Another man reportedly came into the nation’s capital with an assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and told acquaintances that he wanted to shoot or crush the President of the House, Nancy Pelosi, according to prosecutors.
These disclosures are among the most disturbing details released by federal prosecutors this week, detailing the amount of arsenal available to help Tromp insurgent supporters storm Capitol Hill. Others have been charged with bringing weapons and ammunition into the area of Capitol Hill, and more accusations are expected to be made as the wide-ranging investigation unfolds.
The details of hiding weapons in the pickup truck were in federal documents in which Lonnie Leroy Coffman from Falkville, Alabama was charged with federal offenses. The demining team discovered the arsenal during an operation to secure the federal compound after it was overrun by pro-drump rioters and more bombs were found around Washington, D.C.
On Friday, the Department of Justice announced charges against 13 defendants in connection with the disruption of the Capitol, including a West Virginia legislature and a man who broke into the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s office and sat at her desk.
The Capitol riots have shocked the nation’s capital, and descriptions of the charges reinforce a growing awareness of extremist elements in the crowd.
While Coffman was arrested and charged with possession of an unregistered firearm and carrying an unlicensed gun, Friday’s police affidavit presented some of the most extreme accusations far exceeding the level of danger around the Capitol building on Wednesday.
After hundreds of trumpeters had broken through the fences around the Capitol, the demonstrators finally entered the building and the floors of the House and Senate were evacuated by the police.
It was only after a call for help and the mobilisation of Congressional allies in the beleaguered Capitol that President Donald Trump released a video urging rioters to return home while feeding their unfounded allegations of a stolen Congressional election.
Coffman, 70, told police he filled cans with molten polystyrene and gasoline. Federal investigators believe that the suit would have a napalm effect if it exploded because the flammable liquid adheres better to objects that it touches when it explodes, according to court records.
The police also found rags and lighters of clothing. According to court documents, the objects and jars were filled with explosives, which were in close proximity to each other, a combination of parts that could be used as a destruction tool.
Coffman parked his truck at 9:15. AND at the First St. on the Hill, near the National Republican Club, commonly known as the Capitol Hill Club. According to the complaint, this building is located near the large office building of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Library of Congress. A submachine gun and an M4 assault rifle were also on the passenger seat of the truck, as well as rifle magazines with ammunition, police said.
When police found him and searched across a block after sunset, Coffman also carried a 9mm handgun and a 22 caliber handgun in each of his front pockets, according to the police complaint. None of the weapons found in his truck or on his person were registered to him.
Coffman appeared before a federal judge this week and will be detained at least until his next trial on Tuesday. He hasn’t appeared in court yet. The federal public defender representing him did not respond to a request for comments on the charges made against him on Friday.
man charged after allegedly sending a text message that he wanted to shoot Pelosi, according to Feds.
Another man arrived in Washington on the eve of Trump’s rally with hundreds of bullets and an assault rifle and texted his acquaintances to tell them he wanted to shoot or crush Pelosi.
Federal authorities have charged the man, Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr., with making threats and possessing unregistered firearms and ammunition, and he will be held at least until a court hearing next week, according to documents obtained by CNN and his first hearing, to be held Friday.
Meredith would have sent a text message saying he was thinking about putting a bullet in [Pelosi’s] leg live on TV, and another text message saying he was going to Washington with… Tons… armor-piercing ammunition, according to court documents. He would also have written that he knocked down Pelosi on Wednesday. Meredith interrupted her messages with purple devilish emotions and used different curse words for women to refer to the speaker, police said.
Meredith arrived in town the day before Trump’s rally, although he planned to arrive earlier. He had previously protested in front of the governor’s palace. Brian Kemp, the Republican in the center of Trump and his supporters who attacked him for supporting the victory of President-elect Joe Biden in the state elections.
Meredith stayed at the Holiday Inn in southwest Washington this week, and he gave the FBI permission to search her hotel room, phone, truck and trailer Wednesday night, according to statements.
In the trailer the officers found three handguns – a Glock 19, a 9mm pistol and an assault rifle – and about hundreds of bullets.
Meredith said he knew he shouldn’t have guns in a town with strict gun laws, so he put them in a trailer, according to the complaint. The FBI stated in their warrant that they would conduct a full search of the trailer.
Announced Additional federal fees
A total of 13 people have appeared in the federal court for sedition, the Department of Justice said Friday.
The full court reports have not yet been made available to all defendants and few have appeared in court. In addition to the suspects, the Ministry of Justice has indicated that other complaints have been filed and that an investigation is ongoing.
Coffman and Meredith aren’t the only ones dealing with a shooting. Christopher Alberts of Maryland was charged with wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a pistol and 25 bullets on Capitol Hill.
The deliberate destruction of the U.S. Capitol building is an attack on one of our nation’s largest institutions, acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said Friday in a press release.
My office, along with our law enforcement partners at all levels, is working expeditiously and with all necessary resources to identify, arrest and begin prosecuting these individuals who have been involved in blatant criminal acts on the U.S. Capitol Hill.
Steven D’Antuono, deputy director of the FBI office in Washington, D.C., said the fact that you left DC doesn’t mean you can still knock on the door if we find out you’ve been involved in criminal activity on Capitol Hill,
Fault! The file name is not specified.
He said the FBI has spared no resources to continue the investigation, noting that agents from all 56 field offices are involved in the investigation, which is combed through video footage, social media messages and tips from the public.
Today’s indictments are just the beginning of the results of all the work that the FBI and our partners have done in recent days, and we are far from finished, said D’Antuono.
This message was repeated by Ken Kohl, a second senior official in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, who said on Friday: We have literally hundreds of prosecutors and officers working in three command centers on an operation that really takes place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
He added that the department will do everything in its power to hold all these people to account. We will continue to work on it in the coming hours, days and weeks as we carry out this research.
Man photographed in Pelosi’s office, arrested.
Among those charged at the federal level is Richard Barnett of Arkansas, who was photographed sitting at the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during Wednesday’s unrest. Federal authorities say he was taken into custody in Little Rock on Friday morning.
According to the criminal complaint, Barnett, known as Bigo, was charged with knowingly entering or staying in a building or restricted area without legal permission, forced entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Hill property, and theft of public property.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Barnett had a lawyer.
Barnett is in FBI custody, Lieutenant Shannon Jenkins, public information officer for Benton County, Arkansas, Sheriff’s Department, confirmed on CNN. He’s in FBI custody. He wasn’t registered with us. He’s been transferred to another facility and is being held by the FBI, she said in an e-mail.
Upon request, Jenkins didn’t give the name of the facility to which Barnett was transferred.
According to the authorities, Barnett was surprised by a surveillance video that entered Pelosi’s office at 2:50. AND with an American flag and a cell phone, leaving him alone after six minutes.
Barnett was photographed with his boot on Pelosi’s desk and the flag draped nearby.
He then spoke to the media and was caught on video with an envelope from Pelosi’s office. Barnett told the reporter I didn’t steal it. He said he bled on the envelope and placed the coin on his desk, according to court documents signed by a special agent of the Capitol Police Department.
Safety problems on Capitol Hill continue to worsen
As more arrests are made in connection with the Capitol violation, lawmakers are surprised at the lack of preparation for law enforcement, given that it had been known for weeks that Trump had promoted a rally which he believed was intended to thwart the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
In response, the head of the U.S. police, Steven Sande, resigned. He said Thursday that the Capitol police and other law enforcement officers were actively attacked with metal tubes and other weapons.
They were determined to get into the Capitol building and do a lot of damage, Sand said.
The wild attack on the U.S. Capitol is unlike anything I’ve witnessed in my 30 years career in law enforcement here in Washington, he said. Maintaining public safety in an open environment – especially with regard to the first change activities – has long been a challenge.
In addition to the arrests, many of the rioters identified on Capitol Hill were identified through photographs and videos on social media, and some lost their jobs or resigned because of the arrest.
For example, the direct marketing company Navistar announced that an employee had been fired after he had been photographed with a company ID card in a hijacked Capitol.
Although we support the right of all employees to exercise their freedom of expression peacefully and legally, an employee who engages in unsafe behaviour that endangers the health and safety of others will no longer be eligible for a job at Navistar Direct Marketing, according to a statement provided to CNN.
This story was updated on Friday with additional information.
Jamiel Lynch of CNN contributed to this report.
Related Tags:
