2 seen in high-profile photos facing charges after DC riot
Two men accused of joining a mobofPresidentDonaldTrump’s supporters that stormed the U.S. Capitol — one wearing a horned, fur hat and the other carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern — were charged Saturday, the latest arrests following Wednesday’s mayhem that left five people dead.
The arrests come as more images emerge showing just how violent the riots were: a bloodied officer crushed in a doorway screaming; another tumbling over a railing into the crowd below after being body-slammed from behind; members of the media being cursed, shoved and punched.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, an Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob with a painted face and wearing a costume that included the horned hat, was taken into custody Saturday and charged with counts that include violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Chansley, more commonly knownasJakeAngeli, will remain in custody in Arizona pending a detention hearing that will be scheduled during an initial court appearance early in the coming week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Esther Winne told The Associated Press by email. Chansley did not immediately respond to messages left via email and telephone.
Chansley, who had become a staple in his costume at pro-Trump protests across the country, is now among dozens of
people arrested in the wakeofthe Capitol invasion by a large mobof Trump supporters enraged over his election loss.
The Florida man accused of making off with Pelosi’s lectern during the chaos was arrested Friday night on a federal warrant and was being held Saturday without bail in Pinellas County, Florida. Jail records do not show if Adam Johnson, 36, of Parrish, Florida, has an attorney.
Johnnson was charged Saturday with theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
The married father of five was quickly identified onsocial media by local residents as the man in a photo smiling as he walked through the Capitol rotunda carrying Pelosi’s lectern, The Bradenton Herald reported.
Before being deleted or taken down, Johnson posted on social media that he was in Washington, D.C., during Wednesday’s riot and included disparaging comments about the Black Lives Matter movement, according to The Herald.
By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and40othersin the District of Columbia Superior Court for a variety of offenses ranging from assaulting police officersto entering restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol, stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers.
Prosecutors said additional casesremainedunderseal,dozens of other people werebeingsought by federal agents and the U.S. attorney in Washington vowed Friday that “all options were on the table” for charges, including possibly sedition.
Derrick Evans, a West Virginia state lawmaker who posted videos showing himself pushing his way inside the Capitol, was arrested Friday by the FBI at his home and charged with entering restricted federal property. Evans, whofacedbipartisan calls for him to step down, submitted a letter of resignation Saturday to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and apologized for his actions. Evans faces charges that he entered a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol after he livestreamed himself rushing into the building with a horde of rampaging Trump supporters as Congress was in session to certify the Electoral College vote.
In the videos, Evans is seen fist-bumping a police officer and then milling around the rotunda as he shouted, “Our house!”