ORLANDO, Fla. — A year after a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving five dead and lawmakers fleeing for their lives, hundreds have been arrested for the Jan. 6 attack — with Florida leading the nation in the number of residents accused of participating in the insurrection.
More than 700 people have been charged by federal prosecutors for the riot in which supporters of then-President Donald Trump attempted to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
At least 75 defendants are from Florida, according to the latest analysis from George Washington University’s Program on Extremism. Pennsylvania and Texas came in second, tied at 63 defendants each.
Notable local arrests include two former central Florida police officers, a Sanford firefighter, a Treasure Coast charter boat captain, a Melbourne high school teacher and an Orlando actor who played Judas in a U.S. tour of the Broadway mega-hit “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Also charged are members of far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, including the Proud Boys’ Orlando chapter vice president who is married to an Orange County deputy sheriff.
Prosecutors have spent much of the past year mostly pursuing “low-hanging fruit” in their plea offers, said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at GW’s extremism program. At least 145 people have pleaded guilty to a variety of federal charges — mainly misdemeanors — as of Dec. 16, with only 19 sentenced to incarceration, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
So far, the toughest punishment has been for a Largo man sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for attacking police with a fire extinguisher and wooden plank, Lewis said.
Organized extremists, though, are facing more serious charges and longer prison sentences, Lewis said.
“At this point, most of the Oath Keepers are going to trial in 2022,” he said. “They do face something closer to that potential 20-year sentence.”
Although extremist groups may be facing harsher penalties, it’s more concerning that the vast majority accused of participating in the Jan. 6 riot were “average, everyday people,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.
“I think ultimately what’s more significant for Florida, and frankly, every state in this country, is the people who are adjacent to the extremists — who are not card-carrying members of any group but found themselves engaged in violence alongside them,” he said. “To me, that’s the normalization of extremism and violence in this country, no matter what state you’re in.”
Some local rioters take pleas
A handful of central Floridians who were arrested for their actions at the Capitol have pleaded guilty, a review of federal court records shows.
Sanford firefighter Andrew Williams pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in November of picketing in a Capitol building and is set to be sentenced in January. He was photographed in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and recorded boasting, “We are storming the Capitol! Yeah baby!”
Kenneth Reda, a former Viera High School teacher, also pleaded guilty in November to the same misdemeanor charge as Williams and is scheduled to be sentenced in February. Reda entered the Capitol building and encouraged others to attend the riot through his Parler account, saying “It is IMPERATIVE every single person that voted [for] TRUMP has to flood DC,” according to court records.
Three Floridians associated with the Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia group, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges as part of a larger indictment, including Jason Dolan, of Wellington; Graydon Young, of Englewood; and Caleb Berry, of Tampa.
Prosecutors say all three were part of a group of “co-conspirators” who discussed bringing weapons to Washington D.C. and clad themselves in battle gear before forming a military “stack” formation to breach the Capitol’s doors, court documents show.
Other Oath Keepers charged in the indictment, including Dunnellon couple Kelly and Connie Meggs, as well as Kissimmee resident William Isaacs, have pleaded not guilty. Earlier in December, a federal judge refused to dismiss conspiracy charges against the group.
Because of the large number of defendants, two trials have been scheduled for the case — the first on April 19 and the second on July 11, according to court records.
Another federal judge also refused to dismiss charges this week against four men accused of leading the Proud Boys, including Joseph Biggs, an Ormond Beach organizer of the far-right nationalist group. Biggs, who is accused of helping to plan the Jan. 6 attack, has pleaded not guilty, records show.
Two other members of the Proud Boys have been charged in a separate indictment, along with a father-son duo from a law enforcement family.
Kevin Tuck, a Windermere police officer until his arrest in July, and his son Nathaniel Tuck, a former Apopka police officer, are listed as co-defendants with Proud Boys members Arthur Jackman and Paul Rae.
Jackman is married to Deputy Sarah Jackman, who was investigated and cleared of wrongdoing after an internal probe by OCSO found no evidence she was involved in his activities. Prior court filings have indicated Jackman and Rae were among a posse of Proud Boys members who infiltrated the Capitol alongside Biggs.
The four men, along with a fifth man named Edward George, are charged with multiple counts, including obstructing an official proceeding; aiding and abetting; disorderly conduct inside the Capitol building; and obstructing a law enforcement officer.
All have pleaded not guilty, court records show. Their cases have not been set for trial.
‘They’re not stopping’
Experts say the polarization seen during the Capitol attack has maintained itself in the past year.
While it’s become harder for some extremist groups to communicate after being removed from social media, Segal said the Proud Boys, for example, have mobilized to protest against COVID-19 vaccines, mask mandates and anti-racist education in schools.
“They’re not quitting, they’re not stopping,” Segal said. “They’re finding different issues to animate their activity and they’re focusing more locally on trying to win hearts and minds in those communities.”
Certain subsections of far-right extremist groups have become effective at rallying people on state and local issues, Lewis said.
“When you look ahead to 2022 and 2024, a lot of these flashpoints that we’ve seen in 2020 and 2021 look likely to be more at the state level — at state capitals, at local elections sites ... because that is where they see weak points compared to this now-hard target of the U.S. Capitol,” he said.
A trend to consider in 2022 is the “increasing mainstreaming” of white supremacy and anti-government extremism in the U.S., Lewis said.
“When we’re looking at the landscape of extremism moving forward ... it’s not the sole domain of these established extremist movements anymore,” Segal said. “The same grievances and narratives that brought out the Oath Keeper, brought out the local accountant, and the soccer mom, and the stay-at-home dad and the lawyer. These are people in our community who are being animated by the narratives that we know have led extremists to commit acts of violence. That’s daunting.”
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