More than a dozen arrests in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were announced or unsealed Wednesday, revealing charges against alleged supporters of extremist right-wing groups including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and “boogaloo boys” movement, and individuals accused of attacking the property of news media.
The arrests ranked among the most made public in a single day and came as an alleged Oath Keepers member reached an unexpected plea deal with prosecutors in the largest conspiracy case brought against those accused of obstructing Congress as it met to confirm the 2020 election results.
Mark Grods, 54, of Mobile, Ala., became the second from the anti-government group publicly to flip in the 16-defendant conspiracy case and cooperate with prosecutors in the latest sign of movement in the investigation.
In court Wednesday, he admitted to two federal counts of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the obstruction of an official proceeding.
The surge of at least 13 new or unsealed arrests came as the FBI and Justice Department highlighted developments in the criminal probe nearing six months after the event, and the House voted to create a select committee to investigate the Capitol breach.
Those swept up in recent days reflected a cross-section of defendants whose motives allegedly varied, although several allegedly sought out affiliations with extremist groups anticipating violence, the government said. Newly unsealed charges included trespassing and violent police assaults, and the defendants included George Tenney III, of Anderson, S.C., accused of being the first to open the east Capitol Rotunda doors from the inside, allowing the mob to enter.
“You’re not gonna stop us,” Tenney told an employee of the House sergeant-at-arms who struggled to pull the door closed, the FBI alleged.
Tenney, administrator of a Facebook page called PowerHouse Patriot, talked as early as Dec. 12 of joining “patriot revolution groups” or militias, before posting on in late December, “I heard over 500k armed militia patriots will be in DC by the (Jan.) 4th,” according to charging papers.
“It’s starting to look like we may siege the capital building and Congress if the electoral votes don’t go right. … We are forming plans for every scenario,” charging papers also alleged Tenney posted.
Separately charged were Gabriel Brown and Zvonimir Jurlina, both of Long Island, accused of destroying media equipment, and Steven Thurlow, an Army veteran from suburban Detroit, who allegedly posted images of himself in the Capitol and wearing a “Boogaloo” patch on social media.
“Ahh nothing like a new pair of 511’s and a fresh set of level IV SAPI’s in the plate carrier to go ‘peacefully protest’ with,” Thurlow allegedly posted on Facebook next to a photo of himself wearing body armor, camouflage and a gas mask with a knife and AR-15 rifle next to a Christmas tree, prosecutors said. Patches that Thurlow wore related to the 101st Airborne Division, in which he served from 1988 to 1991, and “Boogaloo,” a term taken up by fringe groups referring to a racially or ethnically motivated civil war, prosecutors said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced last week that the total number of arrests had reached 500, including 100 people who have been charged with assaulting police and the first defendant charged with assaulting a member of the news media.
