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Federal agents arrested two other Capitol rioters whose images had gone viral, one taking the Speaker of the House lectern and another wearing horns and a fur skin, while a top Democratic lawmaker asked mobile operators to preserve social media content related to the butcher shop. .
Dozens of people have been charged after the assault on the Capitol on Wednesday, and the FBI asked the public to help identify the participants, given the proliferation of images of the riots on the Internet. Five people have died, including a policeman.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, who appeared prominently on social media wearing horns, a fur skin, face paint and wielding a spear adorned with the United States flag, turned himself in to police, the Justice Department said.
Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, called the FBI’s Washington office on Thursday and spoke voluntarily with law enforcement, the Justice Department said.
“Chansley said he came as part of a group effort with other Arizona ‘patriots’ at the request of the president that all ‘patriots’ come to DC on January 6, 2021,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Federal agents also arrested Adam Christian Johnson, whose photo as he smiled and waved as he carried the lectern to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, had also gone viral. Johnson, of Parrish, Florida, also posted a live video on Facebook of himself as he walked the halls of the Capitol, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The video was removed from online platforms and all its pages were removed.
On Saturday, US Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat who is the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged mobile operators to preserve content and associated metadata related to the riot, which erupted when lawmakers gathered to certify the election of President-elect Joe. Biden.
He sent letters to AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Apple, Facebook, Gab, Google, Parler, Signal, Telegram, and Twitter.
Warner, in his letters to the companies, emphasized how the rioters took the time to document the event and post it via social media and text messages “to celebrate their disdain for our democratic process.”
Before his arrest, NBC reported, Chansley gloated over how crowds infiltrated the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to flee.
“The fact that we had a bunch of traitors in office, huddled together, donning gas masks and retreating to their underground bunker, I consider it a victory,” he told NBC News.
Chansley faces multiple federal charges, including trespassing and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds.
Media reports said he had often been seen at rallies in support of President Donald Trump. Efforts by Reuters on Saturday to reach his family were unsuccessful, as were attempts to reach Johnson’s family.
The Miami Herald reported that on Johnson’s social media pages, which have been removed, he boasted of being in Washington before the riots.
It was unclear where Chansley was being held Saturday, or if he or Johnson had legal representation.
Johnson, who will appear in federal court for the first time on Monday, is being charged with leaving Washington.
At least 13 people faced criminal charges in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in connection with the riots, and at least 40 other people faced lesser charges in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, a local location.
Many of them were arraigned Thursday and released, with a judge order not to return to Washington unless they were to appear in court or meet with their lawyers.
Among them was Richard Barnett, the man from Gravette, Arkansas, who was photographed sitting at Pelosi’s desk.
Among those arrested Friday for participating in the riots was Derrick Evans, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, who announced his resignation Saturday.
In a one-sentence letter to West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, Evans wrote: “I hereby resign as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, effective immediately.”
Media reports quoted Evans as saying he wanted to apologize for his actions and did not want to create a distraction.
Evans was broadcast live entering the Capitol on Wednesday and was recorded saying: “We’re in, we’re in! Derrick Evans is on Capitol Hill,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
The FBI and the Washington Police Department are jointly investigating the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured while defending the Capitol.
The flags on the Capitol were lowered to half mast Friday in his honor.
Capitol Police have said that the Washington police homicide unit was investigating the death.
“Just because you’ve left the DC region, you can still expect someone to knock on the door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity on Capitol Hill,” said Steven D’antuono, deputy director in charge of the FBI field office at Washington. he said Friday. —Reuters
