The Daily Mail reported on Jan. 20 that Joseph Biggs, 37, an organizer for the rightist U.S. group Proud Boys, was arrested that day by the FBI in central Florida and faces charges of obstructing official congressional proceedings, entering a restricted area of the Capitol, and disorderly conduct.
Biggs did not initially appear on the FBI’s list of wanted insurgents, but he was arrested immediately after an interview with the Daily Mail UK. In the Daily Mail interview, Biggs claimed that the only reason he entered the Capitol was because he “wanted to go to the bathroom,” and that he and the Proud Boys he led had no intention of storming the Capitol.
He said, “I didn’t intend to go into the Capitol, I just went in because I wanted to go to the bathroom, and when I got inside I didn’t destroy anything, I didn’t steal anything, I went to the bathroom, I met a police officer and asked him how I could get out. He showed me the way and I left the Capitol. “
The FBI arrest affidavit says Biggs joined the crowd that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, causing injuries to police officers equipped with metal barriers on the Capitol steps. U.S. lawmakers were certifying Biden‘s electoral votes when the crowd Biggs was in entered the Capitol.
The affidavit states that Biggs appeared to be wearing a walkie-talkie during the storming of the Capitol; however, Biggs told FBI agents that he had no idea that there was a plan to storm the Capitol and did not know who the organizers were. And that the doors to the Capitol were open when he entered the building.”
Biggs appeared before a federal magistrate the same day he was arrested, but he was not taken into custody, and online court records do not show whether Biggs had an attorney available for comment. Biggs is currently under house arrest, but has been allowed to travel to a court in Washington, D.C., for his trial.
Biggs, a former staff member of the famed conspiracy TV show InfoWars and one of the Proud Boys’ most prominent organizers, served as a registered agent for the Proud Boys’ newly formed company and was a “best friend” of Enrique Tarrio, the official leader of the Proud Boys. “. Biggs has also been photographed with South Carolina’s U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
The right-wing movement organizer told the Daily Mail that he reached out to the FBI after the Capitol storming and also interviewed FBI agents in Florida, saying, “I have nothing to hide, and the most they can say is that I broke in at random.”
The FBI said Biggs can be seen in the video of the entry into the Capitol saying, “Awesome,” to the surveillance camera, which Biggs interpreted as meaning “awesome” but also “intimidating.”
Dominic Pezzola, who appeared in the video at the same Time as Biggs, broke a window in the Capitol and is also a member of the Proud Boys, was arrested on Jan. 15 and is now facing charges.
Florida resident, Jesus Rivera, 37, was also arrested Jan. 20 in Pensacola, Florida, after the FBI charged him with intentionally breaking into a restricted area of the Capitol, obstructing the operation of the Legislature, disorderly conduct and demonstrating at the Capitol. the FBI said that video uploaded to Facebook from Rivera shows Rivera entering the Capitol The FBI said the video, which was uploaded to Facebook, shows Rivera entering the basement of the Capitol and eventually climbing out of a Capitol window. Online court records also do not list Rivera’s attorney.
Six to seven other Floridians have been indicted in connection with the Capitol attack, while prosecutors have also focused their efforts on tracking down those who assaulted police officers or news reporters. All of the above cases are being handled by federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia.
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