Va. Beach father, daughter charged in US Capitol riot

A Virginia Beach man and his adult daughter were charged with taking part in the riots at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year.

Willard Thomas “Tom” Bostic, Jr., 56, and Meghan Rutledge, 27, were arrested Wednesday and charged with four misdemeanor counts: entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

Both turned themselves in at the FBI’s field office in Chesapeake, according to an FBI spokeswoman, and were released on bond later that day.

According to a charging document filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk this week, surveillance video recorded at the Capitol shows Rutledge and Bostic going into the Capitol through a door next to a broken window. Once inside, they can be seen taking pictures and recording videos with their cellphones, the document said.

Bostic’s cellphone data also placed him there, the charging document said. And investigators obtained screenshots from Rutledge’s Facebook account that show the two inside the building.

“After miles and miles of walking and climbing and climbing some more we made it inside the capitol building,” a post on Rutledge’s Facebook page said. “What an experience for the books.”

Nearly two dozen photos were included with the post.

When investigators went to Bostic’s home, he appeared to be wearing the same blue flannel shirt he’s seen wearing in the photos and videos recorded during the riots.

A woman with blond hair and a tan baseball cap frequently seen pictured with Bostic and Rutledge in the building is believed to be a relative, the document said. The document didn’t name the woman and there was no mention of charges against her.

No attorney was listed in court documents for Rutledge or Bostic. All future court hearings for the two will be held in U.S. District Court in Washington.