- According to the DOJ, Riley Williams took a laptop from Nancy Pelosi’s office during the Capitol rebellion.
- Williams’ former romantic partner told the FBI that she had plans to sell him to the Russian equivalent of the CIA.
- Her mother says that she is involved in far-right circles.
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The Justice Department publicly accused about 100 people of crimes related to the Capitol riot earlier this year, with more certainty to come.
The rebels, trying to prevent Congressional vote counting by confirming President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, broke into, smashed windows and destroyed Congress offices.
And one of them stole a laptop belonging to the most powerful woman in the history of the United States.
Read More: ‘It was degrading’: the Black Capitol custody team talks about what it was like to clean up the mess left by the violent pro-Trump white supremacists
In court documents filed on Sunday, federal prosecutors said Riley June Williams, a 22-year-old Pennsylvania resident, appeared to be carrying a laptop belonging to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. One of her former romantic partners told the FBI that she had plans to sell it to Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
In images captured by ITV News, Williams appeared to be one of the protesters guiding others to the Capitol building and toward Pelosi’s chambers, raising questions about how much planning she put into the January 6 events.
After fleeing initially, Williams was arrested on Monday morning. It is not yet clear what she did in the two weeks between the alleged theft of the laptop and her arrest.
Here’s what we know about Williams, how she got Pelosi’s laptop and exactly how the Russians fit into all of it.
So, who is this woman?
Williams was named in a segment of ITV News, a British news organization, as someone who stood out during the Capitol insurrection. She wore a long brown coat and a bright green shirt “with an alt-right slogan”.
Unlike most of the rebels around, Williams appeared to have a mission. She pushed other protesters in one direction, shouting “Up there, up there, up there!” according to the ITV footage.
The FBI used images from ITV News to identify Riley Williams on Capitol Hill. The footage shows her telling people to go upstairs, where Pelosi’s office is.
Department of Justice
ITV News later interviewed William’s mother in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who said his daughter was not at home. She said Williams was involved in “far-right forums” and often attended “rallies” about “wanting America to receive the right information”. ITV also displayed a photo of her holding a military rifle while wearing a face mask with an illustration of a skull.
According to the FBI deposition filed with the court as part of the charges against Williams, his mother told Harrisburg law enforcement officers that her daughter had left the house and said she “would be gone for a few weeks” without saying where she was going.
Jonathan Lund, the FBI agent who wrote the statement, said Williams deleted his Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Telegram and Parler accounts after the insurrection.
How did she know how to get Pelosi’s laptop?
The degree to which Riley planned his foray into the Capitol building remains unclear.
According to the FBI testimony and the ITV News video, Williams appears to have invaded the Capitol building with a crowd and went to his south wing, where the House of Representatives does its job.
She traveled through Statuary Hall to the Small House Rotunda (near the Capitol Crypt), where she then brought a crowd up a flight of stairs and to Pelosi’s office, images from the ITV and FBI statements are shown.
Another footage of Williams shows her carrying a zebra print bag with something about the size of a laptop. You can see it around the 10-second mark in the video below:
Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, said the laptop was “used only for presentations”.
It is unclear what files were on the laptop, whether he has access to the network that allows access to other files in Pelosi’s office and what measures have been taken to protect him. A representative for Pelosi did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
How did the FBI find her?
Riley June Williams in a reserve photograph taken at Dauphin County Prison in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA on January 19, 2021.
Dauphin County Prison / Brochure by Reuters
Williams’ images circulated widely in an ITV News segment that aired on January 12. According to the FBI’s testimony, a “former romantic partner” of Williams made several calls to the FBI’s hotline about the Capitol riot after watching the segment and said his ex was there.
The FBI agents then compared the person in the footage with the photograph of Williams’ Pennsylvania diver license and confirmed that they were the same person. Harrisburg law enforcement officers also confirmed with Williams’ mother that she was on Capitol Hill during the attack.
Are the Russians involved?
Williams’ ex, who called the FBI, also said Williams had a plan to send the laptop to a friend in Russia, who planned to sell it to SVR – the Russian equivalent of the CIA.
The ex also said the transfer “failed for unknown reasons” and that Williams “still has the computer device or destroyed it,” according to the FBI testimony.
Mayor, Nancy Pelosi.
Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
The statement said the matter was still under investigation.
Williams is due to appear at a hearing Tuesday afternoon in a court in Dauphin County, which includes Harrisburg. The county court clerk’s office told Insider that the hearing would not be made available to the public.