AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
- Several people involved in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol bragged to friends that they were in the building.
- The messages were obtained by the FBI and used as evidence for the charges against them, records reviewed by Insider show.
- One rioter, Kevin Loftus, told an acquaintance he was “one of the 700 inside” and “wanted by the FBI for illegal entry.”
- Another, Aaron Mostofsky, confirmed to an acquaintance he was “famous” after a meme circulated showing him wearing animal pelts in the Capitol building.
- A third person, who couldn’t make it to the insurrection because he was running late, texted to an acquaintance “I hope you’re reading this Mr. FBI agent, FK U” and “You get that one Mr. Marxist FBI Agent? Go FK yourself” as he threatened to kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.
- All of them were arrested and charged by the FBI.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Here’s a free tip: If you’re storming the US Capitol building as part of a deadly riot, don’t text your friends about it while you’re there.
Yet many of the participants in January 6’s insurrection did exactly that.
Not only did some people livestream their efforts to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election. Not only were they photographed sitting in the seats of members of Congress and attempting to rappel down the Senate walls. Some sent messages to acquaintances about being there, which were later used by federal law enforcement agents to identify and arrest them, sworn statements from FBI agents reviewed by Insider show.
One of the rioters, Kevin Loftus, posted a photo of himself in a Facebook Messenger chat while he was inside.
“One of 700 inside,” he wrote to an acquaintance, according to screenshots obtained by the FBI. “That’s right folks some of us are in it to win it.”
The next day, after the FBI posted photos of suspected insurrectionists online, he told the same person on Facebook Messenger that he was a wanted man.
“i am wanted by the FBI for illegal entry,” he wrote.
The other participant in the exchange sent screenshots of Loftus’s messages to the FBI. FBI agents arrested Loftus and charged him with violent and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Another person charged for participating in the riot, Aaron Mostofsky, also told an acquaintance he was in the building.
The acquaintance sent Mostofsky a meme that showed him wearing animal pelts with the caption “Imagine coming off 10 hits of acid and u look around and ur in the US Capitol like s—.” “Your famous [sic],” the acquaintance texted Mostofsky, according to the FBI affidavit supporting his arrest.
“[I know] unfortunately … cause now people actually know me,” Mostofsky responded.
Cleveland Meredith, who couldn’t make it to the insurrection in time because he was having car troubles, texted an acquaintance after threatening to shoot Washington, DC Mayor Murel Bowser in the head, according to records obtained by the FBI.
“I may wander over to the Mayor’s office and put a 5.56 in her skull, FKG c—,” he wrote the day after the insurrection. “I hope you’re reading this Mr. FBI agent, FK U.”
Meredith was arrested and charged after threatening to execute House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on live TV while bringing two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition to Washington, DC, prosecutors said. He made a similar reference to the FBI after making that threat, texting “You get that one Mr. Marxist FBI Agent? Go FK yourself,” according to prosecutors.
Numerous people openly broadcasted their attendance at the insurrection, including Republican West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans, who said “We’re in! We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!” while storming the Capitol in a video clip that widely circulated online.
Five people were ultimately killed in connection with the riot, which was sparked after President Donald Trump told supporters to “fight” as Congress confirmed Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump was impeached Wednesday for inciting the inurrection. The Department of Justice has said it has more than 160 ongoing investigations into the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6, with more planned.
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