Supposed members of anti-government militia groups and a US Army reservist with alleged white supremacist beliefs are among the most recent suspects accused in the attack on the US Capitol while prosecutors investigate rioters who used military-style tactics. Dozens of suspects are now facing federal and local charges in the January 6 attack that left five dead.
FBI
A Colorado man affiliated with the radical “Three Percenters” militia group was charged by federal prosecutors in Washington, DC over the weekend for assaulting a federal officer, obstructing a federal prosecution and other siege-related charges. Federal prosecutors also charged three other people in Ohio and Indiana who are said to be linked to another anti-government militia group, the “Oath Keepers”. The Indiana suspect was reportedly among a group that sprayed a US Capitol police officer with bear spray.
The evidence against the suspects raises more questions about coordination among the Capitol crowd, a law enforcement official told investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge. Identifying troublemakers who used military-style tactics is a level one priority for a senior prosecutors task force in DC investigating possible sedition charges, Herridge reported.
The Three Percent and the Oath Keepers are part of an extremist movement that has grown since President Barack Obama took office in 2008, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The groups promote the idea that the government is plotting to take away the rights of American citizens and must be combated.
On Saturday, federal investigators accused an Ohio man and woman who they say were part of a group of about 8-10 people wearing paramilitary clothes and Oath Keepers paraphernalia seen in a video breaking into the Capitol. According to a federal criminal complaint, the group moved “in an organized and practical way” and forced its way to the front of a crowd gathered around a door to the Capitol building.
Jessica Watkins, 38, and Donovan Crowl, 50, of Champaign County, Ohio, are facing charges that include illegal entry into a restricted area, violent entry and disorderly conduct and obstruction of an official process. A criminal complaint says Watkins identified himself on the social media site Parler as “CO [commanding officer] of the Ohio State Regular Militia “- a bond paying subset of the Oath Keepers.
On January 6, the complaint alleges that Watkins posted a video on Parler with the caption: “Yes. We invaded the Capitol today. Teargassed, the whole, 9. We made our way to the Rotunda. We reached the Senate. The news is lying (even Fox) about the historical events we create today. “
Watkins also allegedly confirmed that she led other Oath Keepers during the siege, posting another Parler image of a man in paramilitary equipment with an Oath Keepers patch on his arm. According to the complaint, the caption read: “One of my guys at Rally Stop the Steal. #Stopthesteal #stormthecapitol #moathkeepers #ohiomilitia.” In another criminal complaint, federal investigators identified the man in the photograph as Crowl, who they say is also affiliated with the Ohio State Regular Militia.
FBI
According to the complaints, Watkins and Crowl later spoke to the media about their meetings with the Capitol Police. In a January 13 interview with the Ohio Capital Journal, Watkins said his group did not destroy anything and was respectful of the Capitol police “until they attacked us. So we maintained our position and drew the line.” According to the complaint, the next day Crowl said he told the New Yorker that his intentions were peaceful and “we protect the fucking Capitol police.”
Another Oath Keepers suspect, Jon Ryan Schaffer of Columbus, Indiana, wore a blue hooded sweatshirt under a tactical vest with a baseball cap that said “Lifetime member of Oath Keepers”, according to a federal criminal complaint registered on Saturday . He was seen in surveillance photos and videos carrying bear spray and engaging in verbal altercations with Capitol police inside the Capitol building.
Schaffer, identified by informants who knew him as the leader of an Indiana heavy metal band, has a long-standing far-right view, according to the complaint. In a 2017 interview, Schaffer identified himself as an “anarchist”, called the federal government a “criminal company” and said the 2016 presidential election was “rigged”. During another November interview “Million MAGA March” in DC, Schaffer said: “A group of bandits and criminals have kidnapped this country a long time ago. And now they are making their big move, and it will not happen … People need wake up and leave the Matrix, because they are falling. They have moved, they are messing with the wrong people here, believe me. “
On Sunday, a man linked to the “Three percent” group was also charged. Based on his posts on social media, policeman Robert Gieswein, 24, of Woodland Park, Colorado, runs a private paramilitary group called Woodland Wild Dogs. A federal complaint registered on Sunday said that Gieswein wore characteristic military equipment during the riot – a camouflaged shirt under a reinforced military-style vest with a “Woodland Wild Dogs” patch, an army-style helmet marked with orange tape and patches, glasses and a black camouflage backpack. Gieswein reportedly spread an unidentified substance to federal officials outside the Capitol and encouraged other protesters as they broke through a building window. As soon as he entered the broken window, according to the complaint, he was seen inside carrying a baseball bat and a can of spray from his cell phone glued to his vest and turned outside.
Gieswein was photographed alongside another accused suspect on Sunday, Dominic Pezzola, who was seen wearing a “Proud Boys” shirt. According to a witness, Pezzola, who witnesses say he is known as “Spaz”, allegedly said that the protesters would have killed people, including US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, if they had the chance .
FBI
Among those charged on Sunday was Timothy Louis Hale-Cusanelli of Colts Neck, New Jersey, a member of the United States Army Reserve and contracted with Naval Weapons Station Earle, where he maintains a “secret” security clearance and has access to a variety of ammunition, according to a federal complaint. A confidential source who worked with an NCIS agent said Hale-Cusanelli admitted he was inside the Capitol during the rebellion, the complaint said, and showed the source videos of himself making harassing and derogatory statements to officials.
The source told the NCIS agent that Hale-Cusanelli is an outspoken white supremacist and a Nazi sympathizer who posts videos of extreme political opinion on YouTube. On January 14, the source recorded a conversation during which Hale-Cusanelli admitted to entering the Capitol and encouraged other members of the crowd to “move forward” using both his voice and hand signals. He would have said that if they had more men, they could have taken over the entire building.
Hale-Cusanelli also allegedly admitted to taking a flag and flagpole that he watched another rowdy man throw “like a dart” at a Capitol Police officer, describing him as a “murder weapon” and saying he intended to destroy him . Hale-Cusanelli is charged with crimes, including violent entry and disorderly conduct and obstructing a police officer during a civil unrest.
Those accused in last week’s riot included two Virginia policemen off duty, one of them, Jacob Fracker, is a corporal in the Virginia National Guard. The other, Thomas Robertson, apparently served at different times in both the National Guard and the US Army Reserves, although the Army is still trying to determine its current situation.
Catherine Herridge and Clare Hymes contributed to this report.