Man is latest Bay Area resident arrested in U.S. Capitol breach
SAN FRANCISCO » A fifth Bay Area resident has been arrested and charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, court records show.
Kenneth Armstrong III, 52, of Pescadero, was charged with four federal offenses, including trespassing, two counts of disorderly conduct, and picketing in a Capitol. He faces up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine if convicted of the most serious charge.
Armstrong was identified by an anonymous tipster who contacted the FBI days after the Capitol riot. He was visited by FBI agents in March 2021 at his business in Half Moon Bay, freely admitted attending the Jan. 6 demonstration, and sent agents of a video he took of himself walking through the Capitol building, according to the criminal complaint.
Armstrong was arrested Thursday and spent a day at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. At his first court appearance Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim released him on a $10,000 unsecured bond. Federal prosecutors did not seek detention, nor ask that Armstrong be ordered not to possess guns.
His case is awaiting transfer for prosecution in Washington D.C., court records show. While on pretrial release, Armstrong must not travel to Washington D.C. unless for court, and cannot travel outside the United States without approval from pretrial services.
Armstrong’s attorney, federal public defender David Rizk, said in court Friday more restrictive conditions aren’t necessary because it’s a misdemeanor case and Armstrong was “completely forthcoming with the FBI.” He said he will likely handle Armstrong’s defense because the public defender’s office in Washington D.C. is “overwhelmed” with cases.
The FBI used surveillance pictures, as well as conversations from Armstrong’s Facebook account, to confirm his identity. In one Facebook post, Armstrong noted that “Capitol Police were very nice and helpful,” but also notes they were firing rubber bullets at the first people to enter the Capitol.
In another conversation, Armstrong said he stayed inside for a short time, took pictures and video and “sang the Star Spangled Banner.” Another user, responding to Armstrong, lamented that he or she was “friends with a traitor, a fascist, a liar, and a thug,” and says they’re unfriending him, according to a screenshot included in the complaint.
Armstrong is now the fifth Bay Area man the be charged in the riots, including one who remains a fugitive and is believed to have fled the country. A Gilroy woman, Mariposa Castro, has pleaded guilty to trespassing and is awaiting sentence, and a Sonoma resident, Daniel Shaw, was charged last month, though he was identified almost immediately after the Capitol breach, according to court records.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that a “self-described Proud Boy” and San Francisco resident named Daniel Goodwyn was also charged, and that Evan Neumann, of Mill Valley, is believed to have fled to Belarus to avoid criminal charges.