A red "Make America Great Again" hat in hand, Jonah Westbury recorded several selfie videos showing him inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, shouting, "This is our house!" according to federal charges unsealed Friday afternoon.
FBI agents arrested Westbury, a 26-year-old from Lindstrom, Minn., on Friday morning — the second time in two days federal agents have apprehended a Minnesotan in connection to the storming of the nation's Capitol.
Across the country, hundreds of people face charges for forcibly entering the building and disrupting a joint congressional session formalizing the electoral victory of Joe Biden, falsely claiming Biden stole the election from Donald Trump. The mob, coming from a rally hosted by Trump, damaged the nation's Capitol building, sent elected officials into lockdown and left about 138 officers injured, including Capitol police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who later died.
Westbury, a former wrestler for the University of Mary Marauders in Bismarck, N.D., recorded himself spinning around and laughing inside the Capitol, according to an FBI affidavit. "We made it," he said, according to the affidavit. "We got pepper sprayed, got abused."
"First time in the Capitol," he said in another video, also taken in the Capitol. "I'm proud of every [expletive] one of you."
Westbury appeared in Minnesota U.S. District Court, via Zoom, on Friday, where Magistrate Judge Becky Thorson released him on his own recognizance, with conditions. He did not enter a plea. He is scheduled for a video court appearance in front of a Washington, D.C., district federal magistrate judge next week.
Westbury faces charges of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a Capitol building and grounds; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
The FBI started investigating Westbury after a person who attended high school with him reported seeing videos of Westbury narrating his incursion of the Capitol, posted to TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter, according to the FBI. The federal agents interviewed the former classmate in January and confirmed Westbury's identity.
Westbury's attorney declined to comment on the allegations.
His arrest comes one day after the FBI arrested Victoria White, a 39-year-old Rochester woman, for obstruction of justice, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and other charges for her alleged role in the Jan. 6 attack. White also appeared in several videos and posted her activity to Facebook, which led the FBI to her doorstep.
One of her posts, according to the FBI, reads: "I stated I'm not scared i was in the capitol DETAINED and they took my social security # name address they are coming for me. I am not afraid of them or anyone!! There I said it Come get me, You don't know the story, it's not what you think."
Federal prosecutors charged Jordan K. Stotts, a 31-year-old from Moorhead, last month with trespassing and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Andy Mannix • 612-673-4036
