,
A Farmington man turned himself into the FBI on Wednesday on charges related to his alleged role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in Washington, DC. Shawn Bradley Witzemann, 39, appeared before Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather in Albuquerque this morning, charged with entering the Capitol grounds without lawful authority, for disorderly and disruptive conduct on Capitol grounds, the violent entry on Capitol grounds and demonstrating in a Capitol building.
The FBI found Witzemann after a tip about a video posted on social media channels identifying Witzemann inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6 by saying, “moments ago…Shawn was inside the capitol building!” Witzemann claims to travel to demonstrations to provide live-streaming coverage for a podcast where he claims to be a journalist with an alt-right media group.
On April 6 Witzemann posted on his Facebook account that he would be turning himself in. “I have no guarantees as to how long I’ll be held in detention, but my hope is that I can get back to work as quickly as possible,” he said. “Telling the truth isn’t an easy business to be in, but I suppose this is just another chapter in my life’s greatest passion.
According to court filings, Witzemann has previously been arrested in 2004 and plead guilty to charges of battery on a household member and a peace officer in Aztec, N.M.
Witzemann is the second New Mexican to be arrested on charges related to the Capitol riots. Cowboys for Trump leader Couy Griffin was also arrested and identified after posting videos of himself at the Jan. 6 riot. Griffin is awaiting trial after being arrested by Capitol Police on Jan. 17 after returning to Washington, vowing opposition to President Joe Biden’s election victory and inauguration.
One Capitol Police officer died after being attacked by Trump supporters. A second committed suicide in the days after and dozens more local and federal officers were injured.
Read more about our continuing coverage of New Mexicans involved in the January 6th insurrection.
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Read the criminal complaint here related to Witzemann’s charges related to the Capitol riot.
Loading…
Reload document 
Open in new tab
Comments are closed.