Federal authorities arrested a Pulaski man Thursday on charges of participating in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Carson Lionel Rees is accused of entering restricted grounds, demonstrating in the Capitol building and two counts of disorderly conduct, according to documents filed in Roanoke’s federal court.
Rees, whose age was not available, is the 11th person from Western Virginia to be charged with joining thousands of rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, at the urging of then President Donald Trump.
In the days following the uprising, FBI agents received a tip from someone who said that Rees’ Facebook page contained an image of him in a crowd that was entering the Upper West Terrace, according to a complaint dated March 26.
The Facebook image was captioned “We’re going in,” an FBI agent wrote in the complaint.
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After receiving additional information – including an identification from a witness who said he served with Rees in the Army National Guard – federal authorities traveled to the suspect’s Pulaski home in August 2021 to confirm he lived there.
After speaking to his mother, agents then went to Rees’ workplace, where he told them that “he had been exercising his First Amendment rights” on Jan. 6, the complaint states.
Authorities later obtained footage from Capitol surveillance cameras that showed Rees yelling obscenities at police officers who were trying to hold the mob at bay.
Shortly before 3 p.m., about an hour after the police lines were broken, surveillance showed a group of rioters beginning to assault the officers.
“As the assaults ensured, REES moved away from the angry mob, exited the Rotunda, then left the Capitol Building through the Rotunda door at approximately 3:01 pm,” according to the complaint.
More than 1,380 people from across the country have been charged with participating in an insurrection that happened shortly after Trump urged a large crowd of supporters to “fight like hell” against an election he claimed was stolen.