- Couy Griffin, the founder of “Cowboys for Trump”, was arrested on Sunday in Washington, DC, after promising to bring weapons to the city on the day of inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
- Griffin, an ally of President Trump with a history of fiery and racist comments, is an elected Republican commissioner in New Mexico.
- The FBI field office in Washington told Insider that Griffin was detained by the US Capitol Police on an arrest warrant for his participation in the January 6 uprising.
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The far-right leader of “Cowboys for Trump” was arrested in Washington, DC, after promising last week to bring weapons to the nation’s capital on the day of inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
In a statement, the FBI field office in Washington told Insider that Couy Griffin, a Republican commissioner elected in New Mexico, was arrested on Sunday afternoon by the US Capitol Police, who then notified the agency. Griffin “was the subject of an arrest warrant for his role in the January 6 Capitol riots,” said the FBI.
A criminal complaint, dated Jan. 15, accuses Griffin of entering restricted areas without legal authority.
A police statement in support of the complaint cites videos posted on Griffin’s Facebook page – already excluded – where he boasts that he attended the January 6 uprising and promises to return to plant a US flag on the table of Mayor Nancy Pelosi.
“We could have a 2nd Amendment rally in the same steps that we had at that rally [on January 6]”Griffin said in another video.” You know, and if we do, then it will be a sad day, because there will be blood running from that building. “
As Insider reported last week, Griffin reaffirmed his intention to travel again to Washington, DC, for Biden’s inauguration, declaring at an audience of Otero County Commissioners on January 14 that he would carry two guns in his car along with he. One, he said, would be placed under the front passenger seat – a violation of DC law, which prohibits keeping any firearms within reach of the vehicle occupant.
“I embrace my Second Amendment, I will maintain my right to carry weapons, my vehicle is an extension of my home with respect to constitutional law, and I have the right to have these weapons in my car,” he said. These observations are cited in the police statement used to request an arrest warrant.
Griffin has a history of making inflammatory and racist comments. Last year, he declared that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” in a video shared on Twitter by President Donald Trump; he also declared that supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement should “return to Africa”.
Democrats are asking him to step down from public office.
“I am demanding that Couy Griffin resign immediately from the Otero County Commission or my office will request his removal,” said New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said sunday.
The local Republican Party, for its part, is moving away from Griffin.
“Mr. Griffin does not represent the Republican Party of New Mexico or speak for the party,” Mike Curtis, a party spokesman, told Insider. The GOP state “does not endorse or tolerate statements made by [the] The founder of Cowboys for Trump, “he said, and” condemns violence and any threats of violence against any person or group “.
Griffin could not be reached for comment.
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