Three active duty U.S. Marines were charged this week with misdemeanors for breaking into the U.S. Capitol during the rioting on Jan. 6, 2021, as a far-right mob sought to overturn certification of the 2020 election.
The FBI charged Micah Coomer, Dodge Dale Hellonen and Joshua Abate with four misdemeanor accounts, according to court documents unsealed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The charges are related to disorderly conduct while intending to disrupt government business, entering a restricted building and parading or picketing on the U.S. Capitol grounds.
All three Marines were caught on video inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 along with a mob of former President Trump’s supporters, according to an FBI affidavit.
At one point, they placed a red MAGA hat on a statue inside the federal building and posed for photos with it, the FBI said.
All three defendants were allegedly identified through video footage that was paired with identification records, including driver’s licenses.
Agents also identified Coomer after he posted Instagram photos of the riot and allegedly wrote that he was “glad to be apart of history.”
In a Jan. 31, 2021, conversation with another user on Instagram, Coomer allegedly wrote that the 2020 election was unfair and “that everything in this country is corrupt,” expressing a desire for a “fresh restart” and also making a reference to a second civil war.
All three defendants were arrested on Wednesday, according to the FBI. Coomer was taken into custody in Oceanside, Calif., where Camp Pendleton is based.
Abate was arrested in Ft. Meade, Md., where there is a military base, and Hellonen was arrested in Jacksonville, N.C., where Camp Lejeune is located.
More than 950 Jan. 6 rioters have been arrested and about 484 defendants have pleaded guilty to a wide range of charges related to the rioting.