FBI: New Jersey man took video selfie inside Capitol, detailed his location during siege

A New Jersey man charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol siege allegedly took video of himself storming the building and bragged about how the pro-Trump mob “took over.”

Hector Emmanuel Vargas Santos, who goes by Hector Vargas, was charged with four federal counts accusing him of unlawfully and violently entering the Capitol, as well as disorderly and disruptive conduct, according to filing documents obtained by local outlet Hudson County View.

The FBI received a tip from someone who knew Vargas from a community group in Jersey City and saw he had posted photographs and videos on social media from inside the Capitol on the day of the deadly insurrection.

According to the criminal complaint, Vargas posted a photo showing people climbing the walls surrounding the complex.

He tagged the location as the “United States Capitol” and captioned the image as “WE THE PEOPLE TOOK OVER THE U.S. CAPITOL. #HOLDTHELINE.”

Vargas also posted videos in “selfie” mode that showed himself walking through the Rotunda. He spoke directly into the camera, saying, “we took over this motherf—-r … we took over this f—ing Capitol, tell them.”

“Guys we’re INSIDE the chamber #Trump2020,” Vargas wrote on the post, according to the complaint.

He is seen wearing a Trump campaign hat and some kind of tactical vest.

The FBI also said it found posts from Vargas linking to a GoFundMe account entitled “Let’s get every TRUE PATRIOT to DC January 6th.”

“As we’re getting close to Jan 6th there are way more true American patriots interested in coming to fight the good fight in Washington DC,” Vargas wrote on Twitter two days before the siege. “With your donations we can help them get down there to fight for our democracy.”

Agents noted that the page has been disabled. Several pro-Trump protesters used the fundraising platform to generate cash before the siege, which was largely planned on social media.

GoFundMe announced earlier this month that it would ban future fundraisers geared toward travel expenses to political protests. 

The complaint noted that Vargas was well-known in the area and was even featured in a Jersey City Times article as an “Unsung Hero” for his community work. However, it was later reported by local outlets that he had been accused of stealing donations meant for the homeless.