Rioters attempt to open a door of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Three active-duty Marines have been charged in the attack.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
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Jose Luis Magana/AP
Rioters attempt to open a door of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Three active-duty Marines have been charged in the attack.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
A Marine says he’s waiting for “Civil war 2” and two other active members of the military have been charged with taking part in the U.S. Capitol riot, authorities say. known in recent court papers.
Micah Coomer, Joshua Abate and Dodge Dale Hellonen were arrested this week on misdemeanor charges after their Marines comrades helped investigators identify them in footage among a pro-Trump crowd on Sunday. January 6, 2021, according to court documents.
Dozens of people charged in the riots are from the military, but these three are among a handful of active service members. A Marine officer seen on camera scuffled with police and helped other members of the crowd enter the Capitol has been charged in 2021.
There are no defense attorneys for the men listed in court records, so it is unclear if they have attorneys to comment on their behalf.
Their service records show they are both active-duty Marines. Major Kevin Stephensen, a spokesman for the Marines, said it was aware of the allegations and “is cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities to assist with the investigation.”
Coomer, of Indiana, stationed at Camp Pendleton of Southern California; Abate, of Virginia, is at Fort Meade in Maryland; and Hellonen, of Michigan, stationed at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, according to the Marines.
Authorities said the men spent about 52 minutes inside the Capitol. At one point while in the rotunda, they put a red hat that read “Make America Great Again” over a statue to pose for a photo with it, according to court documents. Authorities said Hellonen was carrying a “Don’t step on me” flag.
Coomer posted photos to Instagram that appeared to have been taken inside the Capitol with the caption “Nice to be detached from history,” according to court documents. Days after the 2020 election, he and another person discussed via Instagram message how he believes the election was rigged.
And in late January 2021, he told another in a text message that “everything in this country is corrupt.”
“Honestly, we need a fresh reboot. I’m waiting for boogaloo,” Coomer wrote in an announcement detailed in court documents. When asked what “a boogaloo” is, Coomer replied, “Civil war 2,” authorities said.
Boogaloo is an anti-government, pro-gun extremist movement. Its name is a reference to a slang term for a sequel – in this case the second US civil war. The movement is named after “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo”, the sequel to a 1984 breakdance film.
Supporters have turned up in protests against COVID-19 lockdowns and rallies against racial injustice, carrying rifles and wearing tactical gear over Hawaiian shirts. The shirts are related to “big luau”, a shorthand for the term “boogaloo” sometimes preferred by group members.
In an interview regarding her security check in June, Abate admitted to walking through the Capitol with two “friends,” investigators said. Abate said they were “walking around and trying not to get hit by tear gas.”
The Pentagon said Abate was assigned to the Marine Cryptographic Support Battalion, which supports the National Security Agency. As one of the largest intelligence agencies in the United States, the NSA monitors electronic communications worldwide and plays a vital role in preventing cyberattacks and influence operations. foreign.
An NSA spokesman declined to answer questions about when the agency learned of Abate’s claim that he entered the Capitol or whether the agency acted before he was arrested to restrict access. his or her confidential information or not.
The trio face charges including illegal entry and disorderly conduct.
6 of the defendants are from the military and are members of the far-right group The Oath-Keepers, accused of conspiring to use violence to keep President Donald Trump in power. Team leader, Stewart Rhodes, former Army paratrooper, Convicted of conspiracy to riot in November.
A Navy reservist from Virginia accused of storming the Capitol was convicted this week of illegally possessing silencers disguised to look like harmless toiletries. Hatchet Speed is expected to go to trial in his January 6 case later this year.
And a former US Army reservist described by prosecutors as a Nazi supporter has been found guilty of storming the Capitol to obstruct Congress from certifying President Joe’s election victory. Biden. Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who was hired as a security contractor at a Navy base, was sentenced to four years in prison in September.
Nearly 1,000 people have been charged in the riots so far, and the number is growing by the week. Nearly 500 people have pleaded guilty to rioting and more than three dozen have been convicted at the trial.
