New Mexico County Commissioner arrested 'for breaching US Capitol grounds'

A New Mexico County Commissioner has been charged for breaching the US Capitol grounds on January 6, when pro-Donald Trump protesters stormed the federal building fueled with baseless claims of voter fraud in the presidential elections. In a statement on January 17, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said that Couy Griffin has been arrested and charged with a criminal complaint with one count of remaining or entering the restricted building. Griffin is also the founder of the group ‘Cowboys for Trump’ who had pledged to return to Washington after the US Capitol riot last week to place a flag on the desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.

The statement read, “A New Mexico County commissioner was charged today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for breaching the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021. Couy Griffin, of New Mexico, was arrested today in Washington, D.C., and charged by criminal complaint with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry.”

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Griffin says he was ‘caught up’

According to court documents, Griffin has told the investigators that he was “caught up” in the crowd that pushed its way through the barricades and entered the restricted area of one of the most secure federal buildings in the United States. However, he claimed that he did not enter the US Capitol building but remained on the steps during the riot that witnessed Trump supporters banging doors, breaking windows and hampering the federal property. A video message was also posted on Griffin’s personal Facebook page that showed him in the restricted areas, as per the affidavit.

In that same video, now removed, he also said, “You want to say that that was a mob? You want to say that was violence? No sir. No Ma’am. No we could have a 2nd Amendment rally on those same steps that we had that rally yesterday. You know, and if we do, then it’s gonna be a sad day, because there’s gonna be blood running out of that building. But at the end of the day, you mark my word, we will plant our flag on the desk of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Donald J. Trump if it boils down to it.”

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