College student faces charges tied to Capitol riot

NEW YORK (AP) » A New York fashion student accused of participating in the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol and posting on social media about “storming” it was arrested Monday as the tally of criminal cases kept growing.

Taken into custody at his home in Staten Island, Nicolas Moncada was awaiting a federal court appearance set for Tuesday on charges including entering a restricted building without without lawful authority and disrupting government business. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could speak to the charges. A message was left at a possible phone number for a relative.

According to a court complaint, the campus security office at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology brought Moncada to the FBI’s attention after faculty members and fellow students saw him posting about the insurrection, in which a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters sought to disrupt Congress’ certification of President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory.

An email message was sent to the school, which was closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Moncada’s posts included Instagram videos of officers on the Capitol steps, as seen through nearby scaffolding, and what appeared to be blood on the stairs. The images prompted one of Moncada’s contacts to ask what was going on, the complaint said.

“Storming the Capitol Building,” he replied, later adding that it was where the Senate and House were certifying the vote.