Updated January 31st, 2021 at 11:07 IST

Woman who allegedly threatened to 'shoot Pelosi in head' charged in Capitol riots

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cited a selfie video in an affidavit, wherein the woman can be heard threatening US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
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The US federal prosecutors on January 30 charged a woman in connection with the Capitol insurrection on January 6, wherein she can be heard threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in LIVE video footage. Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith were charged by the court Saturday for violent invasion into the restricted property unlawfully and for disorderly conduct. The federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cited a selfie video in an affidavit, where the investigators alleged Bancroft can be heard saying, “We broke into the Capitol. We got inside, we did our part.” Furthermore, she made disturbing threats against Pelosi saying, "We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her.” 

According to a document issued by the Justice Department, cited by US news agencies, the woman was arrested by the police early Saturday. The Bucks county accused is a gym owner from Doylestown. Another woman Diana Santos-Smith, was also detained along with Bancroft in Pennsylvania after charges for violence after storming into the US Capitol was filed against the two. The suspects were first identified when the FBI received a video tip on Jan. 12 wherein the two women can be seen exiting the US Capitol building. The FBI then filed a criminal complaint against the perpetrators. 

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160 people charged

Bancroft was seen donning Make America Great Again MAGA hat when she participated in the mob violence and attempted at coup to obstruct President Joe Biden's electoral college certification. Thus far, at least 160 people have been charged in federal court in connection with Capitol rioting.  A former Delco firefighter and a Harrisburg woman were arrested for theft of Nancy Pelosi’s laptop, the woman allegedly planned to sell the device to Russian intelligence.

Similarly, a Rochester resident, the member of Proud Boys right-wing extremist group nicknamed 'Spaz', who had access to weapons, bomb-manuals ahead of the Capitol siege, was charged by the prosecutors, according to a memo filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The 43-year-old insurrectionist Dominic Pezzola is now facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 penalty after the FBI officers executed a search warrant at his home and unveiled a thumb drive with hundreds of PDF files, that ‘provided detailed instructions for making homemade firearms’. 

Read: FBI: Pipe Bombs At RNC, DNC Were Planted Night Before Riot

Read: Two Pipe Bombs Found Near US Capitol On Jan 6 Were Planted A Night Before, Reveals FBI

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Published January 31st, 2021 at 11:07 IST