Federal authorities apprehended a Wisconsin man accused of boasting on Facebook about participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and assaulting Capitol Police.
Riley Kasper, 23, faces six federal charges for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and rioting on Capitol Hill. The Justice Department cited his boastful Facebook messages as evidence for the charges.
TUCSON MAN ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING OFFICERS ON JAN. 6 ARRESTED
“Bro I’ve been going non-stop for almost 60 hours. Rioting is not easy work man, climbing trees, scaffolding, buildings, pulling people up ledges so we can all charge the next fence together,” Kasper said in a Facebook message to a person identified as “S.B.,” according to court documents.
Kasper made an initial court appearance in federal court on Thursday. He was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon to inflict bodily injury; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; and committing an act of physical violence in the capitol grounds or buildings.
Kasper faces up to 20 years if convicted on the most serious charge, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which notes his next hearing is scheduled to take place via Zoom before a Washington, D.C., magistrate judge on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said they began looking into Kasper when someone submitted a tip linking to a Facebook post dated Jan. 7, 2021, in which he showed a picture of Trump supporters with the caption, “Trump rally Washington, D.C.” Investigators then scrubbed through open-sourced video and concluded he likely participated in the riot.
Last November, investigators obtained a search warrant to dig through his Facebook account and found a trove of incriminating evidence, including additional photos, videos, and messages, per court documents.
“I don’t know what it is, can’t quite put my finger on It. But there is definitely something satisfying about pepper-spraying cops in riot gear and watching them run from you like a b**** even though they have face masks, billy clubs, and full f***ing body armor,” he allegedly messaged S.B. the day after the riot.
Court documents highlight a video showing him spraying what they believe was pepper spray at an officer during the riot. The documents also show messages in which he claimed he was on the “warpath with those Capitol Police now” and said he had been “pepper-sprayed more times than I can count.” In one message, Kasper noted that before the “crazy” happened, he warned some officers to go home and that he did not want to hurt them.
“As the day went on there were cops that started taking our advice and leaving, idk if they quit cause they wanted to make it home alive or if their commander let them. But yeah, one dude got pulled into the crowd and slammed on the ground on his back and his club, pepper spray, cuffs, radio everything got ripped from his belt,” he said, per court documents. “I’m pretty sure dude thought he was gonna die that day lol.”
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The case is being prosecuted in a joint effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
So far, more than 775 individuals from nearly all 50 states have been arrested on charges related to the Capitol riot that took place on Jan. 6, 2021. More than 245 people have been charged with attacking or hindering law enforcement during the riot.
