A New Mexico county official was arrested on Sunday after federal officials said he entered a restricted section of the U.S. Capitol during the deadly pro-Trump raid and led protesters in prayer.
Couy Griffin, an Otero county commissioner and founder of Cowboys for Trump, was arrested in Washington. DC, and faces a single charge of intentionally entering or staying in a restricted building without legal authority, a federal criminal complaint said.
In a sworn statement, a Metropolitan Police detective said a Cowboys for Trump cameraman told authorities that after he and Griffin saw the group break through security barriers, they climbed the wall of the Capitol building before proceeding to a deck external.
There, Griffin used a megaphone to lead the group in prayer, the document said.
In a video cited by the statement, Griffin also told the crowd that it was a “big day for America” and that “people are showing that it is enough”.
“People are ready for fair and legal elections, or that’s what you’re going to have,” he said, according to the statement.
In a Facebook post on the Cowboys for Trump page, Griffin later said that he planned to return to the U.S. Capitol on January 20 for a possible “2nd Amendment demonstration” that would include “blood dripping from that building,” says the statement.
At a meeting in Otero County on Jan. 14, Griffin told other officials that he planned to bring a rifle and a revolver when he returned to Washington, according to the statement.
Additional information about Griffin’s arrest was not detailed in the document and it was not clear whether he hired a lawyer. A message left with Cowboys to Trump was not immediately returned on Sunday.
In an interview with the police, Griffin said he was “caught” by the crowd and that the authorities never asked him to leave, according to the statement.
He told authorities that he left the area peacefully and hoped that there could be a change in leadership “without a single shot being fired”. He added that “there is no option that is off the table in favor of freedom,” says the statement.
Dozens of people were arrested and accused of allegedly participating in the Capitol acquisition, including a Kentucky man who was taken into custody on Sunday for appearing to use a rolled Trump flag to break a window in the speaker’s lobby, which leads to the Chamber of Deputies, according to a deposition filed with the federal district court in Washington.
Chad Barrett Jones faces charges of assaulting a federal official, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Hill and other crimes. It was not clear on Sunday whether Jones had a lawyer.
Court documents say Jones was arrested when a relative contacted the authorities after seeing him in the press coverage.
Another person arrested on Sunday, Bryan Betancur, was captured on video holding a Confederate battle flag in a restricted section on the west side of the Capitol, the FBI said in court documents.
Betancur, who was on parole for a conviction for theft, wore an ankle bracelet, and GPS data showed he was in the area for three hours on January 6, according to the documents.
Betancur faces charges of participating in illegal activities on restricted grounds and other crimes. It was not clear on Sunday night whether he had a lawyer.
In unsealed court documents on Sunday, a Colorado man described as affiliated with 3 Percenters, a far-right militia group, was accused of assaulting a federal officer, helping and encouraging the destruction of federal property and other crimes.
In an affidavit, an FBI agent said the man, Robert Gieswein, was caught on video spraying police officers with an unknown substance before he and others broke down a barricade and entered the building.
The agent said Gieswein, who was seen wearing goggles and military-style clothing, appears to run a private paramilitary training group, Woodland Wild Dogs. The court records did not list a lawyer for him.
A University of Kentucky student, Gracyn Courtright, faces charges of theft, intentional entry into a restricted building and other crimes, according to court documents opened on Sunday.
In Indiana, the FBI announced the arrest of Jon Schaffer, guitarist for the metal band Iced Earth, who allegedly used pepper spray with the Capitol Police. He faces six charges, including involvement in physical violence on Capitol Hill, the FBI said.
In a Facebook post, Iced Earth bassist Luke Appleton told other members of the band “WE DO NOT tolerate or support riots or acts of violence in which the protesters were involved on January 6 in the US Capitol building. all of them involved on that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actions. “
It was not clear on Sunday night whether Schaffer had a lawyer.
Authorities still have hundreds of other open cases linked to the riot, in which five people died, including Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick. The FBI released photos on Sunday of seven men who he said attacked a Washington police officer.