WASHINGTON: A woman from the US state of Missouri, who was seen with a fractured sign belonging to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the January 6 Capitol riots, has been charged, according to court documents.
On Saturday, the documents filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia revealed that Emily Hernandez was slapped with five charges a day earlier in connection to the riot staged by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, The Hill news website reported.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation received tips from at least three persons identifying Hernandez, who was allegedly seen in a video circulated by the UK’s ITV news network.
According to The Hill news report, in the video the rioters are seen entering the Capitol and a few minutes later, they were seen going in and out of a room, which had a wooden sign above it saying, “Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi”.
Next, a woman, donning a pair of sunglasses and a white and grey hat, is seen standing outside the room and then later she holds up a broken engraved piece of wood, in which the words “the House” and “Nancy” are clearly visible, the report added.
The court documents further revealed that Hernandez has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct which impedes the conduct of government business; stealing, selling, conveying or disposing of any thing of value to the US; disruptive conduct in the Capitol Buildings; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol Buildings.
But it remains unclear is she has been arrested as of now.
The attack on the Capitol building on January 6 took place while Congress was in session considering the ratification of the electoral college votes electing Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as Vice President.
Earlier that day outside the Capitol, Trump addressed his supporters during which called for “patriots” to take a stand against the 2020 election results
Five people, including a police officer, were killed during the riots.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning about plans of armed protests from January 16 through January 20 at all the 50 state capitols, and from January 17 through January 20, the day of the inauguration, at the Capitol in Washington D.C.
Up to 25,000 National Guard members have been authorised by the Pentagon for Washington D.C., more than the amount of the troops currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.