The Washington Post reports that D.C. federal prosecutors have filed charges against two prominent figures in last Wednesday’s Capitol riot.
Since Capitol Police failed to arrest the rioters as they left the building, prosecutors relied on media reports and images to identify the suspects.
Prosecutors announced Saturday that Adam Johnson, 36, of Bradenton, Florida, was arrested Friday and charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; one count of theft of government property; and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Prosecutors said Johnson was identified from a Getty Images photograph as the grinning man seen carrying Pelosi’s lectern. They also relied on reporting from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and a tip from an individual who contacted the FBI.
The self-identified QAnon Shaman, Jacob Anthony Chansley of Arizona, was photographed wearing a horned fur-lined headdress and face paint as he stood on the dais in the Senate chamber next to Vice President Mike Pence’s chair.
Chansley, who also goes by the name Jake Angeli, was taken into custody on Saturday.
He was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
It wasn’t hard to identify Chansley since he showed up in similar attire at pro-Trump protests in Arizona.
A Capitol Police arrest affidavit said an agent confirmed his identity by media reports, citing his attire, tattoos on his arms and left side of his torso, and photographs on his Facebook page.
The Post reported that Capitol Police Special Agent James Soltes wrote that Chansley actually called the FBI on Thursday to confirm that he was the man wearing the fur-lined headdress.
“CHANSLEY stated that he came as a part of a group effort, with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021,” Soltes wrote in the arrest affidavit.
So Chansley has fingered the main instigator of the riot — suspect No. 1 Donald J. Trump. D.C. prosecutors have every reason to file charges against Trump the moment after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20, but probably won’t.