A self-styled New Jersey “dating and relationship strategist” was charged Thursday for his alleged involvement in the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill after posting several videos on Twitter admitting he was there.
Patrick Stedman, 32, faces a charge of illegal entry into a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, according to a criminal case filed by the District Attorney for the District of Columbia.
The New Jersey native came to the attention of the FBI after former college and high school classmates sent in tips based on his tweets.
Colleagues were “one hundred percent” certain that @Pat_Stedman’s tweets were from Stedman, with an informant telling the FBI that he believed Stedman still lived with his parents. The tips say that Stedman posted a video of him “invading the Capital and bragging about afterwards”.
The biography on the Twitter account describes Stedman as a “dating + relationship strategist” who can “read people like books and help them change their stories”. There is also a link to subscribe to receive daily emails “about sex and female psychology”.
The account posted videos of the Capitol on January 6, one showing a group of people “where they were invading the main area of Congress,” according to the complaint.
NBC News analyzed the @Pat_Stedmen account and the tweets observed by the FBI in the criminal complaint. The tweets expressed criticism of “mainstream media” for its characterization of the riot, made unfounded claims that the protesters were anti-fascists rather than supporters of Donald Trump and described the politicians as criminals.
“I didn’t touch anyone and destroyed zero property,” said a tweet. “The police let us through – thousands of us. Have you heard of citizen journalism? “
Another tweet from January 9 stated that those outside the group of Trump supporters who broke into the United States Capitol building would have to “kill us all.” “Do your worst. We are armed and ready. Each of us you take down will convert another 5 to the cause,” said the tweet. “This is a revolution. Better to give up now. We outnumber you and we will outlast you you. “
In a live broadcast from Periscope on Wednesday, Stedman called President Joe Biden’s inauguration a “communist takeover” of the country. He claimed that QAnon’s conspiracy theories “woke up” many people and denounced the idea that QAnon’s supporters fell into fraud because they “did more good than harm”.
“That’s why I’m not going to apologize for anything I’ve done in the past 10 months. Why would I apologize for that? “
FBI agents compared the photo of Stedman’s driver’s license with videos where Stedman introduced himself by name and discussed the details of being inside the Capitol, including sitting in the office of Mayor Nancy Pelosi, according to the complaint. .
The January 6 riot came after a crowd of Trump supporters who had just attended a rally in Washington, DC – where the former president had spoken – invaded the U.S. Capitol and briefly delayed Congressional acceptance of the votes of the Electoral College that formalized the victory of President Joe Biden. The violence resulted in the deaths of five people.
Stedman had a virtual presence at the New Jersey District Court on Thursday afternoon. Court documents were not immediately available to Stedman.
A call to Stedman was not immediately returned on Thursday.
