that overwhelmed police initially made few arrests of the hundreds of people who stormed the building - just 14 were detained that day by the U.S. Capitol Police, which guards the building.

 

And yet many suspects made investigators’ and prosecutors’ jobs easy by mugging for news cameras and posting what authorities described as real-time confessions - including videos of themselves - in postings on social media as they pushed their way inside the Capitol, home to the U.S. Congress, according to a Reuters review of court records.

 

David Blair - a Trump supporter who lives in Washington’s suburbs and was charged with attacking a police officer with a stick - came to the Capitol after seeing that it had been overrun by a mob supporting the president because he wanted "to witness history," he told Reuters in a text message. "I ended up still finding a way to get in trouble because I had so much pent-up emotion," he wrote.

 

The initial round of charges do not reflect the full gravity of the siege that paralyzed Congress as members fled for their lives and hid from the mob. Authorities expect more serious charges to follow after more intensive investigations.

 

Washington’s acting U.S. attorney, Michael Sherwin, said Tuesday that he had assembled a team to focus on building sedition and conspiracy cases related to the most "heinous" actions during the siege.

 

Investigators are reviewing communications, along with travel and financial records, to track any coordination or organization among the rioters.

 

"People are going to be shocked with some of the egregious conduct that happened in the Capitol," Sherwin said.

 

SEALED CASES, SCANT DETAILS

Authorities have so far offered scant details about the people they charged, and some of the court filings remain sealed.

At least some of those arrested in connection with the riots have a history of mental illness.

 

Mark Leffingwell of Seattle, who faces charges for assaulting a police officer, is an Iraq war veteran who suffers from PTSD and traumatic brain injury, his lawyer told a judge. Richard Barnett, photographed sitting in U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, told the judge he has a history of depressive disorder.

 

Court documents did not show whether Barnett had entered a plea. Barnett’s lawyer, Anthony Siano, declined to comment beyond confirming the details of court proceedings.

 

Lonnie Coffman, a 70-year-old Alabama man arrested for having explosives in his truck, takes multiple drugs for mental illness, his lawyer told the judge in a hearing this week. Coffman pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Thomas Robertson, one of two off-duty Virginia police officers charged with entering the Capitol illegally, was more explicit, praising the power of right-wing rioters: "The right IN ONE DAY took the f------ U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us," Robertson wrote on social media, according to the Capitol Police. He boasted that the crowd had "actually attacked the government.”

 

Neither Robertson nor his lawyer could be reached. Court documents did not show whether he had entered a plea.

 

Some suspects apologized after the riot.

 

Blair - the man charged with attacking a police officer with a stick - told an investigator he was "being an idiot, pumped up and didn’t move back.

 

Accept everything. I’m sorry," according to a court filing. Blair pleaded not guilty and said in a text message he "would never, and have never had an intention of assaulting a police officer.” He did not directly answer what he did during the alleged attack and why.

 

PREPARING FOR ‘WAR’

Prosecutors say Cleveland Meredith, whose lives in North Carolina, according to his lawyer, loaded his truck and trailer with weapons and headed to Washington, but arrived too late to join the riot. When police searched his truck the next day, they found a high-powered rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition, including bullets the FBI described as armor-piercing.

 

As Meredith traveled to Washington, someone sent him a text message that Trump supporters had breached the Capitol. "Burn DC to the FKG ground,” he replied, according to court documents. When Meredith learned that Vice President Mike Pence would count electoral votes from states Trump lost, he replied: "War time."

 

FBI agents arrested him the next day in Washington after he sent more menacing texts and head-butted a person on the street, according to court records.

 

Prosecutors urged a judge on Wednesday to keep him locked up while the charges are pending, describing Meredith as "a clearly disturbed, deranged, and dangerous individual that fantasizes about committing horrific acts of violence and takes countless steps to carry them out" and said he appeared ready to act on "extreme political and racial animus."

 

Prosecutors described Meredith as an adherent of the fringe QAnon conspiracy theory, which casts Trump as a savior figure and elite Democrats as a cabal of Satanist pedophiles and cannibals. A judge on Thursday ordered Meredith detained pending trial. His lawyer did not respond to questions about the case.

 

Authorities arrested Coffman of Alabama near the Capitol after noticing the handle of a gun in his pickup truck while they were responding to pipe bombs left outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee, both of which are near the Capitol.

 

Inside his truck, they found an AR-15-style rifle, a shotgun, a crossbow, several machetes, smoke grenades and 11 Molotov cocktails. They also found a note with the name of at least one member of Congress and a judge, alongside the notation "bad guy."

 

Prosecutors said the combination of weapons and political messages "suggest that these weapons were intended to be used in an effort to violently attack our elected representatives."

 

A Capitol Police agent said in a court filing that Coffman told the officers who arrested him that he tried to return to his parked truck several times during the day but couldn’t because police had blocked off the area while they investigated the pipe bombs.

 

Others were armed during the riot: A police officer said he noticed a bulge on the hip of Christopher Alberts - who was dressed in body armor and carrying a gas mask - as he filed out of the Capitol grounds, according to court records. When they stopped him, they found a loaded handgun. Alberts’ lawyer did not respond to questions about the case.

 

Two other men, Eric Munchel and Larry Brock, both were photographed inside the Capitol carrying zip ties, commonly used as a handcuff. Prosecutors have not said what either man intended to do with them. Brock is an Air Force veteran who once flew warplanes. Both were charged with being inside the Capitol illegally. Reuters was unable to reach their attorneys.

 

Michael Curzio, arrested at the front of a crowd inside the Capitol, had recently served a prison sentence in Florida for attempted murder. He was released in 2019. Curzio's mother, Vicki Prentiss, told Reuters he went to Washington because "he was excited about going to support Trump.”

 

Curzio was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct, along with unlawful entry of the Capitol. Curzio’s case was sealed by the court and he could not be reached for comment.

 

CONFESSIONS ON CAMERA

Most of the cases filed against rioters so far were for less serious offenses involving being inside the Capitol illegally, and many defendants were released within a day.

 

An FBI agent said in an affidavit that he identified former Olympic swimmer Klete Keller - who has two gold medals and three other medals - inside the Capitol because he was tall, unmasked, and wearing an Olympic patch on the shoulder of his jacket. Reuters was unable to reach Keller, who is charged with unlawfully entering the Capitol. Court documents did not indicate a plea.

 

Nicholas Ochs, head of the Proud Boys' Hawaii chapter, was charged after the FBI said he posted a picture on Twitter of himself smoking a cigarette with the caption "Hello from the Capital lol." Ochs has not yet appeared in court, and court documents did not indicate he had made a plea. He could not be reached for comment.

 

Prosecutors charged Jenny Cudd, a Texas flower shop owner, on Wednesday with unlawfully entering the Capitol, citing a widely viewed social media video in which she laughed and said: "We did break down the, umm, Nancy Pelosi’s office door, and somebody stole her gavel and took a picture sitting in the chair flipping off the camera.” Reuters was unable to reach her.

 

Afterward, the FBI said Cudd appeared in a Facebook video in which she declared she had participated in a "new revolution” and added: "I am proud of my actions, I fucking charged the Capitol today with patriots.”

 

Also charged was Josiah Colt, who authorities said was photographed dropping from the Senate gallery into its floor, one of the riot’s most iconic images, citing a Facebook video that emerged shortly after.

 

"I just got in the Capitol building. I was the first one that hopped down into the chamber,” the man the FBI identified as Colt says in the video, wearing a helmet and breathing heavily. Later he adds: "I don’t know what to do. I’m in downtown D.C. I’m all over the news.”

 

Colt’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Derrick Evans, a newly elected state delegate from West Virginia, was charged after he posted a Facebook video of himself entering the Capitol, in which he said: "We’re in, we’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!” In a public statement on Thursday, Evans’s lawyer, John Bryan, said he "did nothing wrong” and was exercising First Amendment rights.

 

(Reporting by Brad Heath and Sarah Lynch in Washington; additional reporting by Jan Wolfe; editing by Jason Szep and Brian Thevenot)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-15

 

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[PatOngo]

46 minutes ago, webfact said:

Inside his truck, they found an AR-15-style rifle, a shotgun, a crossbow, several machetes, smoke grenades and 11 Molotov cocktails. They also found a note with the name of at least one member of Congress and a judge, alongside the notation "bad guy."

Damnit! Where are the "good guys" when you need them?

[Lacessit]

I am wondering when the trolls that normally praise Trump and his supporters will be along on TV, to put their spin on this event. Should make for some interesting mental and verbal gymnastics.

[shdmn]

They got the guy wearing the CFD hat who threw the fire extinguisher.  He's not suspected of killing the police officer though.

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-sanford-retired-firefighter-arrested-fire-extinguisher-capitol-riots/

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by shdmn

[Tug]

MAGA Many Are Getting Arrested for the life of me I cannot understand how people can fall for the bs coming out of trumps mouth we really do need to legislate consequences for (news organizations) that spread lies and hate to think thease MAGA idiots think trump is the answer it just beggers belief 

[shdmn]

They came to Washington to stage a coup and all they got was a t-shirt felony charge.

Edited January 15, 2021 by shdmn

[mtls2005]

Idiots forgot why their ancestors wore hoods.

[siam dreamers]

It must have been horrible for all these men to have lived through the terrible oppression suffered by white males from America born in the late 50's early 60's. Hopefully after Trump throws them under the bus they all get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law they can experience the true freedom of not having to worry where their next meal is coming from. I am sure their black and brown brethren in prison will welcome them with open arms.

[shdmn]

20 minutes ago, siam dreamers said:

It must have been horrible for all these men to have lived through the terrible oppression suffered by white males from America born in the late 50's early 60's. Hopefully after Trump throws them under the bus they all get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law they can experience the true freedom of not having to worry where their next meal is coming from. I am sure their black and brown brethren in prison will welcome them with open arms.

 

White privilege is going to jail for a terrorist attack on the Capitol, then complaining that the prison food isn't organic, AND THEN THE PRISON GIVES YOU ORGANIC FOOD.

 

--Stephen Colbert

[J Town]

At the time of this post, I'm hearing at least one of the terrorists claimed he was following 45's orders.

[J Town]

55 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I am wondering when the trolls that normally praise Trump and his supporters will be along on TV, to put their spin on this event. Should make for some interesting mental and verbal gymnastics.

There's only one still prolific poster (who is now on my "ignore" list for being too nonsensical). There's another who keeps himself to "laughing emo" on most of the adults' posts.

[J Town]

49 minutes ago, shdmn said:

They got the guy wearing the CFD hat who threw the fire extinguisher.  He's not suspected of killing the police officer though.

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-sanford-retired-firefighter-arrested-fire-extinguisher-capitol-riots/

 

Good gawd - a retired firefighter! He should have known better. ????

[J Town]

6 minutes ago, shdmn said:

 

White privilege is going to jail for a terrorist attack on the Capitol, then complaining that the prison food isn't organic, AND THEN THE PRISON GIVES YOU ORGANIC FOOD.

 

--Stephen Colbert

That "organic food being provided in jail" thing will cease the instant the idiot's 15 minutes is up.

[mtls2005]

This chap carryiong the confederate flag surrendered, just like all confederates.

 

Man carrying Confederate flag inside the US Capitol during riot arrested, identified as Kevin Seefried

 

The FBI has arrested Kevin Seefried, seen carrying a Confederate flag inside Capitol Hill, according to a federal criminal complaint.

 

Seefried had been a focus of the FBI's efforts to get the public to help them identify riot participants. The complaint identifies him as the man seen in the photos, widely circulated online, carrying a large Confederate flag inside the US Capitol during the January 6 siege.

Kevin Seefried told the FBI he had brought the Confederate flag with him to Washington from his home in Delaware, where he normally displays it outside.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/14/us/fbi-arrests-confederate-flag-man-kevin-seefried-trnd/index.html

 

 

[mtls2005]

Prosecutor: Capitol rioter aimed ‘to take hostages’

 

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended “to take hostages,” a prosecutor said in a Texas court on Thursday.

 

“He means to take hostages. He means to kidnap, restrain, perhaps try, perhaps execute members of the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Weimer said of retired Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr. without providing specifics.

 

The prosecutor had argued that Brock should be detained, but Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton said he would release Brock to home confinement. Cureton ordered Brock to surrender any firearms and said he could have only limited internet access as conditions of that release.

 

https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-fort-worth-texas-e13a0ee09d543415d46c3f34a02f444b?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter

 

 

 

[Walker88]

Nothing epitomizes 45 and his base like the attempted putsch against the Legislative Branch of govt.

 

A new video shows Capitol police apprehending one of the terrorists, securing the guy on the ground and handcuffing him, while the terrorist screamed, "You're treating me like a <deleted> Black !"  That is a direct result of all of 45's racist comments about "s-hole countries" or "NFL players" or "rapists and murderers" or "very fine people". 45 gave voice and the all clear for racists of all stripes to come out into the light.

 

A second example is the absurdity of a Party calling itself 'the Party of Lincoln" toting Confederate Flags or championing the seccessionists, who chose slavery over equality and split the country because of it.

 

The terrorists bark about 'freedom' and chant "USA" while trying to destroy both the democratic system as well as one of the branches of govt that not only makes the laws, but also serves as part of the system of checks and balances against other branches so that the US never becomes an autocracy or monarchy. Absurd logic....or no logic at all, just ignorance of the ideals upon which the country was based and structured to work toward.

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Tug said:

MAGA Many Are Getting Arrested for the life of me I cannot understand how people can fall for the bs coming out of trumps mouth we really do need to legislate consequences for (news organizations) that spread lies and hate to think thease MAGA idiots think trump is the answer it just beggers belief 

 

It seems the problem is that many of these people live in a parallel universe with their news and their truth which has little to do with our news and our truth. Obviously we know that our news is true. But for whatever reasons those MAGA fans also believe their news is true.

And even if I don't like them and I think many of them must be crazy I understand that at least some of them thought they do the right thing. Because they actually thought and 75% still think the election was stolen from them. And why do they think that? Because they see it in their news and they hear and see almost all GOP politicians repeating the lies.

If all your friends know the earth is flat, your president tells you the earth is flat, and all politicians who you like tell you the earth is flat then obviously the earth must be flat. Or should you believe any of those commies or that leftwing NYT or CNN or any of that.

 

It seems that's the way these people think. And it won't change until more influential people, including all those GOP politicians stand up and tell the truth.

[Jeffr2]

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

 

It seems the problem is that many of these people live in a parallel universe with their news and their truth which has little to do with our news and our truth. Obviously we know that our news is true. But for whatever reasons those MAGA fans also believe their news is true.

And even if I don't like them and I think many of them must be crazy I understand that at least some of them thought they do the right thing. Because they actually thought and 75% still think the election was stolen from them. And why do they think that? Because they see it in their news and they hear and see almost all GOP politicians repeating the lies.

If all your friends know the earth is flat, your president tells you the earth is flat, and all politicians who you like tell you the earth is flat then obviously the earth must be flat. Or should you believe any of those commies or that leftwing NYT or CNN or any of that.

 

It seems that's the way these people think. And it won't change until more influential people, including all those GOP politicians stand up and tell the truth.

At least Trump has been silenced.  One of the biggest trolls for misinformation, lies, hate speech and propaganda.  Whew!!!!

[mtls2005]

1 minute ago, Jeffr2 said:

At least Trump has been silenced.  One of the biggest trolls for misinformation, lies, hate speech and propaganda.  Whew!!!!

 

Agreed, and two fewer daily showers required.

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

3 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

At least Trump has been silenced.  One of the biggest trolls for misinformation, lies, hate speech and propaganda.  Whew!!!!

That's good. But too little too late. There are still over 74,000,000 Trump supporters out there.

[Jeffr2]

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That's good. But too little too late. There are still over 74,000,000 Trump supporters out there.

But a lot less than that are the radical ones.  Hopefully!!!!

[mtls2005]

45 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

There are still over 74,000,000 Trump supporters out there.

 

 

Just look at all the people who have survived cults, the number  one factor is 'time'. 

 

They need time to recover.

 

 

 

 

[J Town]

OMG - The Qanon shaman is requesting a pardon from 45.

[Salerno]

“My client had heard the oft-repeated words of President Trump,” Mr. Watkins continued. “The words and invitation of a president are supposed to mean something. Given the peaceful and compliant fashion in which Mr. Chansley comported himself, it would be appropriate and honorable for the president to pardon Mr. Chansley and other like-minded, peaceful individuals who accepted the president’s invitation with honorable intentions.”

 

https://www.kmov.com/news/qanon-shaman-hires-st-louis-attorney-al-watkins-seeks-pardon-for-following-trumps-invitation/article_2008074e-56b7-11eb-91d3-6f9c640ddaf4.html

[Antonymous]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems the problem is that many of these people live in a parallel universe with their news and their truth which has little to do with our news and our truth. Obviously we know that our news is true.

 

And THIS is a very big part of the problem we face, since those most gullible on the right listen to and read and believe only the views in their echo chamber, while those most gullible on the liberal left listen to and read and believe only the views in their echo chamber and of course "obviously we know our news is true!"

 

And hence there are people who have been whipped up to the point of violence and to actually take part in violent acts on the right and on the left, who believe that it was justified.

 

 

[mtls2005]

12 minutes ago, J Town said:

OMG - The Qanon shaman is requesting a pardon from 45.

 

He said he was "just following orders".

[Jeffr2]

8 minutes ago, Antonymous said:

 

And THIS is a very big part of the problem we face, since those most gullible on the right listen to and read and believe only the views in their echo chamber, while those most gullible on the liberal left listen to and read and believe only the views in their echo chamber and of course "obviously we know our news is true!"

 

And hence there are people who have been whipped up to the point of violence and to actually take part in violent acts on the right and on the left, who believe that it was justified.

 

 

I don't see hate speech and support for violence from the "radical" left.  Nor, heavy use of fake news and conspiracy theories, like QAnon.

 

These are all traits of the radical right.

[Jeffr2]

4 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

He said he was "just following orders".

Wasn't that guy who got arrested in Florida with that van that was covered in Trump signs saying the same thing?  Sadly, as this points out, there's lots of ignorant people out there...and many with mental problems.

[J Town]

12 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

25 minutes ago, J Town said:

OMG - The Qanon shaman is requesting a pardon from 45.

 

He said he was "just following orders".

I just heard an interview with his attorney parroting the same.

[placeholder]

23 minutes ago, Antonymous said:

 

And THIS is a very big part of the problem we face, since those most gullible on the right listen to and read and believe only the views in their echo chamber, while those most gullible on the liberal left listen to and read and believe only the views in their echo chamber and of course "obviously we know our news is true!"

 

And hence there are people who have been whipped up to the point of violence and to actually take part in violent acts on the right and on the left, who believe that it was justified.

 

 

Another fraudulent attempt at false equivalence. What is there on the Left that corresponds to Qanon, OAN, Newsmax,  The Epoch Times, The Gateway Pundit, Alex Jones, and the  entire lunatic ecosystem of dishonest right wing videos?