An FBI spokesman declined to say whether other South Carolina residents are being investigated for possible charges in connection with the deadly Capitol riot on January 6.
| Greenville News
A South Carolina man is facing federal charges after officials say he violated the U.S. Capitol and took a selfie in front of a statue of John C. Calhoun during a deadly riot in Washington, DC
Andrew Hatley is the first South Carolina known to be charged in connection with the January 6 riot. Federal authorities contacted him by phone on January 12, according to a federal complaint, and criminal charges were filed on January 15.
The complaint accuses Hatley of intentionally entering a restricted building without legal authority, intentionally impeding government business, engaging in disorderly conduct on Capitol land and demonstrating or picketing Capitol buildings.
He was identified through witnesses, photographs and a cell phone tracking application, according to the federal complaint.
The complaint does not specify where Hatley is from in South Carolina or his age.
An attorney was not listed for Hatley in the online court records on Tuesday. A Hatley business phone number or email address was not found in public records.
The federal complaint states that Hatley drove from his South Carolina home to Washington, DC, on January 5 to participate in protests against the presidential election.
A witness called the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the January 6 riot and said he had knowledge and pictures of Hatley inside the Capitol, the complaint said.
The spokesman for the FBI field office in Columbia, Agent Don Wood, said the local office had no “substantial involvement” in the Hatley investigation.
Wood declined to comment on whether the office was harassing other South Carolina residents on potential charges related to the Capitol riot.
Five people died in the January 6 riot, including a Capitol police officer. Many were injured and more than 200 have been charged with connection to the chaos, according to national media and FBI reports.
The violation of the Capitol building temporarily suspended Congressional certification of electoral votes to formally ratify Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election. Biden is due to open on January 20.
Hatley used an app on his cell phone while on Capitol Hill to track his location, according to the complaint. The FBI obtained Hatley’s phone number and verified Hatley’s whereabouts on January 6 using the “Life360” location tracking application.
A second witness gave several photos to the FBI that the witness obtained from Hatley, according to the complaint.
One photo shows Hatley wearing a green breathing mask in front of a statue of John C. Calhoun, the South Carolina politician who served as the country’s vice president under Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. The statue is inside the central section of the United States Capitol building known as the crypt, which was damaged during the riot, according to media reports.
The FBI also analyzed a Facebook page that showed that Hatley denied any involvement in the violation of the Capitol.
According to the complaint, the post said: “It came to my attention that there was someone who looked like me at Capitol. I would like to clear things up. I don’t have that kind of motivation for lost causes. I just don’t care enough anymore, certainly not enough for all of that. “
A Facebook page mentioned in the federal complaint was taken down this week.
A screenshot of the Facebook page circulating on social media shows Hatley working for a truck company in Newberry. A woman who answered the phone at the company on Tuesday declined to comment.
When FBI agents contacted Hatley by phone on January 12, Hatley said he was not sure how much to say without a lawyer because “he could be in trouble,” according to the complaint.
It was not clear whether Hatley was in custody on Tuesday. A spokesman for the District Attorney for the District of South Carolina declined to comment. A spokesman for the District Attorney for the District of Columbia also declined to comment.
Daniel J. Gross is an investigative surveillance reporter with a focus on public safety and law enforcement for Greenville News. Talk to him at [email protected] or on Twitter @danieljgross.