Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Californian arrested, accused of Jan. 6 role
Prosecutors cite video recorded at Capitol
LOS ANGELES — On Jan. 6, Northridge resident Kayla Reifschneider breached the Capitol, attacked members of the press and planned to give weapons to another rioter taking part, federal prosecutors allege.
Reifschneider, 27, was arrested Wednesday by the FBI, three years after the 2021 insurrection.
Reifschneider faces a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding and misdemeanor charges that include entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building.
Messages the day after the attack obtained by federal investigators allegedly show Reifschneider boasting about the violence that occurred at the Capitol, where federal prosecutors say she and others were trying to disrupt Congress and prevent the certification of the electoral votes of the 2020 presidential election.
The arrest comes more than three years after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, where supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the building after a rally in Washington decrying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In court records, federal investigators have used and cited open-source video from the Capitol — much of it recorded and streamed live by people who took part in the violence — to find and identify those who participated.
According to court filings, Reifschneider was part of a Telegram group named “PATRIOTS45 MAGA Gang” who supported Trump and believed the 2020 election was fraudulent.
In court filings, prosecutors cite open-source video from Jan. 6, 2021, that allegedly shows Reifschneider in the Upper West Terrace yelling at police, then heading to the east side of the Capitol.
There, she allegedly targeted members of the media, yelling obscenities and spitting toward journalists.
Reifschneider is also seen throwing a helmet at someone, stepping on a camera, and later lifting it and tossing it onto the ground.
“It’s been four years I’ve been wanting to do this!” she yells, according to video.
Reifschneider is one of 1,358 people who have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 violence, an investigation that federal officials say is ongoing.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, the attack caused nearly $3 million in damage. About 140 police offices were assaulted.
“The Department of Justice’s resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on January 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane,” the agency said in a statement.
Of the arrests, more than 450 have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, including 123 charged with using deadly or dangerous weapons to injure an officer.
More than 700 people have pleaded guilty to federal charges, including more than 210 who have pleaded guilty to felonies, according to the Department of Justice.