The FBI on Monday announced charges against more alleged Capitol attackers, including a Texas member of a far-right militia.
Feds have previously unsealed criminal charges against dozens of people accused of storming the Capitol in a pro-Trump riot on January 6. Newly named among them are Nicolas Moncada, who was arrested by the FBI’s New York office, and Guy Reffitt, a Texan. Reffitt was allegedly a member of the militia group “Texas Freedom Force,” and threatened to shoot his children if they became “traitors” who turned him in.
Reffitt, the Texas man busted for his alleged involvement in the attack, also had extremist ties, the FBI said. Reffitt attended the riot in a helmet outfitted with a camera, and what appeared to be a tactical vest, according to pictures included in court filings.
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According to prosecutors, Reffitt was part of the Texas Freedom Fighters, a militant group that lobbies to protect Confederate symbols, and has spent the past weeks on Twitter accusing the left of being the real rioters.
Reffitt allegedly admitted to his family that he’d participated in the attacks, telling the family that “we” (likely the TFF, according to a criminal filing) had “stormed the Capitol.” He also allegedly told family that he’d brought a gun with him to D.C.
Reffitt’s children allegedly were “disturbed” by his “extreme” statements. When they expressed alarm, he allegedly told them that “if you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors...traitors get shot.”
His wife provided information on the fight to investigators.
The feds say Moncada implicated himself with social media posts.
FBIMoncada, 20, is a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, Gothamist reported. Like others arrested in the attack, Moncada allegedly live-streamed his actions in the Capitol, and posted on Instagram about participating in “the storm,” a term popular with fans of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory. A Staten Islander, Moncada appears to have supported a bar on the island that notoriously defied COVID-19 restrictions before temporarily closing after its owner was accused of hitting a sheriff's deputy with his car.
Moncada is the latest of several men arrested in New York in connection to the riots. In a statement, the FBI said he was “now in custody for his role in assaulting the U.S. Capitol while our representatives were inside performing their Constitutional duties.”
Another arrest affidavit, unsealed Monday, accused Freeport, New York man Thomas Fee of storming the Capitol. Fee was reported by an acquaintance after Fee’s girlfriend posted on Facebook about his attendance at the Capitol, according to the affidavit. The acquaintance allegedly texted Fee, who sent back a picture and a video of himself inside the Capitol rotunda. In the video, Fee allegedly described himself as being “at the tip of the spear” in the attack.
Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, officials announced the arrest of Craig Bingert, whose face had been plastered on FBI “wanted” posters for his alleged participation in the riots. Bingert, who reportedly turned himself in to law enforcement on Sunday, is accused of rushing a police line at the Capitol and shouting “fuck the police.”
Ironically, Bingert is among many accused Capitol attackers to pursue a law enforcement career. His LinkedIn profile, which the FBI cites in his arrest warrant, describes him as having received a degree in criminal justice.
Also on Sunday, the FBI received an arrest warrant for Michael Sparks, whom they accused of being the first person to jump into the Capitol through a broken window. Sparks’ acquaintances told investigators that he appeared to plan insurrection ahead of his trip to D.C. “This time we are going to shut it down,” an associate heard him saying on a phone call about the Jan. 6 event, according to the FBI.
The FBI affidavit also includes ominous Facebook posts Sparks allegedly authored before the attack: “TRUMP WILL BE YOUR PRESIDENT 4 more years in JESUS NAME. No need to reply to this just be ready for a lot of big events. Have radios for power loss etc. Love every body [sic]”
