A California man was arrested after an Uber driver steered the FBI toward him, providing dashboard camera footage of the defendant bragging about his role in the Jan. 6 attack.
Jerry Daniel Braun was arrested by the FBI in early April after he told his Uber driver he tore down a barricade outside the Capitol building, according to court filings unsealed Tuesday. The dashboard footage allowed the FBI to identify Braun and track him down, officials said.
After identifying him from the Uber video, the FBI connected him to footage from several Capitol police officers’ bodycams that showed him holding an 8-foot-long wooden flank he allegedly used to strike a photographer donning press identification.
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Braun hopped into the back of an Uber on Jan. 6, 2021, at approximately 7 p.m., just one hour after the citywide curfew took effect, court filings state. The driver, noticing an injury to Braun’s right eye, struck up a conversation about the riot that had garnered national headlines throughout the day.
“So, has it been violent all day?” the driver asked, according to the footage.
“Well, it started around, right when I got there,” Braun purportedly replied. “I tore down the barricades.”
When the driver asked, “Well, how’d that work out for ya?” Braun responded, “Well, it looks like, uh, Biden’s gonna be our president,” the footage showed.
Authorities conducted a search warrant of his California home last November, and Braun confirmed he was present in Washington, D.C., during the riot and was “guilty” of “everything,” according to court filings.
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Braun faces three charges, including obstruction during civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building, and violent entry or disorderly conduct on restricted grounds.
Nearly 800 defendants have been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 attack, with more than 250 pleading guilty so far. More than 2,500 people are estimated to have either entered the Capitol or assaulted law enforcement during the attack, officials say.
