Pa. man is charged in Capitol insurrection after ex-girlfriend turns him in
A Pennsylvania man was charged after his ex-girlfriend went to the FBI with his text messages and videos from inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Richard Michetti, of Ridley Park, Delaware County, is charged with knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and obstruction of Congress. Michetti was arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia before Magistrate Judge Henry S. Perkin and released on unsecured bail with electronic monitoring pending an appearance Monday by video in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Federal public defender Kathleen Gaughan, who represents Michetti, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
According to court documents, Michetti’s former romantic partner went to law enforcement on Jan. 7, the day after the insurrection, and reported that Michetti sent her text messages and two videos from the siege. The videos showed Michetti on the Capitol grounds as thousands of protestors broke through police barricades and marched with flags inside the building, court records say. The security breach forced lawmakers certifying Electoral College to take refuge in secure areas of the Capitol complex.
Michetti’s text messages described the crowd storming the building and being hit with teargas and paintballs. Michetti stated his eyes were burning from the chemicals. Michetti’s ex-girlfriend told law enforcement Michetti took a train to Washington the day before the siege because he believed the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, court records say.
“Gotta stop the vote it’s fraud this is our country,” Michetti wrote in a message during the uprising, according to court records.
He later wrote, “All’s we wanted was an investigation that’s it. And they couldn’t investigate the biggest presidential race in history with mail-in ballots who everyone knows is easy to fraud,” and, “This is tyranny they say there and told us ‘we rigged the election and there’s nuthin you can do about it’ what do you think should be done?”
The ex-girlfriend helped FBI agents identify Michetti in images and videos submitted to the FBI by tipsters across the country. FBI agents also obtained receipts showing Michetti checked into a hotel the day before the siege about a block from the Capitol grounds and checked out the next day.
At least 246 people have been charged in connection with the insurrection, including at least 20 from Pennsylvania, according to the George Washington University Program on Extremism.