Two more Capitol rioters arrested as senator urges social media providers to keep data
- Jacob Anthony Chansley faces several federal charges including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds
- Dozens of people have been charged following the storming of the Capitol, with the FBI asking the public for help identifying participants
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 for help identifying participants, given the proliferation of images of the riots on the internet. Five people have died, including a Capitol Hill 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 US flag, turned himself in to police, the US Department of Justice said.
Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, called the Washington office of the FBI on Thursday and voluntarily spoke to law enforcement, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said.
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Trump supporters storm US Capitol, interrupting Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory
“Chansley said that he came as part of a group effort with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to DC on January 6, 2021,” the DOJ said in a press release.
Federal agents have also arrested Adam Christian Johnson, whose photo as he smiled and waved as he carried off House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern had also gone 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 his pages have been taken down.
On Saturday US Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat who is the incoming Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged mobile carriers to keep content and associated meta-data connected to the riot, which erupted as lawmakers gathered to certify the election of President-elect Joe Biden.
Warner, in letters to the companies, emphasised how the rioters took the time to document the event and posted them via 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 he had often been seen at rallies supporting President Donald Trump. Efforts by Reuters on Saturday to reach his relatives were unsuccessful, as were attempts to contact Johnson’s family.
The Miami Herald reported that on Johnson’s social media pages, which have been taken down, he boasted of being in Washington ahead of the riots.
It was unclear where Chansley was being held on 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.
There were at least 13 people facing criminal charges in US District Court for the District of Columbia in connection to the riot, and at least another 40 people were facing lesser charges in the District of Columbia Superior Court, a local venue.
Many of them were charged on Thursday and released, with an order from the judge to not return to Washington unless for court appearances or meetings with their lawyers.
They included Richard Barnett, the Gravette, Arkansas, man who was photographed sitting at Pelosi’s desk.
The FBI and Washington’s police department are jointly investigating the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was injured while defending the US Capitol on Wednesday. Flags at the Capitol were lowered to half-staff on Friday in honour of Sicknick.
Capitol Police have said the Washington police’s homicide unit was probing the death.
“Just because you’ve left the DC region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol,” Steven D’antuono, the FBI Washington Field Office’s assistant director in charge, said on Friday.
